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

Yet another...Matshita DVD-R UJ-846 in 2006 Intel Core Duo Imac. It WILL read a handful of DVD-Rs I've burned, but not anything else. It takes all CDs. I have tried the original Tiger Install Disc, Leopard Upgrade, and Snow Leopard. I have bought a DVD lens cleaner and tried booting from a firewire drive. NOTHING. I'm definitely not technical in any way whatsoever, but this MUST be an update data issue of some sort. APPLE MUST BE AWARE. I'm with the rest of you. I've spent thousands of $$$ on APPLE and promoted the **** out of them. HELP US OUT WILL YA??? I had my harddrive replaced once from APPLE CARE and never had any probs. I just decided after Snow Leopard to upgrade and NO INSTALL DISCS WILL WORK!!!! I just bought ILIFE '09 also. I bought the expensive family packs too. ****.

I am in the same boat s everyone else. UJ-857-C Drive, will recognize single layer DVDs, and CDs, but dual layer DVDs will not work, including the Snow Leopard DVD I just got. How frustrating!!

I had the same issue with the original Restore disk that came with my Mid-2009 MacBook Pro. It would try to read, try to read, try to read, and eject it. Yet, surprisingly, it worked on every other computer, Macs included, that I tried it on. My drive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868. I've not had any more issues since, after they shipped me a new Recovery disk. Just a note- happened under both Leopard and Snow Leopard

Question, has anyone tried downgrading to original Leopard? Will this fix the problem? I know the advantages of Snow Leopard, I have been on the OS now for a month, but I absolutely CANNOT live without being able to use a DVD in my laptop. Would this solve the problem?

Please someone test this out, because if this is the short-term solution, then it is not the end of the world. Hopefully, this will get ironed out, but it is absolute crap that this has happened in such a widespread fashion to Snow Leopard upgraders.

Ben F:

The issue we are discussing really has nothing to do with Snow Leopard. Most people who are experiencing this problem have been experiencing it long before Snow Leopard was released. Some people only realized their computers had a problem reading discs when they tried to install Snow Leopard, but the issue is not specific to Snow Leopard media or even having Snow Leopard installed on your machine.

If your problem only started appearing sometime after you installed Snow Leopard (which would have to be the case assuming you installed Snow Leopard from a DVD), most would suggest your issue has nothing to do with SL and its just a coincidence that your drive stopped working under 10.6.

Not a heavy user of DVDs really, but never had any probs until lately. Always do the software updates without question. I got a Leopard upgrade but never did it. I decided to get the Snow Upgrade and when I went to do it, the drive began spitting the DVDs out. It wouldn't accept the original install, or either upgrade. I tried a firewire drive and it would show the DVDs, but not boot. I finally used my Macbook in target mode and wiped the drive clean and installed Snow Leopard. No probs with SL so far really, but it's new. SUPERDRIVE STILL DOESN'T READ DVDS, only CDs. Very strange! What gives?? Is there anyone who's had a successful "fix" without a new drive installed. My Apple Care ended a few months ago. Seems like there are tons of people in this situation.

In case Apple is reading this thread, which gained some publicity in the recent TidBITS article <http://db.tidbits.com/article/10562>, I'd like to mention that we're still waiting for a solution to Error code 0x8002006e: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1422026&start=0&tstart=0

Though in most cases my drive has been able to read DVDs, I've had problems with storebought music CDs. I also cannot burn DVDs.

Apple, PLEASE ADDRESS THESE PROBLEMS. WE KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER.

I noticed this problem about two months ago, which would make the MacBook Pro about a 1.5 years old. The problem may have started earlier, because I had not used the drive in several months. The superdrive no longer recognizes any DVD (commercial, blank, recorded). It does, however, handle CDs just fine (commercial, blank, recorded, audio, etc).

Drive Info:

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N:

Model: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N
Revision: AP09
Serial Number: K1U7AH92247
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
Power Off: Yes

It would be nice to get a solution for this, so I don't have to lug an external drive when I am on the road.

