pjensen4

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

When I insert a DVD or CD, after about 10 secs it spits it right back out. If I continue to insert the DVD or CD right after it ejects, the computer will finally accept it on about the 6th time and everything works fine. Is this a drive issue or software? any ideas?

Thanks

Imac, Mac OS X (10.5.3)

Posted on Aug 2, 2008 12:07 PM

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

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  • by askme3,

    askme3 askme3 Sep 2, 2012 10:11 PM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Sep 2, 2012 10:11 PM in response to pjensen4

    The "drutil eject" helped my computer accept cds and dvds but will not play them. it will play the occasional disc but will not always. HELP APPLE. i talk apple up all the time but not if this isnt fixed. my warenty is out and do not have the money to get it fixed!!!!!! very unsatisfied with this. not sure if i want to purchase another apple product if they will not address such a LARGE issue as this. very heart broken apple. guess will just have to purchase a different computer some day. unless someone else has another solution.

  • by marjoed,

    marjoed marjoed Sep 6, 2012 8:11 AM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2012 8:11 AM in response to pjensen4

    I bought my IMac in late 2009. First time owning a mac mainly beacause I'm a gamer and PC's just run games better than Macs. But I decided that since Macs were rumored to barely ever break down or have virus issues and what not that maybe it was time to switch to a Mac. And so I did. I did notice a problem with the disk drive right away but I knew nothing about macs so I thought it was my cds. In the beginning it would read the cd after putting in twice. And then six months later after six times. And then six months later after twelve times. Now almost three years since I bought the IMac the disk drive doesn't even work. And my assumption that it was my cds was proven wrong by this thread that has been ongoing for the past 4 years. Which is completely rediculous. I'm getting it fixed tomorrow cause I'm still under warranty for anout 89 days but I do believe its time that Mac fesses up and recalls their IMacs with faulty drives.

  • by Chanlandia,

    Chanlandia Chanlandia Sep 7, 2012 11:27 PM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 7, 2012 11:27 PM in response to pjensen4

    Like some other commenters I had my "super" drive replaced under my Apple Care warranty.  The original problem was that the disc drive wouldn't recognize some CDs.  It would whir and whir and then spit the disc out.  Now that replacement drive is kalfooey.  I got a DVD stuck in the thing and tried every single repair method I found online.  On of these methods was to hold down the left click button on my mouse when I restarted.  This didn't work and I was resolved to get my machine repaired by Apple.  In disgust I shut down completely and left it off for a day.  When I started back up, I tried the mouse button method just for kicks one more time.  It worked!  So try it: shut down, walk away, restart and hold down the mouse.

     

    I bought a Samsung Slim Portable DVD Writer to use as a replacement for the super dooper drive, not the Ultra Slim model which I don't think is Mac compatible. I guess I was expecting more, but it the disc drawer appears to be a light weight piece of junk. I guess that's what portable writers look like.  The user manual tells how to install the writer, but the instructions don't apply to a 4 year old Mac.  Now I've got to go online or to the Samsung site to figure out how to install the writer.  I think that Samsung is really selling these things to laptop owners.  I get a bad feeling about this writer.

  • by Ingdesign,

    Ingdesign Ingdesign Sep 9, 2012 12:32 AM in response to Gerard Surprenant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2012 12:32 AM in response to Gerard Surprenant

    I am disgusted just upgraded 10.7.4 and now my DVD drive will not mount anything, it was working perfectly before I upgraded so another load of duff software from Apple. Which I have to get sorted and now I can't work if my machine needs a new Superdrive like it would appear. I do have Applecare but I am still fed up of the hassle of booking in my mac in and having to have it repaired. This is a software issue I am sure.

  • by gr8snkbite,

    gr8snkbite gr8snkbite Oct 7, 2012 7:46 AM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2012 7:46 AM in response to pjensen4

    Can't seem to find the original thread I posted in about my issue with the drive not accepting CDs. I got a link with procedures to replace the drive myself (thanks), but then found out my 27" was still under warranty ( 1 week left), so I took it in for repair. After the genius determined my findings were correct, they orderd and replaced the drive, which didn't correct the problems. They said they made some permissions an settings changed and that the drive would take a cd numerous times. Great, so I pick it up, take it home, start it up, and nope, won't accept. Back to the store it goes.

