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

My MBP would read DVDs but not CDs.

Tried the usual course of action.

But the only thing that worked was a cleaning disc followed by a couple blasts of compressed air in the drive.

Place the tube provided with the can of air, about half an inch into the drive and give it a good couple of blasts.

I got in there from a couple different angles and voila, reads/burns all discs.

I had this problem, DVDs ejecting multiple times immediately after inserting (and often part-way through playing if they did load), after replacing a crashed hard drive and moving from Leopard to Lion. This was happening when I used external DVD drives as well as the built-in one.

For me, it turned out that it was simply because I'd installed the 32 bit version of VLC instead of the 64 bit.

Once I spotted and fixed that the problem went away.

(It had also caused an issue with certain DVDs where when they started playing there would be a loud popping sound and the speakers would go dead - except that the popping sound would keep happening when any sound was supposed to be playing - and I'd have to reboot to restore sound. That problem went too once I uninstalled 32 bit and installed 64 bit VLC).

Just uninstalled my 32/64bit version of VLC and installed the 64bit version and my internal optical drive works perfectly. Thank you adrinn.

I take that back. It appeared to work, then I grabbed a DVD-DL that hasn't been working and tried it and it still ejects after about 1 minute. I would resort to replacing the drive, but some have experienced the same issue after doing so. I'm unsure where to go from here.

Try this -- I copied it from somewhere here but IT WORKED FOR ME!!

hotkidd

hi there
Well, I think after reading all these posts from desperate people trying to get their superdrive working properly and all seems that doesn't work and having to replace it spending 100s of bucks, I'm gonna tell you how to to fix it really easy and CLEAN, lol...I had to share this with you, folks!

What you need is a business card or a credit card + iPhone cleaning cloth (other similar cleaning cloth that's thin and doesn't leave marks for example for cleaning glasses). Wrap the cloth around the credit card, then while holding the ends of the the cloth insert few centimeters from the front of the credit card covered with the cloth in the optical drive, push and pull a bit and that's about it. The drive will work perfectly and like new 😉
You don't need to insert it so much since the lens is not so deep inside. It's just few cm in.

well, that's about it...
Stay well and enjoy it now! 😉
J

The only solution I have found for this issue was completely format the hard drive and re install the mac OS and that fixed the problem right away which tells me that this was a software problem, however after several updates the problem came back and now I am not sure what to do. my system is pretty solid and I don't wanna restore it by any means.. this is a huge issue that APPLE needs to address and fix the glitch in the system, we pay too much for these machines to deal with such an issue.

Don't believe anyone that tells you to replace your SuperDrive! this is NOT a hardware issue.

My problem was fixed when I deleted files, I only have 250Gb, so this gets filled quickly. My problem was that I could read CDs but not DVDs, this seems obvious when you think as CDs are 700mb and DVDs are 4.7Gb. Also, when you reformatted, it would remove data and clear up some space, then the updates would take more space up.

This may not be a solution for you, as there appears to be a few problems on here, but you may as well try it :-)

Callum

I think we have a different problem because my superdrive won't read cds or dvds and I still have 75gb available on my hard drive. I read that some people had issues after doing a security update, I am not sure but that could be the same issue I am having.

Yeah, it does look that way, I think the reason with mine was because there was not enough space to buffer any of the discs, yet that does not appear to be your issue :-)

It may be a software issue, but I doubt there's much Apple can do. There is too many solutions to the 'same' (but not) problem that even the people who use them on a daily basis cannot work out what the problem is. Let alone a solution that works for everybody. I think this might be because people are all reporting the same problem with different causes, and it would be extremely hard for anybody to work out what's going on :-)

Honestly, I tried a bunch of quick software fixes as posted, etc. The damp Windex wipe (not dripping wet) swabbed with a credit card fixed it for me instantly and had no problems since. I have a June 2009 MBP.

Hope it helps.

Sean

Maui Activities and Tours

Yeah, as I said above there are too many different causes to the same problem, that all seem to appear on this type of machine. I don't think there's a lot Apple can do, of course users should try what has been suggested (at own risk of course, and within reason - dont spray windex into your optical drive) and hopefully that will fix the problem.

@themacgenius - I just thought, 75GB is enough to install Linux, if you can do so without the optical drive then I'd advise to, to see if the drive works in Linux, if it does, software issue, does not, hardware issue. Windows would also work of course, I just mention Linux as its free.

@Callum1500 yeah that sounds like a good idea actually, I will try it and let you know. Thanks man!

After reading all the post I m apauled at how the APPLE BOYS are responding. I tell people all the time to buy APPLE products because of the dependability and service. My DVD drive has been caput for sometime now. nothing seems to work. YO APPLE DUDES!!!! FIX THE ISSUE OR WE WILL SUMMON STEVE BACK TO FIX YOUR ***** !!!! BTW I am a Vodoo priest!! My power does not fix eletronics (although my Voodoo worked for my HP once) but my power can fix snobby APPLE execs. Pulling my hair out!

Thanks for the post my friend. did you spray the credit card or did you wrap a cloth around it first. please any help will work.

I tried multiple things thinking it was a hardware or firmware issue - then I tried the credit card and iphone screen cleaner wipe - and it worked instantly.

Try it.