iMac scratching my disc?

I can't see how an optical drive can scratch up the disc. If it was spinning and rubbing against something, I think it would probably cause a loud and constant sound and you would know something was up.

Are the scratches in a circular pattern, straight across the disk, or in a random arrangement. If the latter two, I doubt it could have been produced by the disc spinning in the drive. Maybe someone borrowed it without telling you. 🙂

Hey Rae Jay

Inspect your drive slot, the cut in the aluminum might be burred or rough.

Also see the following threads:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1167366&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6107549&#6107549
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6418759&#6418759

Dennis

Hi, Ray:

If you test other discs to identify this issue, every disc would be scratched after read or write by this optical driver? I guess the case maybe caused by disc itself

I have also had the same problem with my iMac. I noticed it a few months ago, when I converted a new CD into mp3 files. Also, I have noticed scratches that are straight across the disk on my Sims3 and on newly burned DVD's of home videos, where there had previously been no scratches. I've also put each disk in straight and not at an angle, so I don't think it's me putting in the disks.

my iMac has been doing the same thing. The last few disks i burnt came out scratched and only burnt part way through or had horrible glitches during. I did not scratch it, and my disks are good quality. Though sometimes the drive makes awkward sounds....

If your iMac is still under warranty, then bring it into Apple. Show them the discs that it has scratched. They will probably test it themselves before replacing the optical drive. If they want to be awkward about it, then be more aggressive and tell them its simply unacceptable - and that you can prove that your iMac is not the only one doing this. There are multiple posts on the forums from people having the exact same problem with their iMacs.

That is the exact problem I　have with my iMac as well! Been scratching discs while burning. Ｉｎｉｔｉａｌｌｙ　Ｉ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ　ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｄｉｓｃｓ　ｔｈａｔ　ｉ　ｂｏｕｇｈｔ．　　Ａｆｔｅｒ　ａ　ｆｅｗ　ｃｏａｓｔｅｒｓ，　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｒｅａｌｉｚｅｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｓｃｒａｔｃｈｅｄ　ｄｕｒｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｕｒｎｉｎｇ　ｐｒｏｃｅｓｓ．．．．

Hi Rae Jay,
I have an iMac that is scratching my brand new disks. I have nothing sharp protruding, nor does it move off of my desk. I have gone through about 4 brand new disks. They all have circular scratches, about 1/2" from the outside of the disk. I am wondering if you solved this problem. If so how? I have cleaned the drive, turned the computer off (unplugged from the wall) and it continues to do this. I hope to hear what happens.

I have a brand new iMac. I noticed scratches on the disks and I went into the Mac store yesterday and showed my disks to the tech. He recreated the problem by inserting the disk at an angle into my computer and an iMac in the store. I swear I wasn't being that rough or careless. He said it couldn't be an error caused while the disk is spinning, because in that case the scratches would be circular; so he says it's user error but if I wanted I could return the machine and get another computer. The problem is that I'd like to have an iMac that doesn't scratch disks, not some other type of computer. Whether this is the metal slot or some other part of the drive, clearly this is a design flaw.

I just bought a new iMac when they were announced last week, and it put gouges into my Adobe CS4 discs. I'm not pleased; I'm visiting my local Apple Store tomorrow, to see what they can do. I inserted the discs straight into the slot; there's no way this is "user error."