Hardware Wii Laser Reader not working(?)

[Nippo]

I have recently bought a Japanese Wii with the intent of playing one Japan game that I own. I would use Priiloader but the game in particular (Kirby's Dream Collection) has Metafortress and I am better off just having the region set to Japan. Also tried modding an English Wii to Japan region but unfortunately bricked it while attempting so that is a field I will no longer take on. Buying a new Wii was the best option.

This situation in particular is very strange. My one game that I own is a bit scratched, however I was able to have it read on another English Wii I own (but can't boot it off that one due to Metafortress). The Japanese one cannot read my Japan disc, nor is it able to read any English ones I own after setting Priiloader to region free. I took apart the Wii to inspect the laser. Laser light turns on, but turns off after the disc stops spinning and gives me the disc read error on my Wii.

I am going to swap disc drives with the bricked Wii to see if it is a hardware issue, but it makes me curious since the laser light turns on before the disc stops spinning again. Would this be a software issue or a hardware issue? Im not entirely sure if there is something on the software side that is blocking any discs at all from being read. The only homebrew I have installed is Priiloader and USBLoader GX, both seem to work fine. I may swap the disc drives regardless in an attempt to diagnose the issue. I'm on 4.3J btw. Any help appreciated, I'm a huge Wii hacker noob

(Additionally please do not tell me to just use Gecko or some other thing on my English Wii, I have tried so many times, and have posted on way too many threads with replies like "get the game in English" or "Use USBLoader". I want to use this Japanese wii and the Japanese game disc.)