Question What screw thread type are the mounting holes on a slim (SFF) optical drive?

[RAIDGoblin]

for context we are building a media centre PC in a mini-itx case (with the leftover parts from my main PC upgrade), and a pretty important part of what we need it for is being able to play/record DVD's, but we didn't like the look of any of the cases that had drive bays, it'll be visible next to the TV. The case we have (from black Friday sales) does have room to mod in a full size drive, but it'll eat into the potential for an enormous GPU space too much for our liking

I have made a tray that will house a slim optical drive and screw neatly to bottom of the case, but I can't work out what size the mount screws are, it could do with two screws on each side, I could just use pins that line up with the holes (like the sliding trays from those old hot swap bays) if I can't find out, but screws would still be better. The mount holes are smaller than M3 but that's all I have worked out so far and I can't seem to find it on the net

here's some photo's, the mount holes in question are marked by a white arrow:

^brackets (will be painted black to blend in with the case)

also does anyone know if the shape/mount screws are the same between drives? I assume they are standard because they all have the screw holes in pictures and look the same shape, only because it would be nice to know that when the drive inevitably wears out I can change it without having to make another bracket

[EDIT] it's this drive, if it matters
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...l0Orju-Z6Lg62QRDsVMFD6_c-KkKFJ4RoChCYQAvD_BwE

thanks for any help

 

[Lutfij]

The mount holes are smaller than M3
Try M2 or M2.5 screws.

Have a read through this;
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/need-screws-for-slim-odd.575711/post-4890903

 

[RAIDGoblin]

The mount holes are smaller than M3
Try M2 or M2.5 screws.

Have a read through this;
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/need-screws-for-slim-odd.575711/post-4890903

thanks a lot for that, great stuff I literally just found (moments before you replied) this really old thread over on overclok.net:

Laptop dvd drive screw size

www.overclock.net

it also agrees with the same info, that it's M2, I'll see if I can get hold of some M2 screws to test it and if it is I'll report back, assuming that the slim disk drive size is a standard, like I think it is, this information should be easier to find

 

[Lutfij]

If you have screws left over meant for an M.2 drive, try that...but don't drive the screw too hard into the threaded insert, so you can back it out.

 

[RAIDGoblin]

If you have screws left over meant for an M.2 drive, try that...but don't drive the screw too hard into the threaded insert, so you can back it out.

I don't have any spare, but I could turn off my PC and borrow it, I'll give that a go, thx for the idea

 

[RAIDGoblin]

the irony is I have spent the last half an hour making a huge mess trying to find an M2 screw in all my workshop junk, while my PC sits open on my bench right in front of my eyes (I'm only feeling slightly like a fool right now)

you are a genius for thinking of the obvious! Thank you

and it fit's perfectly so you can mark this one as solved

and I can now order a bag of M2 screws with confidence