[Autocrat]

Often when I eject my DVD burner, it closes immediately causing many disc jams. I have reinstalled my OS several times ever since this problem started long time back but I did not pay much attention to this issue. It appears to me a hardware problem because sometime it happens and sometimes not. When the drive is open, if I rock its tray manually from side to side it closes.

Is this really a hardware issue? This was not there when I bought my burner. It started sometime after. If I take the burner apart, would the components be ruined like when you open a clock machinery? How should I disassemble it? With the tray open or closed? Maybe I can solve issues with the eject button.

Model Number is Samsung (TSST Corp) Writemaster SH-S182M ATA.

[calvinthedestroyer]

Yes, I think this is a hard ware issue. The switch that detects when the cdrom tray is PUSHed is malfunctioning or out of adjustment or it might just be sticking.

I've taking many, many cdrom drives apart and yes they are pretty easy to work on. One trick to remember is that you need to use a paper clip to manually open the tray then you can pop the front off. The front will be stuck on the tray, you will have to pop the front of the Tray to get the cdrom's front off.

To remove the tray, pull it all the way out till it stops, then look for a tab on the tray (some cdrom's have two tabs) Push those tabs aside to remove the tray.

[Autocrat]

Why don't I turn off the PC with the tray open? Is that a good choice?

Why don't I turn off the PC with the tray open? Is that a good choice?

Moreover, even if I slap my box while the tray is open, the tray closes. Can it be a programmed feature of the drive to close when it detects jerks? I don't think this drive with a make of 2006 will have this feature. Or is this simply invoking the eject button?

[DeCompile]

This appears to be a known issue with Samsung DVD Burners. It's an issue in the firmware regarding the button timings.

Many users are awaiting a firmware update regarding this issue.

[Autocrat]

@DeCompile, thanks for this info but there is one more clue that this is not a software issue. Sometimes, when the drive is solid open (not going in incessantly), if I slap my box, the drive would go it. Sometimes if I slap it, it would go in. If there was a mechanism to close the drive when jerks were detected (which I found no mention of in the manual), the drive would always close if slapped.

I think I should boot into the BIOS or a Linux live CD. That should make it clear if its a firmware issue. But please clear me up on the slapping issue.

@calvinthedestroyer, please tell me if its a good option to dismantle the drive with the tray open (so I don't have to pull it out by force.)

[Autocrat]

All right I booted into the BIOS and what I see is that slapping the box/rocking the tray closes the drive at times but not always.

The issue of the drive closing immediately is almost invisible.

Similar is the case in Windows now.

In Windows, after the drive has been in use for some time, the issue of closing immediately arises.

I haven't changed any firmware in Windows. All symptoms are suggesting that the button is out of place except the last one. Could that mean that after the drive has been in use, the button heats up and its metal contacts expand, causing such sensitivity?

[calvinthedestroyer]

Yes you can open the cdrom tray while the power is on and then turn off power and remove the drive and then disassemble it. But it's much easier to remove the drive and then open it with a paper clip, Plus, When you open it with a paper clip it pretty much opens all the way anyway. No brute force needed.

I would try what every body else has said, do a firmware update for your cdrom to see if that solves your problem.

But really, you have spent a lot of time with this cdrom drive, is it really worth the effort? I bought a brand new dvd burner two years ago for only $45, what are they now? $6?

Good luck
PS, I have 20 bad cdrom/dvd drives in my basement if you want one to practice with

[Autocrat]

Nopes, I think I should rather save for an Apple Magic Mouse

Still thanks for your help and time anyway.

And you are just like me Calvin, you break up everything you find. I have a huge collection of capacitors, resistors and transistors as well as bulbs and other stuff which I have been pulling out of useless hardware since long. I give the plastic in junk though!

[PsychoCoder]

I've never taken a part a CD/DVD drive before, I have a few lying around so I may have to test it to see how hard it is to get it back together right and working. And you can get a new Samsung DVD burner on NewEgg for $21 if you want to go that route

[no2pencil]

I would remove the drive from the system & place it into another machine. This is the quickest way to test any firmware, software, Operating System, or other internal items that could be causing the problem.

[calvinthedestroyer]

That's a good idea, see if the problem follows the device or if it goes away when you install it on another machine.

Do keep in mind, that when they say the cdrom's firmware is out of date they are talking about the program code that gets loaded onto the chips that are in the cdrom drive.