Obsolete Paperclips?

[macguymike]

Does anyone know why Apple stopped putting the paperclip eject feature for CD drives on their machines?

It was such a handy thing to have whenever the drive became stuck. Now there's a CD stuck in my PowerBook's slot-load drive and there's no physical method to retrieve it.

I'm also wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do with all my paperclips.

 

[hugemullens]

well its a bit different between a slot load and a tray load, power dies on a try load, the paper clip manually moves the gears and out comes the CD, on a slot load a jam is often cause the CD is out of postiton, and a manually forced eject could ruin both the cd and the drive. Your paper clip still has use, just use it to move the cd in postition so that nothing is blocking its escape route.

 

[Moxiemike]

Which model of PB do you have? I have a rev.b 667 and it has the paperclip eject thinger... its well hidden though.

 

[iGav]

It's not on the SuperDrive equipped PowerBook either...

i tried to find it when my first SuperDrive went strange on me...

I had to use a screwdriver and patience when I needed to get my jammed CD out when my superDrive died...

 

[Kwyjibo]

you should have gottenn the ibook it has one.

 

[rainman::|:|]

are you sure you know how the paperclip trick works on slotloading drives? it's not the same as trayload or floppy--

it was my understanding that they still came with it. could be wrong... i know my (old but still) slotloading imac has one...so it's possible at least...

pnw

 

[janey]

try using open firmware (if it's a real hardware problem then go to apple).
hold down command (apple logo)+option+o+f while the startup chime is playing. a gray screen should show up saying something about open firmware, type in "eject cd" at the prompt

 

[beatle888]

Re: Obsolete Paperclips?

Originally posted by macguymike
Does anyone know why Apple stopped putting the paperclip eject feature for CD drives on their machines?

It was such a handy thing to have whenever the drive became stuck. Now there's a CD stuck in my PowerBook's slot-load drive and there's no physical method to retrieve it.

I'm also wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do with all my paperclips.

its still there you just have to look for it.
i thought the same thing when i first got my powerbook, but yes it is still there and works as usual.

 

[macguymike]

Originally posted by hugemullens
Your paper clip still has use, just use it to move the cd in postition so that nothing is blocking its escape route.

Any particulars on how I should attempt that without messing up the drive and ruining my warranty on it?

I should probably specify that I'm using a 12" PowerBook as some others here seem to have picked up the impression that I'm using a 15 inch model.

 

[macguymike]

Originally posted by übergeek
try using open firmware (if it's a real hardware problem then go to apple).

Yup. Tried that already. Several times. Even tried holding down the trackpad button. Several times.

I'm getting the feeling that I'm just going to have to give up my computer for a few days.

 

[AmbitiousLemon]

if the computer still boots holding down the mouse button on startup will cause the cd to eject (this is assuming its not obstructed or that the cd drive is still mechanically functioning).

 

[macguymike]

Originally posted by Moxiemike
Which model of PB do you have? I have a rev.b 667 and it has the paperclip eject thinger... its well hidden though.

Its the new 12 inch. I know they made 15 inch slot-load drives with paperclip release mechanisms so I'm a bit confused as to why there aren't any on the new laptops.

Its not just a laptop thing either. Last I checked, only the iBooks have this feature anymore.