(SOLVED) Laptop optical drive issues \ VOGONS

(SOLVED) Laptop optical drive issues

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First post, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-08-29, 19:28

theamtrakvirus Offline

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Hi all, I have an Alienware Area 51m 766 Pentium 4 laptop I got a couple months ago that has one major issue, the DVD drive sticks and won't eject, even after getting a NOS replacement drive. The drive is a Lite-On SOSW-852S. It will open if i use the emergency eject hole, but won't eject using the button. Does anyone know what's going on? Both drives read discs fine, just neither will eject. Is there a fix for these or a drop in replacement for these drives? (It doesnt need to be a writer, just to read DVDs would be enough). I'd like to get this thing fully working since its in immaculate shape for a P4 era laptop.

Last edited by theamtrakvirus on 2018-09-01, 23:50. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 10, by Rodoko

Posted on 2018-08-29, 22:22

Rodoko Offline

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The drive bezel is so pushed in that makes it impossible to eject it, one solution would be removing it and sanding the edges a little bit

Reply 2 of 10, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-08-30, 19:53

theamtrakvirus Offline

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Rodoko wrote:
The drive bezel is so pushed in that makes it impossible to eject it, one solution would be removing it and sanding the edges a little bit

Tried sanding the bezel down a bit and even removing it entirely, but no luck, it still won't open on its own.

Reply 3 of 10, by derSammler

Posted on 2018-08-30, 20:00

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Does it work when you just enter the BIOS instead of booting the OS? If this happens with two different drives, it might be software-locked.

Reply 4 of 10, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-08-30, 21:10

theamtrakvirus Offline

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derSammler wrote:
Does it work when you just enter the BIOS instead of booting the OS? If this happens with two different drives, it might be software-locked.

Nope, not in the BIOS, not during POST and not when it's in Windows. I should clarify that the light on the drive blinks as if it's about to eject when I push the button.

Reply 5 of 10, by torindkflt

Posted on 2018-08-30, 21:56

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Go into Windows, then open the My Computer folder. Right-click on the optical drive and select "Eject". Does it open that way?

If not, does it make any clicking noises that sound like it's TRYING to open, but may be physically jammed?

Reply 6 of 10, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-08-30, 22:06

theamtrakvirus Offline

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torindkflt wrote:
Go into Windows, then open the My Computer folder. Right-click on the optical drive and select "Eject". Does it open that way?

If not, does it make any clicking noises that sound like it's TRYING to open, but may be physically jammed?

No luck doing that in Windows and no, it doesn't seem to be making any unusual noises.

Reply 7 of 10, by SW-SSG

Posted on 2018-08-30, 22:10

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What happens if you remove the bezel from the drive and then try to eject?

Reply 8 of 10, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-08-30, 22:38

theamtrakvirus Offline

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SW-SSG wrote:
What happens if you remove the bezel from the drive and then try to eject?

Tried that earlier, no luck.

Reply 9 of 10, by oeuvre

Posted on 2018-08-31, 14:47

oeuvre Offline

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Sounds like a severe case of

(•_•) /
( •_•)>⌐■-■
/(⌐■_■)

ejectile dysfunction

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7

Reply 10 of 10, by theamtrakvirus

Posted on 2018-09-01, 23:50

theamtrakvirus Offline

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Well, it turns out those Lite-On drives are just total crap as i swapped in a (falling apart but functional) HP drive and it ejected first time no problem. The model I specifically used is a DS-8A1H which is a drop in replacement for these drives (I would imagine any IDE slimline drive would work, but that's what i had handy). So this can be a heads up for those of you who have a laptop with this drive.

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