Why won't CD drives eject?

[davidu]

My CD drives have become balky and do not want to "eject" (open the tray).
They both still light up and both also show up on "My Computer." If I push
the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor wants to work but stalls
then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light then blinks a few times.
Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though. Basically get the same result
if I right click on the drive icon then click "Eject." What would cause
this and how can i fix it?

The drives have had very little use in the past year or so. The PC is a
Dell 2400 with Win XP and the drives came installed in it. CD-R is a SAMSUNG
CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed under "Hardware
Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.

 

[devil_himself]

On Dec 25, 1:07 pm, davidu <dav...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> My CD drives have become balky and do not want to "eject" (open the tray).
> They both still light up and both also show up on "My Computer." If I push
> the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor wants to work but stalls
> then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light then blinks a few times.
> Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though. Basically get the same result
> if I right click on the drive icon then click "Eject." What would cause
> this and how can i fix it?
>
> The drives have had very little use in the past year or so. The PC is a
> Dell 2400 with Win XP and the drives came installed in it. CD-R is a SAMSUNG
> CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed under "Hardware
> Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.

Check The IDE Cable To The Cd Drive

 

[windmap]

Get into BIOS then try to eject the CD Drive.If this problem occurs in BIOS
also then its a CD drive Mechanical problem.If not could be software issue.
"davidu" <davidu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0C1E1F75-F248-4CAE-87A3-D936787C05A5@microsoft.com...
> My CD drives have become balky and do not want to "eject" (open the tray).
> They both still light up and both also show up on "My Computer." If I
> push
> the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor wants to work but
> stalls
> then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light then blinks a few
> times.
> Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though. Basically get the same
> result
> if I right click on the drive icon then click "Eject." What would cause
> this and how can i fix it?
>
> The drives have had very little use in the past year or so. The PC is a
> Dell 2400 with Win XP and the drives came installed in it. CD-R is a
> SAMSUNG
> CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed under "Hardware
> Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.
>

 

[Poprivet`]

windmap <windmap@gmail.com> wrote:
> Get into BIOS then try to eject the CD Drive.If this
> problem occurs in BIOS also then its a CD drive
> Mechanical problem.If not could be software issue.
> "davidu" <davidu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message

I have never seen a BIOS that allowed you to eject the
CD from the BIOS. Can you clarify what you mean there?
I don't think it's normally possibl eto do so from
within the BIOS windows.

Pop`


> news:0C1E1F75-F248-4CAE-87A3-D936787C05A5@microsoft.com...
>> My CD drives have become balky and do not want to
>> "eject" (open the tray). They both still light up
>> and
>> both also show up on "My Computer." If I push
>> the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor
>> wants to work but stalls
>> then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light
>> then
>> blinks a few times.
>> Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though.
>> Basically get the same result
>> if I right click on the drive icon then click
>> "Eject." What would cause this and how can i fix
>> it?
>>
>> The drives have had very little use in the past year
>> or
>> so. The PC is a Dell 2400 with Win XP and the
>> drives
>> came installed in it. CD-R is a SAMSUNG
>> CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed
>> under
>> "Hardware Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Poprivet` wrote:
> windmap <windmap@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Get into BIOS then try to eject the CD Drive.If this
>> problem occurs in BIOS also then its a CD drive
>> Mechanical problem.If not could be software issue.
>> "davidu" <davidu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message
>
> I have never seen a BIOS that allowed you to eject the
> CD from the BIOS. Can you clarify what you mean there?
> I don't think it's normally possibl eto do so from
> within the BIOS windows.
>


I don't think Windmap means that the BIOS itself can be used to eject
the CD (You're quite right on this point). I think he's using the
"enter BIOS" trick just to keep power applied the the PC's components,
while keeping the OS, drivers, or other software out of the equation,
and testing just the CD drive, itself.

It's not a bad idea, really. Wish I'd thought of it.


--

Bruce Chambers

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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[davidu]

RE: Why won't CD drives eject (usually)?

"davidu" wrote:

> My CD drives have become balky and do not want to "eject" (open the tray).
> They both still light up and both also show up on "My Computer." If I push
> the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor wants to work but stalls
> then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light then blinks a few times.
> Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though. Basically get the same result
> if I right click on the drive icon then click "Eject." What would cause
> this and how can i fix it?
>
> The drives have had very little use in the past year or so. The PC is a
> Dell 2400 with Win XP and the drives came installed in it. CD-R is a SAMSUNG
> CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed under "Hardware
> Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.
>

12/26 p.s.-- In case it wasn't obvious, I'm speaking about two different CD
drives. Checking the BIOS as suggested, I could see both drives; the CD-RW
is also a Samsung drive, model SW-248F.

As I said, their busy lights come on and they make some sounds so I never
considered a loose cable to be a cause; indeed they are tight. After a
reboot the drives still would not eject using the context menu. But by
using the pushbutton again, the CD-R drive did eject then later I was able to
get it to do the same using the menu. The CD-RW unit remained stubborn but
after more tries, the pushbotton method worked on it. too. After still more
tries, the menu method got it to eject. Now they both seem functional
again, at least usually or intermittently. Maybe they are just getting
"arthritic" with lack of regular use.

Thanks for the ideas so far. Does anyone have a better idea why the balky
behavior, and a likely cure?

 

[FrankFL]

"davidu" <davidu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:0C1E1F75-F248-4CAE-87A3-D936787C05A5@microsoft.com...
> My CD drives have become balky and do not want to "eject" (open the tray).
> They both still light up and both also show up on "My Computer." If I push
> the button, there are faint "thunks" as if the motor wants to work but stalls
> then reverses after a few seconds, and the CD light then blinks a few times.
> Occasionally the CD-R drive will eject though. Basically get the same result
> if I right click on the drive icon then click "Eject." What would cause
> this and how can i fix it?
>
> The drives have had very little use in the past year or so. The PC is a
> Dell 2400 with Win XP and the drives came installed in it. CD-R is a SAMSUNG
> CD-ROM SC-148C and the CD-RW is a [?-not displayed under "Hardware
> Resources"] 48X/24x/48x drive.

Cotton swabs, 91% isopropyl alcohol and compressed air.