Powerbook won't accept discs

I know there is a slim chance that this can be solved without taking my new Powerbook to the doctor, but since I'm travelling in South America at the moment, I am unable to put the computer in for service even though it is still under warranty.

Symptom:

Drive will not accept any discs. They simply won't fit, like when a disc is already inside.

When waking from sleep the drive sometimes spin a cycle like it does when a disc is in the slot. I'm not sure but I don't remember it doing that before without any disc inside.

Theory:

I don't see how anything can have gotten into the opening since the computer has only been used inside under very clean and civilized circumstances. But it is possible that the drive is confused and believes that a disc is already inside. If so I would like to know if there is a way of resetting it. Ejecting does not help.

If not then I suppose it is dead and I will have to track down an external usb or firewire disk or something.

Any ideas?

P.S. Will I forfeit my warranty if I open the Powerbook myself? In case there should be anything blocking the opening? I suppose I probably would.

1.5gHz Powerbook
512mb ram
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.0f0
Drive: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-835E
Revision: GAN7

No...

No. Good suggestions, but there is no CD in the drive. I know that for sure since I have only a handful of discs here and they are all accounted for. I Even remember what I used last, which was a DVD that is here on my desk. I also tried the eject feature just to be sure with no success.

No small CDs could have been inserted. The Powerbook has been in my room by itself for the past few weeks. There was a three year old kid in my room for about two minutes but I'm fairly certain that he didn't have time to explore the computer and that he didn't have anything with him when entering the room. Still... one never knows for sure when it comes to those small nosy creatures.

Another potential clue is that there seems to be a metal part on the very right side of the slit, just inside of the opening which prevents the discs from fitting. This is what I think may be the locking mechanism that closes around a Cd when it is inserted to hold it in place.

CanadaRAM said:

There may be in fact a CD in the machine, and the Finder is not seeing it. Open iTunes and use the Eject command from the menubar, this will eject the contents of the CD drive whether or not it is recognizable.

The other possibility is someone stuck in one of those Mini-CDs or a business card CD. This is bad, and will have to be disassembled to remove. It will (probably) void your warranty to do it yourself.

Click to expand...

It's alive!

Typically, just when I have given up and started posting a forum thread and bothering people, everything suddenly works.

The drive remained in a locked state throughout the day through restarts and all kinds of attempts at fixing it. Then I suddenly remembered the little sound the drive makes whenever you reboot. I restarted again, this time with a disc ready. Just as the drive made the sound it does, I pushed a CD firmly into the slot and it went in. Since then everything seems to work as normal.

This I believe indicates that my therory about the drive being in a confused state was right. It thought it already had a CD inside and therefore clammed up. So if anyone else has the same problem, try doing the same thing. If you don't insert the disc at the precise moment of the startup search sound, it will remain in the same locked state after your restart.

Thank you for taking the time to offer suggestions! If the problem returns frequently I will probably send the laptop to the doctor upon my return home. But for now I should be able to backup my work files while on the road and of course watch a movie or two from time to time. I am happy.