Superdrive is Dead...I think

[Squire]

Hi.
For as long as I can remember, my Superdrive has been making strange noises-- almost like the sound of a deck of cards being shuffled. It appears to be shaking a lot as well, because I can feel the desk vibrate slightly when this happens.

Anyway, it read and wrote to the disks without problems so I never thought anything of it. Then I started having some trouble reading disks; sometimes I'd have to eject and re-insert a disk 2 or 3 times before it could be read. Well now, it's not reading them at all. It just spins for about a minute and spits the disk back out.

Have any of you had the same problem? Is my drive dead or does it just have to be adjusted somehow? If it does need to be replaced, what would that cost (ballpark figure)?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Squire

P.S. I have a 1 GHz 17" iMac running the latest version of Panther. Here are the drive specs:

SONY DVD RW DW-U10A:

Manufacturer: SONY
Model: SONY DVD RW DW-U10A
Revision: A13b
Serial Number: DA7AE5A2
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW

 

[Jovian9]

It sounds like it needs replaced. I had exactly the same problem with the 17" 1GHz iMac I used to have. It happened right after my 1 year warranty would have ended (but I bought AppleCare right before that). Since I had AppleCare it was replaced for free.....so I do not know about price. If you are going to spend the money replace it I would consider looking into a compatible dual-layer dvd burner (or at least a dual-format one) to give you more for your money. Mine did have a Pioneer 4X DVD-R though.

 

[Squire]

Thanks for the response. Do you have any idea if the other drives would be compatible? I'd love to have a faster one or, like you said, a dual layer beast. Can almost any type of drive be fit in the iMac's bay?

Squire

 

[Gokhan]

hi

i was having the same problem with my superdrive in my powerbook.
Anyway try reinstalling osx first ,this procedure sorted my superdrive ,or if not a company called mce offer replacement superdrive's for around £300 pounds i think, have a look on the web and you will come across this company.

 

[Squire]

hi

i was having the same problem with my superdrive in my powerbook.
Anyway try reinstalling osx first ,this procedure sorted my superdrive ,or if not a company called mce offer replacement superdrive's for around £300 pounds i think, have a look on the web and you will come across this company.

Damn. That's pricey. Maybe I'd be better off going with an external firewire drive. I think there's a hack that allows iDVD integration, isn't there?

Squire

 

[homerjward]

Damn. That's pricey. Maybe I'd be better off going with an external firewire drive. I think there's a hack that allows iDVD integration, isn't there?

Squire

well, that's a laptop drive so it's automatically more expensive i think. also, panasonic has slot-loading 4x notebook dvd burners for 133USD+shipping at newegg but a black bezel. anyway, im almost certain it would void any warranty obviously here's an article about taking apart a g4 imac and tells (w/ pics) how to put in a new optical drive. it says basically you can use any optical drive as long as it's not more than 7.67 inches deep i believe.

 

[jestershinra]

Most drives will work in that machine. The drives are full size. You could use a DVD-R 107, the 8x burner used in the PM's.

However, you should not open up that Mac. Unless you are prepared to reapply the thermal paste, and void your warranty, I wouldn't recommend it.