[SOLVED] ASUS external blu-ray burner (SBW-06D2X-U) suddenly stopped working

[william_of_penge]

Hi.
I have an ASUS external blu-ray burner SBW06D2XU which is between two and three years old.
I rarely used it until a few days ago, when I started using it fairly intensively to encode my CD collection using the 'abcde' utility. This has been working fine until about an hour ago, when it suddenly ceased to recognise any disc inserted (including a number which had worked fine just before). Now, on inserting a disc it spends about a minute clicking and whirring before ejecting the disc. I've attached a recording of the sounds it makes. The lenses appear to be in perfect condition and clean. I would appreciate any suggestions on what might be going on and possible fixes.
Thanks,
Will

https://soundcloud.com/user-146656245%2Fasus-not-working

 

[hang-the-9]

Drive is bad, you can buy part for it to swap out if you want but doubt anything will be available or at least easy to find. Does the arm move back and forth freely? You can't tell much just by looking at it, need to swap out parts if you want to fix it. Starting with the lens assembly.

 

[william_of_penge]

Thanks for your reply. In fact, the drive has today started working again — just as mysteriously as it stopped.