Damn CD Tray

[Flux Harmonic]

I'm very new to macs, and I gotta say, I'm used to the manual cd eject button on the box.

So, what gives? In Tiger half the time, the cd eject button on my keyboard shows that nice grey icon on the screen, then after that...nothing. No amount of console commands gets the stupid thing open. It takes a full system reboot, which is really inconvenient most of the time.

Is this something that you all put up with? Did panther have these problems in the early builds? Right now, I'd say my cd eject button works -maybe- 50% of the time. The other 50%, I have to reboot. This is ridiculous...what can I do to fix this?

 

[Phat_Pat]

What mac are you using?

 

[Flux Harmonic]

This is a brand-spanking new powermac G5 1.8ghz single processor with 512 mb ram. It's not even two weeks old.

 

[mad jew]

I doubt this is the case but:

Is the eject key F12 on the PowerMacs like it is on my iBook? There could be a Dashboard conflict if this is the case. You can change the default keys for Dashboard in the System Preferences.

 

[Flux Harmonic]

I made F13 my dashboard key long ago...so F12 does nothing for ejecting my cd tray. I even tried popping the metal shutter and popping a paperclip into the pinhole...the drive just hiccups then goes quiet again.

 

[Phat_Pat]

I doubt this is the case but:

Is the eject key F12 on the PowerMacs like it is on my iBook? There could be a Dashboard conflict if this is the case. You can change the default keys for Dashboard in the System Preferences.

There is a seperate button for eject.

 

[mad jew]

There is a seperate button for eject.

Thanks, I didn't think they'd have a double-up on their full-blown keyboard.

 

[mrichmon]

You need to hold down the eject cd key until the cd is ejected. Don't just press the cd eject key like you press other keyboard keys.

I haven't worked out why this happens, but consistently on my Powerbook if I just tap the cd eject key then I'll get the onscreen indicator but the cd will not eject. The only way I can consistently have the cd eject is if I press and hold down the key at least until I hear the cd mechanism starting to eject.

 

[Flux Harmonic]

I'm not just tapping it. I'm holding it down for a full 20 seconds, with no result.

 

[ravenvii]

Well, seems it's a defective drive. I never had that problem. Call up Apple, they'll take care of it (yeah you will probably be out a PowerMac for a few days, but what can you do).