Q: Imac will not accept DVD's or CD's

I just had this problem with my imac a few months ago, and it was apparently a bad optical drive. It started out requiring multiple attempts to load, and eventually it stopped accepting discs at all. I had signed up for Apple Care just in time, so I was able to take it to an Apple Store and get it replaced for free.

I tried to install Snow Leopard today, but my internal drive wouldn't accept it. It made a loud helicopter like sound, like the disc was spinning real fast, and then spit it out. Luckily I have an external DVD drive so I was able to install Snow Leopard using it.

I've had occasional problems with music CDs and movie DVDs, but this is the first time I've had problems with a data disc. I tried an audio CD after this happened. It made the same loud noise, but eventually ended up reading the CD. Any time I've had problems with the optical drive it has been just after inserting the disc. If the disc doesn't get ejected the CD/movie plays fine.

Add one more to the LONG list of people having problems with the superdrive spitting out discs. Hopefully if the list gets long enough Apple will fix it.

I have a problem that's similar to all that's listed.

Yesterday I updated to snow leopard from tiger. Took a long time for the installation disc to be recognised.

I then installed the new logic studio. The second audio content disc wasn't recognised and now none of the logic discs work.

The drive appears to be quite random in it's choices of what does and doesn't work. iLife 09 doesn't work but iWork 09 installed with no problems. One film works, the other doesn't.

When something works, there is no noise. When it doesn't work, it's the same helicopter noise everyone else has.

I also can't burn to DVD-r and I've tried a few different brands.

To make it even weirder, no problems whatsoever with cd! Burning ripping or playing straight from cd all works.

I have the iMac intel G5 from 2006. Outside warranty and no AppleCare. Don't really know what to do. Can't afford the new drive as I just spent all my money on the new software!

Just another guy with the same problem and NO SOLUTION. My closest Apple store is 4 hours away, so I will probably attempt replacement of the drive myself. DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A TECHNICAL ARTICLE THAT DESCRIBES CRACKING THE CASE? Past experience has shown me that this process is not always easy. If I can find a replacement drive to purchase, I am confident I can replace it.

I have owned 12 or more Macs in my life and I am a dedicated fan, but their support attitude must change! It should not be this hard to find Apple documentation on an issue that is effecting this many users. 2% failure is a plenty big problem in the world market. IMHO Apple relies too heavily on their users to solve each others problems. They obviously do not like acknowledging problems of any kind.

APPLE TAKE A CLUE FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!! Post more effective help strategies, and make that help easier to find. One of the only reasons people pay a premium for your product is the expectation of superior hardware and support. Back up the expectation or risk loosing out to the cheaper manufacturers with better support!

MZ - S.C. USA

Just a quick update FYI:

I have found a non-OEM replacement internal Drive here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MG5SL8XDLK/

At the bottom of the page is a link to an Apple Doc showing how to replace the drive. I am going to try it and will report back if successful.

Good luck to all with this issue.

Let me know how you get on. I'm keen to give this a go myself

DDDAAAMMMMMM there are alot of people having problems with there CD/DVD drive including my self,

my 1 yr just expired & I started having the same problem as everyone else on here, Its SAD really APPLE don't seem to be doing anything about this after we all spend over $2000 (AU) on machines that break down.

There are just so many of us that are having these problem with theses stupid cheap drives that design to break down as soon as 1 yr finishes.

Could any latest dvd be placed internally I seen a DIY guide & looked easy but which internal to choose is hard, any suggestions guys. . .

Looks like Apple is starting to take notice and actively investigate the problem. It'll be interesting to watch this and see where it goes:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/28/appleinvestigating_alleged_issues_withsuperdrives.html

Olive Oyle,

If you have an AppleCare Protection Plan you can ask for onsite service once a hardware issue has been diagnosed. Give AppleCare a call (in the UK the phone number is (44) 0844 209 0611) and ask them about setting this up.

Best of luck.

Grandma 2,

You should contact AppleCare at (800) 275-2273. They are open 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Central time. If they can diagnose this as a hardware failure and you have an AppleCare Protection Plan on your iMac they can almost always do onsite repair on your iMac.

Best of luck.

Geoff Cleary wrote:
Here is where the argument starts to break down. The 8,500 view count on this topic (actually, almost 9,000 by now), does not necessarily indicate 9,000 separate people. In fact, I just bumped up the view count by 10 by hopping back and forth between the topic and the forum topic list. I'm guessing that at least 30 of the views represent me and me alone.

Well, maybe I shouldn't have used the 8,500 views as an example. Because, as you pointed out, the term views in the Apple Discussions world is not exactly an accurate association.

Okay, here is the punchline: our educated guesses show that Apple has sold 2,769,000 iMacs since July 2007 and 45,000 of those iMacs have this CD-ROM problem. That means that only 2% (!!) of the iMacs have the problem. Only 2%!

I'm no businessman, but a 2% failure rate does not seem recall worthy. Rather, it seems like a normal rate to handle via standard Support & Repair methodologies.

My 2 cents.

And I tend to agree with your assessment of a 2% failure rate. However, for the 45,000 folks (per your numbers) who have iMacs with this issue, it is a _very big deal_. Apple users pay more and expect more. Like my experience with the laptop sound card issue -- I didn't read anything about this problem on any Apple Discussion pages but Apple readily resolved the problem. And with utmost speed! But this thread has 8 pages and counting. And now, it appears it is affecting Apple's bottom line because folks upgrading to Snow Leopard are having issues: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/28/appleinvestigating_alleged_issues_withsuperdrives.html

So I apologize for using the 8,500 number-- that was just my way of correlation, albeit a faulty one. But, you gotta admit, you don't see many other threads with that much commentary. This is what indicates to me there is a problem. A problem that would really be decent of Apple to address.

Albeer wrote:
A problem that would really be decent of Apple to address.

I agree.

If you look further down this topic, you'll see that I posted a link to a story that indicates that Apple has taken notice and is starting an investigation into the issue.

Same issue reported this morning on my iMac bought in Japan in April 2007.
I will make an appointment with the Ginza AppleStore to get it fixed under the AppleCare plan.

Same problem. Very frustrating. In my case, the drive seems to be able to read every type of cd or dvd but the Mac OSes.