Sago48
Level 1 (4 points)
Desktops

Q: DVD stuck in old slot loading internal superdrive on mac mini which won't boot

I have an old core duo Snow Leopard mini upgraded to core 2 duo with a firmware upgrade. It has an internal superdrive. Until recently I hadn't used this mac for several years. I managed to boot it to the home screen but after that it froze, except for mouse cursor movement, and I could only get the spinning beachball. No programmes were accessible. Safe mode made no difference. Attempts to launch AHT were unsuccessful too.

 

I decided to try using an old Snow Leopard install disk to run hardware checks. It started the boot into the install disk to run disk utility but after language selection it froze in the same way with the spinning beachball.

 

(I've got a firewire cable and another mac mini so I have wondered if target mode might help?) (I also have a usb dvd drive and could try an old Tiger or Leopard disk boot for example but I've no idea what this might do)

 

I'll probably give up on the mini but my Snow Leopard disk is now stuck in the superdrive and I find it useful. I have no access to the mini so can't use any software solutions. Is there a physical way of getting the disk out? For example pushing something into the slot? I'm OK to take it apart if need be.

 

Thanks

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Upgraded to 2,1 with Core2Duo chip

Posted on Sep 28, 2016 10:51 PM

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Sago48

Q: DVD stuck in old slot loading internal superdrive on mac mini which won't boot

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  • by Sago48,

    Sago48 Sago48 Sep 28, 2016 11:44 PM in response to Sago48
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 28, 2016 11:44 PM in response to Sago48

    Please ignore. I've got the disk out using the eject key on boot!!

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 29, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Sago48
    Level 10 (123,780 points)
    Sep 29, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Sago48

    Try holding mouse button down when powering on.

     

    Trying Target mode or other drives/OSes shoo;don't hutu anything, but may not work is all.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Sep 29, 2016 3:55 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 6 (14,483 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 29, 2016 3:55 PM in response to BDAqua

    Another way is to see if Disk Utility can locate the

    Mac's optical drive and the media within it, & click

    the Eject button inside the Utility. Works for media

    and also works to 'eject' a mounted drive.

     

    Or, there's the other trick; be sure the drive slot is

    facing down and try (either powered or not) to

    get the optical media to fall out. Has been said to

    work for portable macs with slot-load superdrive.

     

    Good thing for the original thread author, they found

    their keyboard had an eject button. Some don't!

  • by Sago48,

    Sago48 Sago48 Sep 29, 2016 11:41 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 29, 2016 11:41 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Thanks all. See above I managed to extract it once I realised there was enough 'boot' responsiveness to hold down the eject key. Without the Snow Leopard dvd in the slot it now boots to my home screen and I've managed to run disk utility and the disk is OK. But after that it's the beachball again and now it goes beachball immediately.

     

    It does boot into safe mode  - with the same result. With Snow Leopard in an external usb dvd drive it doesn't respond to the C key. I'll try the others keys - boot manager, recovery etc without much hope this morning.

     

    I suspect a hardware fault.