DVD drive unable to eject/load and won't recognize/play anything

Question

I am running 12.04, and my drive is a Plextor PX 880SA.

My DVD player does not work. Today was my first attempt at trying to use it in months, or maybe even longer, so I'm not sure how long it has been inoperative.

I can't even open the drive. I've tried a number of terminal commands, including:

1. eject
2. sudo eject
3. sudo eject /dev/sr0
4. file /dev/sr0
5. sudo eject -i off

The error message I keep receiving is:

eject: unable to eject, last error: Inappropriate ioctl for device

The light on the drive will light up, but it still won't eject/open. I was able to manually open it by sticking a pin in the hole of the drive, but it is still a "dead" drive. It won't automatically close with a light push, and won't recognize the loaded DVD.