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force

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 5, 2008
6
0
my MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D (which is two whole weeks old) in my macbook pro 15" (ten days short of a year old) has gotten a small cd label (about the size of a stamp) stuck in it and it now behaves very very poorly. apple won't touch it without doing a full repair (not covered by the warranty, expires in ten days anyway).
I've basically decided to try to get this label out myself, but from pics and guides and such i don't see anyway to actually get into the burner. i can follow the steps to get her removed, but when i have it out: will i be able to get into the burner to remove the debris and how?

thanks
 
Assuming that you can see the label and it's reachable with a long set of tweezers....

Once the drive is removed, place it in the freezer or the coldest part of your fridge and let it set there for about an hour. That will make the label stiff and should deactivate any gum residue thats holding it in place. Then with your long set of tweezers reach in and gently grab hold of it and pull it out - just
BE VERY CAREFUL not to scratch or otherwise damage the lens.

If you scratch or damage the lens, the drive will have to be replaced. See here for a do it your self replacement drive:

www.ifixit.com

Regards.
 
thanks for the freezer idea

that will help. I was wondering what its going to look like and how accessible the innards of the drive will be. From your response it sounds as if it won't be so wide open. A further question: is there somewhere a list of compatible drives? Specifically a complete list of possible replacements for a macbook pro 15" 2.16 GHz intel 2 core duo machine. thanks
 
With drives for this sort of things, you're best off ordering from a place like Other World Computing, at www.macsales.com.

They have what you need, provided that is a new superdrive.

Good luck.
 
unfortunately macsales.com doesn't carry superdrives for the macbook pro. they're not on the list anyway. kinda weird . . .
 
The biggest job will be getting the drive out - once it is out there are 4 small philips screws on the top of the drive. Remove all 4 then there are a few clips in the metal along the longest edge and the top will come off. Normally it will hinge along the long edge just look along the edge and ease the top off...

Then it will be easy to get the label out.
 
thanks for all the advice

i'll let you all know how this goes

I guess the hanging question is where can I find a good list of possible replacement drives so I can effectively shop around if this one is kaput?

If i'm not supposed to put discs with labels on them into the drive, apple probably should make that clear or cover the dang repair! Is it in the warranty language? I'll have to look this up.
 
covered!

I ended up getting this covered under warranty. There are no warnings or instructions in the manual about sticker labels. I'll never use them again anyway.
 
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