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Macbook Pro does not read some DVDs

BJB Productions

BJB Productions

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2008
1,314
136
Hi all,
This is a rather bizarre issue and I will try to explain the best I can. First off, I did a search, and found nothing recent that could help me with this issue. So I thought I would take a stab in the forums before calling up Apple.

Here are my specs: Uni-body Macbook Pro (late 2008) 15"-Snow Leopard
I have checked for all updates, and am up to date on all things.

So, here's my issue:
I insert a DVD, and the drive tries to read the DVD, what happens is I hear the drive spin up, then slow down, then spin up again, and slow down. It does this for eternity and it will not let me eject the DVD by pressing eject, or dragging it to the trash. I have to shut down, and eject the disk by holding down the trackpad on startup.

Now the weird thing is, this only happens randomly; some DVDs work great, while some don't. I've tried various DVDs:

My Age of Empires DVD will not load, (and the DVD is in perfect condition) it WILL load on my iMac just fine. (and no, it is the original copy, not a bootleg. ;) )

I also had issues with a Redbox DVD, it did the same exact thing, and I had to shut down to get the disk out. (This DVD was also in perfect condition)


So...that's the basic story. Any help? :eek:

Thanks,
 
Its because the slot in drives suck in general. You could try an external DVD drive if you have to get the data on your MBP.
 
Dragonforce said:
Its because the slot in drives suck in general. You could try an external DVD drive if you have to get the data on your MBP.
Click to expand...

Don't have anything I need to get off of the DVDs, but I need to use them.... :rolleyes: I don't have an external DVD drive...
 
Which Age of Empires are you using? The latest patch for AoEIII removes the dvd check, but I'm not sure about AoEII though.
 
I was having a similar issue. Certain discs worked fine and others wouldn't read. So I brought a "bad" disc in to the apple store, which worked on all their other machines. The DVD drive was replaced same day and no problems so far. It's noisier than the old one, but at least it works.

Mark
 
Macloven said:
I was having a similar issue. Certain discs worked fine and others wouldn't read. So I brought a "bad" disc in to the apple store, which worked on all their other machines. The DVD drive was replaced same day and no problems so far. It's noisier than the old one, but at least it works.

Mark
Click to expand...

Thanks...Yeah, that's what i'm thinking..These discs that don't work on my MBP work fine on any other machine...so i'm skeptical.
 
Cleaning the drive with one of those cheap drive cleaning discs might work. On my old 1st gen MBP I had similar issues as well as inability to write discs properly. I got a $10 cleaning disc from Staples, put it in the drive and I skipped thru all the tracks and after that everything works perfectly. Might want to give that a try before swapping out the drive.

BTW, holding down the eject button might force eject discs that are stuck.
 
Well I called Apple support, and they were unable to help me and said I should schedule a genius appointment... Good ol' apple support. :p
 
BJB Productions said:
Well I called Apple support, and they were unable to help me and said I should schedule a genius appointment... Good ol' apple support. :p
Click to expand...


What would you prefer them to do? All stand in a circle and hold hands and pray together for the recovery of your faulty drive?
 
Sir Cecil said:
What would you prefer them to do? All stand in a circle and hold hands and pray together for the recovery of your faulty drive?
Click to expand...

Haha, :rolleyes: . We'll see what they say..The person I talked to on the phone seemed to say that some DVD cleaners could damage the drive..
 
BJB Productions said:
The person I talked to on the phone seemed to say that some DVD cleaners could damage the drive..
Click to expand...


That's true. Particularly steer clear of any cleaners that make use of any fluids. They can turn any light debris into optical mud. Even some dry brush cleaning discs are too forceful. I don't recommend any of them except as a last resort.
 
Sir Cecil said:
That's true. Particularly steer clear of any cleaners that make use of any fluids. They can turn any light debris into optical mud. Even some dry brush cleaning discs are too forceful. I don't recommend any of them except in emergency.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for the advice.. That is why I was hesitant to use anything like that. Glad I didn't.
 
In all honesty I do not think a disc cleaner will damage the drive itself. The Staples brand for example has two very small and soft brushes on the disc that sweep away dirt and like I said worked like a charm. No liquids or anything that I would also never use for cleaning purposes. As far as the dent, it might void the warranty but I do not know. I think you're not going to lose anything by trying a cleaner though, since the drive doesn't work anyway.
 
BJB Productions said:
I insert a DVD, and the drive tries to read the DVD, what happens is I hear the drive spin up, then slow down, then spin up again, and slow down. It does this for eternity and it will not let me eject the DVD by pressing eject, or dragging it to the trash. I have to shut down, and eject the disk by holding down the trackpad on startup.
Click to expand...

Son of a gun, my brand new MBP 15" i5 did the same thing with my MS Office for Mac disk, except it ultimately spit the disk back out. A reboot solved the problem.
 
Well here's the status:
They ran some diagnostics on it, and it turns out that my Hard drive is going bad...So they are going to replace it.
 
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