jilllove55

Q: Can't read files on Apple USB Superdrive with IMac

I have not used my superdrive hardly at all over the last three years. But I now need to read several CDs looking for some images and it randomly reads some and not others. Suggestions?

Posted on Aug 17, 2016 6:03 PM

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Q: Can't read files on Apple USB Superdrive with IMac

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  • by babowa,Solvedanswer

    babowa babowa Aug 17, 2016 6:29 PM in response to jilllove55
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Aug 17, 2016 6:29 PM in response to jilllove55

    It could be the media (scratches or dirt?), or the brand (iMacs are very finicky about what media they like), or the drive. The vertically installed super thin drives are prone to misbehavior; in my case, the mechanism that grabs the media malfunctioned and the drive had to be replaced. If you try to use clean media and name brands such as Verbatim and it still does not work, I'd suggest making a Genius Bar appointment - the troubleshooting is free of charge. You'd have to pay for any repairs if your warranty has expired.

  • by jilllove55,

    jilllove55 jilllove55 Aug 17, 2016 6:55 PM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2016 6:55 PM in response to babowa

    The disk it's not liking is a Sony. It is free of scratches/dirt. I'm pretty meticulous. The drive is a desktop landscape style. I am not familiar with a vertical drive. I'll go hunt out a Verbatim and see if I can get it to work. Is the Genius Bar at the actual Apple Store? Yes, I'm positive my warranty has expired. Since I barely used it, this would be a major disappointment. How about any kind of cleaning apparatus for the internal reader of the drive? Do you like these at all? I haven't used one. Thank you.

  • by jilllove55,

    jilllove55 jilllove55 Aug 17, 2016 7:14 PM in response to jilllove55
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 17, 2016 7:14 PM in response to jilllove55

    I just tried an "imation" CD and a Memorex and they both were able to be read without incident! So this must mean that it is indeed the type of disk. That is really bad!! I have lots of Sonys.  Suggestions on what to do with all of them???

  • by poikkeus1,

    poikkeus1 poikkeus1 Aug 17, 2016 7:19 PM in response to jilllove55
    Level 4 (1,522 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 17, 2016 7:19 PM in response to jilllove55

    I'm glad your fixed your problem...but there's still the problem getting rid of your problem media.

     

    Maybe you can trade with someone with a less picky burner, like a windows user. Personally, I recycled the media that didn't work for me.

  • by babowa,Helpful

    babowa babowa Aug 18, 2016 6:19 AM in response to jilllove55
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Aug 18, 2016 6:19 AM in response to jilllove55

    Ahh, I thought you were referring to the built in Superdrive (which is installed vertically in iMacs). And yes, the Genius Bar is at an Apple store - they provide free troubleshooting for technical problems; but, as they're quite busy, an appointment is advised. I can't comment on cleaning discs as I've never used one.

  • by FishingAddict,Helpful

    FishingAddict FishingAddict Aug 18, 2016 6:24 AM in response to jilllove55
    Level 4 (1,542 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 6:24 AM in response to jilllove55

    Unfortunately, burnable CD and DVD media are very unreliable for long term storage and these media may have already degraded.  Your best bet is to try a different drive to see if you can get lucky and read the media.  If you manage to read the media, copy everything to a hard drive immediately.

     

    Honestly, hard drive storage is so relatively inexpensive in 2016 that anyone with old CD or DVD media that they burned in the past should copy all of the data off of them onto a modern hard drive.  Obviously, all media should always have multiple backups as well so an single failure is never a problem.

  • by jilllove55,

    jilllove55 jilllove55 Aug 18, 2016 6:24 AM in response to FishingAddict
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 18, 2016 6:24 AM in response to FishingAddict

    Thanks for the input. EVERYTHING is backed up on more than the CDs. The CDs were my old storage method before modern, affordable external drives were available. I have been unable to locate a few RAW files so I'm fishing for whether they are on these old CDs or not. Back in the day, I did not do a good job of preserving the RAW files like I do now by backing them up more than once.

     

    It's ironic that it is the Sony disks that aren't reading. After all of this great advice, I'll probably by a dry cleaner, try that, and anything that won't read, take to a place I've used to have them transferred onto another new drive and get myself an SSD one. I'll go back and read through suggestions on what to buy and how large. Suggestions are appreciated.

  • by jilllove55,

    jilllove55 jilllove55 Aug 18, 2016 6:27 AM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 18, 2016 6:27 AM in response to babowa

    I didn't think about the brand of CD being the issue, but it looks like that and possibly 'dirt' may be the culprits. Thank you for your enlightenment!

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Aug 18, 2016 7:41 AM in response to jilllove55
    Level 5 (5,845 points)
    Mac App Store
    Aug 18, 2016 7:41 AM in response to jilllove55

    FWIW, I doubt it's the Sony disks. It could be dirt, fingerprints or some imperceptible damage. It doesn't have to be a visible scratch.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Aug 18, 2016 8:23 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Aug 18, 2016 8:23 AM in response to dialabrain

    I haven't had an iMac with a Superdrive for a while now, but when I did, mine absolutely did not like Sony (or Memorex or store/no brand); it always worked with Verbatim. There used to be many long discussions everywhere about the quality (or lack thereof) of the various media.

  • by jilllove55,

    jilllove55 jilllove55 Aug 18, 2016 8:24 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 18, 2016 8:24 AM in response to dialabrain

    I have lots of Sonys so I will keep you posted.