After ripping a moderately rare Robbie Krieger CD to my computer, I found that the drive door wouldn't open. Feeble attempts at using various sharp objects to press the manual eject--you know, that tiny hole where you stick something pointy and, POOF!, out pops the CD--resulted in, well, nothing. I tried forcibly pulling the drawer out, but I'll be damned if that little thing isn't a strong SOB. So the plan was laid out thusly:
1. Take the drive out of the computer, remembering to remove screws from both sides.
2. Rip off the face plate, using fingernails and a blunt object as necessary. This step serves no purpose, but, damn, it's satisfying!
3. Unscrew the four impossibly tiny screws and remove the top plate.
4. Gently slide CD out, making sure not to scratch it in doing so.
5. Lay the disassembled parts on the floor in a pile and wonder if the drive will still work.
ANSWER: It won't.
Now comes the point where I feel really stupid. The fact that I completely destroyed my CDROM in the (hugely successful) attempt to retrieve my moderately rare CD didn't bother me in the least. After all, my CD burner has the same read speed (52x) as the CDROM did. So, really, having the CDROM was a bit redundant. But after ripping a CD in the burner, I couldn't eject the next CD (also moderately rare, but valueless). I decided to reboot my computer and try again. Well, wouldn't you know, the CD popped right out.
It appears that Grip is to blame.
