I seem to have lost my optical drive...

[jlamb0]

I'm on a 2.4 GHz previous generation black Macbook.

I just inserted a DVD, and after spinning for a few seconds the drive stopped dead. No disk icon appeared on the desktop. When I press eject, the eject splash screen flashes on like normal, but nothing happens.

System Profiler says under Disk Burning: "No burning device was found. If you are using an external device please make sure that it is connected and powered properly." Disk Utility doesn't show it either, only my hard drive.
I booted into Windows Vista using Boot Camp, and Windows can't see it either.

This Macbook is only about six months old, never had any issues before.
I updated to 10.5.6 last week without any problems.

I burned a few DVDs over the weekend, and watched a movie just yesterday. In either case there were no signs of any problems.

I did have a strange episode earlier tonight where my Macbook mysteriously went to sleep as if it had lost power, but it was plugged into the AC adapter at the time. I had to do a hard reboot in order to revive the machine.

Anybody have any ideas as to what's going on?
I guess I'm going to have to call Apple after the holidays.

 

[SHADO]

Hmm seems like it's hardware-related. The only thing I can think of is maybe resetting your PRAM (hold apple+option+P+R on startup until it reboots). But other than that, I would call Apple. Sorry man...

 

[Tallest Skil]

The ribbon connector could be loose or the drive could be bad. If you're okay with doing a little open-open, wiggle-wiggle with the connection, try that. If not, take it to Apple.

 

[jlamb0]

The ribbon connector could be loose or the drive could be bad. If you're okay with doing a little open-open, wiggle-wiggle with the connection, try that. If not, take it to Apple.

I wouldn't say I'm scared of it, but it would be a shame to void my warranty, and I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't consider the optical drive to be user serviceable.

I reset the PRAM as suggested above, but didn't really expect anything. I agree that it is probably a hardware issue.

Wish me luck with Applecare...

 

[jlamb0]

An update: Took it in to the local Apple Authorized Service Center, and they fixed it right up for me. Turned out to be a totally dead drive, and needed to be replaced; who knows why? They also pointed out that replacing the palm-rests are covered under warranty too, whenever I get fed up with the tiny nick I have on one side (still don't quite know how it happened). I'm just anal enough to take them up on it, but I want to wait until my applecare is about to run out, just in case any more mysterious scratches show up over time.

All in all, an excellent experience!