so, I dropped my Powerbook...

[SPinc33]

So I was running out the door, a cat ran in, and my backpack was open with Powerbook inside... bad combination.

Anyway, now there's a DVD in the drive (Superdrive) that won't come out. It reads fine and even makes the noise like it's ejecting, but the disc doesn't come out and it just remounts it after a few seconds.

I've tried all the normal fixes (holding trackpad while restarting, going into target mode and trying to eject from another computer). The only thing I haven't tried yet is resetting the PMU.

Anybody have anything similar happen? Any tips (besides "don't drop your computer")? If I have to replace the drive, how much would it cost?

It's a G4 12" 1.33 G4, in case you're wondering. And it doesn't have the pinhole manual eject thing like the older ones.

 

[scan]

If you're lucky, all you have to do is replace the drive. If you stil have apple care maybe you can convince them that it malfunctioned on its own. If not, you will have to buy a new drive from apple and have your local service centre fix it for you. Ask them how much they'll charge for the service.

 

[SPinc33]

well, i don't have apple care so it looks like this will cost me.

the thing is, everything works except the eject. anybody ever had a disc stuck in a working drive?

if i replace the drive, about how much should it cost (parts & service)?

Thanks for the tips.

 

[mduser63]

Disclaimer: Don't blame me for messing things up. I'm suggesting things, not saying that you're capable of doing them or should do them.

First of all, I'd try to inspect the inside of a drive. I have a feeling that when it got dropped, something inside the drive got bent or otherwise misplaced and it's blocking the disk from ejecting. If you can find that piece and push it back into place, you might be able to fix it. Of course the slots too narrow to really see into the drive, so get a small, flat, plastic tool of some sort and gently feel around in the drive while the disc isn't spinning.

You can remove the optical drive in a PowerBook (I have the same model and have done it), but it's probably the hardest component next to the screen to remove as it requires you to remove just about everything else first, including the hard drive, modem, power controller, heatsink, logic board, etc. Not impossible, but definitely not for somebody who's not comfortable with LOTS of tiny screws and fragile parts that have to be carefully disassembled then reassembled. If you're going to do this, check out ifixit.com which has a detailed step by step disassembly guide including sheets you can use to organize all the screws so they don't get lost/mixed up. I believe the also sell replacement optical drives.