Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I ejected a disk from my iMac (fall 2010) this evening, and now I can't put it back in. Discs just sit in the slot - it has stopped pulling them in.
Any advice would be appreciated.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
Same problem - now solved. Quick answer - Open Terminal and type the command drutil tray eject
Our 2009 iMac, running High Sierra, had a Superdrive that was totally unresponsive. It would not accept disks, even if they were pushed in to the point where the springy resistance is felt, when they are about three quarters of the way in. Pushing them all the way in, against the spring pressure, had no effect. The disks would be pushed out by the mechanical spring force, but the Superdrive was dead.
First, I did a System Management Controller (SMC) reset, by Shutting Down and then disconnecting the power cord from the back of the computer for a minute or so. Apple website says to allow 15 seconds. Plug the cord back in and start up. We noticed that the laggy behaviour of the iMac in general went away, which was excellent - point to remember! However, the Superdrive did not start working.
Next, I tried a PRAM reset, by holding down Command+Option+P+R at startup. The first time I did this, the iMac booted into a recovery drive. Weird. Shut down and restarted and did the PRAM reset again, five times in a sequence. No change to the Superdrive problem. Still completely unresponsive.
I googled and found suggestions to try Terminal commands, to make the Superdrive go through some ejection sequences. The command drutil eject did nothing, but then I found a suggestion to try drutil tray eject . Upon pressing Enter to run that command, I heard a click from the Superdrive. I put in a disk, it sucked it in, recognised it as a DVD, fired up DVD Player and started playing the movie. Fixed! :-)
"drutil eject" with a disk stuck halfway in worked for me as well! Had to try it a couple of times, though. Working like new at the moment...
"drutil eject" did not work for me on my Mac Mini Mid 2010. However, I tried it in a MacBook Pro 15" Late 2009 and after the second start-up the drive woke up from the dead and is now working fine again. 😮
I had a similar problem on an iMac (mid-2010), inserted the business card as per earlier suggestion, which ejected the stuck disk. I then inserted the same disk as far as I could and typed 'drutil tray eject' into Terminal and that seemed to do the trick. The slot now accepts and loads disks and ejects them as intended. I don't use disks much but it's nice to know this solution works. My thanks to this generous community of helpers.
I had the same issue. The fix for me was to push the disk in further than I initially felt comfortable with. I'm not sure I'd prescribe this solution for everyone, as it would not have surprised me if broke the whole drive.
As a side note, I have a late 2009 Mac mini (the one I just fixed), and a MacBook Pro. Both have had SuperDrive issues - although not the same issue. It appears that Apple addresses the problem of quirky disk drives by trying to convince everyone that they are no longer necessary.
in Terminal, type : drutil eject internal
a funny noise then all works fine.
for some weeks, - meaby after some "forced" or automated update of the OS - no disc can be read in a Imac 21.5 inch mid 2011. No way to keep any cd, dvd inside the machinery..... As just reading the terminal idea, i tried for some occasions now, sooo .. 1) suppose the dvd is inserted, it "moves" into the reader, some rotation movements are heard, the lenses apparently moves too with the "normal" short ZZZZZ noise, and after some 10 sec more the disc comes out. 2) if asking terminal the drutil eject internal option meanwhile the dvd goes in, such timing changes, the rotation seems longer, more noises are heard,with the "normal" zzzz and so, but same exit happens...after a similar delay...3) trying the same drutil later, when the cd or dvd is "already" in for some seconds,the noises are different, repeated, as if the ldenses was .trying" harder (?) to read or do the job, no way, ejection occurs, just after a longer delay. 4) trying now with a blank dvd...just in case... goes in, rotation happens, and miracle, the options offered after inserting such blank dvd works fine.. iDVD windows shows normally... so what happens instead with recorded dvd s ? Is it because eventually the reader senses the introduction of such DVD, but the recording laser lens is NOT working ? hardware problem , but "only" with the "laser" reader ?
to check more, i now try to burn some movie from archives, using "one step DVD" option from Idvd. working fine, so the laser "writes" and there is no problem of hardware...
actually now "encoding" , so meaby not writing "yet" ... wait and see...
