CD Stuck in iMac Disc Drive, Mechanical Problem

Question

Level 2

271 points

CD Stuck in iMac Disc Drive, Mechanical Problem

I, surprisingly, could not find a good solution for this on Google because of the vast number of people with software-related disc jams and bad tutorials.

I put a Windows 2000 recovery disc in my Mac so I could test to see if I could make a disk image from it and mount it as a real CD...anyway, I should have known that the HP-made disc would get stuck in my drive. It felt kind of strange as if it was the wrong thickness.

Now, I cannot eject it nor can I see the disc trying to be ejected due to the flaps on the drive blocking it. I tried feeling around with a credit card, but there was a metal bar blocking the disc. If I try to eject it, it keeps trying over and over again but can never eject it.

I'm looking for a hardware-related way to get this out. I know about the "click on bootup" and "force eject" methods, but those will not work.

iMac6,1 (Late 2006 iMac Intel), 3 GB RAM, 2.33 GHz Processor, 2 TB internal HD, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Minor GUI mods, a lot of stuff connected with FireWire or USB

Posted on Jul 20, 2011 9:00 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Jul 20, 2011 9:01 PM in response to Mac OS 9000

My computer can sometimes read it, by the way.

Reply

Answer 2

B J P

Level 1

25 points

Sep 1, 2011 5:09 PM in response to Mac OS 9000

I've become all too familiar with this issue. The first time, I was able to get it to eject with the help of a flat object (might have been a credit card-type thing) to keep the ejector mechanism open and coax the disc out.

Most recently, I had a disc that simply refused to get out. I resorted to opening up the front bezel (requiring me to lay the iMac on its back) and ejecting the disc (meaning the computer was on). It came out easily on the very first try.

If worst came to worst, you could try that method. It could be the slot in your bezel isn't lined up quite right and something is getting blocked.

Reply

Answer 3

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Sep 7, 2011 8:48 PM in response to B J P

Thanks for your repsonse.

How exactly did you keep it open with the credit card? I don't want to open the bezel since I already did that annoying procedure twice for HD replacement and dust removing, and I doubt that is the problem since it was working literally 10 seconds ago for other discs. I'll try that if nothing else works, though.

Reply

Answer 4

B J P

Level 1

25 points

Sep 9, 2011 7:38 AM in response to Mac OS 9000

I can't recall exactly what I did to make the credit card work that first time. About 1/3 the way from the edge of the slot (top of the slot on my iMac), you can feel some mechanism that's closed normally. When you go to eject the disc you can feel that mechanism open and you can hold it open using the card. I recall it took a lot of fiddling to get the thing to pop out, so I can't say exactly what I did. You can try to use the card to sort of coax the disc out or push it up or down, depending on which way it's having trouble ejecting...

Sometimes you can see the disc poke out a little only to do back in. In those times I've thought about getting a pair of tweezers to grab it, but usually didn't end up having to. Could be a two-person job.

If nothing works, before taking it to a shop I'd try opening the bezel. I don't know how or why but that really did the trick for me last time I went through this.

Reply

Answer 5

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Sep 11, 2011 9:19 AM in response to B J P

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try that. By the way, I also tried pinching the bezel like some others suggested, but that didn't work.

I won't take it into the shop no matter what. Computer repair is really expensive. If all else fails, I'll open the bezel or even take the optical drive out.

Reply

Answer 6

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Sep 11, 2011 9:26 AM in response to B J P

Ok I'm going to open my computer next time I shut it down for some reason. The credit card thing is too hard to do since my drive, at this point, constantly tries to eject the disc, and I can't really tell where the mechanism is.

Reply

Answer 7

keane108

Level 1

0 points

Aug 8, 2012 2:51 AM in response to Mac OS 9000

Hello

I had a CD stuck in my iMac. This method with the card helped to get it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7NYW9Dr448

Looking into an external dvd or Blu-ray recoder now. Any recomendations?

Keane

Reply

Answer 8

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Aug 10, 2012 8:41 AM in response to keane108

I got rid of my iMac recently and got a 2008 Mac Pro because the iMac's GPU failed, and I hate the problems like the DVD drive issue that I can't really open my computer easily and fix.

My iMac actually just ejected the disc one day while I was booting it up, which I had to do frequently because of the GPU crashes.

Reply