MBP problems with dvd and iSight

[thefrankenator]

hi there, i have two issues with my MBP that have only recently popped up
now from lurking and googling i can see that they are recurring problems
i hope i might find a solution and if i can help by showing some of the fixes i've found that either didnt work or did temporarily

firstly my dvd drive it is a MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857E
it has been fine up until the last month, where it now will not read dvd's selectively, sometimes they work fine and sometimes they will not mount no matter what i do. the usual 3 attempts and then eject.
i found some solutions such as purging the PRAM, this worked for me once and i was without problems for a week or so, but now it has returned with vigour
i also tried the trick of holding shift as the disk loads... no joy

this was annoying me enough... but NOW
the iSight camera mounted in the screen has dissappeared. and i really mean dissappeared.
photobooth says it is no longer connected or in use by something else.
same with quicktime, skype and anything else
system profiler says there is no camera, it doesnt show up at all...
i am at a loss here, and getting very annoyed. i am still within warranty but i really cannot afford to be without this computer for very long as i need it for both work and study

if there is any help i would be amazingly apreciative. and perhaps some of the tricks i tried on my dvd drive may be more successful for others

thanks for your time

 

[Skystar]

Have you power-cycled your macbook pro since noticing the isight stopped working? I used to have a MacBook with that problem with every new OS install. After shutting down (not restarting) and powering on again, the problem was fixed and did not come back. Another thing that could have happened was your isight cable could have jarred loose from a fall or something. I just replaced my screen's bezel last night and I saw how easy the isight ribbon latch can pop up easily.