I used compressed air and a lens cleaner multiple times today and now I have changes. Yesterday my drive would only read DVD-Rs and nothing else. Today all DVD-Rs show up as "blank DVD" in finder.
I have three old bought DVDs-"Predator 2"/"The Howling"/"Simpsons Treehouse of Horror" that all played TODAY. I have several other newer DVDs and they get spit out. Something is just very odd with all of this. It seems it would work or it would not. Seems everyones Matshita drives are acting nutty. I'm at wits end as far as trying things. I have loaded Snow Lep, which seems great in its own right. Just wish the dang DVDs would play as before.

I read the TidBits article mentioned a few posts ago. In reading some of the comments I found this link:

http://muzso.hu/2008/08/17/how-to-clean-the-lens-of-a-slot-loading-optical-drive -a-macbook-pros-superdrive?page=1

The article here describes a user who took his MBP apart, opened the optical drive, cleaned the lense and reinstalled - and it WORKED! Several commentors to this article apparently have done the same and/or simply used an alcohol swab and/or alcohol saturated Q-tip right thru the slot opening and have had some success.

I've not tried it yet but I just pass it along as another possible fix for some. I continue to believe Apple does us all a disservice as consumers to turn a blind eye to this problem, but maybe this 'fix' will help some. The article includes some good photos too.

Hi

Im another sufferer of Apple Macs cheap chinese parts. I've had my macbook for 3 years now and have never been able to play "The Simpsons". Though it will play most dvds, it does annoy me a lot that certain dvds will not play. They need to sort it out or replace everyones macbook for FREE!!!

Come on Apple thought you better than the self building PC?

My MacBook Pro 17 was made in January 2007 and I am on my third "superdrive". I thought it was just me with problems such as being unable to mount a freshly burned DVD or being unable to eject a CD or DVD. Let's hope that Apple already knows what the problem is and will keep it out of future product.

I had Apple Care until June of '09 and my drive started acting strangely somewhere just after. I thought it was just a couple of fluke incidents, but when I bought the Snow Lep disc it became apparent that it was nearly all DVDs. My hard drive went out right in the middle of my Apple Care and just began configuring my desktop icons in strange patterns that would change at weird times. It was like the desktop was "possessed". I took it in twice and the second time they swapped out drives. It has worked fairly well since. However I still couldn't believe all the posts regarding the optical drives acting "possessed" as well. It's very strange how many noticed right after warranty periods! I just bought my second Macbook after my 6 month old new one was stolen. Mac claimed that they would help me locate it but after I filed a police report the story changed completely. I almost bought a PC due to the very low prices, but I remained loyal to Apple. It's getting harder to remain loyal. I hate to admit it, but it is true. If you get a PC and two different drives go out and must be replaced, then the cost is still lower than Apple. Something to think about.

Thought I would add my woes to the list. I've a 19 months old MBP. Started having problems with burning Dual Layer & Single Layer DVD's 6-7 months back.

No problems with burning/playing CD's. No problems with reading/playing DVD's(both SL & DL).

DVD SL it only burns on Sony discs. Gives medium write error on any other media(including Memorex, Moser Baer, even Verbatim).

DVD DL, it refuses to burn any brand media. It either just spins & ejects the media or recognizes it & later gives errors in burning.

Since I'm out of warranty, I've tried numerous fixes I've found in forums like this - Blowing compressed air, Repairing permissions, New Login account, Disc Cleaner, & in a desperate measure even flashed the drive firmware(thrice!!!) & I still have the same problem.

Now taking it to apple service center tomorrow. Lets see what they have to say.

Drive details :
Model:HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N
Revision:BP10
(this is after the 3rd flash. started with AP09, then to A103, then to BP10)

Serial Number:K1U7AUI1328
Detachable Drive:No
Protocol:ATAPI
Unit Number:0
Socket Type:Internal
Low Power Polling:Yes
Power Off:Yes

Crazy ... My old drive wouldn spit out blanks ... I got a new one via AppleCare, not this one does blanks ok, but spits out recorded ones ... This is such a pain in the neck and time waist.

Maybe Apple will just throw out Optical drives next, like it did with floppy back in the days ...

A disgrace ...