and just in case, i did drutil eject internal meanwhile the movie data are encoded,but the disk stays in, no exit happens, so the logic of the superdrive seems "not responding" normally or is it normal the blank DVD is not ejected meanwhile encoding is in due process and keeps going normally in the Idvd window ??
as i never uses the terminal, (no programming here...just a silly guy ) , could someone mention where or how to access the "commands" in terminal , a kind of "command listing info for Dummies", so as to "eventually" if necessary use those to get a result. ? f.i., is there another command to "force" the Superdive to read something-somedisk.somehow, sometimes , somewhere ? , or another to check the superdrive logic circuitry or mechanism ? any clue welcome ! 😎 Help those silly guys like me, folks ! 😕 😍
mmmm, laser is NOT working.... after the mentioned encoding ,for a long while, the Idvd windows showed next "multiplexing and burning", but quite instantly showed "done" and ejected as fast the dvd-R. The lens must be out of work, hardware problem. Happened with my last DVD reader and burner , lasted a few months actually, one first repair made under warranty (logic board), second time repair after warranty was already more expensive than buying a new one. probably the same happens now for the Imac , as for such dvd burner/reader, the laser lense overheats easily when burning any stuff, and is not really long lived.
But shame on the manufacturer of such very pricy stuff...
(see Disc burning info on sysprefs... ) ... probably a Radeon make?
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H:
Firmware Revision: 3AHF
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 0 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose File > Refresh Information
wich command could be used to keep checking the laser lens ?
drutil laser
Usage: drutil -drive [drive-arguments] command [command-options-and-arguments]
drutil commands are:
atip Displays ATIP information about inserted CD-R/RW media.
bulkerase Bulk erases -RW media in either quick or full mode.
drutil bulkerase (quick | full)
burn Burns a given file or directory to disc.
drutil burn (burn-options) <path>
cdtext Displays CD-Text present on an audio CD.
discinfo Displays disc related info when media is present.
dumpiso Parses ISO-9660 directory structures.
drutil dumpiso <devnode> <block> [format]
dumpudf Parses UDF directory structures.
drutil dumpudf <devnode> <block> [format]
eject Ejects media from the drive (if any).
erase Erases -RW media in either quick or full mode.
drutil erase (quick | full)
filename Translates filenames for different filesystems.
drutil filename <name>
getconfig Displays current and supported device features and profiles.
drutil getconfig (current | supported)
info Displays detailed information about connected drives.
list Lists all connected burning devices.
poll Constantly polls and displays device notifications.
size Estimates size of a given file or directory.
status Displays detailed information about inserted media.
subchannel Displays subchannel (MCN, ISRC) info when CD media is present.
toc Displays TOC information about inserted CD media.
trackinfo Displays track related info when media is present.
tray Opens and closes drive tray, and ejects media.
drutil tray (open | close | eject)
version Display the OS and DiscRecording version numbers.
(specify drutil help <command> for command specific help)
(specify drutil help driveselect for drive selection help)
now, getting configuration... the silly guys see..
drutil getconfig
Vendor Product Rev
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H 3AHF
Media: None
GetConfiguration returned 112 bytes.
