superdrive

[peekies1]

i recently had my keyboard replaced on my macbook, due to an accident with it.
Now my superdrive is screwed up, it won't suck the cd/dvd in without force, when it does go in, it makes funny sounds and won't read whatever is in the drive. The only way I can get it to read or eject is to stick something in the slot and twist sideways. It's almost as if that relieves some pressure on the disc.

I imagine that its messed up and I was going to buy a replacement, but before I did I wanted to come on here and make sure there wasn't something simple I could check first before i waste money.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks

 

[hughvane]

When you say "accident", was that with just the keyboard on your Macbook, or did something heavy fall on to the computer, or did it fall to the floor or something like that? If your laptop has received a serious jolt, then the dvd drive or the optical lens within it may have been bumped out of position. Can you supply more details of what happened to the Macbook?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Yea, we need more details in order to diagnose the possible problem and solution. Specs, model, what kind of incident, etc would be helpful.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This sounds like a hardware alignment issue. Fixing this is going to require opening the SuperDrive, which is something you shouldn't do unless you know how to handle lasers.

 

[logana]

Who changed the topcase - there are 4 plastic clips that sit next to the optical drive - sometimes one of them falls out and gets jammed between the bottom of the topcase and the optical drive - squeezes the optical drive opening and makes it hard to get disks in and out......

 

[peekies1]

Superdrive details

Sorry for not giving more details. Its a 13.3" macbook, 2.0 Core Duo, 160G HD, 1G RAM.

My kid pissed on it, long story. It messed up the points on the back of the keyboard. Since that was replaced, the only thing that's messed up is the optical drive. Everything else works fine on the laptop.

I know usually when they have liquid damage, it generally screws them pretty bad. But like I said, no the only thing that doesn't work properly is the optical drive.

 

[hughvane]

Sorry for not giving more details ... messed up the points on the back of the keyboard. Since that was replaced, the only thing that's messed up is the optical drive. Everything else works fine on the laptop.

Sorry to read of the unfortunate incident. Okay, I would say that the internal optical is history. It's possible that taking it both out, and apart, to clean it may work, but the trouble and cost could be discouraging.

Instead, I suggest an external Pioneer firewire drive. OWC has a range of drives. A 116D would cost you US$31 or US$33 http://eshop.macsales.com/search/Pioneer, plus f/w enclosure US$40 http://eshop.macsales.com/search/Enclosure.