MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868 not working

Thanks, Rimmer. Your method worked on my 2008 Macbook Unibody as well. Now the superdrive takes all the discs it used to refuse to read.

For future mac owners who want to use Rimmer's method, this ifixit link may help you up to the point where you unplug the superdrive from your mac - http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook-Unibody-Model-A1278-Optical-Drive-Replacemen t/761/1

You my friend are a genius. Thank you for bothering to write that all up. peace

I'm glad this is working out for people.

The thing that we all need to understand is that this will likely happen to us again. This just does a basic clean and sadly I'm expecting the issue to come back again at some point. I'm just glad that my write up has been helping people out.

Thanks to everyone for bothering to come back with positive reports and to offer me their thanks!!

Regards. Rimmer

Hey Rimmer,

Thanks for your post, but I gotta tell ya, I wasn't looking forward to taking apart my mac. So as a last ditch effort, I put in one of those CD/DVD drive cleaner discs from staples & now my drive works!! yay!

Although, I wouldn't of had a clue as to what was wrong with it had you not lead me there.

Thank you, you're a life saver!!

The DVD cleaner didn't work for me but i'm glad it did for you!!

As almost all the DVD/CD cleaners (get the right one for whatever drive you are using) are simply a little dot of fluff (if you know what I mean) in a specific part of the disk as well as a bit of software on the disk, they it can actually brush off the offending deposits on the lens. I still don't think you can beatcleaning the whole lens with a suitable material but it can work so it's well worth a go if you are concerned about taking the machine apart! This is obviously one of those moments!

Cheers.. Rimmer

You are not going to believe this answer to the broken Optical Drive that was hardly used. I went to the Genius bar in White Plains, NY and was told I need a new Optical Drive for a mere $120. I could not do it, the drive was just used to install Office for Mac. I read Rimmer2000's answer and thought that was a very good, but VERY, VERY complicated proceedure. I thought back to when the dealer of my car tried to rip me off by suggesting the dealer sell me a new seat and install it for $900. The motors to operate the seat adjustments were not working. Well, we all know by now to check fuses and wire connectivity before assuming the motors are "worn out". I did that and replaced every fuse that operated the seat. Yes, I fixed my $900 problem with a $3.00 fuse.

What does this guy mean about car seats? How will this fix my broken drive ? Just tell me how to fix my hardly used DVD Drive?

Are you ready for the solution............

Carefully, blow compressed/canned air into the disc "slot" to clean off the optical lens of dust. YES, IT WORKED AND I CAN NOW WATCH DVDs!!!

Shame on Apple for not even doing this at the Genius Bar!!!!! The Apple of Tim Cook will pick your pockets, if you let them, but the Apple under Steve Jobs understood the "School of hard knocks" and Horatio Alger. RIP in peace Steve.

Oh, I do accept charitable contributions for my kid's college tuition.LOL

Thanks Rimmer this worked for my MBP 2009 unibody too - whoever said buy a new drive should consider peoples pocketbooks

Thanks you saved me about 80 bucks plus installation

No worries. I'm glad it worked for you..!

I just wanted to say regarding the message above yours. Using compressed air has a reasonable chance of working but the idea of simply waving around an airline or even a canister of air through the DVD slot worries me. Air lines are obviously/potentially very powerful and I would highly recommend nobody uses one of those.

From a background of using canned air many times, for electronic cleaning jobs, there is a much better chance that you wont blow off a connector or bend anything (there are some very delicate ribbon connectors in there) but I still recommend dismantling the machine as described. It's seriously not too taxing and you can treat the area that needs treating rather than blowing the offending dirt around the drive mechanism. Better to remove it from the machine altogether.. Glad that worked for you though.. 😎

Hi figiazziIta

You're italian, I guess. Could you by any chance help me out with this procedure? The thought of opening up my MBP is freaking me out, but I really need to get it fixed asap.

Grazie in anticipo!

Federica

Rimmer, you're a champ! Add another MacBook Pro to your list! Your advice just saved me a bundle of money... especially if I had Apple Technical Service do the work.

I have a 15-inch, late-2009 model (no. A1286) and was just about to do a clean install of Final Cut Studio when the drive failed on me. I thought to myself, but I've barely used the thing! Your post made a lot of sense: the only problem may very well be a dirty lense.

I was surprised to find out that almost all of the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868 drives on sale online are USED and come with a 1-year warranty. In fact, I don't think I could find a single new one. These resale places are probably opening them up and gently cleaning the laser lense with an appropriate cloth, as you suggested. Then they turn around and sell them for $100 to $150. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple Technical Service simply throws out the old drives and charges people for new ones plus labor!

Here's a tip for those considering trying to fix this on your own: you can purchase a 20-piece Electronics Screwdriver Set and a Mobile Phone Tool Kit (with plastic pry tools that come in handy when removing delicate logic board plugs like the one going to the optical drive) from Radio Shack or similar electronics stores. This, of course, will give you the ability to get to your RAM, hard drive, optical drive, and change these things yourself. Of course, there are somethings that are too difficult for novices like me, but when it comes to basic repairs, I'm all for saving money.

Thanks again, Rimmer.

Here's a link for a video that helped me fix the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868 optical drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlZD1Nq9JiY

Disclaimer: the video tells you how to REPLACE it, not FIX it. For this extra step, you'll have to remove a few screws on the drive itself and (carefully) separate the botton and top halves. Then, with a cloth made for cleaning eyeglasses, gently clean the laser lense. (As Rimmer says, "like washing a fly's back.")

Again, you can get small screwdrivers and pry tools at an electronics store to help you with this. You need to be especially careful removing the optical drive plug from the logic board so as to not damage the plug or the board. Besides cleaning the lense, this is probably the most delicate part. If after reinstalling, the drive still does not read your DVDs, then you've got a bigger problem.

Hope for the best outcome and give it a shot!

Thanks so much for this knowledge, Rimmer, Jerry. I had tried cleaning the lens with discs last night which only made the problem worse. I decided I had nothing to lose and this took me 45 minutes, going slowly.

The two smaller screws holding the drive can be tedious to get back in. Wipe gently as you would with any delicate optical equipment and you'll have no problem. My drive was connected to the circuit board with a brownish ribbon connector only, no SATA connection as Rimmer mentioned.

Alan, my DVD drive is still working after I gently cleaned it almost a year and a half ago! Glad to hear that it worked for you!

I had the same problem: drive trying to read a cd or dvd, and spitting it out after a couple of tries. I took the optical drive out, opened it, cleaned the lense and the mechanical parts (leaving and adding even some grease), put it in again. It worked,... for about two days. Took it out again, opened the optical drive, took off the cover around the moving lense part, cleaned it, then discovered that the flat ribbon cable attached to the lense sledge was moving strangely. Decided to take off part of the black back cover of the drive (a kind of plastic sheet) to get near to the ribbon cable plug. That was it, the cable was loose. I stuck it back in again (thought about adding a scotch tape to keep it from moving in the future, but then decided to try without it). Put the black plastic sheeting back on again and fixed it with some tape, put the whole thing back together and hallelluja, everything worked perfectly. good luck, and don't loose one of this really small screws!

Here are the search results from iFixit for replacing the optical drive in a MacBook Pro in various models

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/search/optical+drive+macbook+pro#0-topic