help! dropped my Satellite M30

I accidentally dropped my Toshiba notebook. Now, the DVD drive won't close fully... it sticks out about 1/2 a centimeter. When I push it back in, the orange LED light comes on... but I can't get it to eject, whether I press the hardware "eject" button or use PowerDVD and select "eject."

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do. I don't want to call Toshiba, because if I say I dropped my notebook... they will flag it and any future problems will just be blamed on that.

Has anyone had this happen before? How much do you think it will cost to fix? I bought it from Future Shop, but a guy recommended I go to CompuSmart.

 

Control Panel is reading my drive. It reports that "This device is working properly." I just can't get the drive door open. The thing is like cement.

 

On the drive itself, there should be a small pin hole located near the eject button. This is the manual eject hole. Just poke a paperclip into the hold and it should pop the latch holding the drive door in place. If this doesn't work, that means the tray is wedged in there. Only a few things you can try.

1. Try prying it open with a screwdriver, CAREFULLY, while using the paperclip eject method.

2. Go out and buy a new optical drive for your notebook (eg. www.Ultradrives.com or www.Newegg.com ) Remove the old one yourself and swap.

3. Go and buy Toshiba's Accidental Damage Protection Warranty and after you receive your paperwork, send it in for repair.

-Vb-

 

Hi Venombite. Thanks a lot for replying. The paperclip didn't work, unfortunately.

How would I go about removing the drive? To clarify: Do I have to unscrew the entire base... or just the two screws where the drive is located (F14).

Also... do you know how I find out which drives are compatible w/ the M30?

 

ps. this is my drive: HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4241N

 

No, you don't have to remove the whole base to get to the optical drive. Just follow these basic steps and it should slide out.

1. Turn unit upseide down with the front of the unit facing you
2. The optical drive should be on the left side, remove 2 screws from the underside, one is located just to the left of the memory slot (shoule dbe the slot located in the middle of the unit) and the other screw is to the left edge of the notebook (almost in line with the 1st screw, but a bit higher)
3. With the 2 correct screws removed, just slide the optical drive out away from the notebook

*** Note: the optical drive has mounting hardware that is needed to install the new drive, DO NOT throw it out

Regarding the new optical drive, since you bought the unit from Futureshop, I know you're located in Canada. The only problem with being in Canada is the fact that optical drives are a hard thing to find. What you need to do is goto www.UltraDrives.com which is located in the US and order it from them. They have really good prices and other users on this site have bought from them. They also have face plates that will match your unit (extra). Just checkout their site and then give them a call to ask if it'll be compatible with your unit. I know the Panasonic drives (slot loading models), although look pretty cool, are 3mm londer/deeper than most standard optical drives, so it'll stick out slight from the notebook.

Again, if the cost is too much and you don't want to do the work yourself, you can always try the Accidental Damage warranty from Toshiba. Just don't tell them you're unit is busted, get the warranty, wait a bit and then send in for repair.

Good Luck!

-Vb-