Superdrive fail after Mountain Lion Installation?

I'm having the same issue... A friend forwarded this article outlining some possible remedies, but so far I've not had any success with them. I'm running a mid-2010 Imac 21" with a superdrive that has been inoperable since upgrading to ML.

Here's the link:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57585540-263/optical-drives-not-working-wit h-mountain-lion-for-some/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

To fix this problem set the year on your computer back to 2010 and it works.

Latest patches/upgrades has fixed this problem for me. I knew it as soon as the computer rebooted and I could hear the cd/dvd drive go through it's motions on start up.

Can I send Apple a bill for the external drive I had to purchase in the interim?

Thanks Apple... I think.

hi ppapple

thanks for raising this with apple. I really appreciate it! 😀 I called them this morning and they wanted £35 off me for phone help. I said i'll pass. They're just creating problems so they can extort more money out of people!

I sincerely hope they resolve this issue soon - it's been long long overdue!

After this mac dies i'm going back to Windows. Virus' I can deal with - poor customer service I can't!

This issue has been resolved in Mavericks 10.9 - tried and tested!

Yes, I have similar problemss. just got my iMac back from hospital after major surgery. New hard drive, logic board and all f.o.c, but I still can't load system/software dvd's, audio cd's. they're just spat out. Back to genius surgery.

I always check here for solutions, but this time all options failed to rectify my problem. After installing ML my nsuperdrive stopped working. It just spit out the CDs after 15 seconds or so. I did some digging around and found this site... it worked for me. Plus it's so simple! Now my SD is operating just fine! http://david.gasperoni.org/post/12942201003/if-your-superdrive-is-not-working-an ymore-in-lion#disqus_thread

Thanks for the link. Tried it but didn't work. Should I try a cleaning disk?

For anyone else who runs across this discussion looking for a solution to their SuperDrive mysteriously not working, this website provides quite a good summary of other discussions on this topic so far and gives an objective view overall of the many variations of problems http://tidbits.com/article/10562

I have an early 2009 Mac mini in which the SuperDrive recently started refusing to mount any disks other than blank CDs/DVDs, everything else would insert, try to spin but wouldn't and then eject again. The problem appeared at first to coincide with me upgrading to Mountain Lion, however can't be quite sure as I really don't use the SuperDrive very often. Had also around the same time installed another 2gb of ram and noticed when doing this that there's was a lot of dust inside the unit.

The fact that the drive still appeared to mount blank writable disks got me thinking that it wouldn't do that at all if it was dead and I wasn't so convinced about the discussions surrounding the problems being caused by a glitch in the OS after I saw the below mentioned video.

Have also read somewhere in the myriad of google searches that apparently the new software that runs the drives in mountain lion makes them much more sensitive, so the slightest bit of dust on the optical lens will cause all sorts of unusual problems to start occurring - after viewing this video http://youtu.be/qbOCHQVRBik I followed the same process, i.e. To the point where I pulled the top cover off the drive and very carefully cleaned the optical lens with a cotton tip and some rubbing alcohol and hey presto! after replacing the cover and testing the drive works again perfectly. Realise this process would be somewhat more difficult on iMac or MacBook of course, but would suspect still doable with some patience and the right tools (only if your unit is out of warranty of course that is)

G

I know this might be stupid, but I was having the same problem and then my husband came in and said, flip the superdrive over (silver side up) and then it worked. I was inserting the blank cd in an upside down superdrive. Now it works fine!

Hi Paul.Urmston ware you able to resolve the problem you hade regarding your cd drive?

Name : SuperDrive

Type : Optical Device

Device Name : MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868

Connection Bus : ATAPI

Connection Type : Internal

Burn Support : Apple Shipping

Writes CD : Yes

Writes DVD : Yes

Media is present : No

Capabilities : Open System Information

But the **** thing spits out blank DVD's, CD's and any other kind of media.

No, I still have to use the external to get anything to butn unless I am on Mavericks through the external drive HD. I am not ready to switch over to Mavericks yet as there are too many bugs and am witing for the updates to be released.

The bulit in superdrive only works to read COMMERCIAL DISCS. It will not read a newly burned cd I make or anlyone else makes.

C

Same problem here on a mid-2010 21.5" iMac. Will read CDs and 1 out of 100 DVDs (1 kids' DVD, weird) but generally nothing in DVD format.

I tried all the solves listed (change prefs, reset EMC and both PRAMs, boot from internet disks, even an Endust cleaning CD). Nada. I then set up a Joint Venture call and they diagnosed the drive as faulty after repeating all of the above. They say it's very possible that dying Superdrives can read CDs and even burn disks but not read DVDs. They said it'd be about $150 to replace the drive at a Genius Bar.

Here's where I try to be helpful.

If you're found this thread and you're not under warranty, don't waste ANY time testing it or trying to fix. Certainly don't roll back to previous software versions -- wasting hours of time and eliminating software features you may like or introducing incompatibilities. Just hop on over to Amazon and buy a $30 (not kidding) Amazon Basics external DVD drive. I ordered one w/ my cleaning disk knowing I'd prob need it and prob wouldn't want to pay Apple to fix my 3-year old machine. Works like an absolute charm for me. Faster ripping CDs than the Superdrive, plays DVDs through DVD Player, VLC, or XBMC instantly.

So my advice (ignore it if you like, it's worth what you paid for it) is to ignore any conspiracy theories about whether Apple planned this. IMHO, it doesn't matter for $30. Your time is worth more than $30. Just buy an external and get on with your life. You can even use it with your drive-less Air when you get one, if you don't have one already. How often can you solve a complex computer problem instantly, and be better off in the end, for $30? Just do it. 🙂 End of advice.

HTH.

I took my macbook pro in after upgrading to ML. a DVD will work. So they tested everything, Determined the CD would actually recognize a CD if they bypassed the operating system. so it works. but it just doesn't work with ML. they offered to replace it for $250..

I AM ******. i have a perfectly good computer that i use only to burn in cd's i purchase. and watch movies.

i can't do that now.

So i sit here ready to buy another computer and don't want to give this company my money,.

Really upset they offered for me to purchase a Drive knowing it was from a software update.

this was directly after the upgrade a year ago or whenever that was..

i had never seen this thread with so many people experiencing the same issue,

I think it's time for a class action suit, This is similar to a recall event.

I want a working CD player.

I had installed ML and then upgraded to 10.8.5...SuperDrive failed and I have an external Samsung Blu-Ray USB DVD player....it also cannot read CDs or DVDs.

Stuff I Tried

I removed the Finder Prefs file.

I tired removing my entire User/Library/Prefs folder and rebooted

Zapped the PRAM. Did a complete shutdown of the computer..and removed all USB attachments

I downgraded and reinstalled 10.8.2

So I feel the OS has broken something here.