Dear NG,

I´d like to ask a few questions about CD-RW drives. I better however
start with a short story of how mine became out of order.

The tray was not coming out completely so I decided to repair it...
unfortunately I wasn´t at a very good mood, I however managed to make
the tray come out properly by doing a bit of lubrication (with vegetable
oil.. I know it wasn´t the best lubricant but I wasn´t thinking then).
Then after sometime this problem repeated, so I did something which I
don´t exactly remember but somehow the tray got stuck in the drive and
could not come out anymore. I used a little force and managed to pry it
out. But then I felt something was broken and that it wasn´t able to
read CDs anymore.

After disassembling the drive, I realized that the optical drive had a
black plastic cover that sorounds the laser diode (or laser light
source, whatever that is), and it was broken and I in fact found that
broken piece. I then glued it back. ... but well ... it cant read CDs
anymore. I wonder if its already hopeless to make this CD drive work (I
can of course buy a new one, but I´d also love to learn and experiment
with the mechanism of this one. It will be a good punishment for me and
give me a lesson not to damage a gadget more than it is already damaged).

Also, I found a website that has everything about CD-repairs and
apparently it was an extract from sci.electronics.repair. But
unfortunately I am unable to recall this site. If anyone knows it, I´d
be glad if he could share it with me.

Many thanks.

Sincerely,
Jose Capco

After disassembling the drive, I realized that the optical drive had a
black plastic cover that sorounds the laser diode (or laser light
source, whatever that is), and it was broken and I in fact found that
broken piece. I then glued it back. ... but well ... it cant read CDs
anymore.

Let's see if I've got this right.

The plastic cover with an opening for the objective lens was forcefully torn
off and now the drive won't work.

It may very well be possible that, with the forced opening that sheared off the
shroud, damage may have also been inflicted on the objective lens, lens focus
voicecoil drivers, and the lens suspension.

If this is the case, the pickup is totalled.

I wonder if its already hopeless to make this CD drive work (I
can of course buy a new one, but I´d also love to learn and experiment
with the mechanism of this one.

You can't really repair the pickup and expect it to be reliable again. You
will have to replace the pickup if parts are available for sale and if it's not
too expensive.

It is much more economically feasible to replace the drive rather than attempt
this kind of repair.

At least cheaper CD-RW drives can be very decent. Lite-On makes fantastic
CD-RW drives and they don't cost an arm and a leg. - Reinhart