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

The fact of the matter is, the dvd drives are NOT dying. They are NOT broken.
Matsushitty and Apple's firmware made it unusable. NOTE: "FIRMWARE"

I'm sure everyone in this thread will agree that only AFTER a software update did the drives immediately stop working.

I've downgraded the firmware (Still does not work), contacted the Apple Engineer (said that the problem is not replicable), and cleaned the inside.

The best method to get this fixed is NOT wasting money on a new external cd drive, cleaning discs, or giving up!!! It's to submit a bug report https://bugreport.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/RadarWeb.woa/wa/signIn
by MASS so that the engineers at Apple are convinced that the dvd drives DO have a problem in fault with Apple and not us.

Although submitting a report is a bit tedious, it's the best way to get our voices heard. Apple has great service and has done countless recalls (graphics card, ipods, laptops) way past warranty. I'm sure this issue should count in one of the future recalls.

... or a simple FIXED software update directly from the engineers will be even nicer.

Thjis may be also possible, but any optical drive working with some optical disks, but not with others would indicate their process of dying rather than upgrading firmware. Over years, I had three such experiences, the first the the optical drive of my first iBook G3 which, after several years, died. The second and third occured while coverd by warranty (a mini and a 2009 MB), therefore all was OK.

Even if many say Matshita are worse than others, my experience with them was not worse (or better) than with other manufacturers, so cannot subscribe to this. In fact, I have no statistics showin that named company sells worse units than others, if such figures do exist, I will withdraw.

"The fact of the matter is, the dvd drives are NOT dying" . . .

Very much agreed. This problem has nothing to do with regular wear and tear.

There is simply something wrong with the design. I'm on my second internal drive now and it has all the same problems as the first - identical - within a few weeks of very light usage.

I've tried most of the solutions expressed in this thread - some of them work for about an hour and then the drive just goes back to it's tempremental self - spitting out CDs, DvD's etc after 3 minutes of attempting to read them.

What's more significant is that Apple people at Genius bars claim to "not have heard" of the problem. This just seals it for me - it's as good as having them admit that there's an issue. You would have to be not living in 'Apple land' to not be aware of this issue. Everyone is - including most technology journalists. I just hope they get it sorted for the next wave of powerbooks because the current ones (at least my line - the Core Duos) are a write off as far as the DvD writers go.

Thanks for this advice. Can I check that it is OK to try this cleaning procedure on a vertical slot-loading desktop iMac (G5 power PC)?

Another idea I had ( to allow me to run Disk Utility if I still cannot get the iMac to accept a DVD) is to plug in an external disk drive. Is that a possible solution?

Both are possible. If your internal optical drive puts problems, trying to clean it is the first step.

Connecting an external drive is also OK, may be also used as boot disk, e.g. when installing. Note that PPC macs need firewire for boot (e.g. when you wish to install), so you need an external disk with FW connection. They are more expensive, but it is worth it. Newer intel macs may boot from both FW and USB (and, if not wrong, the very recent macs from thunderbolt devices—theoretically, I think there are very few for the time being).

well even i have the same problem...:|... anyone with any answers please help.......

It has been answered, many times: if cleaning optical drive, including via air spray, does not solve the issue, then you probably have a dying drive.

YES YES YES sorted it. For me at least. Same problem as all you guys - Macbook Pro, mid 2010, recently started spitting out DVDs, CDs etc. Did successfully burn a DVD about a month ago, but 9 out of ten times it ejected anything put in.

I followed the manual clean advice. Wrapped a piece of lint-free cloth (I used a sunglasses cloth) around a credit card, few drops of lighter fuel and wedged it inot the slot and wiped back and forth a few times. Came out with a load of dust on the cloth, and hey presto, drive has read the first DVD I put in, which was incidentally Disk Warrior.

Happy days. Good luck.

vintly wrote:

 

Wrapped a piece of lint-free cloth (I used a sunglasses cloth) around a credit card

I did exactly that - and it also worked for me, but about 2 successfull reads later it went back to it's temperamental self. See how you're doing after 10 read/writes.

Ughhh! This problem has plagued EVERY mac laptop owner that I know. I can only give you my condolences as even the Mac Store people could not help.

Similar lack of success with burnt or bought dvd's. 

Followed all cleaning instructions but it seems that we're stuck with a sub standard product unless Apple change thier manufacturing contracts.

An external Lacie DVD drive which I found in the bin (seriously!!) saves me time, embarassment and stress, but it's really disrespectful that Apple have ignored this problem for so many years. The old 2X write CD drives used to be reliable in the early 90's!

I have never owned a mac before but played with my friends macs.  They never had the issue because they never played dvd movies on them.  My neighbors son had a problem playing any DVD; bought movies, ripped, etc.  I tried a legitimate DVD in his mac, and that of my friends and all had the same problem. I was shocked since I was becoming a fan of mac.

They all looked an the net and found hundreds of posts no solutions.  I went and bought a MAC Bookpro with Lion, they had Leopard,  I had the same problem.

After one hour (I work with mainframe systems) I found the problem and fixed my problem and all my friends system, including my neighbor’s son’s (9 systems).  All worked and still working.

Here is the fix.

Go to the “/System/Library/Extensions” folder and remove the file “LexarFilterScheme.kext” that’s it.

If you are scared to remove it copy it somewhere else, desktop another temp folder. You can copy it back.  The file is not needed. It used for Lexar Jump (usb) drives. I have a Lexar USB key, every time i insert it the file comes back. I have to remove it again to play DVDs. It only comes back when I install the Lexar key.

Oh I love my Mac had it for 3 days now.

Did a search above for "LexarFilterScheme.kext" looks as I am not the only one who found this out, thank God. But Apple should do something.  I found posts from 2008.  If you don’t have a “LexarFilterScheme.kext" see if you have another USB driver, I doubt they may be the problem as I have others and it still works.  Apart from me 1 friend had a Lexar key, and the others never used one or don’t remember ever using a Lexar key with their systems. It may be a default file, not sure.

I think you may have found a golden egg there Carelli!

I love my Mac's too, they are invisible as they just keep soldiering on without a hitch;

Couldn't do this job without them; still delivering TV programs and serving files to all manner of locked-down-PC and even a SUN system .

Thankyou for finding that solution, I don't have the Lexar driver but it's past time I cleaned out that dirty extensions folder!

I'm pleased this worked for you but it's not the principal cause of DvD drive problem that this thread is addressing.

The read failure can occur regardless of whether the LexarFilterScheme.kext is present or not.

I'm having the same trouble with mine (mid 2010 imac) tried re-setting the PRAM, cleaning the drive, EVERYTHING! it just spins the discs for 20 seconds then spits them out, scratch free bought DVD's too. It's actually spitting them out with huge scratches on them so it's ruining all my DVD's. Going to have to take advantage of my apple care and get it sorted