Plug it in and we hear the dvd player try to open but it will not. The home screen (start up screen) pops up but immediately goes off. It comes on and off intermittently each time we hear the dvd drive attempt to open . Plugging in turns on player - no need to press on button anymore. . Cannot turn it off either. We can manually open drive and shut it. Here is what I’ve tried so far:

Disassembled & examined the player. Belt appears to be ok. Disk spins - seems motor is ok. It appears that the tracking mechanism is moving forward a little but stops and goes back and it’s quiet again (for a few seconds) and then it goes forward again to repeat the process over and over. Each time home start up screen pops up for a second and goes black to start the process again. I’ve unplugged both cables to dvd carriage just to see if player will work without dvd hooked up. DUH. Tried this with both cables off & tried one and then the other with no luck (as if that would actually work - Yet stranger things have happened in my decades of IT work).

The player is not that old (less than 2 years) and we rarely use it for cd/dvd use. 98% of the time we just use the apps. Hate to have it end up in a landfill if there’s a way to save it. I’ve had very good luck over the years fixing stuff, but I have failed with this one.

Really need this for local weather and the apps. Is there any way to use without the carriage somehow? Or any other ideas will surely be appreciated. Hate to have it end up in a landfill if there’s a way to save it. I’ve had very good luck over the years fixing stuff but I have failed with this one.

Another idea is a replacement for the dvd part? It’s been so long since I’ve done repairs like this I don’t have a source for parts and don’t have parts list. Would it be feasible to call Samsung for the part?

Thank you in advance for any help!

UPDATE: Found the part:

http://www.samsungparts.com/Products/Par...

But $83 +_tax + shipping ?! Whoa!

⟐ Commented July 19, 2021 at 14:14 MST