Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Chelmsford, MA
Posts: 548

I don't know if anyone has an answer, but IBM.com certainly didn't:
I have a ThinkPad 390E that I got in June of 1999. For some reason, it spontaneously ejects the cd drive CONSTANTLY. As soon as you close it, it pops back open again. This may happen a couple times in a row, or it may happen almost twenty times. As little as a few minutes or as much as a few hours may pass between these "fits" of popping open. It doesn't matter whether there is a cd in it or not (I've tried it with audio cds, data cds, and without anything in there at all). It always happens (99.9% of the time) when the computer is starting up.

So, there's the basics. Does anyone have any idea as to what is causing it and what I can do to stop it (short of taping it shut or buying a new cd drive)?

Thanks!
zornkugel

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 4736

I suspect the locking spring is bust in the drive. A simple seek is most probably 'causing enough current to pop it open.

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Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Chelmsford, MA
Posts: 548

Thank you. Proposed solution?

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Shreveport, LA
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Take the drive out and clean it. There is a type of spray for electronics that does not conduct electricity and will degrease the shit out of it. You can also wash it out with hot water and let it dry completely.

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Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Chelmsford, MA
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Thanks - I'll have to get some of that cleaning spray. I've never thought to take it out and clean it.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
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quote:

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Originally posted by Timeenoughforlove
Take the drive out and clean it. There is a type of spray for electronics that does not conduct electricity and will degrease the shit out of it. You can also wash it out with hot water and let it dry completely.

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Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Chelmsford, MA
Posts: 548

Thanks, macker. I wouldn't go for the water idea - common sense prevails there, doesn't it? Water + electronics = broken
I'm going to try some of that spray can air to see if I can just get some debris knocked out (if any is there). Worse comes to worst, I can replace it when I have money again.

Thanks!

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: the heart of an awl
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fuck macker's advice, TEFL knows what he's talking about.

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quote:

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Originally posted by WastedPotential
fuck macker's advice, TEFL knows what he's talking about.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
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You put a CD-ROM drive in water, unless it's *very* pure, you will stain the lense. How on earth can you even compare the reading heads used in floppy drives to that used in a CD-ROM?

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
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Macker would seem to have a point here; you (TEFL) are talking about, broadly speaking, electronics but macker is talking about optics.

Not that I know who is right, but optics and electronics are certainly different.

Last edited by Smug Git on 12-21-2002 at 06:00 PM

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Ok, maybe you can stain the lense. But, as I have wore glasses for years now, I've yet to ever fuck them up with water. Of course, after the dunking, you may want to swap the lense off with a eyeglass or camera cloth and some rubbing alcohol or some windex. (I've cleaned the lense on my cd player like that for years, the same as I have my glasses.) The only problem I could think of would be cleaning the underside of the lense if indeed water would stain it.

Maybe a good dunking and soak in pure alcohol may be a better solution. <shrugs> Ever that or just get a new cdrw.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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The level of perfection required in a CD player probably massively exceeds that required by your eyes from glasses lenses (easy enough to verify that by looking to see how much detail of the CD tracks you can make out just by looking at the CD), so macker might have a point.

Water is a terrible conductor (the water that we think of as a good conductor isn't pure water) so should be safe for electronics as you say, as long as it is pure enough, but as far as lens smearing goes, that is another issue (I know that the accuracy required on those is pretty high).

Last edited by Smug Git on 12-22-2002 at 12:25 AM

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quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
(I know that the accuracy required on those is pretty high).

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quote:

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Originally posted by macker


Odd that you need such an accurate read head to read such a horribly error filled storage medium.

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Registered: Dec 2001
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If you are planning on dunking anything electronic that you really like in water, you should preferably dip it in alcohol after. It will displace the water, and dry quicky. You can also blow it dry with a blowgun or canned air, but the alcohol is the method i learned when fooling with electronics.

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Registered: Aug 2000
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alien technology is washable in plain old dishsoap and water, so i can understand where TEFL is coming from.

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Location: A New England
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Gold.

Last edited by Goatboy on 12-24-2002 at 01:22 PM

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quote:

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Originally posted by WastedPotential
alien technology is washable in plain old dishsoap and water, so i can understand where TEFL is coming from.

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