Yeah you are correct abou t that. The drive should be in half open o r half closed status. You can do it as you have proposed. But, I think the tutorial s that exist out there sya to do it with the power of the drive on, then while closing the tray that you should cut power when it is 50% of the way closed. In my experience it is usually 60-65% closed. Or you can do it another way which is to slide the tray open to 35-40% open from a completely closed state while the power is off, then power it on. Either way works...even your way obviously. I guess there are 3 ways to do it.
Thanks for the positive feedback xboxdawg.