My 13" Macbook DVD drive suddenly failed. I put in a movie DVD, the disk did not mount, the drive ejected it claiming the media was not supported. I put it back in, the drive ejected it, and thereafter continuously tried to eject a non existing disk. It does this every few seconds for several minutes before giving up. Opening disk utilities starts it up again as does waking from sleep or rebooting. resetting p-ram did not help. A disc cannot be loaded (the slot is blocked). Here in Japan, repairs likely to take 2-4 weeks....anything else I can try before biting the bullet? Macbook is 3 months old. Nothing else is faulty (except some uneven "hot" spots on the display).
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Macbook superdrive problem
- Thread starter Tim Williams
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So this is with all commercial discs? Have you tried resetting the PMU? Even if it doesn't help, it'll mean you can tell the technicians you've tried it already. 
Give it a try
Something could be in the drive.
I had the same experience on my iBook lately. The cause was that a small piece of paper was stucking in the drive, which was inserted by my 2-year-old kid. So I turned the drive side down and put a swab into it to take the paper out. It was a funny story
If you have kids, then give it a try.
Something could be in the drive.
I had the same experience on my iBook lately. The cause was that a small piece of paper was stucking in the drive, which was inserted by my 2-year-old kid. So I turned the drive side down and put a swab into it to take the paper out. It was a funny story
If you have kids, then give it a try.
So this is with all commercial discs? Have you tried resetting the PMU? Even if it doesn't help, it'll mean you can tell the technicians you've tried it already.
Thanks for the tip; I did the PMU reset accoring to your link, but its not changed anything, alas: still trying to regurgitate something, sounds like! I guess its a trip to the hospital.....
Something could be in the drive.
I had the same experience on my iBook lately. The cause was that a small piece of paper was stucking in the drive, which was inserted by my 2-year-old kid. So I turned the drive side down and put a swab into it to take the paper out. It was a funny story
If you have kids, then give it a try.
Tat, thanks- I cant see anything in the slot entrance region; 'course there might be something lurking deep inside but with that white fur stuff in the entrance, difficult to tell. I even tried using a small hand held vacuum cleaner but I dont think anything cam
e out. No kids to blame, either....!can't insert CD DVD into superdrive
I just had this problem and, of course, jumped to the internet to try to find a solution. And to my surprise I found very little information.
I got a little bit lucky and was able to get out of this one, so I just went through the registration process to post my experience.
Apparently, there is a small pin that blocks the superdrive entrance to avoid inserting 2 discs at once, or I guess to prevent a disc from coming out. By some strange reason, the pin was blocking the entrance, but it didn't recognize any disc inside (eject button wouldn't do a thing and rebooting wouldn't work either). So, I tried to make the macbook think there was a CD inside.
I turned on the computer and waited for it to start up normally. Then, I closed the lid, and it went to suspend mode. I used a credit card, and carefully inserted it into the superdrive and looked for a mechanism that could be pushed, and inserted a good part of the credit card. I tried to do this with the card touching the top to avoid scratching the cd lens.
Once that was done, opened the lid. The computer then detected something inside and did the noise to eject a drive. Slowly, I removed the Credit Card, looking for the pin at the same time... it was gone. =)
I tried a DVD (Zeitgeist if you are curious) and it works =)
Disclaimer: Not an expert and this can be potentially dangerous to your superdrive / lens / credit card... this worked for me but that's it. Do it on your own risk! =)
I just had this problem and, of course, jumped to the internet to try to find a solution. And to my surprise I found very little information.
I got a little bit lucky and was able to get out of this one, so I just went through the registration process to post my experience.
Apparently, there is a small pin that blocks the superdrive entrance to avoid inserting 2 discs at once, or I guess to prevent a disc from coming out. By some strange reason, the pin was blocking the entrance, but it didn't recognize any disc inside (eject button wouldn't do a thing and rebooting wouldn't work either). So, I tried to make the macbook think there was a CD inside.
I turned on the computer and waited for it to start up normally. Then, I closed the lid, and it went to suspend mode. I used a credit card, and carefully inserted it into the superdrive and looked for a mechanism that could be pushed, and inserted a good part of the credit card. I tried to do this with the card touching the top to avoid scratching the cd lens.
