Kodak robot not ejecting or loading.

[Crash.]

Hi, I just received a Kodak KDK-1000-03 cd auto loader and have installed all the drivers and software, but the software cannot eject the drive tray or load s new disc.

I'm not even sure how the loader works since I don't see a mechanism that could affect the disk spindle in any way to release new disks.

I can rip a disk that is manually inserted, but that's all.

I did select the correct Kodak driver in the batch ripper configuration and set the drive letter and com port as indicated.

The only thing that is different about those unit is that someone replaced the cd drive with an NEC. I would love to know the model number for the original drive.

Does anyone have suggestions?

[Spoon]

Re: Kodak robot not ejecting or loading.

Ejecting the disc does not use the robot part, where-as loading a disc if the tray is open does, they are two separate things.

[Crash.]

Re: Kodak robot not ejecting or loading.

Hi, I meant that I don't understand how the cd drop and load mechanism works or if I have a missing component that is the problem.
I can now get it to rip, close, and open, but the robotic arms don't ever do anything when the ripping completes. I have no idea how to test or diagnose them.

Thanks

[Crash.]

Re: Kodak robot not ejecting or loading.

Here is what I needed to do in order to get the robot working:

1. One of the driver installations was going into the wrong directory by default, so I had to uninstall it and reinstall by manually selecting the correct path. I also think that the various drivers and software do have to be installed in a specific order, and I may not have followed the instructions carefully the first time.

2. While I had tried to manually set the com port for the Prolific device, it wasn't actually changing. I needed to allow the device to choose it's com port and change the loader configuration to match it. It was important to use the "test" functions with each of the commands to verify their function rather than continually trying to start a batch rip and stop it as a test, which takes a long time.

3. The unit I bought had the wrong CD drive. Someone had replaced it will a much longer, different model. The result of this is that the cable sticking out of the rear of the drive was jammed into the fan (breaking off some of the blade guards), preventing the fan from working as well. The replacement drive also did not have it's drive tray notched for the robot arms, nor was the drive tray bezel narrow enough to fit between the lifters, so the drive could not even open.

4. By some miracle, I managed to find the one new replacement available for the exact Teac drive that is used by these loaders, a custom Teac CD-W552D with a blue bezel, narrowed tray bezel, and notches in the tray.

5. After replacing the drive with a correct one, it was necessary to bend the lifter arm housings slightly to align the lifters such that they did not hit the drive tray, but were close enough to lift cds.

6. It was necessary to level the unit, or tilt it backwards just a tiny amount. Incorrect leveling would result in two discs sometimes getting loaded accidentally, which can be a disaster.

7. It was necessary to tighten the cd retainer end of the CD spindle to make loading easier, since it would tend to rotate out of position while loading.

8. It was necessary to wipe a thin film of silicone lubricant onto the spindle and on the inside of the spindle top/weight to prevent discs binding while dropping during the load procedure.

Currently, the unit will rip the entire 50 disc spindle without any load or unload errors, so I'm quite pleased. I'm still trying to figure out how to eliminate the long "Post-Load" delay.

Thanks!