333Mhz iMac problemo

[5300cs]

Howdy folks,

I'm working on a 333Mhz iMac with a dead CD drive. The tray opens and closes OK, and the CD spins inside (I can hear it) but it's icon won't show up on the desktop and it won't boot from the CD by holding 'c' during start up.

Does anyone know what the problem might be and a possible fix?

Any help appreciated, Thanks!

[voicegy]

Have you performed any updates prior to the problem surfacing? Tons of possibly useful information here:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/We...lZr.4@.ef9fbcd

[5300cs]

Well, the problem is that it's not my machine. It belongs to a friend of my boss. The guy said a few months ago (5-6 months prior) it wouldn't even start up. When I set it up today, it started no problem except for the aforementioned CD drive being dead.

I work for a small computer consulting company and I'm the only person willing to touch Macs. No one else in the office is even remotely interested in touching them, so they dumped it on me.

I could ask the customer if they've done any updates, but they seem to have only used it for word processing and maybe basic internet.

Would it be feasible to remove the drive and swap it with another iMac CD rom drive assuming I was able to get one? Another guy in the office suggested I call Apple and ask for a replacement drive and just put it in myself.

[donigian]

The first thing you should check, if you haven't already, is if the CD cable is properly plugged in at both ends (CD and Motherboard).

Secondly, MCE Tech sells CD upgrades for tray-loading iMacs. http://store.powerbook1.com/mcein16xcddr.html

If your customer doesn't want a CD-RW in his/her computer, then check on eBay for drives; they regularly go on sale and some are purported to be "new" or "like new." It's worth a shot to look.

[BrittasMac]

333 iMacs had horrible CD drives. Mine had the exact same problem. After 5 days of trying to fix I was about to bring it to an Apple service center when the CD drive started working again. It still works actually. Bizzarre.

[5300cs]

I monkeyed around with it a little and took the bottom cover off and checked at least the CD connection which seemed OK. I didn't dismantle it down to the motherboard though. I'm not comfortable taking it apart that far; I've never done it with an iMac before.

The customer was nice (His joke was that maybe his iMac had found another boyfriend) but the machine was quite dirty and I have a feeling he may just junk it altogether.

Just a side question: if I was able to get a replacement CD drive, how difficult would it be to install it? I have experience with PC hardware, i.e. installing HDs, CD drives, motherboards, etc.

Thanks!

[Thom_Edwards]

Originally posted by 5300cs
I monkeyed around with it a little and took the bottom cover off and checked at least the CD connection which seemed OK. I didn't dismantle it down to the motherboard though. I'm not comfortable taking it apart that far; I've never done it with an iMac before.

The customer was nice (His joke was that maybe his iMac had found another boyfriend) but the machine was quite dirty and I have a feeling he may just junk it altogether.

Just a side question: if I was able to get a replacement CD drive, how difficult would it be to install it? I have experience with PC hardware, i.e. installing HDs, CD drives, motherboards, etc.

Thanks!

you just gotta go for it! i changed out the hard drive on my 233, which is buried even deeper than the cd drive. actually, i had to remove the cd drive to get to the hard drive.
the tough part was figuring out how to get the drive out. once i got that, it was easy to put it back. it's crazy in there! if yours is like mine, you will be shocked and awed to see how flimsily it is fastened. it's not even really fastened. you'll see what i mean.
there are some good illustrations on the apple site and on xlr8yourmac.com.

anyway, just go for it! but then again, what if you break it...

[donigian]

I have taken apart my 233 iMac before. I just wanted to see what all was in there and how it was packed into such a small space. It is amazing how the CD drive is held on by just a couple snag hooks. It is incredibly flimsy. It is kinda fun to root around inside the computer, though.

Apple's website has info on changing the memory on tray iMacs and that has the basic procedure for opening the computer. After that, just pull things out til you get what you need accomplished, just remember what goes where. Good luck!