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

This was only a temporary fix, I had the drive replaced yesterday.

my drive is a matshita UJ857E, Firmware ZA0E. I got the following message when i tried to burn a dvd:

drive failed.the device failed to calibrate the laser power level for this media

then i found this simple solution:

"I used a business card and a cleaning cloth, which comes with the mac or iPhone. I switched off the laptop.  I wrapped the cloth around the business card and while holding the ends of the the cloth I very gently dived it for a couple of centimeters  in the optical drive, pushed and pulled a bit.  I cleaned on the left side of SuperDrive, since the lens should be at the left hand side."

(http://eatmyrandom.blogspot.com/2010/06/macbook-pro-superdrive-wont-read-any.htm l)

unbelievable! my drive works again!!!

You drive is bad and needs to be replaced. 

There is no conspiracy, Apple is not at fault for shoddy parts, service, Steve Jobs will not address the issue because all consumer-level computer manufacturers know that consumer-level DVD burners are just as expendable as the DVDs we are burning.  It is illogcal to think that Apple is complisit.  It's also illogical to surmise that one is getting a better deal by purchasing a cheeper product, especially one that is supposedly $900.00 cheeper.  DVD drives start to die the day you install your software.

Think of the physics of the LED that produces the laser light and the resultant heat, it's ultimately going to give out.  A more robust laser would just add more cost to the drive and at some point, the drive manufacturers need to consider the breakeven point of providing a light-weight DVD burner for limited use on a consumer-level laptop and a professional bullet-proof drives for high output and dependability.  I have never had any DVD drive that I use regularly last longer then two years.  I have 6 HP laptops with DVD 'superdrive' like devices and everyone of them has had their drives replaced.   I have had super drives in Mac G5 towers fail, HP towers fail, Dell towers fail and I have finally resigned myself to the fact that the drives are going to die.  If I need to burn hundreds of DVDs, I am going to have to invest in some serious professional / commercial dedicated DVD burners.

Maybe the failing of all computer perhipheral manufacturers is that they have not educated us about this fact and have not prepared us for the day when their product eventually dies and we have to come to them for a new one.  But how does a company market that 'feature?'

Mark -

You seem to be suggesting that the problem is caused by 'normal wear and tear'.

I can assure you it isn't. I've replaced 2 DvD drives in my powerbook and each time it fails the same way - it's good for about 5-10 reads.

I have another 6 year old PC DvD drive which has almost been buried in dust for years and it reads everything that my Powerbook drives can't. Read a few of the posts on this list - your remarks do not remotely do justice to those users experiences.

So this problem definitely is not caused by 'normal wear and tear' unless there is some design flaw which accelerates the natural life of the drive.

As ridiculous as it sounds, as my MBP was having the same exact issues, out of warranty as well, believe it or not I popped the disk in and laid it sideways on my nightstand in defeat, and low and behold it read the disk! and again and again over and over, it worked every time. All I had to do was turn my computer onto its left side if I were facing it while open, pop the disk in, and it read, where I could lay the computer back down flat and enjoy my movie. Hopefully this helps others on this forum.

Not ridiculous at all, JHydeInc! It worked for me too!

My problem: Internal SuperDrive (Matshita) would not mount blank CD-Rs. Even though it could read data-filled CD-Rs, DVDs, etc.

I tried:

1. zapping Pram

2. using Disk Utility to reset the permissions on the HD

3. Maxell CD lens cleaner disk(with tiny brushes)

4. spraying tons of compressed air into the SuperDrive slot

5. using the Terminal to flash the firmware using the jnoir/ben11 code available if you search

I did not try to reinstall the OS (Snow Leopard).

But your trick worked, JHyde! Thank you, sir!!

I just turned my MacBook Pro on its left side, and held it in that position while I inserted the same blank CD-R disk that wouldn't mount the last dozen times I tried...AND IT WORKED! Spun right up!

Laid it back down in normal position, and burned the CD from iTunes. It's all good!

This is my SuperDrive, for reference. Running OS 10.6.8.

Makes me think daidaillen's fix (cleaning cloth wrapped on a business card, inserted at left side) might have something to it as well. This seems more like a physical hardware laser/alignment/reading problem. Doesn't seem like permissions or firmware revisions mattered at all. At least in my case.

Good luck to all. Awesome thread.

-tim

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:          To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh

I have never posted here before, but I signed up for the sole reason to (hopefully) offer a solution. I haven't gone through the 61 pages of replies, so I apologize if this solution has been offered, but I thought if I can prevent even one person from going through the stress that I went through, it's worth it to give 10 minutes of my time to share the solution that worked for me!

