Long term fix for sticking discs?

[AaronM33]

Hi everyone, I advanced-searched the Notebooks forums and only found a million results about how to eject a stuck disc. I have that part under control. One of the posts for that issue said the following:

It could be a couple of things - most likely is the letterbox inside the casing is squashed and it is not able to eject

Does the disk show on the desktop ?

Can you hear any noises that sound like the MacBook is trying to eject the disk ?

So, those who know what's inside my MacBook (black 2008 model), is there any way to permanently repair this issue so the discs don't get stuck in the first place? What is the letterbox casing? Can I just remove it (whatever it is)? For now, I just pry apart the opening a little every time I want to eject and that usually works. If not, I do the terminal drutil tray eject and try again.
Thanks,

 

[CSCONTO1]

Hi and Thanks for posting,

I used to have problems like this on a iBook G4 12" and my current black MacBook also has some issues where the disc doesn't all the way or even far enough for me to grab it. I thought about trying to replace the superdrive, but thanks to a lack of funds, that probably won't happen. What I would try is opening the case and taking off the keyboard (Don't worry it is incredibly easy if you follow the guide on iFixit, or know how to take apart things in general) and just take out the optical drive and inspect it. If it is warped, try gently bending straight again, this can help a lot especially if the top of the drive is curved downwards. If you suspect it just may be reaching the end of it's life, it may be time for a replacement, but dvd drives are pretty cheap ($30) and like I said doing the repair isn't rocket science. Anyhow, hope I helped you out and let us know what happens!