a cd-rw given to me. installed it; and booted up,it opens and closes contiually. could it be a firmware issue? or just bad hardware.it is a hewlett-packard:cd-writer plus.also says multiread. numbers on top of
cd-rw:E118405 also 9305 046 4012 product no:4vo2018d705479.
thanks any help.

That's most likely the reason it was given to you... you likely have a defective drive.