The particular malfunction I am wondering about is centered around the tray, but will involve alot more.

Seen this malfunction present in two ways.

One - the tray will automatically eject without manually activating the command

Two - the tray will retract (not staying out in idle) without prompting it to

So, where does the problem lie on a consistent basis ? Firmware issue ? ... Voltage irregularity ? ... Faulty switch ? ... Open ground ? ... loose wire ? ... tray motor ? ... optic ? .... weakening solder connection ?

Besides a few 360s, have seen this in some basic DVD players. Namely a Pioneer.

Theres a set of very thin metal contacts on each side of the front of the drive (I think the picture I have in my head is a vad6038). I believe if they become just the tiniest bit bent or dirty, they cause issues like this. I have fixed it in the past by wiping them with alcohol and ensuring that they are separated when they are supposed to be, and connect when they are supposed to (when the drive is open they connect i believe). I will definitely be able to snap a picture of them for you a little later today, but I thought I'd try to explain them for you ahead of time so you could take a look if you wanted to.

Yeah - canyonne - is right

It is those metal tabs in the front. Two pairs of them. One rightside, one left side. Connections for Ground and 3.3 volt right ?

Was thinking about bad switches and glitchy Firmware, but it is those tabs.

Got the Pioneer DVD player fixed today too. It had a lever switch for the 3.3 volt and Ground relay. Just had to get the lever positioned in the right place

Before it wanted to pull the tray back in nearly instantaneously

This helped - maybe it will help others

im having the same problem on an older arcade... if you could post pics of the parts that you are talking about that would be sweet & thanks!

I - PM'ed you