Could be very dirty lens, the drive doesn't "see" the disc so it doesn't try to spin up.

quicknick wrote on 2020-05-18, 11:00:

Could be very dirty lens, the drive doesn't "see" the disc so it doesn't try to spin up.

Try operating the drive with the top cover off, does the lens move up and down trying to focus when you close the tray?

andrea wrote on 2020-05-18, 09:04:

Could still be the belt slipping allowing it to open close the tray but not to fully load the mechanism (raising the laser spindle assembly into position). Try operating the mechanism manually or slamming the tray shut with some enthusiasm in the hope that the inertia completes the loading movement.

I found that the plastic spindle in the top of the drive has a small hole above it that was covered by the label. By poking through that part of the label I was able to see that the mechanism was correctly "lifting" after putting a disc in the drive, and could also see how much spinning (or attempts to spin) was happening after loading a disc.

I found if I "helped it along" a little by pushing it with a paper clip, it would make about 3-4 rotations but a pathetically slow speed.

The board that has a ribbon cable going to the spindle motor has about 7 capacitors on it. I decided to just use this as a practice board for SMD soldering and replace them. Maybe they are the cause of the motor problem too if they are motor starter capacitors?

Bad spindle motor (these cheap ones and early ones) used DC motor, the commutator tend to short out. Only way is replace the motor.

Cheers,

I had this issue with one of my DVD drives. The belt was not mishapen but the inner area appeared to be covered in bits of dirt and debris. This meant that it no longer had a strong grip and would occasionally slip.

I recommend those:
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https://aliexpress.ru/item/4000124840970.html

For CD/DVD drive you need to get belts of 1mm x 1mm thickness. Also note that in each set there is only one belt of each size.

I fixed a DVD drive that wouldn't open a few days ago. It was a direct drive one. The plastic gear that was pressed onto the motor had cracked. I took it off, put some super glue in the gear and pushed it back on.

Works fine but makes a horrid pop noise when opening and closing because the one tooth on that gear is further apart than the others.

The gear that operates the laser carriage was also split but not as bad. I put some super glue on it to keep it from cracking any more.

I went through and tested several of the used disc drives in my collection and found a surprising number of faulty drives. Several could close but not open and some would product a "read error" when testing by trying to create an ISO from a disc, I indicating a problem with the laser.

In all of the drives that wouldn't not open, the belt appeared to be fine. I wonder if the motor is somehow cheap or the capacitors inside are failing to deliver the necessary voltage.

None of the drives had bad belts, from what I could tell.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-08-12, 01:01:

I went through and tested several of the used disc drives in my collection and found a surprising number of faulty drives. Several could close but not open and some would product a "read error" when testing by trying to create an ISO from a disc, I indicating a problem with the laser.

In all of the drives that wouldn't not open, the belt appeared to be fine. I wonder if the motor is somehow cheap or the capacitors inside are failing to deliver the necessary voltage.

None of the drives had bad belts, from what I could tell.

It could also be from the grease on the rails as well as the gears getting dry and hard over time and sticking. That can also cause issues with the laser assembly if it can't move good it won't be able to read properly. I've saved at least 20-25 optical drives by just cleaning the old hard dry grease and putting a fresh layer on.

Tiny amount of CRC Belt Grip gets most working and keeps them going for ages. But the real solution was always a pack of assorted tape deck belts from AliExpress. But I always liked the gear driven Lite-on drives..

I fixed a few optical drives that had a problem opening. Simply opened it up, cleaned out the dust and dirt, and lubricated all the gears and sliding rails with Super-Lube synthetic grease. There are videos on youtube that show the basic process.

Here's something that has worked for me; when repairing copy machines, there are some models that have rubber rollers that develop a coating from being exposed to heat, and a common way to get some more life out of them is to use a Scotch-Brite pad to scrub off the hardened layer.

With that in mind, I had a DVDROM that had opening issues, and I had already cleaned the belt and the belt drive pulleys with alcohol and used silicone grease to lubricate the sliding parts, but the issue remained. I then took a Scotch-Brite pad and rolled it into a cylinder and placed the belt over it. Holding it gently against the pad with my thumb, I used my other hand to pull it through several times to scrub off the hardened layer of rubber. I then reassembled the drive and it opened and closed flawlessly. I've done this on a couple of optical drives now - so far, so good.