Q: Optical Slot Drive, media with paper label
I copy lots of CDs for my wife's choir. It appears (process of elimination) that CDs (with standard round CD labels) do not spin properly, make a LOT of noise, may not mount, may hang on a track, and won't eject, even after making all the appropriate eject noises. The last one I tried finally popped out after several hours. I am guessing that the extra thickness of the media is what's causing this.
Regular surface printed CDs seem to work all right, and those I burn eject fine. I print my labels directly on the printable CDs I burn (thanks to my Brother InkJet) and they load, burn and eject just fine.
My primary iMac is a Late 2009/Early 2010. Now, I took the offending disk upstairs to my networked ancient G5 iMac. The paper-labeled CD went in fine, read fine and ejected fine. So, I simply left it up there and accessed it via Sharing. But that's a workaround.
Apple has offered to replace the optical drive, but I'm wondering if my "too-thick" theory makes sense and I don't even need a new one (as long as I keep the G5). In fact, a new one may present the same problems, no?
Does this make sense?
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10)
Posted on Nov 30, 2015 7:39 AM
I bought an el cheapo ($21) LG external DVD/CD drawer-type drive from Amazon. It's on the flimsy side, but it's USB and needs no extra power. Plug-and-play, it mounted my paper-labeled CD immediately. Problem solved. Apple still wants me to keep my Genius Bar appointment anyway, to check everything out - both the drive and computer - so I'll go. Thanks for your confirmation of my theory - it seems to be the exact right answer to my problem.
Posted on Dec 2, 2015 10:07 AM
