can someone plz help me. my sony vaio desktop pc has a dvd drive & a cd burner. the sony burner crx175e works fine, although it does have a slight buzzing sound whenever a disc is inserted, if that is normal for a burner??? but my main problem is the dvd drive door. for the longest time it would take me pressing the open button three times for the door to open. but now it doesnt open at all. you can hear that it is trying to open, whether you push the open button, or if you try the eject option under the drive's options in the my computer section. the drive is a pioneer dvd-rom dvd 117r if that matters. the last time it worked was last week. & the funny thing was that once i had a disc in the drive, it worked like brand new. but then as i was trying to switch the discs, the door somehow closed on its own, & hasnt opened since. thnx in advance for any help you can give me.

Welcome to SAF!

Some drives do make noise. It is from the vibration. They do sell dampeners which basically cushion the space between the drive and the rail (they also sell them for fans and power supplies). They cost about $3.

As for your other drive, the motor probably died. You will need to replace the drive. Post back if you need any specific help or a step-by-step.

thanks for the help, but does the fact that the drive worked perfectly last week with a disc inserted mean anything. the fact the door shut on its own, makes it seem like some command is always forcing the door to close...also, does the sound of the door trying to open indicate anything. the fact that it would take three pushes for the door to finally open went on for about 6 months prior to last week. finally, if i have replaced video cards & also memory in pcs before, is changing out a dvd drive somthing much harder to do, that i should definitely bring it into a shop... thanx again.

If you have installed video cards and memory in a PC before you should have no problem putting a new CD drive in. Its very easy to do, you just have to make sure you have the jumpers right. Read the manual of the drive you want to put in. It should explain it, including what to set your jumpers too. Pretty much all you do when you replace a CD or DVD drive is:

Take the PC side panel off

unscrew the side screws of the drive

Unplug the power and data cables

Slide it out the front of the computer, slide the new one in

Plug the data and power cables back in (make sure you line it up right, there should be a "key" (small raised area) that will show you how to insert the data cable. The power will only go in the correct way due to its shape.

Screw it in place and put your cover back on

QUOTE (needhelp @ May 11 2005, 10:26 AM)

but does the fact that the drive worked perfectly last week with a disc inserted mean anything. the fact the door shut on its own, makes it seem like some command is always forcing the door to close...also, does the sound of the door trying to open indicate anything. the fact that it would take three pushes for the door to finally open went on for about 6 months prior to last week.

It pretty much means that the drive has had motor problems for 6 months and has finally died. I have never heard of any software causing this kind of problem. If you want to test your theory, use a boot disk and start up in dos. Then try the drive. If it works with absolutely no problem, then it might be a very tricky windows/software problem. Even if it is (and I would doubt it), a new drive could be the easiest solution.

Fallen Angel is correct, a new drive is much easier to install than memory or a video card.

QUOTE (efabes @ May 11 2005, 10:57 AM)

I have never heard of any software causing this kind of problem.

Just FYI I know of some viruses and such that can open and close your CD drive but I'm not sure it they would keep it closed all the time. It sure is funny when you get one that does that and you have 4 CD drives, LoL

Have you manually opened the tray with the stiff wire that usually comes with the drive? One of the heavier paper clips straightened out will also work. There's a tiny hole in the front panel. Insert the wire straight in and press firmly. That should push the tray open. Best to do this with the power off, of course. If the tray closes back up upon reboot, then there is something physically binding the mechanism.