Once that was done, opened the lid. The computer then detected something inside and did the noise to eject a drive. Slowly, I removed the Credit Card, looking for the pin at the same time... it was gone. =)
I tried a DVD (Zeitgeist if you are curious) and it works =)
Disclaimer: Not an expert and this can be potentially dangerous to your superdrive / lens / credit card... this worked for me but that's it. Do it on your own risk! =)
credit card unlocked blocked superdrive on macbook pro
Thank you sooo much!!!
You just saved my day!
I had exactly the same issue with probably the worst DVD drive in computing history (seriously that thing is the only really crappy thing under par of the cheapest PC components, one can find - it doesn't read DVDs, it doesn't eject unreadable media and it does lock up in times mechanically).
The credit card trick saved me the walk to the genius bar, while doing a bootcamp installation on the weekend.
Thank you sooo much!!!
You just saved my day!
I had exactly the same issue with probably the worst DVD drive in computing history (seriously that thing is the only really crappy thing under par of the cheapest PC components, one can find - it doesn't read DVDs, it doesn't eject unreadable media and it does lock up in times mechanically).
The credit card trick saved me the walk to the genius bar, while doing a bootcamp installation on the weekend.
Possible solution-Clean the lens
My drive has been spitting out both blank and pre-recorded cds for the past 2 months. Yet, oddly, has been reading dvds (blank or otherwise).
I have had some success so far by simply cleaning out the drive with a $5 bottle of compressed air from STAPLES. I attached the little straw and delicately placed it inside the drive opening, and sprayed back and forth for a good 5 seconds. Probably a good start before investing in a new Superdrive. And I definitely wouldn't pay $450 at the Apple Store. That's just insane. Mac Sales sells the superdrive for $150, and offers a video tutorial on how to install it. I was just was able to burn my first cd in about 2 months, after the cleaning. We'll see how long it lasts. Good luck!
My drive has been spitting out both blank and pre-recorded cds for the past 2 months. Yet, oddly, has been reading dvds (blank or otherwise).
I have had some success so far by simply cleaning out the drive with a $5 bottle of compressed air from STAPLES. I attached the little straw and delicately placed it inside the drive opening, and sprayed back and forth for a good 5 seconds. Probably a good start before investing in a new Superdrive. And I definitely wouldn't pay $450 at the Apple Store. That's just insane. Mac Sales sells the superdrive for $150, and offers a video tutorial on how to install it. I was just was able to burn my first cd in about 2 months, after the cleaning. We'll see how long it lasts. Good luck!
Possibly a known issue...
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...tigating_alleged_issues_with_superdrives.html
I've got the same problem, out of the blue with my Macbook Pro late 2008
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...tigating_alleged_issues_with_superdrives.html
I've got the same problem, out of the blue with my Macbook Pro late 2008
guys pls help me,I tried your credit card thing but I'm not sure that I'd done it correctly.the disc wont come out!!I had found the pin,is it on the upper part and right of the slot?
when I push the pin" it produce a clicking sound ,then I open the lid.then,the ejecting sound appear.the problem is,my disc still stuck inside.
pls help me!!!
Hey Afif.
I believe your problem is different to what I had... hence the solution might be different, too.
The problem I experienced was: The Macbook "thought" there was a disc inside. But there was no such disc. However, since the superdrive was closed by the pin (yes, at the top right), I was unable to enter a CD or DVD in the superdrive.
The solution I posted worked for me: Using a credit card, push the mechanism inside so the Macbook would attempt to spit the CD, and with that, raising the pin.
In your case, if you indeed have a CD stuck inside, and pushing "eject" won't do a thing... well... it's a different story and you might need to visit the apple store...
Regards.
I believe your problem is different to what I had... hence the solution might be different, too.
The problem I experienced was: The Macbook "thought" there was a disc inside. But there was no such disc. However, since the superdrive was closed by the pin (yes, at the top right), I was unable to enter a CD or DVD in the superdrive.
The solution I posted worked for me: Using a credit card, push the mechanism inside so the Macbook would attempt to spit the CD, and with that, raising the pin.
In your case, if you indeed have a CD stuck inside, and pushing "eject" won't do a thing... well... it's a different story and you might need to visit the apple store...
Regards.
Thanks for the tip. It saved me $250. My dvd drive could read CD's & Single layered DVD's but not DL DVD''s. It also could not write to any medium.
I dug out my "PerfectDuster", which has a nozzle attachment that fits into the loading slot, ( similar to your procedure ) and after blowing several blasts the writer began working.
My local Apple repair depot wanted $179 for the drive and $80 for the installation. Well worth the cost of the air blaster.