more DVD-RW help..ASAP

A few days a go I put in a real old CD (I bet you already see where this is going) in my almost brand new DVD-RW drive, yesterday I heard a big boom inside my computer. I immediatly turn it off and open up the case to investiage. I thought it was that my processor fan fell and landed on my poor little video card.

Today, I went to try to put in another CD (mind you, I didn't remove this CD at all for about 3-4 days) and it barely comes out and I see a bunch of pieces of the CD fall out with it. So when I finish taking as much pieces as I can out, I try to close it to no avail.

So I proceed to the next step. I take out my entire DVD-RW drive, and begin to disassemble. Having already disassembled a previous CD-ROM drive (and furthur breaking the insides :P), I pretty much had an idea of what I was doing.

When I remove the bottom cover, I don't find a way to take the top cover off (couldn't slide it), so I shake all the pieces loose and take out as much pieces as possible. When I'm trying to assemble it back, when I began putting the part that holds the eject button back on, I accidently push the drive back in and a piece falls out (of the CD) so I re-disassemble it and in the process figure out a way to remove the top cover (lifting it upwards...duh) by the time I open it, no pieces are left over however the drive doesn't move (I might've messed it up by pushing it by hand).

Now what do I do? I had this same problem with the one that was already messed up. It had a little white thing that makes the laser stand go up when the drive closes and down when it opens but I couldn't fix it on that old drive. Any help?

EDIT: I'm checking warranty information but any help would be appreciated because it will be an alternative solution.

I would of recommened sending it back to the manufacturer, and let them solve it.
But since you have obviously now voided your warranty i'd say that maybe even if you did get it back together, it might not work as the CD exploding could of/would of damaged the laser and other internals in the burner..

I would just cut your losses and purchase a new one, and next time instead of voiding the warranty by pulling it apart just send it back to the manufacturer. ;)

cheers
front2back

front2back:
Well, being that there is no warranty sticker that says "Void warranty if opened" They have no way of saying that I opened it. and just like you I figured that the laser wouldn't work. I'm a hands on person and usually go for the do-it-yourself part of a project :-d sending it back for warranty..isn't hands on.

Btw, NEC has the worst ****ing customer service, I can't get through to them.

I would just reccomend getting a new drive. There could be many problems with that drive now, and a small peice could destroy a valuble disk in the drive.

Also, your no way covered by warranty now, very little companies still give warranty to drives that have been opened and tampered with.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

woot! wooot! it's my 100th post....

F2B has this one on the bull's eye. There's most likely a small spot of paint, or a seal somewhere that is removed or broken when you take the cover off. However--

Interesting, a cd busting in to many pieces inside a drive! I'm not laughing at you it's just that it probably caused quite the Charmin Moment. Anyway, the drive is broke and you have nothing to loose by putting the broken pieces of cd back into the drive and sending it off to the company. Although the warranty may be voided, this is a dynamic event in which craftmanship was an issue. Being such a huge company I hopefully they will just send you another one. It's worth a shot.

cheers

Hmm.
<off topic>
anyhow i was watching an episode of Myth Busters, and they did a show on Cd's exploding in Cd/Dvd drives.
But it was caused from the drive spinning up the cd to a speed that the Cd/DVD disc could not handle.

very interesting to see the different types of brands and what speeds they were built to withstand.
and even more interesting some of the bigger brands weren't capable of spinning up to the speeds that they said that they could handle 52x..
</off topic>

front2back

Yeah F2B i saw that episode, but this CD was real old and had a 'clear spot', I was even surprised that it worked..

EDIT: Omg NEC is must be full of idiots! I send them an e-mail and this is what I get:

Quote:

---

Could you please verify the following information; it will help us in diagnosing your problem.

1) Is the icon for the DVD/CD visible under My Computer (right click on my computer (which should be located on your desktop), select "Properties", then select the "Device Manager" tab)?

2) Under the Device Manager what drives are reported under DVD\CD Rom drives?

3) Verify that your DVD drive has the latest firmware upgrades. You can confirm that you have the latest firmware by following the instructions below:

---

What does that have ANYTHING to do with the drive not opening!!

Ack! phtt!

Quote:

---

1) Is the icon for the DVD/CD visible under My Computer (right click on my computer (which should be located on your desktop), select "Properties", then select the "Device Manager" tab)?

---

No Sir! it does not. However given that I am left-handed, I have adjusted my mouse to accommodate this obviously deviant and aberrant trait. So I CAN see that which you describe.

Quote:

---

2) Under the Device Manager what drives are reported under DVD\CD Rom drives?

---

Only the physically defective one supplied by your company, whose drawer will not open.

Quote:

---

3) Verify that your DVD drive has the latest firmware upgrades. You can confirm that you have the latest firmware by following the instructions below:

---

Well,Sir, during it's short lifetime it did stick its drawer out in quite a firmware manner, if not to say erect. Unfortunately it seems to have relapsed into a period of flaccidity, and the drawer no longer stands to attention on the parade ground.

A final solution ;) :D

nihil..how'd you know I was left handed? :eek:

just an update, so far newegg (the people I purchased it from) apparantly have not noticed that I previously opened the drive (despite the tool scratch marks), since my RMA is already up to step 3, and I quote step 3:

Quote:

---

Step 3: Your RMA has been inspected, approved and posted. If you opted for a replacement, a sales order number will be generated shortly and you will receive status updates and tracking information via email. If your RMA type is refund, you will be refunded forthwith.

---

:-D I love newegg lol Just hope i get my RMA as soon as possible

btw, their warranty does NOT cover physical damage done, and apparantly that is physical damage. but since they don't ask for an explination of what happened, they just approve your RMA by your purchase date (or so i believe) they'll never know :)

You seem to be lucky.. Most of my suppliers refuse optical drives that had exploded CD's (especially Sony - These guys used the excuse of the warning sticker thay attached to the draw on all their 52x drives (some but not all of their rw drives).. The Auss suppliers attitude is that it was the defective CD inserted by the customer not a fault in their drive. Vis warranty void...

Dont those suckers make a mess when they go off.. bad enough removing the fragments of plastic, but you have all that bloody silver flake, and the odd chopped piece of plastic or cable.

even had a tray jambed due to the slider and rack nailed together by a sliver of plastic from a cd.. ..
looks like they havent had a look inside the case.. very lucky