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Level 1

0 points

Drive reads no discs

Hello, and thanks for taking the time to at least see what problem I'm having.

First off, the problem: discs will not mount. None - this is not a problem specific to CD-Rs, DVD-R/RW.. no disc will mount, they just eject after the drive attempts to spin up 2 times (from what I can hear, just guessing here).

Next, what I was doing when the problem first started happening: installing windows games to run them with WINE (darwine speficially).

What I've done so far trying to fix the problem: after reading lots of the articles on this forum, I've tried to...

1) repair permissions (I don't know why it would help an error with the disc drive, but oh well, I tried it and it didn't fix my problem)
2) find the preference list for WINE and delete them. I thought maybe when I was setting up the drive (IE choosing what media is C:, D:, etc) I somehow screwed up OS X's ability to read discs.

Other info that might be useful -

-when trying to get a disc to read, no messages show up in the Console

-my drive: MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857E with firmware ZA0E

hope that gives you all enough information to help me out here.

Thank you in advance

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Sep 12, 2008 12:30 PM

31 replies

Kari Wan

Level 1

15 points

Sep 21, 2008 9:25 PM in response to viceng

maybe if we all did, then that would speak volumes ??? Though the guy I talked to told me that they didn't have the part in stock because the don't see too many dvd drive (super drive) replacements. Sounds like there are to me!

Sep 22, 2008 2:58 AM in response to MatthewWells

Grrrr, I have exactly the same problem, except that about one in twenty times it works... Which makes me think it might be a hardware issue. Hey ho to the Apple shop we go...

soundop

Level 1

0 points

Sep 24, 2008 4:50 AM in response to Barney Rowe

When I got my MBP about a year ago it read all CDs DVDs etc. When I got the 10.5 upgrade it stopped reading CDs, they just ejected after ten secs. A couple of months later there was an OS upgrade (can't remember which one) but suddenly my Mac could read CDs again! All went well until yesterday when I had a software update to 10.5.5. Once again I can't read any CDs!
My drive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-85J with Firmware Revision: FBZ8
I am now convinced that there is no hardware problems, just software (or firmware) updates that don't work. I have a friend with a similar Mac but with a different drive. He has had no problems like this.

soundop

Level 1

0 points

Sep 25, 2008 4:46 AM in response to soundop

Update:
After talking to our local Mac Shop I reinstalled Leopard from the update DVD using the "archive and install" option. All went well and CDs were recognized again!
I then went to software update and after about 800 Mb of download now have 10.5.5 installed and the drive still recognizes CDs and DVDs. Yay!

TLP07

Level 1

0 points

Sep 25, 2008 10:44 AM in response to soundop

Thank you for the update. I may try that this weekend and see if it works for me too.

Sep 28, 2008 4:27 PM in response to soundop

.. but how can I re-install MacOSX when my drive reads no disc? 🙂

Kari Wan

Level 1

15 points

Sep 28, 2008 8:25 PM in response to MatthewWells

well I took mine into the store...they said the drive needed to be replaced. When they received the part I took it back in and they fixed it same day. The customer service was great. I just hope it keeps workin!! so far so good.

m8edy

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2008 3:57 PM in response to MatthewWells

hey guys

got my mbp back today. drive working now. tried various different discs in it and they all work without a hitch.

when i got it back i saw what i thought were big black scratches on my MBP. went kinda mad in the store and then they realised they were pencil marks?! why would someone draw on my mac?! nevertheless i got them to clean it up like it was when i gave it to them.

so there we go...mac sorted.

viceng

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2008 7:14 PM in response to m8edy

so the only solution so far is to get it replaced?

A_MaStA

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2008 7:16 AM in response to viceng

Same problem, first it wouldn't read dvds. When I got my mbp back with a new superdrive everything was going good...until I tried burning a CD-R, yes a CD-R, and it couldn't burn a single CD. So I sent it in a second time and my third superdrive in this computer is working flawlessly. So hopefully you have bought the Apple Care for your mbp or you're basically up the creek big time. Didn't cost me a penny. Good luck to you all.

viceng

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2008 7:56 AM in response to A_MaStA

luckily i still have apple care. ill prob send mine in to get fixed. i also have a few dead pixels on my screen, is that under apple care aswell?

MrWWW22

Level 1

7 points

Oct 10, 2008 3:44 PM in response to MatthewWells

This is because of a Apple-released firmware update that destroyed superdrives.

If you flick back in the forum you'll find threads on it.

You will also find that Apple doesn't say **** ALL about it. Quiet. Ignoring. Hoping the problem they caused will just... disappear.

So. *******. Angry.

TLP07

Level 1

0 points

Oct 12, 2008 4:45 AM in response to MrWWW22

I finally managed to do a system reinstall of 10.5. Didn't do anything for my drive problem.

A visit to the Apple Store it is! Warranty ends and the end of this month, so pretty lucky really.

Vaz

Level 1

13 points

Oct 16, 2008 11:48 AM in response to MatthewWells

Mine MBP is 6 days old and has never been able to read any discs, burnt, factory pressed, CD or DVDs problem is Im 500KM from Apple store and am in Greece and bought in UK. hmm I don't know if the optical drive worked b4 installing 10.5.5 cause I didnt try it prior to the install.

SynterX

Level 3

999 points

Oct 17, 2008 9:23 AM in response to MatthewWells

same here. These Superdrives are not very robust. I can't live without my mac for 7-10 days, so I simply overnighted a new one from powerbookmedic.com, and put it in myself. Back to having a superdrive. I still have a month on my warranty, but I figured by the time I drive the machine 1.5 hours to my nearest AppleStore, wait 7-10 days, drive back to the store, it was worth $100 to just get it done in a day and never be without the computer.

Apple doesn't make the drives, so they probably figure it doesn't matter that much. They simply replace them as needed.

Drive reads no discs