Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Discussion of LibreDrive mode, compatible drives and firmwares
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bigrippa4k
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2025 2:44 pm

Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by bigrippa4k » Sun Sep 14, 2025 4:19 pm

Purchased a Pioneer BDR-207DBK off marketplace in hopes of getting LibreDrive compatible drives so I could rip faster then 2x. Upon getting home, I got a bit ahead of myself and tried to use one of those SATA to USB adapters (no enclosure), felt the connector get hot but never gets recognized even as plugged in internally as a sata drive. I'm not entirely sure if I just got sold a junk drive or if I damaged it, and hoping to repair it somehow or if I'm out 20$ - I want a LibreDrive, not necessarily for UHD but just to rip faster. It seems most of the drive sellers here are either out of stock, out of country or not currently selling. Any hopes I can repair this somehow?

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Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Mon Sep 15, 2025 1:36 pm

You would need to have clue what to fix where in this drive. My opinion: It's a door stop. Furthermore see this list:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27378

No libredrive support for Pioneer 207. Try to get a 208 or 209 that works. Those support libredrive and can be flashed to be UHD capable.

johnnyesp
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:36 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by johnnyesp » Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm

I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?

Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:40 pm

johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
The blue laser is dead while the red laser is still working. Now take it from here.

Billycar11
Posts: 4957
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Billycar11 » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:52 pm

johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
Try cleaning the lasers
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com

Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Mon Sep 15, 2025 9:00 pm

Last hope and try. Still think it's dead.

johnnyesp
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:36 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by johnnyesp » Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:22 am

Billycar11 wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:52 pm
johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
Try cleaning the lasers
Okay, I'll try cleaning the lasers and see. But one question, how should the laser carriage move when the unit is turned on? Regardless of where the carriage is, when it's turned on, should it travel the entire path from back to front, or how should it be? Because mine barely travels at all; it only makes a small movement, but it doesn't reach either the beginning or the end, and only the red LED is on. How should the LEDs light up? Should both the red and blue lasers light up? I don't know how the Blu-ray unit works, but I assume it's by power-up sequences or something like that, or am I mistaken? I've seen other units, but DVD units, to see how they work when turned on, and although each one does it differently, there are some things that are common to all of them. For example, I notice that the laser carriage in the other DVD units that do work, the small wheel travels the entire path, or at least in one direction if it reaches the end, approaching the central motor. I checked the other motor that moves the laser carriage, and if there was anything dirty, I cleaned it, but it still didn't move as far as I thought it should. I'll keep checking and trying other things to see if I see any improvements. I'd like to see how the Blu-ray drive works when turned on or plugged into a SATA power supply. So I'm testing mine with just the SATA power cable. Just to see how it turns on, and with the lid open, of course, opening and closing the tray and seeing how the different mechanisms work or move. Thanks.

johnnyesp
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:36 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by johnnyesp » Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:24 am

Coopervid wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:40 pm
johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
The blue laser is dead while the red laser is still working. Now take it from here.
The red laser is the DVD laser, and the blue laser is the Blueary laser? How should each laser light up when the unit is turned on? Should both lasers light up?

johnnyesp
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:36 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by johnnyesp » Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:34 pm

Coopervid wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:40 pm
johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
The blue laser is dead while the red laser is still working. Now take it from here.
Today I tested the unit after trying different things and I thought about trying a Blue Ray disc since I had tried a DVD disc and a CD disc but it occurred to me to try a Blue Ray disc and it did spin the disc although it seems to have a hard time reading it, I have several questions, I wanted to clarify that it is rather the blue laser that I see that does turn on, I had not seen the red laser turn on but when I tested the Blue Ray disc the red laser also turned on and then the blue one too and the disc spun trying to read the data from the disc, because I only had the unit connected to SATA power not to the PC with the SATA data cable. I am going to test it connected with the SATA data to see if it recognizes the contents of the disc. But among the questions I have are: how to know what the potentiometers are for the CD, DVD and Blue Ray. I have measured them and they are all around 714 Ohms, that is the maximum that I have been able to measure but they are all at the maximum of 714 ohms. What is the potentiometer for each CD, DVD, and Blu-ray player, and how many ohms should each be? Perhaps they're not at the correct value, and that's why it won't read DVD and CD discs. How many ohms should all the motors measure? For example, I measured the ohms of the motor that moves the laser carriage, and they measure around 10.5 ohms to 11 ohms, more or less, and they are the first two contacts and the last two. On the other hand, the central motor that rotates the disc and the different coils measure values ​​like 1.3 ohms, 1 ohm in some cases, up to 2.1 ohms, or rather small velocities between 1 ohm and 2 ohms, not including the multimeter leads. How many ohms should they measure? I would like to see the operation of one of these units, but in good condition, with the lid open to see how each motor should move and how it works in general. Okay, so for now, does anyone know which of the three potentiometers the unit has is the one for CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, and how many ohms each one should be? Thanks.

johnnyesp
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:36 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by johnnyesp » Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:35 pm

