Panasonic 521 Tray Won't Open - S'ware or H'ware??

[lbeck]

I just got the Panasonic LF-D521 Multi Drive after using their previous version (321) for about a year. The unit works as advertized with the expected negative points I'd already read about (it's slow). However, I've encountered a frustrating problem that I'm having problems diagnosing. Maybe one of you out there can help.

Occasionally (maybe half the time) I can't get the tray to open. I use both the button on the unit and the "eject" option on the software and it just appears frozen shut. The only way that I can get it open is to reboot my machine. And even then I sometimes have to hit the button on the burner while my PC is booting, leading me to believe that it may be a software conflict of some sort. Another clue is that I installed some of the software on another PC and that CD-ROM started having tray opening problems.

SOFTWARE DETAILS

I installed the bundled software with the 521 burner on my main machine. I also installed Nero there since I had it for my other PC. One of the pieces of bundled software is called B's Clip, which enables UDF packet writing. It seemed to work well, so I decided to install it on my other PC which has no DVD but does have CD-ROM.

When I began having tray problems on both machines, I suspected B's Clip, so I uninstalled it from both machines. That seemed to fix the CD-ROM tray problems, but the 521 is still having problems with the tray not opening. NOrmally, I would then suspect that the 521 has a problem. But it seems to be too much of a coincidence that B's Clip apparently caused the tray problem to occur on the other unit. I also have other bundled software on both machines (B's Gold5, MyDVD, MovieAlbum SE, etc.) I guess that I could uninstall all of that and see if the 521 works with just Nero, but that's a lot of trouble. Also, maybe Nero is the problem?

I considered contacting Panasonic support but I found when I had some problems with my 321 (ultimately resolved) that Panasonic support is difficult to get and almost useless.

Anyway, I thought I'd post here to see if anyone else is experiencing the tray problem with the 521, or with some of the software mentioned, and can save me the time of eliminating/substituting software. I'm thinking that the problem may be some combination of the burner and a piece of software.

MORE CLUES (added after initial post above)

Well, now the tray problem is back on my CD-ROM machine (w/o the 521). I'm new to packet-writing software. Is this possibly a function of UDF packet-writing software? I'm using a disc formatted with Nero's InCD software. Formatted on my main machine with the 521 and now stuck in my secondary machine's CDROM.

[The village idiot]

Well, if you boot your computer and go into the Bios setup, does your drive still have problems with the eject button? If yes then point toward the drive. If no then point toward the software. Maybe boot into safe mode and try it.