PS4 Slim / PS4 Pro Optical Drive with Rail & Motor KEM-496A

A disc drive has more moving parts than people expect: a laser that rides on a sled, a rail that guides it, a motor that spins the disc and a loading mechanism. On a PS4 Slim or Pro with years of use, more than one of these can wear at once.

This listing sells the KEM-496A optical drive, supplied with its rail and motor, for PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro consoles. According to the listing, it solves disc reading failures, recognition errors and loading problems.

Reasons to swap the whole mechanism

• A new laser didn't cure the 'unrecognised disc' message.

• The sled grinds, clicks or stops partway along the rail.

• Games take far longer than usual to load from disc.

• The mechanism got knocked out of line in a drop.

Working on it

The label on the drive tells you whether it's a KEM-496A; some later PS4 Pro consoles use a different drive, so read it before ordering. With the console unplugged, lift out the drive, unplug its flex and power cables, and move the bracket or screws across if needed.

Plug the cables back in until they seat fully, close the console and run a few discs through a full load and eject cycle. If the drive accepts, reads and ejects them without noise, the repair is complete.