There's a lever/spring mechanism that shoves the floppy out when the disk "carriage" is up and aligned with the slot in the case. When you put in a disk, it extends the spring, the lever latches, and a microswitch activates the motor that draws the carriage down. I expect that either the spring is broke or the lever connected to it is bent. The previous owner probably shoved in a floppy upside down or backwards and had to wrench it out using brute force. Dont laugh. I know someone who repairs machines for a living with GE (they do repair for Circuit City and others), and he once found a slice of american cheese in a floppy drive (guess it was a 5-1/4 inch unit). Coins inside the drives and case are also common sources of PC/Mac repairs. Kids- you gotta love 'em. Anyway- the mechanism would go back down after failing to eject. The switch contacts are still closed, and that's what it's designed to do - keep running the motor. You might be able to fix it with a pair of small needlenose pliers if the spring is not broke. You will have to remove the drive to do this. Be careful with that paper clip! You could hose up the head, or send a minute electrical charge through your body that could affect your ability to reproduce in the future. Unless you are really good with working on tiny mechanical parts, save yourself the headache and replace the drive. -----Original Message----- From: SUPRDAVE <SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, January 26, 1998 11:16 PM Subject: back ontopic: mac 400k drive. got stuck turns, back paper read understand