Hp dvd 1040i Disk tray doesn't open half the time

[charles1957b]

My disk tray is awful to try to open. I press the button, activity light, lights, but the tray doesn't open. Press and hold the button and the same thing happens. I have to go into Windows Explorer (XP sp3) and right click the drive and select "eject" to get the disk tray open. About 10% of the time the button described above does work, 90% not.

I noticed in my device manager the drive is described as "HP DVD WRITER 1040d". Did I get the wrong driver with this drive?  I cannot find any DVD support on the HP site.

[Mister_Do]

Hi Charles1957b,

It could be that your drive is getting old and starting to wear out.

What is your PC model number? 

[charles1957b]

My computer is a Dell Dimension 3000. The original CD-DVD drive still works fine.  What is the difference between 1040d and 1040i? I noticed the problem early in my ownership of the 1040i, but ignored it and used the other drive. Sometimes however I like to use the label maker function, and that's when I must use the 1040, and become frustrated with the problem.

Thanks

[Mister_Do]

The "I" vs "D" is usually tied to internal vs external drives.

[ray_scheel]

I have had the same issue with two different drives of this model (dvd1040i-H16 April 2007) on two different computers (one running XP, the other ubuntu), right down to it being an occasional problem early in ownership (but after the initial 30ish days) that has gotten worse. Took 30-40 tries to get the tray to open before I finally gave up and went back to some old CD R/W drives I had on the shelf so I would know that I could get back any CD I put in and got frustrated enough to see if this was a widespread issue.  I have not used this drive much at all; regularly but not frequently as I have only needed it occasionally.  I'd already ripped most of my music collection before I bought them so I did not do anything with extended high strain on the drive.

[ray_scheel]

I wanted to add that the "pin method" of opening the drive is also requires multiple tries and seems no more successful overall than just pushing the button repeatedly.  I actually have the best luck getting them to open by applying leverage with the tip of a knife as I push the button. 

[charles1957b]

Clearly HP is how you spell junk. Their customer support is virtually non-existant. I will not forget this in the future. And my friends will know it too.  Bye Bye HP.  Thanks to all who have responded to my inquiry.

[pgbrandon]

I have the same issue with an HP1170 DVD drive.  At least your subject says "half the time."  Mine opens about one out of 100 times, if the tray is empty.  Use has been fairly minimal.  Lightscribed maybe 20 discs.  Maybe burnt 100.  Drive is two and a half years old and has been doing this for at least the last year

Can anyone recommend a drive that doesn't do this?

Paul