I used the eject disc feature with the OS, I tried looking for processes in the ctrl-alt-del screen. I even tried to poke the paper clip into the little hole in the front of the tray that is used to pop out the cd drive drawer. Nothing worked.
A lot of PC sites say it might be time to open up the tower and start unscrewing screws and disconnecting things. Yet I saw one anonymous poster on one of the tech-forums say, "use a butternife".
So, I got my safety glasses on and some steel-mesh gloves, donned my hard hat and set up saftey cones around my PC so as to create a zone exclusion around the work area. My kids and dog are very curious about these things and they had a lot of questions and quizzical looks. Following procedure, I sent them to the information officer (their mom) so I could concentrate on the job at hand.
My safety training videos play through my head like so many eight track tapes. All the training, all the way back to college at San Jose State's Aeronautics Department, went through my mind... "Use the right tool for the right job". "To be a professional, you have to act like a professional". "Do not used fixed blade instruments"... "Safety stand-down". "You are not allowed to have fixed bladed instruments (including butter knives) in your toolbox".
At this point, the supervisor of this establishment's mess hall (my wife, AKA the information officer) was now asking me what I was doing in her living room with all the cones and safety tape. I told her I was preparing to service and repair the CD ROM drive on our desktop computer and that the HASP called for a zone of exclusion. "Just following the procedures, ma'am," and quickly followed with a "can you take the kids outside?" were my exact words. But then, I added in a slightly higher pitched voice, "Honey, can you please get me a butter knife so I do not have to get up and you are walking over there anyway?"
I admit I asked for and took the butterknife. I was breaking all the rules by taking this butterknife in my hand on this job.
In the interest of fair and honest blogging, it was the only option I had. I did not want to shut down the computer, remove power, remove all the cords and cables, clear off a work area on my desk, etc. I did not want to mess anything up on the inside of the PC (the Job Safety Analysis (JSA) for PC repair called out this and electrocution as particular dangers).
All I really wanted was to rip a cd for the IPOD, because Wheezer is getting really overplayed and I need some new tunes on there or I will go crazy.
So, now to the present. It is just me, the butter knife and my PC's CD ROM Drive that will not open. I happen to notice I do not call it "my butterknife", because somehow this makes it seem less of an infraction.
I get down on my hands and knees and open the access door so I can see the sliding tray. I take the cool, steel blade handle of the butter knife into my hands and start pushing the end of the knife into the seam made between the part that is supposed to slide open and it's fixed housing. I try one side and then the other, but my blade is a little too thick to get inside. I push a little harder on the seam and the plastic gives a little bit and the knife slides in about a half centimeter. I leverage this half centimeter against the side bezel and notice that the sliding tray part moves a little. I take this as a good sign. I follow the same procedure on the right side of the CDROM drawer. Again I notice movement here as well. In fact, the drawer opens about an eighth of an inch, just enough to stick the fingernail of my index finger into the opening. I stick my finger in and with a slight tug, the tray slides all the way out! Glorious success!
Inside the tray, I find two CD's, one of which I have seen way too, too, TOO many times before, "Clifford THE BIG RED DOG, Reading", and one I have never seen before "Motorola Wirless Notbook adapter Instlallation Wizard" CD. Clifford, the family favorite, was on top with the Motorola CD buried below it. (literary personification, while appropriate here, is not intended and will not be referenced further in this post so please disregard). However, the fact that the Clifford CD is on top of the other leads me to conclude that one or two of my precious children were not following proper PC operational procedures! I want to write them up, but their supervisor has already put them to bed.
I remove the obstructions, push the drawer back in. It slides in very easily as it did the first time I used it. But now for the moment of truth. Will the CDROM properly open when I press the eject CD button on the PC? Will it work now?
I reach up to press the button, knowing this point is the moment of truth. I press it, gently, feeling for the click in my index finger. There it was! A tiny "click". At that instant.... nothing happened. My moment of truth turns to a moment of anguish and I envision a trip to Fry's Electronics and a whole lot of tado over one simple CD ROM tray. But my moment of anguish is short-lived! I feel the vibration of a small motor inside, a barely decipherable 'snap' and then see the tray sliding out towards me. VICTORY! It works, it works, it works!
I rise to my feet and place the butterknife and two CD's on the desk and write up the job.
The thing I learned? A butterknife can and will be used to open a cd rom drive that is stuck closed.
But I did not follow proper safety procedures and since my last blog was on Health and Safety, I must save fellow colleagues from my torment. Therefore I am officially asking all PC and CD ROM Manufactureres to add the following to their official troubleshooting, operation and maintenace manuals: "As last resort, and following all appropriate safety procedures, use a butter knife to gently pry open a jammed CD Rom Drive". This should solve it for future generations. No more angst and agony.
So it is written, so it shall be done.
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1 comment:
Awesome.
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