Drive won't read any dvd-ejects it automatically after spinning some time

In despite to you guys, I have an iMac 7.1, but the same Problem as you. My optical Drive crashed during installing SnowLeopard (original Disc), to the accompaniment of unpleasant scratchy noises. After this any Disc will just stuck and ejects only after over 30 times trying. Judged by the noises the Snow-Leopard Disc behaves differently in comparison to other discs like Leopard 10.5. I have an "Pioneer DVD-RV DVR-K06A".

Adding another to the list, though it seems this drive isn't really listed as one of the problematic ones, anyone who can help, please do, much appreciated !!

MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8221:

Firmware Revision: GA0K
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

One more DVD drive fault situation. MBP 4.1, just 2 days out of warranty! )))
But, thanks to my technical interests, i know what's wrong and how to fix it. The main trouble with all DVD drives is because of dirt and smoke. I've succesfully repaired many "dead" DVD drives just by opening it and gently cleaning the lens with optics cleaning liquid (photography specific "Eclipse").

So, anyhow, Apple should aware its users about such things — it is not good to smoke near your mac, as not good to work in dusty areas/inserding dirty discs.

Message was edited by: zvukofor

Update :

Ok, just for the heck of experimentation, I tried flashing different firmwares to the drive. Patched all the firmware files I have with MCSE to Autoreset. And then one by one tested each of them out. All firmwares were flashed in Windows 7RC running via Bootcamp, and tested in both Windows & OS X environment. Posting the results.

Firmware Rev: BP10 (Auto-reset Patched)
Doesn't read any kind of media. Keeps spitting it out.

Firmware Rev: A103 (Auto-reset Patched)
Doesn't read/write Dual Layer DVD's. Reading/Writing CD's & SL DVD's no problems.

Firmware Rev: AP12 (Auto-reset Patched)
Reads all media as blank.

Firmware Rev: A101 (Auto-reset Patched)
Doesn't write Dual Layer DVD's. Reading Dual Layer DVD's no problem. Reading/Writing CD's & SL DVD's no problems.

So I'm sticking with Firmware A101.

Also checked DVD Info in Windows & according to that the drive doesn't support Read/Write on DVD+/-R DL RW. Will try to check with DVD+/-R DL & post further results.

Also planning to cross flash with GSA-T10N RPC1 Firmware. But so far haven't found anyone who's tried it earlier successfully. 🙂

Similar experiences when installing SnowLeopard and just posting to add to the statistics;
SL proved too much of a challenge for the Superdrive and crashed midway during installation.

Not sure what the model was because it is now replaced by Apple Care program.
The first try in this repair also gave a problematic Superdrive, the 2nd drive passed all tests and stayed in. This illustrates that the refurbished drives that are used for replacement are really not a good strategy. This hardware is too sensitive to be replaced with a refurbished part.

I have had the exact same issue with a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D on my MBP (purchased around December 2007). My burner was working perfectly before in leopard, then once upgraded to Snow Leopard this would not recognise any blank media inserted into the drive (it would how ever read all disks that have media already on them). There is a link on page two of this thread that links to a program called simpleFlash that re-flashes the drive ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1163304&tstart=0). I downloaded, then ran this and rebooted. My MBP again recognises and writes data to a blank disc. I have tried different brands, and viewed disks that have already had data written to them with no issues. Below is what i get when a disk is inserted now in system profiler;

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D
Firmware Revision: KCVB
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD+R
ID: RITEK R03
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 2.4x, 4x

I suggest to give it a try to see if it solves your issues too.

I am also experiencing this problem with DVD-R disks just spinning and spitting also some CD-R disk will work from time to time but just very random not based on brand. I have a Macbook Pro 15" 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo — 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM — HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N.

At first I thought I bought bad DVD-R Disks and they just wouldn't recognize but I have tried many brands of disks and no differences. It started before I upgraded to Snow Leopard and I have tried to put disks in over 20 times in a row with no differences. Once I got a disk to read but now the disk I burnt can't be read. I still need to see if it can be read in another machine. That was the only time I got a disk to read and burn. If anyone ever comes up with a fix you will be a modern mac god.

I have a Imac . Burned a Sony DVD-r in May then not used to burn until yesterday and now not been able to burn a new sony DVD-r from IDVD or from disk utility.
by the way I have just installed SL a week ago. I don't think there is a connection since I also have a MacPro without SL installed.
Any suggestion?

Just to add another voice. I have noticed more and more occasions that the drive in my MBP won't read disks, in particular rental DVDs. I have noticed improvement by cleaning the disks, using the same iClean spray I use on my display and a suitable cloth. Quite often disks can then be read, even if they didn't look particularly dirty before.

I have always assumed this was something to do with dirt and dust, but clearly there are many theories about and as TiDBITS have noted, the problem may have several different causes. My situation may not be helped by keeping my laptop in a vertical stand (using an external monitor), which is great for cooling but does mean the Superdive slot is straight up in the air and therefore perhaps more receptive to falling dust, spiders etc.

Drive is a HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N, and will probably have to be replaced one day...

Just here to add my case to the growing pile.

MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo
Matsushita UJ-857D
Firmware Revision KCVB

This has been a fantastic computer in almost all regards.

The only trouble is the optical drive. I rarely use it but when I did, some disks would work and others not. At the time I attributed it to old CDs that had degraded. After all I'd never had an optical drive fail on me.

But when I couldn't install some new software, and multiple attempts to burn CDs failed, I knew something was up.

This all happened a long time ago; I can't remember if the computer was under warrantee at the time.

I extoll Apple all the time because their machines are trouble-free after so long (I have two 5-year old Macs in the house purring away as surfing computers). I attribute it to Apple's higher standard for components since I've seen so many cheapo PCs fail after a year. So it's disappointing to see this component issue affect so many customers.

I hope Apple will throw us all a bone.

Philip Haine
productvision.com
Mac user since 1984

Mine was replaced under Applecare extended warranty. Has been replaced by exactly the same drive and firmware version. Will keep checking it every month in case it goes wrong again!

+1

Today i got my SL disk and tried to install it,no joy..My mbp is only 16 months old and i used the
driver maybe twice.MATSHITA DVD-R-UJ-857E.

It can read music cds,but no dvds.And of course,my warranty has expired.No way in **** 'll spen
300€ to replace it.

I am sure apple can do much better than this

One more to the long list of complaints:
- with me, ejecting DVDs and CDs has started recently only, after I installed Snow Leopard
- if I insert it a second time, the hum stops and the disk is properly read
- I have an Mac7,1 with 2.4 GHz processor\
- the optical drive is a PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K06A, revision Q624

I don't believe this is hardware related, it could be Snow Leopard related, but my Macbook Pro still works fine. Puzzling

I thought it was just me. Until I found this thread. 🙂 My mom's Mac mini stopped working at about the end of 07, and it's doing exactly the same thing as described here! The device is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C. The funny thing is, it was never really used extensively. The only time any discs were made is when I was there, and I think I may have burned 15 discs with it over the years. Seems like it may be the Matshita drives from the sound of it.

Hey Apple, thanks for confirming and taking away any equivocation that you are as unresponsive as Dell - The King can do no wrong, huh ?

At least I know now that i don't have to waste my time typing my troubleshooting record since you have no remedies other than "throw money at us" !

Not even a "we're working on it" note ?

I would be surprised if this thread was kept up any longer. Maybe I should download all the pages of this and then forward to your shareholders ? !
Big Middle Finger is Up !

Message was edited by: Geoff J