PWT, FW, and drawer problems - are they related?

I just got my (I was told) lightly used PWT. When I turned it on I checked and saw that it was at FW 1.02. I let it initialize only to discover that when I pressed the Insert Disc button on the display the drawer would not open. It made some clunky noises but didn’t budge. I called Support, spoke to Mayoura for a bit, and then Alex. They walked me through manually opening the drawer (mine does not have the little pinhole to force open the drawer). It opened, closed immediately when powered back up, and still would not open with the display button. Alex asked me to try the remote and sure enough that worked. I loaded a CD and noticed that the front panel was not super responsive.



Alex and I agreed it would be best to install the latest FW, which I did while he was on the phone. I have to say after that the display seems to work a lot better. The disc button works and the CD controls are much more responsive. Is this a known issue that had been associated with FW 1.02, or should I start worrying that I maybe got something that’s going to cause me trouble?

I am sorry to hear of your trouble with your new unit.



Once in a while my PWT behaves in a flaky manner. I find turning it off and rebooting takes care of it. This is with FW 1.22 (which I believe is still the latest).



The drive is naturally noisy as it is a standard computer DVD drive. I wish it had a silky smooth bespoke drive, but this drive is easy to replace if it fails.



Do any have a little pinhole for emergency open? How do you open it manually if stuck? I have assumed it was like a Mac with no emergency access.

Mayoura told me only the earliest units had the little emergency eject hole. On the later units you have to insert a thin narrow object - I used my wife’s small frosting blade :-" - into the slot on the lower side of the drawer about 1" in from the left. There is a metal stop that you have to push against. It will force the drive open.



Interestingly, since the FW upgrade to 1.22 the drive seems to be operating much better, and at least while playing is dead silent.



Hmm, actually I take that back. It’s actually a little annoying. It makes a very quiet “tick tick tick” as it’s playing. Anyone else’s make the same sort of noise?

good to hear you got things up and working properly Tony.



i purchased my pwt early… 7/2009. it does have the pinhole but luckily, i’ve never had to use it. very strange how early firmware was causing your malfunction?. maybe it was corrupted??. did you try reloading the firmware before updating? (not that it matters at this point. just curious)



haven’t had any issues with the pwt since new. accidentally turned the pwt into a pwd by loading the wrong firmware, but that was self-inflicted…and fixed pretty quick (a rather bizarre incident).



btw: if you think it’s been sitting for a long time, give it some time to settle back in. i powered my entire system off for 6 weeks and was surprised how lame it sounded when i returned. after some time using the bridge…everything sounded fine (a few days). when i went to use the ptw a few days later, it sounded strange/different (not for better). again, not sure if this was a one time event in nature or it’s common knowledge…the pwt needed to loosen up too. power-on/overnight repeats did the trick.



let us know what ya think





Elk: agreed…would love to have a smoother drive. you can hear this thing across the room. wouldn’t have a problem paying more for it either… even though performance wouldn’t be improved (from what i understand?).


btw: if you think it's been sitting for a long time, give it some time to settle back in.


Thanks Levi. I've been running the IsoTek burn in tracks through it since I got it up and running. Planning to do some preliminary comparisons to my beloved (but aging) PDT3 this weekend.
tony22 said: There is a metal stop that you have to push against.

Thanks. Good to know, but I hope to never exercise this knowledge.

tony22 said: It makes a very quiet "tick tick tick" as it's playing.

Mine does not, just a low level continuous "grinding along, I'm just a dumb drive" sort of sound. It is exactly like a desktop DVD drive playing a CD. A judicious application of noise dampening sheeting may well quiet it done.

Levi said: . . . accidentally turned the pwt into a pwd by loading the wrong firmware, but that was self-inflicted......and fixed pretty quick.

I am surprised it would load. Was the fix simply to reload the proper firmware?


Mine does not, just a low level continuous "grinding along, I'm just a dumb drive" sort of sound. It is exactly like a desktop DVD drive playing a CD.


Hmm, I wonder if that would be easier to mentally mask out?

I think so, anything continuous sort disappears in my experience. Also, it is a very quiet sound. I cannot hear it from where I sit. (The rack is behind the speakers and off to one side.) I admit I miss the silkiness of a high quality specialty drive.



I opened my DirecTV receiver and applied sound dampening with great success, including on the hard drive (watch the cooling holes). These units are noisy.



I have an unused dampening sheet. Quieting done the PWT would be a good, easy weekend project.



I would not hesitate to replace the drive if the ticking bothers you. It is a cheap, easy swap. I would just double check with PSA to make certain that there is not any quirks as to what drive characteristics are needed.

Elk: me to…imagine the expression on my face when i powered up the pwt and saw a pwd displayed on the screen (it did not work/play of course. the screen just looked like the pwd). it was bizarre!. reloading correct fw fixed it right up.



i never hear any noise once the pwt starts playing?



the noise i was referring to was the drawer opening and closing…and it can be heard across the room. slight/faint tick sound during initial start up/play but once it starts …the tick sound seems to go away in mine.

Yes, I might do that, although maybe getting a tested one directly from PSA might be the best approach. Any idea who manufactures the original drive?

tony22 said: Any idea who manufactures the original drive?

See this thread.

So here’s something interesting. I’m listening to a CD and the PWT is making a typical DVD-ROM noise. At Track 12 I decided to eject the CD and reload it. I started at Track 12 and it’s not making that same noise. Much smoother.

Yes… Subtle differences about how a disc seats on the drive spindle and how the disc’s balance aligns with that of the drive do affect how the drive sounds in operation. I have heard this many times when loading discs into the computer.



J.P.