Patent ID: 8477586

Claim:
A method for driving an optical pickup apparatus that irradiates an optical disc with laser light to record or playback data while compensating for spherical aberration by moving a movable lens in a direction along an optical axis to change a luminous flux provided within an optical path between a laser diode and an objective lens, the optical pickup apparatus including a lens driving device arranged to move the movable lens back and forth between an original position and a drive-limit position, the method comprising the steps of: performing a first drive in which the movable lens moves to an original-restoration start position by being driven a specified distance toward the drive-limit position; performing a second drive in which the movable lens thereafter moves to the original position by being driven toward the original position a distance equivalent to a distance between the drive-limit position and the original position; and performing a third drive in which the movable lens thereafter moves to a default position by being driven a specified distance.