I had the very same problem. I'm a photographer and MUST burn discs for clients on a weekly basis, so it was a huge problem when my drive no longer recognized blank discs.  I would insert the disc and after working and spinning for about a minute, the drive would eject the disc.  Here is what I tried that DID NOT WORK:

-resetting PRAM

-running disk repairs from disk utilty

-different types of media

-I even tried inserting the disk with computer on it's side (since it worked for the users above)

Well, after a TON of research and a ridiculous amount of frustration, I found a solution that worked for me - directly from the Apple support site.  The solution was to reset the SMC.  On Powerbooks, I believe you should reset the PMU. Here are the two links that give instructions:

SMC link:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

PMU link:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

I have a Macbook Pro, so I followed the SMC instuctions.  Scroll down to determine in what way you need to reset SMC (it's different for different computers). For example, if you have a portable computer with a removable battery, it one way and for portables that don't have a removable battery, it another. So scroll down the page to where it reads:

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Resetting the SMC on Mac portables with a battery you can remove

Resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own

Resetting the SMC for Mac Pro, Intel-based iMac, Intel-based Mac mini, or Intel-based Xserve

Click on the option for your computer and it gives simple instructions on resetting. For the Macbook Pro, it was shutting the computer down, disconnecting the adapter, removing the battery, pressing the power button for 5 seconds, replacing the battery and adapter and then powering the computer.

Worked like a charm. I inserted the blank dvd and it opened in finder!  I couldn't believe it. 

Now, what really disturbs me is that we pay a huge premium for Apple products (often more than 3 times that of a comparable product).  My Macbook Pro is only 2 years old and the hard drive completely crashed a couple of months ago. I had to have it replaced at a hefty price tag since my expensive Applecare warranty had run out.  The girl at the apple store said it was nothing of my doing - probably just a faulty drive.  Then this happens.  Then I see that so many people have been through the same trials that I have been through and I find it outrageous. Apple should really step up and use better parts (or whatever it is that they need to do). They look great on the outside and they run wonderfully when the actually work, but when they fail, as they often do, it's not pretty.  And it definitely takes it's toll on a small business like me.  With all the talk of how Macs are "superior", they should certainly run like a superior product.  Whatever happened to the adage "you get what you pay for"?! Just my two cents.

Anyway, hope this helps someone.

After much searching I came across this amazing solution! It works for my iMac10,1 running OS X 10.6.8. Can you believe it. Thanks JHydeInc.

Tried all of the above- no success.

What worked for me was simply compressed air directly into the DVD slot.

None of the above have worked for me on my IMac 27" with Lion.  Everything worked fine until I upgraded to Lion. If I uninstall Lion the DVD/CD drive works.  I would like to keep Lion, but if things like this are the norm....

I'm also having the same issue with my early 2009 iMac. I'm pretty disappointed with it in general to be honest. I have already taken it in twice with screen issues (all repaired free) but that's not really the point. I thought that after spending nearly £1000 on a machine it would be something that would last me many years. However I now have the issue with the DVD drive not working it just seems like one issue after the next. The drive is not used regularly and I very rarely burn any blank drives but it just keeps spitting out the disk. Yet again I'm sure I'll have to take it into the store although this time as it's over a year old I'm sure it won't be free. I think that 1 year warranty is pretty poor and don't agree with having to spend out extra on apple care as you would expect to not need it on such a new machine. Grrr rant over!

I have a pretty similar issue with my drive. The only disc that can be read is the official apple install disk and snow leopard. If i try a movie it ejects. If i try some burned dvd/cd's it ejects. The SMC reset didnt work. The disk permission repair didnt work. Does somebody know whats my issue? I didnt try to clean it yet, because i think its not dirty enough if it can play the official apple disks. Its so frustrated...

Add another HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N to the list.

I'm starting to have second thoughts about apple. My mbp originally came with a mats hits drive that failed and was replaced while still under warranty. I hardly ever use the drive.

Now it won't read DVDs just audio discs. And I'm out of warranty. Yay.

Also on my 2nd iphone. First one's home button went bad. What's going on with apple quality?

is replacing the drive confirmed to work?  they're like $50 on ebay now.

I have had the same issue as lots of others with my HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N optical drive for a MacBook Pro being very temperamental only reading the odd DVD not burning anything and not reading any pre-burned discs.  Those it did not take a liking to it simply whirred and then popped them straight out.  I had a look at one solution which suggests taking your drive apart and cleaning the lens (see

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

A bit of a no-no if your a technophobe like me who ends up with more parts than he started with when re-assembling anything.

But then like daidallein found I came across a post suggesting cleaning the lens with the help of a credit card.  I used a loyalty card, wrapped an old glass lens cleaner from my glasses case around it and soaked it in windowlene and inserted it carefully in the left hand side of the lens and pulled it to and fro carefully a few times.

Like magic the drive now reads perfectly, I will post how long it lasts but have no reason to suspect it won't last for the 20 months another poster has suggested.  It is probably better to use alcohol as opposed to windowlene if you have any handy simply because it will evaporate dry better.

Given this does seem a genuine fix to a problem many have been complaining about I am surprised Apple have not put it up as an official solution on their troubleshooting section.  It would save a lot of time for people like me who had to trawl through the forums to get to this point, and who thought it was a genuine drive problem that Apple were not addressing

Hope this helps others.  (the link I used like daidallein is:

(http://eatmyrandom.blogspot.com/2010/06/macbook-pro-superdrive-wont-read-any.htm l)

PS also try cleaning the DVDs you are using.  Even badly scratched ones can be retrieved with a bit to tender loving care!