hp pavilion 515x cdrom not functioning

hi all,
my dad has an hp pavilion 515x with a philips cdd5301 cd-writer/dvd
that has stopped responding. when i press the eject button on the box
it does nothing. when i press eject from the keyboard, it briefly
blinks then does nothing. i manually opened it with a paperclip and i
think i ****ed it off because now it will not recognize the contents
of the cd let alone think about ejecting. when you insert the
paperclip and push, should the drive pop open? i had to pry it open
with a knife and push it closed manually. and if it makes any sense,
it seems like the release button didnt pop back out. when i insert the
paperclip goes all the way back and meets with no resistance. did i
mess up the drive? can anyone help???

thanks!
suzanne