Disk will not eject

Question

Level 1

30 points

Disk will not eject

Our mac mini has swallowed a music CD and will not eject it and no longer shows it. Have tried holding the eject button, restart with wired mouse held, tried disk utility and terminal. Nothing will recognise or budge it.

Why is there no longer a place to poke a paper-clip like on the old imacs for this very emergency? Meanwhile the mac is making a very loud disk whirring noise
Any other ideas please?

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 23, 2010 6:50 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 23, 2010 8:33 PM in response to hk richard

If the system is still under warranty, take it somewhere to have the disc extracted and drive replaced. If it's out of warranty, then get a putty knife and pull the drive apart yourself, then get a USB jobbie to replace it, or live without until you get a new system. Just be sure to go at it from the sides, or you'll risk lopping off the IR sensor.

Putting in a new drive would be cost prohibitive at around probably $300 out the door.

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Answer 2

hk richard Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 23, 2010 9:07 PM in response to Scott Billings

thanks for this, the mini is 2.5 years-old without extention so no warranty. Don't think an external drive hanging off the side is part of the apple look and feel. Am hoping for some less drastic solution - though a trip to an apple store for a repair is possible (if expensive)

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Answer 3

Jolly Giant

Level 7

25,464 points

Aug 24, 2010 1:00 AM in response to hk richard

hk richard wrote:
Any other ideas please?

try these suggestions by Kappy:

Kappy wrote:
Five ways to eject a stuck CD or DVD from the optical drive

Ejecting the stuck disc can usually be done in one of the following ways:

1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the left mouse button until the disc ejects.

2. Press the Eject button on your keyboard.

3. Click on the Eject button in the menubar.

4. Press COMMAND-E.

5. If none of the above work try this:

Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following:

/usr/bin/drutil eject.

If this fails then try this:

Boot the computer into single-user mode. At the prompt enter the same command as used above. To restart the computer enter "reboot" at the prompt without quotes.

J GG

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Answer 4

hk richard Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 24, 2010 2:16 AM in response to Jolly Giant

thanks
tried those except the last - how do I put the machine in 'single-user mode'?

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Answer 5

Jolly Giant

Level 7

25,464 points

Aug 24, 2010 2:24 AM in response to hk richard

hk richard wrote:
how do I put the machine in 'single-user mode'?

[_*How to start up in single-user or verbose mode*_|http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492]

J GG

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Answer 6

Boece

Level 5

6,264 points

Aug 24, 2010 4:41 AM in response to hk richard

You can get a replacement drive here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/superdrive/

They will even install it for you for an extra $99, Fedex overnite shipping included:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/install

They also sell firewire external drives. (Mine is arriving today. I'll let you know how I like it.)

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Answer 7

Jvette

Level 1

65 points

Aug 24, 2010 4:34 PM in response to hk richard

Same exact thing happened to me. I tried everything but lucky for me I purchased Apple Care and after calling they had me try a bunch of stuff and then set up an appointment at the local Apple Store. He got the disk out real fast and gave it back to me. I asked him if it would do it again and he said he didn't know. I asked him to try a disk in it. The disk wouldn't go in so they replaced the drive.

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Answer 8

hk richard Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 24, 2010 6:21 PM in response to hk richard

This is curious - is it me or do lots of people have stuck disks/faulty drives?
I have been lucky - my son persevered with the left-mouse click on start-up and hey presto up popped the image quickly followed by a swift journey into the trash.
I use a Power Mac that developed a worn DVD drive, but that was so easy to replace even I could do it! the Mac Mini though is another proposition. Am grateful for all the technical advice - thanks. Disappointed that Mac users have to consider plugging a peripheral drive into their machine to get it to work. Seems a bit like a car that is missing an engine to me - somewhat incomplete. Anyway, as long as wife keeps that CD out of her Mac Mini then all plain sailing.
Good advice on going to the MAc shop for repair - GET THEM TO TEST the THING

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