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Tray Problem

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:00 pm
by Chris.Day
I have an ageing Toshiba SD-M1402 DVD-ROm drive. The optical portion of the drive is still fine, but the tray has become erratic.

When it ejects, it slams into the end of it's tracks and then closes itself. Occasionally it will also open by itself.

There is a blue lever inside the drive, is this what controls detection of open/close state? Are there any more things to look out for?

Thanks

Chris

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:03 pm
by TheWizard
Not the first time I have heard about this with Toshiba drives. I have a Toshiba CD-ROM drive, 32X, whose tray won't open anymore. Occasionally, when the Earth is perfectly aligned with Polaris (the North Star), the tray will open. But how often does that happen?

I don't know about the blue lever you are asking about, but I would recommend finding a replacement for the drive or getting it repaired. At the current cost of DVD-ROM drives, though, a replacement would most likely be cheaper.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 2:04 pm
by Han
Hijacker from The firmware page deals with Toshiba drives. Perhaps he could help you...

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 3:17 pm
by Chris.Day
OK I had mine jam up today so I decided to take it apart.

The gears at the front end of the drive (which control tray in/out and lens up/down) had slipped off their "axles" but with a bit of force (and luck) the lens finally went down and the tray slid out. (even the emergency eject wouldn't help)

Upon investigation the teeth on the gears were fine, but in between them they were full of "computer gunk" (i.e. grease and fluff). I carefully cleaned these off, and then cleaned around the blue lever (which looking at it appears to tell the drive when the tray is open or closed - a bigger lever hits it when it's closed and the tray hits it when it's open).

After this it opens and closes fine, but it still very rattly, probably due to how loose the gears sit in there. I suspect that it will jam again if they work loose, but for now it is operating reliably again.