For some reason, the optical disk drives (CD/DVD drives) do not last very long for me – at least not as long as they do for some of my friends. I have bought five CD/DVD writers so far for replacing the malfunctioning ones. My first one was Samsung CD writer which stopped working for some mysterious reason. The second DVD writer from Samsung started to shatter the disks inside the drive. The third one from Dell had loose laser assembly and the fourth one from LG stopped working after I dropped it on the floor. My latest and fifth DVD driver is again from LG – albeit a cheap one, it is working great for over a year now.
During my experience with trying to fix some of the basic problems in the CD/DVD disk drives, I have learned some of the tricks that can help you save the day without having to call the repair shop nearby you. One of these tricks is related to the problem when your optical disk drive’s tray is stuck or jammed and is not opening even after pushing the Eject button several times.
You can actually open such a stuck CD/DVD drive tray using any metallic pin (like a safety pin) or hard wire. Just straighten the safety pin to make its sharp pointed arm stick out and then insert it into the small hole near the bottom of the CD/DVD drive tray. Press the Eject button once again and push the pin inside the hole with a little force. The CD/DVD tray will instantly open.
But you should not try this when the computer is not powered on as the tray requires the electrical power push from inside to fully open. When there is no power, it can cause some damage to the disk drive components if you force insert any pin inside the small hole.
Conclusion: When the CD/DVD disk drive tray is stuck or jammed, you can use the emergency eject hole to manually open the tray. All this requires is a small metallic pin or wire and a little patience.