If the disc tray doesnt open then follow these tips

How can you access the rubber belt when the tray is closed? I Can't !
I had the same problem ( tray does not open) and had a chicken-and-egg problem when solving it.
The disassembly instructions in the service manual are something like:
Open the tray. Remove the front of the tray. Close the tray. Remove the power cord. Open the machine. Remove 4 screws that hold the DVD drive. Disconnect two cables. Take the DVD player out.
My method to open the tray:
Push the OPEN/CLOSE button. While the eject motor is running HIT the machine hard.
Repeat until the tray opens. (by chance, that happens sometimes.)
The front is connected to a plastic block with two spring-loaded screws. These are inaccesible.
You must remove the plastic block from the actual tray by prying the bottom side forward an then sliding the whole front assembly upward.
Now you can take out the player and dismantle it.
I have lubricated the eject mechanism by spraying it with a P.T.F.E. spray, but other greasing methods may work as well. (cover the drive belt and the optical components before you start spraying.)
When reassembling, check that the tray does not rub against the sides of the letterbox shaped opening in the front panel.
The tray now opens flawlessy.

WHAT IF THE PLAYER CLOSES AUTOMATICALLY WHEN MANUALLY PULLING OUT TRAY AND TURNING UNIT ON? IS IT STILL THE SAME METHOD?

I'm a first timer on FixYa. Also, I'm a novice (apprentice), so I sometimes need more than basic information. Regarding this expert solution, I have couple of forewarnings for non-experts:

1.) YOU MAY NEED MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO ACCESS THE INNER WORKINGS OF THE DVD DRIVE - none are given here.

2.) I WOULD AVOID USING VASELINE - it is petroleum based & chemically reacts with plastics & rubber. Over time, it can deteriorate rubber & plastic. It loses its lubricating qualities & could really gum up the works.

I'd recommend using a product made for lubricating plastic parts, like, "100% pure silicon grease"

Re: my experience with this expert's solution:

Not knowing much about electronics, it sounded simple enough, but when I opened up my (refurbed?) Akai DVDRW120, the disk drive (Liteon, BTW, if anyone is interested) , there is a silver metal housing around the DVD drive. I removed every visible screw I saw on the (easily bendable/ now bent) housing & discovered that 2 of the screws were UNDERNEATH the DVD Drive (inaccessible), so I could not remove the outer silver housing. I began to remove all visible screws attaching the drive to the housing - same problem - inaccessible screws.

After removing all possible screws & lining them up so I'd remember where they belonged, I was able to pry up the DVD drive plastic housing.

I had to use a flashlight - which I discovered was magnetic when I passed it over the screws (OOPS!) & still could not see a drive belt.

yadda yadda yadda ...

The GOOD news is that, apparently, loosening the screws also loosened the drawer & after I hooked up the power again, the drawer moved easily.

The BAD news is, as a novice, I was working from the back of the unit & didn't look at the digital read out - somehow, the unit got it's signals crossed.

When I press the "open" button, the digital panel reads "CLOSE" & the Akai TV screen prompts "CLOSE TRAY" - needless to say, EVERYTHING related to "OPEN" & "CLOSE" works backwards - when the disk tray is closed, it prompts me to open it. When it is open, it goes to "READING DISK" (and there is no disk to read). I even pushed the tray shut when ut said "READING DISK" to see if it would pick up on the fact that there was now a disk to read. It just prompted me to close the already-closed disk tray. Nope. So I turned it off. It opened the tray. I pushed it in (unit off) It opened again. I let it have its way ... for now.

Now that it's messed up, today, I'm going to see if I can figure out how to reverse the commands.

If I succeed, I'll let you know.

If I get electrocuted, I won't. :-)

My 2910 player has similar issue. The tray gets stuck on eject. Started with not ejecting sometimes, now it never ejects anymore.

When I open the player, press eject and push the tray out, it will come out OK. Seems belt is no good as motor keeps turning when the tray is stuck.

How to get a new belt?

I took the dvd player out and did what you posted. The dvd player still won't eject! The belt is fine,connections are also. No error codes as when i push the eject button, it displays open as it displays closed after a few seconds. I did a reset, unpluged it for a few days,Nothing! Any fixes would be helpful to me. Thanks for the advice that you do post here!

If the unit doesn't recognize the presence of a disc in the tray it may not do anything. I had a similar problem with a VHS player. The company help desk said that sometimes the system forgets that there is media present and therefore won't do anything. They said to unplug (not just power off) and wait a minute. When the system is plugged in again, the latches are all reset and you should be back in business.

Larry

The unit doesn't recognize the presence of a disc in the tray and it won't open at all... Should I attempt to open the unit?