i am working on a project and trying to drive a motor that I found inside a DVD-ROM drive.
The motor is labeled JCL9B (81UK4715A) and has only 2 wires (red/black) connected to it - but it has a PCB that is attached to it that seem to control a small disk with holes around the shaft (Look like bike's disk brakes) - I attached some images of the motor and PCB
Is the motor a step motor or just plain DC motor
Is the disk plate used to "convert" the motor to a stepper?
You mean you want to use it as a servomotor, reading the encoder, using a PID loop to command a
motor driver.
You'll need to figure out how to power the existing board to get the encoder signals off it. Look for
part numbers, look for datasheets for those parts.
I want to be able to use the motor as a step motor...
As MarkT said, you can not use the motor as a stepping motor only as a servo motor. And that is not the sort of hobby servo motors you get where you can set a fixed angle. This is because there is no gearing between the motor and the position indicator and you do not have very fine control over the motor.
With a stepping motor it can be static with full holding torque and you can move it in increments. You can not do this with the motor you have.
Great but the only snag is that the OP has not got a stepping motor, he has got a normal DC brush motor and those can't be driven with a stepping motor driver.