Blinking drive light on Lenovo R61e

[Hyperian]

The drive on the laptop is Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-860. my family use it mostly for watching dvds. out of nowhere when you insert a dvd, or any disc, the light on the side of the drive just blinks, it doesnt stop as long as there's a disc in there. restarting doesnt work.
the computer seems to see the drive as empty but can still eject and read what kind of drive it is.

any idea what that means?

[richk]

The quick answer is that the drive is probably busted. I guess the read mechanism won't move. Do you still have warranty remaining?

[Hyperian]

i dont know, i'll have to check if i have warranty, if i don't is it possible for me to fix it with new parts ordered online?

and you are correct, the reading head doesn't move.

[ZaZ]

The drive is fixed to the chassis on the r61e, which you probably already know, but is replaceable. Consult the HMM, which will show how to do it. It's not too difficult. Any R series burner from the R5x on up to the R61 should work.

[Hyperian]

where can i buy one of these drives? i looked but they don't seem to be the right type and most are 60-100!

[ZaZ]

Which drive do you want - A DVD, Combo or DVD burner? You can search on eBay by part number:

DVD
39T2683
39T2681

Combo
39T2687
39T2685

DVD-RW
39T2829
39T2851
42T2501

I don't know that $60 is unreasonable for a DVDRW. You can get the combo drive for probably $20 on eBay.