00000000 00 00 00 70 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 30 00 2B 00 00 |...p.......0.+..|
00000010 00 1B 00 00 00 1A 00 00 00 16 00 00 00 15 00 00 |................|
00000020 00 14 00 00 00 13 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 10 00 00 |................|
00000030 00 0A 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 01 0B 08 |................|
00000040 00 00 00 07 01 00 00 00 00 02 07 04 02 00 00 00 |................|
00000050 00 03 07 04 09 00 00 00 01 00 03 00 01 05 07 04 |................|
00000060 00 00 00 00 01 08 03 0C 45 31 31 31 33 50 35 57 |........E1113P5W|
Current Profile: 0
Feature 0000h: Profile List
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 00 00 03 30 00 2B 00 00 00 1B 00 00 00 1A 00 00
10> 00 16 00 00 00 15 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 13 00 00
20> 00 11 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 09 00 00
30> 00 08 00 00
Feature descriptor version: 0
Feature descriptor length: 48
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Profile List:
002Bh DVD+R Double Layer DVD+R Double Layer
001Bh DVD+R DVD Recordable
001Ah DVD+RW DVD ReWritable
0016h DVD-R DL Layer Jump DVD-R Dual Layer Layer Jump Recording
0015h DVD-R DL Sequential DVD-R Dual Layer Sequential Recording
0014h DVD-RW Sequential Re-recordable DVD using Sequential recording
0013h DVD-RW Restricted Re-Recordable DVD using Restricted Overwrite
0011h DVD-R Sequential Write once DVD using Sequential recording
0010h DVD-ROM Read only DVD
000Ah CD-RW ReWritable CD capable
0009h CD-R Write once CD capable
0008h CD-ROM Read only CD capable
Feature 0001h: Core Feature Descriptor
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 00 01 0B 08 00 00 00 07 01 00 00 00
Feature descriptor version: 2
Feature descriptor length: 8
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Validation of EVPD, Page Code, and the 16-bit Allocation length fields as described in [SPC-3] are not supported
Device Busy Event is supported
Physical Interface Standard:
00000007h Serial ATAPI
Logical Unit shall support the following commands:
INQUIRY
GET CONFIGURATION
GET EVENT/STATUS NOTIFICATION
MODE SELECT
MODE SENSE
REQUEST SENSE
TEST UNIT READY
Feature 0002h: Morphing
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 00 02 07 04 02 00 00 00
Feature descriptor version: 1
Feature descriptor length: 4
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Operational Change Request/Notification Class Events of GET EVENT/STATUS NOTIFICATION are supported
Logical unit supports only polling of GET EVENT/STATUS NOTIFICATION (Immed bit set to one).
Logical unit shall support the following commands:
GET CONFIGURATION
GET EVENT/STATUS NOTIFICATION
PREVENT/ALLOW MEDIUM REMOVAL
SEND EVENT (partial class 3 support)
Feature 0003h: Removable Medium (Logical Unit contains removable media)
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 00 03 07 04 09 00 00 00
Feature descriptor version: 1
Feature descriptor length: 4
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Loading Mechanism: Caddy/Slot type loading mechanism
Eject bit is set (unit can eject media)
Prevent Jumper bit is clear (media can be inserted)
DBML bit is clear
Lock bit is set (media can be locked in unit)
Logical Unit shall support the following commands:
MECHANISM STATUS
PREVENT/ALLOW MEDIUM REMOVAL
SEND EVENT (class 4 fully support)
START/STOP UNIT
Feature 0100h: Power Management
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 01 00 03 00
Feature descriptor version: 0
Feature descriptor length: 0
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Logical Unit shall support the following commands:
GET EVENT/STATUS NOTIFICATION (Power Management class)
START STOP UNIT (power condition field)
Power Condition Mode Page (1Ah)
Feature 0105h: Time-out
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 01 05 07 04 00 00 00 00
Feature descriptor version: 1
Feature descriptor length: 4
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
G3Enable bit and the Group3 Timeout field are not supported
Logical Unit shall support the following commands:
Timeout and Protect mode page
Feature 0108h: Logical Unit Serial Number
Raw Feature Descriptor:
00> 01 08 03 0C 45 31 31 31 33 50 35 57 30 4E 36 42
Feature descriptor version: 0
Feature descriptor length: 12
Feature is persistent
Feature is current
Serial Number: E1113P5W0N6B
Device Config complete.
and when "polling" the box...
drutil poll
DRDeviceAppearedNotification (SuperDrive)
DRDeviceStatusChangedNotification (SuperDrive)
-DRDeviceMediaStateKey: (null) >>> DRDeviceMediaStateNone
-DRDeviceIsBusyKey: (null) >>> 0
-DRDeviceIsTrayOpenKey: (null) >>> 1
-DRDeviceMaximumWriteSpeedKey: (null) >>> 0
-DRDeviceCurrentWriteSpeedKey: (null) >>> 0
(no disk inserted...)
where are some "laser capacity" or status info available to ask by terminal ? how ? ?
i mean is it possible to verify through terminal the status of the laser or lens laser hardware or logic board functions ?
superdrive won't draw discs in
