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

I spoke with an Apple Customer Support representative who says that this is a software issue that Apple's engineers are working to resolve. The timeframe for fixing the problem is unknown and when it is resolved an update will be issued. According to the representative newer disks have information on them that is causing a conflict. The explanation is undoubtedly more complicated than that, but I have found that in fact older disks are reading fine in my drive while newer ones are being rejected. This doesn't explain why the same disks work fine in my Mac laptop.

If this is the case then, obviously it doesn't make sense to replace the optical drive or pay to have it repaired. The only option is to wait until the problem is resolved by Apple, hopefully soon. I find it strange that Apple has not posted something about this on their tech support pages if this is a known problem. I almost didn't call Apple Tech Support because I thought I'd have to pay a fee since my computer is beyond its warrantee period.

By the way, the support message referred to in the post previous to this one applies to portable computers only.

I have also being experiencing this problem.

I usually burn a "Bulkpaq DVD+R DL 2.4x 8.5GB" every month or so with my iMac. It's been ok until the last time I tried: the blank DVD is now automatically ejected from the computer a few seconds after I insert it.

I've read other people's threads asking about this same problem, and it is usually a media problem (testing with some other branch usually does the trick).

However, in my case, it cannot be the media (or, at least, it cannot be just the media) because I usually buy them in 25 unit packs, and all previous units from the current pack (6) worked, but now none of the remaining DL-DVDs (19 of them) do work anymore.

So... it could be that somehow the extreme hot in my room has ruined the remaining blank DL-DVDs however, since I recently upgraded from 10.5.6 to 10.5.7, I would blame the software upgrade. What do you think?

It could also be a hardware problem, but I still can burn other media (I haven't tested with other DL DVDs, but I have just burnt some CDs and single layer DVDs and they do work).

In some other thread, they have already explained me how to "revert" to 10.5.6 (basically do a fresh install on an external HD and then update up to 10.5.6), and I will try this later this week.

In the mean time, I would like to know if the "revert" process is worth the time. Mainly because the 10.5.7 changelog (here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3397) does not say anything about the SuperDrive.

Also, any other idea would be highly appreciated

Thanks.

What MiamiHerb said seems to explain the behavior I'm experiencing.

Now everything would make sense if someone could confirm the issue was introduced in 10.5.7 (or some other automatic upgrade from the last two months or so).

Chalk up another victim to this issue, my drive will recognize blank and normal dvds but not program discs or audio cds on either my mac or vista partitions.

Lets try and get the thread over 100!

My Wife's out of guarantee iMac now will not play DVD's nor accept blank media, the usual spin it around for a bit then spit it out. The DVD never appears in the finder.

I've rest all that can be re-set.

Does anyone know what apple are proposing to do about this?
I persuaded my wife to buy a mac, now she's saying "I thought you said they were reliable..."

Is this a hardware or software problem?

Unfortunately, upgrading to 10.5.8 has NOT solved this problem

MiamiHerb wrote:

By the way, the support message referred to in the post previous to this one applies to portable computers only.

Yes, the knowledge base article to which I posted a link refers to portable computers, but the iMac uses laptop components on the inside (except for the hard drive). As such, I believe the article is applicable.

bocadillodeatun wrote:
Unfortunately, upgrading to 10.5.8 has NOT solved this problem

Yeah, it would be nice if the fix were that easy. But, this is definitely a hardware problem (read my earlier posts in this thread). Your best bet is to get the optical drive replaced.

Include me. This POS superdrive *****. I have an aluminum iMac that is out of warranty. About 14 months from purchase, I had severe cd/dvd burning issues. After scouring threads, I was able to get it working occassionally if i reset the pram and smc. Now it's dead. Even commercial CD's and DVD's are inserted and they are detected as "blank media".

I really enjoy apple products - from the phone, to the macbook, imac, and routers - but this is ridiculous. And I'm not paying >$400 out of pocket to get this fixed!!!

In a previous post I explained how my SuperDrive wouldn't accept (a specific brand of) blank DL DVD+R anymore (they were automatically ejected).

I've rebooted in Windows and the same issue there: so it's a hardware (or at least a SuperDrive firmware) problem.

Today I bought a new brand of (more expensive) DL DVD+R (fujifilm). And guess what? They DO work.

So... "it's a media problem" you might say. However, there are two details that make me doubt about this:

1) The same media works on another (Windows) computer.
2) DVDs from the SAME pack (of 25 DVDs) did work a few month ago (that's the last time I tried to burn one).

According to all this, there are only two possible explanations:

1) For some reason (bad storage) the DVDs received some damage and my SuperDrive rejects to recognize them (even if other -maybe more capable- DVD drives do).
2) In the last weeks, a SuperDrive firmware upgrade was automatically installed (I'm running 10.5.8 now) and now the drive refuses two recognize the same DVDs that worked before.


I'm still trying to figure out how can I find when the last time the SuperDrive firmware upgrade was to confirm this. Any idea anyone?

Furthermore... is there any way I can check my current SuperDrive firmware version.

Thanks

add me to the list... unlucky enough to get that faulty batch of superdrives.. now i can't even insert anything into the drive...

bocadillodeatun wrote:
Furthermore... is there any way I can check my current SuperDrive firmware version.

You can check your optical drive's firmware version via the +System Profiler+ application. Choose *About This Mac* from the  Menu. In the small window the appears, click the *More Info…* button. Once the +System Profiler+ application launches, select ATA from the list on the left of the window. The lower right portion of the window should show you details regarding your optical drive. The Revision field should show you the firmware version of your optical drive.

bocadillodeatun wrote:
2) In the last weeks, a SuperDrive firmware upgrade was automatically installed (I'm running 10.5.8 now) and now the drive refuses two recognize the same DVDs that worked before.

I'm still trying to figure out how can I find when the last time the SuperDrive firmware upgrade was to confirm this. Any idea anyone?

My optical drive shows firmware version DB09 and has ever since I purchased my iMac just over a year ago. At least for me, no optical drive firmware updates have ever been installed.

Geoff Cleary wrote:
My optical drive shows firmware version DB09 and has ever since I purchased my iMac just over a year ago. At least for me, no optical drive firmware updates have ever been installed.

Hmm... thanks. Mine shows revision "FCQA". I now just need a list of revisions with their release date.

My Intel iMac 17inch (2006) optical drive struggles badly with inserted discs and has done for a year or more (forgotten exact timings). For some time I had been wondering if it was software related as older discs seem to be ok. It is definately the newer discs that are a problem. I wish Apple would admit to these issues to save people rushing out and spending loads of money on problems Apple should fix or suggest fixes. My Lacie external DVD writer has just gone onn the blink too!!!!!!!!!
I have had other similar issues with other Macs ie external hard drives and scanners which seems to go wrong after system upgrades. It is not just Apple - the hardware manufacturers are so slow or can't be bothered to keep up. They just want us to throw stuff in the bin and buy new versions.

Same problem with my MAC (2 years old). The best bit is the first disk it does not like is my apple Snow Leopard disk. Bugger if I am paying 400 USD for a fix