Optical Drive Starts Up then Down Over and Over on Startup

I have a first gen macbook that won't startup. When I turn it on I can hear the optical drive start up and then stop and then back again, over and over. The frequency is probably a little faster than once per second.
Both the battery and the hard drive have been completely removed (just for testing, it does the same with them in). I've tried resetting the PRAM but again, it does the same thing.
There is no disc in the drive, but there was at one point, but magically I got it out.
Any suggestions on what I could try?

Disconnect everything connected to the computer and try an SMC reset, Gustabubble,
see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
+Shut down the computer.+
+Disconnect the MagSafe power adapter from the computer, if it's connected.+
+Remove the battery.+
+Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.+
+Release the power button.+
+Reconnect the battery and MagSafe power adapter.+
+Press the power button to turn on the computer.+
If this doesn't fix it, though, I'm afraid it is probably hardware related.
Are you absolutely sure it is genuinely shutting down? The Nvidia 8600 GPU issue , which is subject of a free extended repair program - see http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 , can cause symptoms that look/sound like a shutdown in the "SantaRosa" model MBPs , though you will usually see a faint glimmer from the sleep light if you look very closely. (I'm not sure which MBP you have from your description, so this program may, or may not, apply to you)
Rod

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