Won't Read Anything

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Level 3

912 points

Won't Read Anything

Neither movies nor data discs - my Super Drive in my 2006 17" MBP doesn't want to read anything. Drive spins for a few secs, then ejects. OR - it will tell me that I have inserted a blank discs, and asks me what to do with it.

Is there any sort of diagnostic routine to determine that it is just the SuperDrive that is failing? I mean, should I go ahead and try a replacement (OWC or Apple refurb) - or do you think it might be indicative of a further problem?

17" Matte MBP 2GB 2.16GHz Seagate 200GB 7200.2, Mac OS X (10.6.4), OWC, WD, and SmartDisk backup drives.

Posted on Aug 21, 2010 9:34 AM

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Answer 1

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iVmichael

Level 6

13,740 points

Aug 21, 2010 2:57 PM in response to clintbradford

Before resorting to a replacement try running a DVD Lens cleaner through it to see if this is just caused by dirt or dust on the lens.

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Answer 2

clintbradford Author

Level 3

912 points

Aug 24, 2010 9:33 AM in response to iVmichael

That advice actually worked - although I had - in my panic - already ordered a replacement from OWC.

Best Buy carries the Digital Innovations "dvdDr" line of DVD lens cleaners. The one that retails for US$19.95 did the trick for me.

The cleaner disc has ten little "bristles" in a concentric pattern. After running the cleaner (and performed its audio system checks - interesting), I looked closely at the ten little brushes. There was a definite "explosion" of very fine dust particles trailing a a couple of the bristles - very minor stuff that caused a total "failure" to read anything.

THANK YOU, iVmichael!

Message was edited by: clintbradford

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