Billycar11 wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:52 pm
johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
Try cleaning the lasers
Hello, Today I tested the unit after trying different things and I thought about trying a Blue Ray disc since I had tried a DVD disc and a CD disc but it occurred to me to try a Blue Ray disc and it did spin the disc although it seems to have a hard time reading it, I have several questions, I wanted to clarify that it is rather the blue laser that I see that does turn on, I had not seen the red laser turn on but when I tested the Blue Ray disc the red laser also turned on and then the blue one too and the disc spun trying to read the data from the disc, because I only had the unit connected to SATA power not to the PC with the SATA data cable. I am going to test it connected with the SATA data to see if it recognizes the contents of the disc. But among the questions I have are: how to know what the potentiometers are for the CD, DVD and Blue Ray. I have measured them and they are all around 714 Ohms, that is the maximum that I have been able to measure but they are all at the maximum of 714 ohms. What is the potentiometer for each CD, DVD, and Blu-ray player, and how many ohms should each be? Perhaps they're not at the correct value, and that's why it won't read DVD and CD discs. How many ohms should all the motors measure? For example, I measured the ohms of the motor that moves the laser carriage, and they measure around 10.5 ohms to 11 ohms, more or less, and they are the first two contacts and the last two. On the other hand, the central motor that rotates the disc and the different coils measure values ​​like 1.3 ohms, 1 ohm in some cases, up to 2.1 ohms, or rather small velocities between 1 ohm and 2 ohms, not including the multimeter leads. How many ohms should they measure? I would like to see the operation of one of these units, but in good condition, with the lid open to see how each motor should move and how it works in general. Okay, so for now, does anyone know which of the three potentiometers the unit has is the one for CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, and how many ohms each one should be? Thanks.

Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Tue Sep 16, 2025 6:15 pm

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. But in modern business, education and government, because heavy investment factors are taken into consideration, other strategies are often tried with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Threatening the horse with termination.

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

7. Reclassifying the dead horse as "living-impaired."

8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.

10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.

11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.

12. Declaring that the dead horse carries lower overhead and therefore contributes more to the bottom line than some other horses.

13. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

14. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

DavoBR
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:42 am

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by DavoBR » Tue Sep 16, 2025 6:53 pm

Coopervid wrote:
Tue Sep 16, 2025 6:15 pm
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. But in modern business, education and government, because heavy investment factors are taken into consideration, other strategies are often tried with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Threatening the horse with termination.

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

7. Reclassifying the dead horse as "living-impaired."

8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.

10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.

11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.

12. Declaring that the dead horse carries lower overhead and therefore contributes more to the bottom line than some other horses.

13. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

14. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
Love it!

Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Tue Sep 16, 2025 7:00 pm

In a nutshell: I almost fix anything that's fixable but I know also when to give up and move on.

Billycar11
Posts: 4957
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Billycar11 » Tue Sep 16, 2025 8:27 pm

johnnyesp wrote:
Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:35 pm
Billycar11 wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:52 pm
johnnyesp wrote:
Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:57 pm
I have a damaged Pioneer BDR-205BK. I bought it used a few years ago and it worked for a while, but after several years, it started to stop recognizing Blue-ray players, although it still recognized DVDs and CDs until it stopped recognizing the discs and wouldn't even spin. If you open the tray and one of the lasers turns on, the movement of the carriage that moves the laser moves very little. I've seen that in other DVD drives, the carriage moves from beginning to end, but this one only moves a little. I've tried checking the motors to see how many ohms they have and cleaning them a bit, but it still doesn't work, not even the central motor that spins the discs moves. I'd like to know what to check to see if there's a voltage missing or if it's due to lack of maintenance and little use. Keep trying other things to see if I can get it to work. I've even tried swapping motors, but not all of them are compatible with other DVD drives or they use other types of flex cables with different pins. When your Blu-ray unit is connected to your PC via the SATA power supply and is open, as shown in the photo, doesn't even light up the LED or anything? Do the motors move at all? Does the central motor or the laser carriage motor even rotate a bit?
Try cleaning the lasers
Hello, Today I tested the unit after trying different things and I thought about trying a Blue Ray disc since I had tried a DVD disc and a CD disc but it occurred to me to try a Blue Ray disc and it did spin the disc although it seems to have a hard time reading it, I have several questions, I wanted to clarify that it is rather the blue laser that I see that does turn on, I had not seen the red laser turn on but when I tested the Blue Ray disc the red laser also turned on and then the blue one too and the disc spun trying to read the data from the disc, because I only had the unit connected to SATA power not to the PC with the SATA data cable. I am going to test it connected with the SATA data to see if it recognizes the contents of the disc. But among the questions I have are: how to know what the potentiometers are for the CD, DVD and Blue Ray. I have measured them and they are all around 714 Ohms, that is the maximum that I have been able to measure but they are all at the maximum of 714 ohms. What is the potentiometer for each CD, DVD, and Blu-ray player, and how many ohms should each be? Perhaps they're not at the correct value, and that's why it won't read DVD and CD discs. How many ohms should all the motors measure? For example, I measured the ohms of the motor that moves the laser carriage, and they measure around 10.5 ohms to 11 ohms, more or less, and they are the first two contacts and the last two. On the other hand, the central motor that rotates the disc and the different coils measure values ​​like 1.3 ohms, 1 ohm in some cases, up to 2.1 ohms, or rather small velocities between 1 ohm and 2 ohms, not including the multimeter leads. How many ohms should they measure? I would like to see the operation of one of these units, but in good condition, with the lid open to see how each motor should move and how it works in general. Okay, so for now, does anyone know which of the three potentiometers the unit has is the one for CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, and how many ohms each one should be? Thanks.
Did you clean the lasers here how?

eject tray

unplug drive with tray out

pop off front bezel clips on sides and bottom with plastic tool

undo screws from bottom will be under stickers if you have an s13, 213 does not have stickers.

flip backover and remove top cover

clean lasers with a lint free cloth or qtip and alcohol and dry with another do this 2 times and do not let it air dry you must remove the residue with a dry one!
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com

Coopervid
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Pioneer BDR-207DBK Repair

Post by Coopervid » Tue Sep 16, 2025 9:58 pm

It's not worth the effort. Any cheap ass bluray drive which is not libredrive compatible and not flashable to UHD you can get for a few bucks. And that is how it ends if it would finally work.

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