Try the problematic drive in another PC, or try connecting only the power connector to the drive, to test if it will open/close without a data cable connected. I remember reading that some drives "cd/cdrw" will have issues with some BIOSes, so I second the idea of checking for a BIOS update for your motherboard. If the BIOS update does not help try the drive by itself on one cable as master, go into your BIOS and for that channel select "NONE" this is counter intuitive but it is a workable suggestion, windows will see the drive "CDRW/CDROM" even if the BIOS is set to NONE, a side benifit is that you will speed up the BIOS post/boot because the drive will not be searched for at BIOS/POST boot time. If windows does not locate the drive and install it/give it a drive letter that drive is most likely kapoot, which more than likely will be the case if the drive will not open/close with only the power plug connected. Another thing to check into is that some CDRW's have a safety function built into them incase of a failed burn or partial burn that can be recovered, the drive has a built in feature to block access to the drive.