Hardware How to repair a clicking DVD-ROM drive?

[codezer0]

I have a D2B Wii here that's been soft-modded thanks to the lovely help on the hacking portion and ModMii.

Lately, I've noticed, when starting up the system it starts to give some annoying clicks. Also, my fiancee mentioned how it seems to ignore loading up any real GameCube games.

It's making me wonder what the trouble could be. Should it come to needing to replace the disc drive, what must I do? I'm wondering if it would be as obnoxious as the process of replacing the DVD-ROM drive of an Xbox 360, and having to find not only a matching model but also replacing the keys...

Or might the fix be simpler? I'm certainly open to taking it apart if need be. But I could appreciate any guidance towards a way of properly repairing it and making it fully functional again.

 

[GerbilSoft]

According to iFixit, all Wii disc drives are compatible with all systems, and there shouldn't be any sort of pairing process. (Wii U adds encryption and possibly pairing, I'm not sure.)

Any drive should work, though obviously if you get a D3-2 or newer, you'll lose DVD-R functionality.

 

[codezer0]

Yea, I'd rather not lose that functionality; not to mention mine shipped with D2B obviously.