CD/DVD Tray Won't Open

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 12 Mar 2008 9:17 pm

What's up with that? I have a Gateway and the CD/DVD tray won't open any more, any ideas?

Harry Dietrich · Post by **Harry Dietrich** » 12 Mar 2008 9:54 pm

I don't know about a Gateway, but some towers have a tiny hole along side, or under the tray. Open up a paper clip and put it in the hole...it should open then.

Hope this helps

Harry

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 12 Mar 2008 11:07 pm

Thanks Harry, I know what your talkin about but this one doesn't have it.

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 13 Mar 2008 1:07 am

switch off the computer and restart, while restating try to open the tray.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 13 Mar 2008 2:37 am

Check the power plug on the back. If it's loose or came out, no power and the tray won't open with the button.

Strange that it doesn't have the small hole to manually ope it.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 13 Mar 2008 5:08 am

Restarted, then tried to open with button on front...no deal, then I finally openened her up and reseated the ribbon cable and power plug. I've also tried to reinstall drivers. About a week ago I remember it wouldn't read CDR's when before it had no problem with any CD. Could it be just plain wore out?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 13 Mar 2008 6:10 am

If the power cable is connected (and with the power on) it still won't work it's pretty much a done deal - it's dead.

When you go for a new one, you need a "PATA" drive NOT an SATA interface drive which is used on newer systems (I assume you have the older PATA "IDE" interface drive from your description).

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 13 Mar 2008 7:52 pm

I'll have to research it a little Jack. This computer is about 3 years old.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 13 Mar 2008 8:01 pm

just went to the Gateway website and looked at my current configuration and it recommended an upgrade to a "sata" interface hard drive so I guess it's the newer style then. Well, it's time to go shopping I guess.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 13 Mar 2008 11:03 pm

This may sound dumb, but I had a similar problem with a fairly new computer recently, and it turned out all I needed to do was to 're-seat' the drawer that comes out. It was slightly misaligned and therefore getting stuck during it's travel in/out. Of course, my problem was that it was stuck OUT, not in, so it was easier to fix, just by grabbing the drawer and giving it a slight manual twist till it clicked into place.

FWIW. YMMV.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 14 Mar 2008 2:24 am

Don't jump on the SATA drive until you physically confirm which type you have. There are also configurations with PATA CD/DVD drives and SATA Hard Drives (My Dell E510 is that way).

Look at the rear of the CD/DVD drive(s). If it has a large Molex power connector and a "wide" ribbon cable for the I/O it is a PATA drive. If it is SATA it will have a smaller power connector and a smaller cable for the I/O data cable. Also the PATA drive will have a jumper for the device type (Master, Slave or Cable Select (usually Cable Select on modern systems). SATA drives do not require device type setting.

Newegg has both types www.newegg.com you can check them out there. Practically all new drives are both CD/DVD burner drives. The price has dropped so drastically on optical drives that a combo CD/DVD burner drive is the only way to go.

Jonathan Cullifer · Post by **Jonathan Cullifer** » 20 Mar 2008 8:43 pm

If the computer is 3 years old, then it almost certainly has a PATA (IDE) CD-ROM drive. If people have started putting SATA CD drives in computers, it's only been in the last couple of months.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 20 Mar 2008 9:14 pm

Jack and Jonathan, You guys are probably right. I now remember when I took the cover off and looked at the drive that it did indeed have the wide ribbon cable. I'll remove it and take it with me when I go to buy another drive to make sure that the new one will be compatible. I've tried everything with this one and it still won't open up.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 21 Mar 2008 6:52 am

I've always been able to pry one open with a knife.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 21 Mar 2008 8:55 pm

I opened it with a little help but it still wont work on it's own. I took the side cover off the tower and disconnected the power plug and the ribbon cable to the CD/DVD drive, will it hurt anything to use my computer until I replace the drive?

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 21 Mar 2008 9:04 pm

Nope.