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Helpful answers
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Dec 5, 2015 12:40 AM in response to Lynn Couckby K Shaffer,There are a few ways to try & get an optical drive to read disc media;
one is to buy or otherwise obtain a cleaning disc. Some aren't good.
Avoid discs with brooms that hit internal components.
A few may work OK. Some users have tried a credit card or thin piece
of plastic and put a bit of cloth over it, such as a microfiber lens cleaner
& carefully insert then remove the cloth (over stiffener plastic) to clean.
suggestions appear from a search online such as this; also see comments:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20120210114733216
Sometimes, a few suggestions have included air, carefully blown into the
optical drive opening, past the dust cover inside, to see if any loose dust
may move from the path where the optical laser lives. This can be the
cause of a problem if you were to say, use a canned-air product that has
actual liquid content that turns into 'air' on release; when those cans are
tipped, a cold liquid may spray out and that can damage components. It
also may freeze fingers. Not all canned air product are equal or desired.
• Get help with the slot-loading SuperDrive on your Mac computer - Apple Support
• Mac Mini repair guides (all models) - iFixit:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Mini
The unit, the optical drive, may have failed. You could probably replace
the combo or superdrive yourself if you can follow instructions from one
of the online guides to repair the model Mini you have, without causing
additional issues; since accidental damages can't help the situation any.
Does the optical drive appear in the Disk Utility? It should. Also there
may be a listing of what the system sees, in hardware & software, in
the 'system profile' or hardware listed from About This Mac, more info.
Replacement drives may be located by looking into the online sites of
Mac-centric vendors of good reputation, such as OWC macsales.com.
Compare specification and part numbers of quality brands, and see if
you can perform the operation yourself; or contact authorized repairer
in your area and ask what their fee would be. A diagnostic may be an
advisable choice before an actual repair; unless you can determine the
unit (optical drive) is indeed defective without a doubt.
Good luck & happy computing!
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Dec 5, 2015 1:46 AM in response to Lynn Couckby lllaass,Have you tried a cleaning disk?
Also, can you boot form an install disk?
If not then the drive failed. I would use and external optical drive rather than replacing the internal optical drive. An external drive powered by an AC wall adopter is best since the USB ports on your old Mac are note USB 3 and thus have problems putting out enough power for an drive powered by the USB bus.
You can also then replace the internal optical drive with another storage drive (HD or SSD)