My RDR-HX900, like many others, burned its final DVD-R about a month ago. For months before the final death gasp, even the automatic DVD format that is performed when a disc is inserted would regularly fail. By trial and error I found that if I unplugged the power cord from the unit overnight (not just powered off from the front panel) then plugged it in the morning and quickly inserted a new DVD disc, it would format properly and successfully burn a whole movie to the disc, just once. After that it would not burn again unless I unplugged it overnight. Only overnight' would work for me; not 2, 4 or 8 hours, more like 10-12 hours. Recently that trick has failed to recover the recorder no matter how long it is left unplugged.
According to many forums, people have tried replacing the DVD drive with various Sony replacement drives with no success. Either the new drives do not work at all or they are incompatible with the firmware on the main board. I was able to restore full functionality of my RDR-HX900 by replacing a single part on the DVD drive by salvaging a replacement part from a cheap ($15 ebaY) Sony DVD drive that is otherwise incompatible as a whole replacement part.
I also tried replacing the original DVD drive with a used but working Sony DRU-510A; no help. The recorder booted up but did not recognize the drive; only the tray would open and close. Assuming that the firmware on the drive was not compatible with the rest of the recorder and that the most likely failure of the DVD drive was going to be the aging laser diode, I carefully removed the whole sled assembly from the replacement DRU-510A drive and installed it into the original DVD drive, reassembled the original drive and recorder and tested. Works perfectly - just like brand new. Great care must be taken to carefully remove many small parts, keep track of them for reassembly, correctly remove and reseat the flat flex cables and not remove or disturb any of the lubricated on the sled rails. It's a delicate repair but it works.
Out of a whole DVD replacement drive, you are just trying to salvage the sled assembly.
Looking at the attached picture, the sled assembly is comprised of the laser diode carrier (silver metal rectangle - blue dot in the middle) and the driver/logic board (green circuit board with flat orange cables attached) altogether sliding on the parallel solid tubular rails above and below the circuit board. The rest of the items in the picture (metal frame, motors, rails, black wheel, other cables, and gears) are not needed. Also, the rest of the replacement drive not shown (DVD frame cover, logic/interface board, load motors, front panel, plastic DVD carrier tray, etc) can be discarded.
Original Sony DVD Drive;
Sony DW-U15A-S2
S/N: 7374940
Version BF
14OCT2004
Replacement drive found on ebay;
Sony DRU-510A
S/N: 7147021
Version BA
19JUNE2003
According to many forums, people have tried replacing the DVD drive with various Sony replacement drives with no success. Either the new drives do not work at all or they are incompatible with the firmware on the main board. I was able to restore full functionality of my RDR-HX900 by replacing a single part on the DVD drive by salvaging a replacement part from a cheap ($15 ebaY) Sony DVD drive that is otherwise incompatible as a whole replacement part.
I also tried replacing the original DVD drive with a used but working Sony DRU-510A; no help. The recorder booted up but did not recognize the drive; only the tray would open and close. Assuming that the firmware on the drive was not compatible with the rest of the recorder and that the most likely failure of the DVD drive was going to be the aging laser diode, I carefully removed the whole sled assembly from the replacement DRU-510A drive and installed it into the original DVD drive, reassembled the original drive and recorder and tested. Works perfectly - just like brand new. Great care must be taken to carefully remove many small parts, keep track of them for reassembly, correctly remove and reseat the flat flex cables and not remove or disturb any of the lubricated on the sled rails. It's a delicate repair but it works.
Out of a whole DVD replacement drive, you are just trying to salvage the sled assembly.
Looking at the attached picture, the sled assembly is comprised of the laser diode carrier (silver metal rectangle - blue dot in the middle) and the driver/logic board (green circuit board with flat orange cables attached) altogether sliding on the parallel solid tubular rails above and below the circuit board. The rest of the items in the picture (metal frame, motors, rails, black wheel, other cables, and gears) are not needed. Also, the rest of the replacement drive not shown (DVD frame cover, logic/interface board, load motors, front panel, plastic DVD carrier tray, etc) can be discarded.
Original Sony DVD Drive;
Sony DW-U15A-S2
S/N: 7374940
Version BF
14OCT2004
Replacement drive found on ebay;
Sony DRU-510A
S/N: 7147021
Version BA
19JUNE2003
A coworker's kid is an EE student and loves to tinker with stuff like this so I may drop it all in his lap and see what happens.
Unit works as good as new with 3 turns of that stupid screw. I tried an allen wrench at first but that didn't work so sharpened a small flat screwdriver and that did the trick (the blue locktite held it fast and the allen just stripped the screw.) The biggest pain was remembering where all those tiny screws went 
