I would think that something is wearing out in the drive. It may be that
with use, that something became out of calibration, or there is something
that is failing.

In this case I would seriously consider replacing the drive. The newer
drives are also improved. Their reliability is better, and they are a lot
faster working than the ones from a few years ago.

--

Jerry G.
======


"Sunny" wrote in message
. ..
Mat****a CW-7503 8x SCSI CD burner.

When a blank disc is inserted, the busy LED comes on and the drive makes
odd rattling sounds while it thinks about the disc. It has done this since
new, but originally the busy LED and rattling lasted 10-15 seconds. Over
time it has gradually increased to the point the drive now takes 10-15
minutes (!) to accept a blank disc. I've tried most brands of media with
no change in symptoms. The drive accepts non-blank media (pressed or
burned) within 15 seconds, i.e. the problem is specific to blank discs.
Once it finally accepts the blank (it always does eventually), there are
no issues during the burning process and the burned discs work just fine.

I opened the drive and found a piece of thin, clear plastic under the
laser head assembly (covering the ribbon cable attachment point) had
warped and was catching on a protrusion moulded into the frame, which
prevented the head from travelling to the outer edge of the disc. I
unscrewed the plastic, turned it over, replaced it, then confirmed the
head was now able to travel smoothly between the bump-stops at either
extreme. While I was there, I cleaned the lens, head rails, and worm gear
with 99% isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip, and lightly re-lubed the rails and
gear with white lithium grease.

All this made absolutely no difference to the drive's behavior - which is
not surprising since the blank media information is stored on the inner
edge of the disc, whereas the problem I corrected prevented the laser from
reaching the outer edge - so should only have manifested when reading or
writing full discs. The head definitely was, and still is, able to travel
smoothly to the inner bump-stop.

Any and all suggestions appreciated...

TIA

Sunny