Odd cd-rom problem

[Guest]

Hello,
I'm working on a Dell optiplx gx280 and the cd-rom will not open. It makes a sound like the tray wants to open but it seems it lacks the juice. I swapped the stock cd-rom with a different one thinking it was a shot drive, and the same problem occured. I'm perplexed. I reseated all connections and the problem persists. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Proximon]

Hook it up to a different PSU? If that fixes it you have your problem, the PSU has out of spec voltage.

 

[Guest]

Yes, they work in different machines. Is there a solution to this aside from replacing the PSU?

 

[Proximon]

Well, you could try a different molex connector, but the PSU is probably causing system instability at this point.

 

[Guest]

Interesting, I just tested voltage on the molex cable connected to the drive. 5v wire is running normal, but is 11.80v for the 12v wire underpowered enough to affect performance?

 

[Proximon]

It should not be, however the voltage could be sagging under load or there could be excessive ripple. I don't think ripple would cause a motor to struggle that much but I'm no engineer.

This is a standard CD-rom drive that you are trying to open by pressing a button on the drive itself, right?

Does the drive open before the OS boots? will it open right after the PC POSTs? If So it could actually be a software issue, something loading that is keeping the drive spinning.

Or how about this simpler method. Will it open if you disconnect the data cable?