CD drive problem

For some reason my cd drive stopped working. It has a cd in it for a game i use that requires the cd to play, but it says that the cd is not in there when i try to play and it just tells me to retry. Not only that, but the drive will not open. I press the eject button and it just flashes and doesnt do anything. I looked in because i was able to open up the front hatch (i didnt tear it open, it simply is on a loose hinge) and saw that it all looked normal. I have an hp pavilion xt878 with windows xp. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the drive to open again or function or both, it will be very appreciated.

 

There should be a little hole big enough to insert a straightened paperclip. Try that and see how you get on.

 

Also, if you restart the computer, you should be able to use the eject button while it is starting.

 

i tried both, and neither worked.....any other suggestions?

 

Time to rip it out of the machine then.