     

    So now they, got the new drive in, have done an E and I with a known good OS software, yet still isn't working. Talking with them yesterday, they are baffled......really....omg....telling me they are looking into it deeper and may replace the logic board. Three days now in the shop.....

     

    Not to mention the closest store is in a Mall, and having to carry this thing back and forth is getting real old. They don't even keep the boxes, you have to take it with you...unsat....plenty of room in the store for a shelf system to store them on so the consumer doesn't have to do this....after my first visit, I got the notable apple survey....I hope they take my suggestions to heart....if their geniuses ....

  • by gr8snkbite,

    gr8snkbite gr8snkbite Oct 12, 2012 6:57 PM in response to gr8snkbite
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2012 6:57 PM in response to gr8snkbite

    update...

     

    got the imac back...optic drive now works...finally...and after changing $700 in parts (optic drive & logic board) final determination was a bad $6 cable between the drive and logic board....really.....and they couldnt test this BEFORE doing a complete E and I....sad, very sad....i guess it's easier to change parts (while i wait days for them to show up) than to test them...gotta love warranty though...but the whole process has been frsutrating....yet the saga coninues....brought it home, restored all files, yet applications aren't working...can't use any of them, or open files that were generated from them...now i'm really ******...so back into the store it goes....i told the "genius" i'm not leaving until all apps are fully functional...their 15min session will be a long 15min....

  • by ricky.v,

    ricky.v ricky.v Oct 26, 2012 10:01 AM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 26, 2012 10:01 AM in response to pjensen4

    I bought my iMac in December 2010, for the past month or two my iMac has stopped accepting discs. I can put it in, you can hear it trying to read and mount it, then just ejects. This is not even 2 years old yet so how can a computer worth so much break like this. Very annoyed and hoping Apple will not charge for this fault.

  • by swamp creature,

    swamp creature swamp creature Oct 31, 2012 11:03 AM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2012 11:03 AM in response to pjensen4

    add me to this ever gowing list laying it flat seems to "trick it" into mounting dvd 's

    It seems the theme hear is that they work untill your waranty runs out !

    Maybe they were not designed to work vertically

    it's windoze to the rescue as far as burning cd's and  dvd's

    and thnkyou all at videoLAN for VLC Player my mac would be lost without it

    I have 2011 27" imac and the dvd drive has not had that much use untill the last few months

  • by Chanlandia,

    Chanlandia Chanlandia Oct 31, 2012 5:29 PM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2012 5:29 PM in response to pjensen4

    I note that the new iMacs don't have DVD/CD drives.  That's right, there's no slot to accept discs, and that's one reason the machines are so thin.  The thinness seems to be one of the big selling points.  There's more of an emphasis on the looks of the machine than there is on the works of the machine.

     

    Now that Apple has gotten so big, they've "jumped the shark" with this parting shot of the piece of junk internal drive all of us got stuck with.   As the desk top computer is forced to evolve into an all purpose THIN iPod/iPhone, Apple pumped out their last desk tops with a part that they knew would not last past the warranty. 

     

    The lack of a disc drive in iMacs should be a boon for the external disc drive manufacturers.  Apple sells one for $80 that doesn't play Blu-Ray discs (?), but it appears to be a light weight toy to be carried around in a back pack for use with MacBooks.  It seems to be as emphemeral in construction as the Samsung SE-208AB/TSBS External DVD-Writer.  I returned one of those because it didn't seem to want to operate on my iMac and it had the feel and appearance of a "writer" made for Ken and Malibu Barbie. I've been watching for a substantial MCE brand external disc drive to appear at Mac Mall, but they want you to buy the disc drive sight unseen, and they'll ship it to you when it arrives.  I called Mac Mall and they didn't know anything about the drive except that they were going to receive it some day.  That was 6 months ago.  Yeah, like I'm going to buy something that the seller doesn't know anything about and they don't know when they'll receive it and they don't even have a picture of it.  I couldn't find the unit anywhere else online.

    http://www.macmall.com/p/MCE-CD-and-DVD-Devices/product~dpno~7816104~pdp.fejdjjb

     

    We got stuck with a product that was never meant to last, like some off-brand TV from a furniture rental store.  I guess we'll have to sit tight and wait for the drive manufacturers to figure out that there's a market for substantial units.  Sad that Apple has to join the ranks of Dell, et al by issuing a substandard product, and not stepping up to the plate and admitting it.  It becomes a "known issue", AKA so long sucker.

