I've done something stupid, please help :(

[Wedge]

I have a tdk4800B cdrw drive. Some of you know that it's actually an LTR48246S, a nice drive.

In an attempt to copy a copyprotected audio cd, I stuck a small peice of paper over the outer ring so as to not read the data portion of the cd. Most of you that have copied a modern audio cd know what I am talking about.

Problem is, I didn't exactly use a peice of paper, it was a small peice of a post-it note. Ya know, little yellow pads for writing office memos and such for other employees to see by "sticking" it to a bulletin board or door, etc.

Shouldn't have done that as the post-it has a weak stickiness at the sticky edge. A small part of the post-it broke off and is now somewhere in the drive. I want to kick myself; I should have used a real adhesive tape rather than a post-it.

The drive seems to operate as a reader because it finished reading the cd for the image, even though the post-it was torn. Beyond that, however, I do not know what condition it is in, i.e., I don't know if it will work without problems now. It has a small 5mm by 4mm peice of paper in it somewhere. I haven't attempted a burn.

I'm inclined to send it to TDK straight away, let them get it out. I'm afraid the drive might work fine for a while, then go out on me prematurely. My impulse was to open it up, search for it myself, but that immediately avoids the warranty, so I stopped myself --- it wasn't easy let me tell ya.

Yes, this is a small peice of paper, but I'm still paranoid. Although I have never seen the insided of a cdrw drive, I can just imagine this small peice of paper getting hot enough to short circuit some component, perhaps even ruining the drive completely.

What should I do? Keep going, don't worry about it? Send it to TDK, explaining exactly what I did, let them deal with it? Or just go cry?

btw, I don't feel bad about trying to copy a protected audio cd. It's mine; paid for it at the store. I just wanted to back it up because you never know when you might scratch it up. I did something stupid by trying to use a post-it??? *kicks self*

[VIPER_1069]

have u tried the vacuum on it with it set on low suction ?! or sumthing or tried holdint he drive slot open and tipping it out with the drive out of the machine !?

[Wedge]

Vacuum, no but I'll try it. Nor have I tried tapping it.

I'll try and report back.

EDIT/ Just tried your suggestion Viper. I don't think it came out; looked in with flashlight but couldn't see it.

I have pretty much accepted that if it goes bad it just goes bad and I'll either pay for another or pay to have it fixed. In the meantimes I'll try a few burns.

[VIPER_1069]

?! the risk is in your hands ?! try blowing it out !? its not metallic so it prolly will not short it out !? it may or may not catch fire !? you either risk it or blame the dog or kids or anyone else but yerself and take it back to yer dealer !?!?

[Wedge]

It seems to be burning cds with no problem.

What would you do? Send it to TDK and tell them there is a very small peice of paper in there? Or, just keep it, hope it doesn't go bad?

[Wedge]

Btw, you people can laugh at this if you want, cuz i've decided I can't do anything but that....

[ChiMusic]

I blew my CDRW w/2 CDs in it. Same as my old 4X. SOUNDS GREAT for a minute!

Think that you regressed for a minute to a LITTLE kid. Better than a DUM adult.

[dx]

If it's not giving you any problems, then you are probably safe Wedge. Chances are it came off at a high rate of speed and flipped to the outer edge of the case inside. Luckily it was only a small piece of paper.

Next time use that post-it and a sharpie. The post-it will give you a nice strait edge (instead of tape) once it's removed. And yes a sharpie! Sharpie's are alcohol based and will clean up completely with a dot of isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Just don't use a sharpie on the other side of the CD, as it has been known to eat into the CD and/or CDR protective layer with long term exposure.

[Wedge]

I have burned 2 audio cds since and it seems to operate fine. Hope it continues. At least it's good to hear your opinion in the positive.

So, what is a sharpie? Never heard of one.

[dx]

Originally posted by Wedge
So, what is a sharpie? Never heard of one.

It's a trademarked name of an permanent marker made by the Stanford company (in North America anyway ). You can find them at any Staples or Office Depot. Just ask them for a "sharpie" and they will help you Wedge.

What is best about them is..... that on porous materials it is permanent, but non porous (like glass or a CD face) it is removable with a little isopropyl alcohol.

The original Key2Audio CD copy protection trick, was the "marker" trick and it is much safer than a piece of tape or a post-it

[LTR12101B]

With luck, the paper fragment was probably propelled to the outside edge of the drive, falling harmlessly to the bottom of the case - on a reasonably old drive, there's probably quite a mulch of dust and fluff there/

PS. Don't feel to stupid, look HERE
http://sct.staghosting.com

If that's one I already saw in this forum, sorry!

[The-poacher]

Thats a groov page LTR luv the duct tape on the drive

[Duracell]

Originally posted by Wedge
In an attempt to copy a copyprotected audio cd, I stuck a small peice of paper over the outer ring so as to not read the data portion of the cd. Most of you that have copied a modern audio cd know what I am talking about.

no, I don't know what you talking about; my former RICOH and my current Yamaha rip and copy protected AudioCDs without painting or taping;

but back to your question, i would open the drive myself and remove the paper; just to go sure, it cant swirl up and blocking/destroying the mechanic


Greetings from
Duracell

[Wedge]

I have a couple other guys at another forum telling me to send it to TDK if it is still under warranty.

If the drive is functioning properly then I don't have a reason for expecting them to fix it at their expense (can't contact them and say "my drive is acting funny.... blah blah").

OR, please correct me if I am wrong because this just ocurred to me: I could just keep operating the drive until it does become problematic, then actually use my valid warranty. In this case, I would call them and go through the normal channel of returning a product for repair. The might find this tiny peice of paper, but for all I know, it just kind of landed in there with the rest of the dust. This might seem plausible since the paper is so small.

[dx]

Without a valid reason for and RMA, it would be a tough sell to get them to look at it.

If you told them what you did, it is possible that it could be seen as a way to void your warantee. You put something in the drive that was never meant to be there.

Opening the drive yourself is risky because many CDR companies will void your warantee for doing so. They often have ways to detect that you did it as well.

So the choice is yours Wedge, but my attitude..... if it ain't broke, don't fix it