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intel iMac... does this make sense?

marcre

marcre

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 15, 2008
230
0
East coast
When I insert a DVD it makes a crunching noise, spins like it is out of whack and then eventually will eject. CD's work fine every time. Is it safe to assume my drive is messed up even though there is no problem with CD's?

thanks
 
Lukeyboy01 said:
yes its normal but if it bugs you they are quite cheap on ebay but if its the intel you can open up (easily)
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What the heck is wrong with you? You can't even read a one-line question without posting an answer that makes no sense?!

To the OP, I've never seen a drive act that that if it wasn't bad. You could try resetting PRAM but its unlikely it will help. If it's under warranty call Apple about it. If not then get a replacement and do it yourself or get an external USB drive.
 
Heb1228 said:
What the heck is wrong with you? You can't even read a one-line question without posting an answer that makes no sense?!

To the OP, I've never seen a drive act that that if it wasn't bad. You could try resetting PRAM but its unlikely it will help. If it's under warranty call Apple about it. If not then get a replacement and do it yourself or get an external USB drive.
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Thanks, I have applecare on it, so I'm not worried about that. Was just curious why the CD's work fine, but it is such a chore to get DVD's to work correctly.
 
marcre said:
Thanks, I have applecare on it, so I'm not worried about that. Was just curious why the CD's work fine, but it is such a chore to get DVD's to work correctly.
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Thats a good question... I've never seen it happen before but maybe the lens can get out of alignment? Maybe its out just enough so that DVDs can't be read but CD's needing less precision still work. That's just a wild guess. You've got Applecare, get the thing fixed.

To Lukeyboy01, my optical drive doesn't make the normal crunching sound you refer to... you think I should send it in and have it looked at?
 
I'm fairly sure that DVDs and CD's use different laser's, so your DVD laser could be messed up, but your CD could be fine.

By they use different lasers, I didn't really mean different lasers, I just meant different...I don't know how to word it, but basically a DVD drive's CD part can fail and/or the DVD drive's DVD part can fail.
 
This same thing happened to a friends macbook except with all discs. We brought it to the apple store and they replaced the drive under warranty.
 
If you've never used a slot-loading drive before, to some extent the "crunching" sounds are normal -- that's just the way they work and by themselves, they're not necessarily a cause for concern. If they get worse, sure, but you might not have a basis for comparison to know what worse is.

Having DVDs spit back out at you, on the other hand, is not normal.
 
Thanks for the info all. It confirms what I figured. I'm trying to rip some DVD's and it's making it hard. I'll take it in in a few days I guess and hopefully they can get it fixed while I'm out of town.
 
it actually could be fine, if it's what I think it is.

Mine does that too from time to time, I think it's the way I put it in. I now try to slide it in, and tap it gently to make sure the device that pulls it in has a proper hold on it (what better way than to let it grab the disc itself).


I used to pop them in, and they'd sound like they're scraping on something, so I eject in a panic to find the disc isn't scratched at all. I just put it in a bad way I guess. After being more careful, I haven't had the issue come up in some time.
 
i.shaun said:
it actually could be fine, if it's what I think it is.

Mine does that too from time to time, I think it's the way I put it in. I now try to slide it in, and tap it gently to make sure the device that pulls it in has a proper hold on it (what better way than to let it grab the disc itself).


I used to pop them in, and they'd sound like they're scraping on something, so I eject in a panic to find the disc isn't scratched at all. I just put it in a bad way I guess. After being more careful, I haven't had the issue come up in some time.
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very interesting. Since it started happening, I am careful, but it always does it. The weird thing is, it is only when I first do it. Once I get it to work, I can keep going one after the other and they are fine. Now, in a couple days if I try and rip another DVD, it will be the process all over again.
 
well I didn't solve it right away by being careful, I had runs where I'd put it in and out 5 times before it worked.

I started applying a very slight pressure on the disc to kind of slide it in at a bit of an angle, which seemed to help, but now I hardly have an issue.
 
i.shaun said:
well I didn't solve it right away by being careful, I had runs where I'd put it in and out 5 times before it worked.

I started applying a very slight pressure on the disc to kind of slide it in at a bit of an angle, which seemed to help, but now I hardly have an issue.
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that's cool. Are you still under warranty? I think I'm going to take it in and see what they say.
 
I had a similar problem with my Macbook Pro, except it would except some discs and not others, regardless of type. I took it in to the Apple store and they replaced it and now it works perfectly fine, so I would take it in.
 
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