I can't seem to get the tray open so would this be like a laserdisc player and have belt troubles? or would there be another reason for a sticky drive tray?

I think belt issues.

I had this issue with my newest DVD-Bluray player, tray wouldn't open unless I tapped on the top.
Got a new belt and it works, may have to get a smaller one next time around if this starts to slip.

Hardest part is the size to measure.

Pay a little more for the first one from someone who knows how to measure and keep that size for the future.
I tapped the bag onto the bottom of my player for future reference.

Giving it a little "love tap" with the palm of your hand right above the disc tray while it is trying to eject has always worked for the XBOX 360 disc drives. for the 360, the issue is not usually the belt but the plastic track getting worn down over time and catching on something.

now the question is it worth keeping. Even out of storage I am not sure when the last time I actually used it as a DVD recorder. Lite Ons are easily hackable and I have pretty much keep it for that but now I have the OPPO and did custom firmware on my Pioneer DV58AV for multi region {whenever I get out of the storage unit}.

Yes this could be another issue, luckily it wasn't my issue and it was the belt.

As for the risk, its up to you.
I don't have any stand alone DVD-R anymore, sort of wish I did sometimes but then again I'm glad I don't have one.

DVD writers are really easy to come by used so idk if it's worth fixing, I've salvaged many over the years from junked desktops (usually OEM) including some lightscribe drives. These drives cost nothing.

Could be the belt. The Xbox 360 drives do get tray wear but they sometimes also need belt replacement especially with older fat consoles (the belts are cheap though, you can buy a pack of them from China).

I bought an LG BD writer recently that can have older firmware flashed to it for 4k playback support (I think there are LG and Asus firmwares that can be used on the unit). It wasn't uber expensive as a bare drive (no packaging), brand new March 2020 build date, less than $90aud. Only thing with flashing the older firmware is that (I think?) you might lose BD50 writing support but I'm not sure about that...anyway I have no plans to flash it at the moment.

I worked in computer repair shops for eleven consecutive years. Lite-On was regarded as a cheapy brand. Sadly though, the way the markets were going was that the cheap brands were taking away the market share from the quality manufacturers and then buying away divisions from the quality manufacturers eliminating the better options.

But to concur with everyone else, yes the issue is likely a belt. Lite-On drives were bad about developing belt issues, or even having worse problems out of the factory sealed bag. Worked at a OEM PC shop eight years, so for us Lite-On ODDs were bulk packed and merely in plastic bags.

Plextor, LG, Pioneer, and Sony are the more reliable brands that still make ODDs. Samsung oddly had issues with quality control back then, hopefully they worked those issues out in the years since. Asus brand ODDs are a mystery to me, no clue as to their quality.

Asus are probably just rebranded, I mean the LG BD writer I have can use Asus firmware so I suspect there are LG and Asus versions of that drive series (maybe just model number variations idk).
LG is Hitachi as well.

Matsushita drives in the past would be rebranded to something else but idk about now.

Lite-On should be Taiwanese.

BenQ and Philips are the same thing (Taiwan iirc).


I think the oddest DVD writer drive I have here atm is an NEC Japan (Malaysian build) which is PATA/IDE with a slightly longer case like old CD writers. It was still working last year but I haven't tried it recently.

I've had good OEM PC drives over the years and they were easily able to make region free. Except for the LIte-On BD rom which all BD Roms are different than the dvd drives for region hack. Just stand alone one has ever develop issues. Use to be the used market Lite-ons were highly sought after.

found this listing. would this work? I can't tell this difference between flat and square belts.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/50PCS-Universa ... Sw6NdfGUyx

I bought one of those, they are not right on sizes so you may luck out.
Flat look more like thinner rubber bands, square are same size on both sides.

Should work the same flat or square is my guess, if you can get that cheap set of belts and the size is correct then you're in luck.

So I never got the belts I ordered for this. A waste of $3 or so. Should I try again with buying belts? Ultimately I just want to sell this if I can so what should I do?