Quote Originally Posted by AdamAnt316 View Post
Most of the disk drives I've dealt with make audible whirring noises under normal conditions when accessing a disk. A belt used in a car would have a lot more torque behind it than the one used in a disk drive (plus, said belt would be made out of more than just rubber, in all likelihood), so it'd be more likely to smoke if something got stuck. Most of this is conjecture, of course, without knowing exactly what the whirring sounded like before the 'magic smoke' poured out. Any further reports, OP?
-Adam
A vacuum cleaner's rubber belt will smoke when the brush spindle gets stuck.

I usually think of the sound being generated by the DD as more of a hum. When he said whirring noise, it led me to believe that it was possibly the belt slipping, and because the belt is so thin, it won't make a loud pitched whirring noise like a larger belt would.

Hopefully it is a cap. Those are a hell of a lot easier (less expensive) to replace than the disc assembly.