Broken SuperDrive keeps spining

[ChadZA]

I work for the UCT Rugby Club and the coach dropped the MacBook we do our video analysis on. The drive is broken and the mac store in Cape Town want to charge us R5 000 ($625) to replace it. The Rugby Club refuses to pay.

Is there a way to disable the broken drive so that the Mac doesn't try spin a disk that isn't there? I literally don't want it to even receive power if possible.

Thanks.

 

[windowpain]

I think the only way to do it, if you don't want the drive to receive power is to unplug it. By 'it' I mean the actual drive.

Depending on which macbook you have, (Here is the ifixit guide for the white core2duo) It doesn't look too hard.

I think it is mainly a couple of screws to take the top case/keyboard off. Once you have done that you just need to pop off the connector. Maybe put a piece of tape under it and put it back together.

Should take you 30 minutes max, not really a lot to break, so even if you aren't that confident I would still give it a go..