Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

1466.0. ""Borderline" CD wouldn't play due to small hole" by CASEE::CLARK (Ward Clark) Sun Jan 08 1989 11:03

    After several years and 200+ different CDs, my Magnavox FD2040 CD player
    finally encountered a CD that it couldn't play -- Ry Cooder's "Borderline"
    from Warner Bros.  In fact, it wouldn't even start.

    I thought that it might be a case of dirty lens, so I decided to open up
    the player and do some *careful* cleaning.  (I immediately discovered
    that I had to make a trip to the hardware store to buy a tiny Torx
    screwdriver.)

    Once I got the cover off, I could see why the player was unhappy with the
    disc -- the edge of the disc wobbled up/down about �".  I'm surprised
    that it didn't hit something inside.  The player gave up after just a few
    seconds.

    My visual inspection showed that the disc was flat.  I then carefully
    compared "Borderline" with several other good discs and came to the
    conclusion that the disc was not seating properly.

    Since the drive spindle is tapered, I suspected that the hole in the CD
    was too small to fit all the way down.  I carefully enlarged the hole by
    scraping with a small, sharp knife.

    After dusting off the shavings (plastic dust), I put the disc back in the
    Maganvox and it loaded and played perfectly!

    -- Ward

    P.S.  This reminds me of using a wooden pencil to enlarge the hole on LPs
          that would grab onto the post of my turntable.