DVD burner door closes automatically

[innerpeace]

I have a new Samsung SH-S203B SATA DVD burner. Whenever I open the disk door it closes immediately by itself. I should still be able to RMA it, but I wanted to see if I could do anything to fix it myself. It still plays cd's and I installed a game with it. It is also the burner that I recently installed Windows with. I can see it in Device Manager with no warnings and as far as I can tell it has the latest firmware.

I've tried unplugging the SATA and power cable and booting to Windows XP HOME SP3 without the burner and then plugging them back in and rebooted which didn't help. This is my first self built computer and my first nLited/slipstreamed XP Sp3 install. I also installed XP in RAID (AHCI) mode and I'm not sure if that could be part of the problem as it was new territory for me.

If anyone has any ideas as what to try next, I would appreciate the help.

[lucas1985]

Go to the Event Viewer (type "eventvwr.msc" without the quotes in the Run box) and see if there are any red items related to "atapi" and "cdrom" in the System registry.
Maybe the loading mechanism is somehow slightly damaged.

[ThunderZ]

It could be as simple as the open\close mechanism is sticking. I know it will be hard to tell but when you press the button does it seem to return to it`s outward position? Try to see if the front bezel is on straight and not binding it. The tolerances are pretty close and the return spring is pretty weak.

[innerpeace]

Originally Posted by lucas1985

Go to the Event Viewer (type "eventvwr.msc" without the quotes in the Run box) and see if there are any red items related to "atapi" and "cdrom" in the System registry.
Maybe the loading mechanism is somehow slightly damaged.

Thanks for your reply Lucas. I don't see any red items relating to atapi or cdrom.

Originally Posted by ThunderZ

It could be as simple as the open\close mechanism is sticking. I know it will be hard to tell but when you press the button does it seem to return to it`s outward position? Try to see if the front bezel is on straight and not binding it. The tolerances are pretty close and the return spring is pretty weak.

Thanks ThunderZ. Sometimes it does stop while open for a second or two, but most of the time it quickly closes. I'll have a better look at the bezel tomorrow when it's daytime. I'm also not sure if it's opening fully. It did work fine while installing Windows. I may take it back out and loosen and re-tighten the mounting drive rails.

[innerpeace]

I removed and re-installed the burner today with no luck. It still closes automatically in Windows.

While I'm in the BIOS, the burner door works normally and does not shut by itself. This might indicate that it's software related.

[Franklin]

If you right click the drive and select eject from the menu does it stay open?

Are Open then Explore the first and second options in the right click context menu?

You could also try opening it manually through the pinhole and slide it fully open then hit the close button twice which may just jog something into place?

Other than that I would be taking it back and try another.

[innerpeace]

Originally Posted by Franklin

If you right click the drive and select eject from the menu does it stay open?

Thanks Franklin. No, the eject has the same results. It closes by itself.

Are Open then Explore the first and second options in the right click context menu?

Yes

You could also try opening it manually through the pinhole and slide it fully open then hit the close button twice which may just jog something into place?

When I try this, it opens and shuts by itself. It won't let me open it manually when running in Windows. I may try it later when I'm in the BIOS.

Other than that I would be taking it back and try another.

If I don't find a solution soon, I will have to send it back to Newegg and have them send me a new one.

[Hairy Coo]

Innewrpeace-

why do you always have these difficult problems

Would say its definitely a software/firmware problem

Suggest you once again install the latest Samsung firmware.

If this doesnt work get a new computer drive from Newegg.

[innerpeace]

Hairy Coo

What else would I have to do if I didn't fiddle around with my machine . I've had this problem for a while now, but just getting around to troubleshooting it. I will try the latest firmware and see how I get along. I have nothing to lose at this point.

If this doesnt work get a new computer drive from Newegg.

Good idea! A new computer would give me the chance to do it the right way this time . It would also give me 2 machines to fix constantly LOL. I would like to start collecting parts on sale and build another machine .

[innerpeace]

I'm going through the tedious process of finding the latest firmware which can't be found at Samsung.com and the file I have downloaded is a .exe, file. Notice the comma after the .exe. Has anyone ever saw that before? I've scanned it with Avira and SAS locally and VirusTotal says it's ok. Any ideas?

Edit: full file name is SH-S203B_SB04.exe,

[Franklin]

I just downloaded that firmware and got the comma at the end as well.

I had to right click - rename then delete the comma at the end in order for it to execute properly.

[innerpeace]

Thanks for confirming Franklin. I'm also seeing that the comma is common problem that needs to be fixed . I've checked a couple other firmware versions myself that have them and just now saw it mentioned at cdfreaks. I will rename and give it a try .

Cheers

[Hairy Coo]

Not sure at what stage we are,but drivers available at Samsung HERE

[innerpeace]

Just updated from SB03 to SB04 firmware and the drive still automatically shuts .

