Does anything happen at all when you push the button? Does eject from software work?

I had a drive that wouldn't open because of a slipping belt, but you could hear the motor turning when the eject button was pushed.

That depends, one some I can hear a motor spin-up, on some I can hear nothing.
I am sure that it is a "design-failure" because all drives have the same issue.
it's only the "open-command" closing does work via button.

So it will automatically close, but not open?

I recently found that drive in an old PC.
Thought, oh nice drive. Interesting front design.

But, same error.
Curious about the cause, I tried to open it.
Was unable to open the door even using the emergency eject hole.
So I had to brutally pry it open.
If I remember correctly, it had some rubber belt for opening door.

Garbage! Tossed it into the e-trash.

Maybe it is some deterioration issue? Now in Germany the heating period began, air is warm and dry. Maybe this has influence too?

99% of all occurences of this issue can be solved by doing the following:

1) disassemble the drive cover to the point where you have the top cover removed
2) with the tray belt/pulley mechanism visible, remove the belt
3) with the belt removed, clean both the pulley grooves (both the large and small pulleys) with acetone and a cotton swab
4) proceed to "de-glaze" the belt by wetting a paper towel with acetone, by holding the wet part of the paper towel closed with your thumb and index finger, and then by dragging the belt through. Do this until you no longer see black residue coming off the belt

Gentlemen, please, no comments about acetone and belts. This is a tried and true method i learned from a veteran stereo/vcr or what have you technician and it works great. Don't boil your belts, and don't buy new Chinese belts if you can avoid it. Also, wear gloves for the acetone, and use something a little stronger than nail polish remover, though that should do in a pinch.

could you make a video of it?

The drives are really excellent, but that issue with the tray-opening is really a shame.
If the tray is open the button closes it. So it's only "open" not "close".

mockingbird wrote on 2021-10-04, 18:24:

Don't boil your belts.

Just on this, and I've only this one experience of this, I had a Ricoh 7040 (I think) that wouldn't open and I found the belt was loose on the pulleys when I took it out, barely staying in the grooves at all. I put it in a cup of hot water for ~30sec, and saw it shrink back. It was then tight on the pulleys when I put it back in and it's lasted about a year so far. It worked ok for me to get it back to the right size, so if someone doesn't have any acetone to hand then hot water might work as a quick temporary fix. I didn't try acetone, but can imagine that if there's a hardened skin that keeps the belt slightly stretched, then removing that would let the belt shrink back to its proper length and also give it more grip.

Agree that a slipping belt is the most common cause of not ejecting. Nevermind...