     

    Message was edited by: Chanlandia

  • by SWO2Cryppie,

    SWO2Cryppie SWO2Cryppie Nov 1, 2012 8:38 PM in response to Rogerdon
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 1, 2012 8:38 PM in response to Rogerdon

    In my case, it sounded as if the DVD wasn't completely loading into the drive.  Once I tilted my iMac to a nearly horizontal orientation, the DVD I had been trying to load mounted perfectly.

     

    In my opinion, this seems like a manufacturing defect where the loading mechanism is slightly too wide allowing the optical media to be out of alignment with the spindle when the Optical Drive is in a vertical orientation.

     

    I'm taking my iMac to the Apple Store because of the HDD Overheating recall and will try to address this at the same time.  We'll see what they do...

  • by aidanfoster,

    aidanfoster aidanfoster Nov 3, 2012 11:43 PM in response to pjensen4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 3, 2012 11:43 PM in response to pjensen4

    I've got 2 27"  imacs runningOSX 10.6.8 one 2009 and one 2010 and neither reads one of two purchased windows 7 DVDs.

     

    They used to read the exact same disks! Something is very wrong with this and I'm thinking it's possibly related to some update rolled out. Either that or they drives have very very high faliure rates.

     

    MY SOLUTION

    So I used and old PC to duplicate the WIndows 7 disk to a  DVD and it works! So if your stuck try copying your "original" disk to a burned DVD.

  • by ckaiserjr61,

    ckaiserjr61 ckaiserjr61 Nov 4, 2012 9:02 AM in response to aidanfoster
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2012 9:02 AM in response to aidanfoster

    This is an okay solution if you have a few discs you want to load/import.  I have over 10,000 CDs that I'm currently importing to my "souped-up" (240GB) iPod Classic.  Burning all of them on DVDs is not cost effective and is extremely labor intensive. I'm going on two years of experience with this problem, and I now/still have had a 100% success rate tipping my 21" iMac on its side/edge to get all discs to "seat" and load/import properly.  While not great, (it would be nice to see Apple address this massive problem,) it is cheap, and not very labor intensive.

  • by Geordie,

    Geordie Geordie Nov 6, 2012 3:33 AM in response to ckaiserjr61
    Level 2 (310 points)
    Nov 6, 2012 3:33 AM in response to ckaiserjr61

    Hi ckaiserjr61 –

     

    When you say tip it on it's side, which way and how far do you tip it? And do you leave it on it's side while it reads them?

     

    Thanks

  • by ckaiserjr61,

    ckaiserjr61 ckaiserjr61 Nov 6, 2012 6:27 AM in response to Geordie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 6, 2012 6:27 AM in response to Geordie

    I tip it on it's left side, so that the drive slot is straight up, (left side is flush againstr the desktop,) and put the disc in. Once I see that it has engaged, (ie. is being read and searching Gracenote for the titles,) I put it back to its normal upright position and the discs load without further incidence. I read about this "remedy" on this boad a couple of years back, (I also tried the tipping it back to a flat or horizontal position, but had no luck with that method.) Since doing this I have had a 100% success rate loading over 1000 compactdiscs to my iTunes library. While this *****, (and I will NEVER buy another Apple product until they address this issue,) it is cheap and effective. Good luck, and please post your results here for everyone else to learn from, (including Apple!!!!)

  • by SWO2Cryppie,

    SWO2Cryppie SWO2Cryppie Nov 6, 2012 6:29 AM in response to Geordie
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 6, 2012 6:29 AM in response to Geordie

    When I did this, I tilted my iMac backwards n it's stand so that the monitor was facing the ceiling.   Then inserted the disc I wanted it to read, and it mounted like it supposed to.

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