I don't need any IDE controllers other than the single ICH9 SATA AHCI controller when I install in AHCI mode correct?

Also, if I look at the DVD/CD-ROM properties, the driver is from Microsoft (2001), is this also normal?

Hairy Coo, I found a newer firmware version at samsungodd.com which for some odd reason isn't mentioned at samsung.com. Thanks for checking though. I should have been more specific about having found firmware at Samsung.com, but a newer one was found at the other site.

[Hairy Coo]

Wouldnt be a controller or BIOS problem-if you are in IDE mode you do-if in AHCI mode,the Intel one.
The age of the Windows drivers wouldnt matter-that is quite recent by MS standards.

[innerpeace]

Thanks Hairy Coo. I've got a couple other physical things I can try including swapping my slightly older identical drive thats in my old machine at my relatives for this one. I can also try another SATA cable. This first option will have to wait though. Any other ideas are welcomed until then, but it's not looking good.

[lucas1985]

If you put a CD/DVD in the tray, it stays open when you eject it or it closes too?

[innerpeace]

Originally Posted by lucas1985

If you put a CD/DVD in the tray, it stays open when you eject it or it closes too?

It makes no difference. Every time I open the door, it shuts automatically with or without a disk present. In other words if I insert or remove a disk it has to be done quickly.

I tried my other identical dvd writer and it behaves the same. I also tried another SATA cable which didn't help. I guess that means it's definitely a software problem. I have no idea what to do next as I'm in over my head when it comes this type of problem .

Does SP3 use any services that were safe to disable in SP2? In other words, I disabled the same services in this new SP3 install that I did in SP2.

It looks to be software related, maybe something got n'lited that shouldn't have been. Just a possibility. Have you tried booting into a live Linux cd, for instance, then checked the open drawer functionality? How about in XP Safe mode?

[innerpeace]

Thanks wat and good idea! The door does work correctly in BIOS and in Safe Mode.

Okay, I've never used nLite, but is there a way to "un-nlite" something, so to speak, back to default Windows setting? Can you see something optical drive-related that could be restored to default?

Otherwise, you might try going into Device manager, ununstalling the drive, shut down pc, physically remove the drive, re-boot and check Device manager again to make sure there are no entries for the drive left (enable "Show hidden devices" under View) If the drive looks to be removed, shut down again and re-install the drive, re-boot then try again. Just be careful in Device manager you don't remove something needed.

[innerpeace]

Thanks again wat. I think the only way to fix something that is done with nlite is to install it manually. I was fairly careful on the components that I chose to remove with nlite. You did give me an idea though. I may try my older images and see if that helps. Maybe it will give me a close idea as to what happened and when .

I think I did try removing the drive and reinstalling it which didn't help.

[Hairy Coo]

wat and innerpeace

I did a dummy nLite run and couldnt see the possibility of any problems from that area.

However,the fact that in SafeMode the door works OK indicates a conflict with something else .

Possibly the registry keys have become corrupted and should also be completely removed.

Just reinstalling under Devices Manager isnt enough,if the old keys are left behind .



If you go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom],

your entry should look something like that.

Apart from that,can you think of any similar app which could be conflicting with the drive?.

If not,probably the best bet is to RMA the drive.

If the next one also doesnt work,THEN we have PROBLEMS!!

Have fun

edit; if you get a new drive,make sure the old reg entries have been deleted-for a start ,run a good reg.cleaner

[innerpeace]

I think I just found part of my problem . When I have my external HDD plugged into my eSATA port, the dvd writer door shuts automatically. When I unplug the eSATA cable, the door works correctly. FWIW, the external HDD has been powered off.

I'm not sure if it's shorting something out or the hot-swap ability isn't working correctly. It has to be something in Windows as it works fine in the BIOS and Safe Mode. This is very weird .

Edit #1:
Hairy Coo,

I was posting the same time you were. After reading the above, now what do you think? I don't believe it's the burners. Would the reg fix work or is it something driver related?

Edit #2: When I have the eSATA drive plugged in and powered on the door works correctly. So, the only time I have the problem is when the external eSATA cable is plugged in and powered off.

Also, when I shut off my external HDD, I get warnings in the Event Viewer. Source is ftdisk, category is disk, "The System failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur."

[Hairy Coo]

innerpeace,

A conflict/bug ,possibly with Intel/part of XP-who knows, IGNORE!!

Work around.

Did the tray fault also occur prior to the AHCI/Matrix install?.

I would just ignore it and plug/unplug as necessary.

Report to Samsung-for a bug fix.

You just made a small part of history


edit ; re ftdisk -looks to me like a seperate problem-is it when you shut down the drive seperately by pulling out a plug