imac g4 won't read blank CD-Rs + can't install Panther

[soleestreya]

I have two problems with my imac:

#1: Every time I put a CD-r into my drive, it spits it out with an "Error code 9". I don't know what the problem is or how to fix it. It's a regular combo drive and plays DVDs and CDs just fine.

#2: I just aquired a version of panther. I started trying to install it, but when it gets to the screen where it says "select destination disk," there are no disks there at all.

I went to the disk utility to see if there was anything I could do to fix this, but there was nothing short of erasing the whole HD that looked feasible (attempted disk repair failed, and it definitely needed repairs according to the verify message)

I would be happy to delete my whole HD and start from scratch if that's what it takes, but unfortunately I can't back up any of my data, because of the aforementioned problem with CD-Rs.

I just spent $50 on the blank CDs

Please help me, thanks

 

[26139]

....

I am willing to bet something might be wrong with your CD drive. Does it take ANY CDs?

 

[varmit]

Do you have third party RAM? If so, might want to take it out and see if things work again.

 

[soleestreya]

I am willing to bet something might be wrong with your CD drive. Does it take ANY CDs?

I already said that it plays regular CDs fine. It just doesn't take blank ones.

Do you have third party RAM? If so, might want to take it out and see if things work again.

I did, and they didn't.

Any other ideas?

 

[soleestreya]

Do you have third party RAM? If so, might want to take it out and see if things work again.

Update

I know it's not the CD drive, because if I go to system prefs and tell it to open finder when I put in a blank CD, I get an error message. When I tell it to use itunes to deal with the blank CD, it works, and I have at least been able to back up my music (which takes up about half of the space on my computer).

If anyone knows what I can do to make Finder stop rejecting CD-Rs, please let me know. I won't be able to back up any of my apps until I figure it out.

Also: do y'all think it is a good idea to back up all my stuff and do a clean wipe and reinstall with panther? If I delete everything on my hard drive, will the panther install disc actually notice that the hard drive exists? Or am I setting myself up for trouble here?