No, buying a random belt and hoping it would work is a terrible idea, and would probably not work.

The correct answer is to measure the belt you need, and figure out if it's square, round, or whatever else shaped. Then find a belt that size and shape. Every single drive design is different, there is no standard for belts or cog arrangement.

It would probably be much easier just to get a new drive. They're not difficult to find these days. Besides, if the belt is failing, there are probably going to be other components that will start to fail that will not be so easily replaced.

Appreciate the information

Will do the measurements on it then. I want to try and keep this drive running as its in a build with another matching CD-ROM Drive.

If it's "matching" because of the front panel, you might want to consider prying off the plastic parts and attaching them to another drive. It might be more feasible in the long run.

Jorpho wrote:

If it's "matching" because of the front panel, you might want to consider prying off the plastic parts and attaching them to another drive. It might be more feasible in the long run.

Been there done that, doesn't always work. I tried with 4 different cd Ron drives and none were compatible (wanted to put a cd rom front on a DVD rom). Refurbushing might be the best idea next to repairing. Check the belt and measure it and try a local hardware shop. I was in luck that I had access to a industrial workshop.

Jorpho wrote:

It would probably be much easier just to get a new drive. They're not difficult to find these days. Besides, if the belt is failing, there are probably going to be other components that will start to fail that will not be so easily replaced.

Repair before refuse. If you can fix something with ease, there is no reason why one should not do it, and throw it out.

Ampera wrote:

If you can fix something with ease

All too often it is easy to vastly overestimate the "ease" with which something can be fixed.

Jorpho wrote:

Ampera wrote:

If you can fix something with ease

All too often it is easy to vastly overestimate the "ease" with which something can be fixed.

In that eventuality, you can't break it more.

Jorpho wrote:

Ampera wrote:

If you can fix something with ease

All too often it is easy to vastly overestimate the "ease" with which something can be fixed.

Agreed. But if someone manages to find some easy fix, it might be interested to know about it.

But personally I wouldn't bother fixing drive belts and just get another stack of optical drives and be done with it.

Tetrium wrote:

Jorpho wrote:

Ampera wrote:

If you can fix something with ease

All too often it is easy to vastly overestimate the "ease" with which something can be fixed.

Agreed. But if someone manages to find some easy fix, it might be interested to know about it.

But personally I wouldn't bother fixing drive belts and just get another stack of optical drives and be done with it.

Save what components you have. It's this ideology that makes many components so expensive, since at one point they were very expendable, but one tiny thing breaks, and you just toss it and buy a new one.

And all old drives ARE going to have their belts die. It happens to ALL belts, it's just a matter of when. Having a good source of belts for these drives might not be a bad idea.

Ampera wrote:

Jorpho wrote:

All too often it is easy to vastly overestimate the "ease" with which something can be fixed.

In that eventuality, you can't break it more.

You might not be able to break it more, but you can waste tremendous amounts of time that might be spent doing other things trying to pretend that it's sort of working when it isn't really, or that you might be able to fix it if you do something else just a little bit differently.

Ampera wrote:

And all old drives ARE going to have their belts die. It happens to ALL belts, it's just a matter of when. Having a good source of belts for these drives might not be a bad idea.

But not all drives use belts, and to my knowledge there is no particular advantage to using a drive that has a belt. And most importantly, there's no reason to expect that the other components will necessarily keep working once the belt starts to fail. I've heard of a lot more problems with drives that have faulty optics for one reason or another than I've heard of drives with broken belts.

But I appreciate your position.

Ampera wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

Agreed. But if someone manages to find some easy fix, it might be interested to know about it.

But personally I wouldn't bother fixing drive belts and just get another stack of optical drives and be done with it.

Save what components you have. It's this ideology that makes many components so expensive, since at one point they were very expendable, but one tiny thing breaks, and you just toss it and buy a new one.

And all old drives ARE going to have their belts die. It happens to ALL belts, it's just a matter of when. Having a good source of belts for these drives might not be a bad idea.

I can see where you're coming from and I tend to agree. But it's inevitable that most stuff will get scrapped and only a small portion will end up in someones collection of (spare) parts. There's actually plenty people here who have more stuff then they will ever use for themselves 😜