Superdrive for my 15" Pro making NASTY noises!

[captain frys]

I had a question about my lovely little superdrive in my pro.
To start off, last summer we went on a road trip and when we got to our destination my parents opened the back hatch and my lovely Pro fell out the back and hit the ground, about a 5 foot drop...... YIKES!

I almost cried, but anyway. It landed on the corner with the optical drive. Since then it has been very fidgety and at times if I move even the slightest (like adjusting a leg) it'll make a horrific grinding/clunking/humming(with a gritty texture) noise like the disc is being thrown around inside. Also, within the past month it is giving me some trouble when reading discs.

So, for my question... are they normally this sensitive (obviously I'm not shaking it and turning it upside down with a disk in there.) or is it a direct result to being dropped 5 feet out of a car?

Today I opened my Pro up and took apart the drive, everything looks OK (granted I don't know what it SHOULD look like inside) and it's reading better then before but I just adjusted my leg about 5 mins ago and it did it again...

Please help! I don't want to pay for a new drive!

-thanks justin

 

[clyde2801]

Ouch! On the positive side, your pro did basically survive a 5 foot drop and most of the functionality survived. I'm assuming you've got the new unibody model.

If it wasn't making the noises before you dropped it, and it started making them after you dropped it, I think you can assume it got damaged during the fall. The unibodies promise to be tough, but they are filled with sensitive electronics. There's a reason for those pricey little toughbooks that panasonic sells. Is there any damage (dents, scratches, etc) to your case? Oh, and unless you bought it at best buy and opted for their accidental damage warranty, you're not covered by any (Apple) warranty.

That stinks, but I'd just replace the optical drive when it fails, and just count my blessings.

 

[captain frys]

Thanks, and yes, I am lucky I have full functionality otherwise!!! It's actually the early 2008 model that starting shipping with multi-touch and leopard (So no, not unibody, and yes, the strip above the insert tray buckled a bit) I bought it March of 2008.

So I'm guessing then that the "growl" isn't normal when you move it (should note too it's not a quick or short sound, it usually lasts 5-20 seconds and freaks me out every time, lol)?
Any suggestions on replacements that aren't say $200?

This is all I've found... And I don't want used for obvious reasons...

Thanks again!

 

[clyde2801]

Ebay, or if you're lucky, a 3rd party repair center may have a spare sitting around their parts room. Maybe see if someone has a dead model with a functioning superdrive that you can buy off of them. I'm presuming that's going to be tough, since most models like yours will probably be covered by applecare.

Speaking of applecare, I've heard stories that if anything else happens with the machine, the geniuses may try to blame further malfunctions on the damage down the road if your machine still has coverage.

Get with a 3rd party shop that has some grey haired guy in the back and see if they could locate a suitable replacement drive. Apple uses the same components that other pc manufacturers do, but I'm not sure if there would be a problem with firmware for a similar drive from say, Dell, even if it's the same drive.

Good luck!

 

[Mactagonist]

Mine makes a horrible noise too, every time I boot up or come out of hibernation it grinds away for a second or two. Since my last 2 macs were Air's I am well trained in avoiding the use of the optical drive. I cant wait for my MaxUpgrades optical drive bay to get here so I can replace it with another hard drive. Good riddance to you, Optical disc technology.

 

[captain frys]

Thanks for the suggestions. Only thing with giving up on it is I do watch DVD's on it occasionally. I might just get an external and eventually put a second hard drive in.

Peace