iMac ejects cds but plays dvds, will not read music cds from target iBook either

Hi there,

Thanks for looking, any help would be great!

I have an iMac Early 2008 running OS X 10.11.3.

When I put a cd disc (either music or application program) into the iMac drive the drive spins it around a bit then ejects it. However, the drive will play a DVD fine. I see this is a common thread here.

I did the iMac SMC and PRAM reset 4 times as per iMac SMC and PRAM reset

It did not change anything as far as I can tell.

I know the next recommended step is to buy a new superdrive, however, I'm still leery of spending the money just to load a couple of cds. And I have a good hunch that it will not work anyway.

I therefore hooked up my 2005 iBook G4 as a target drive. (Funny how this computer plays both cds/dvds just fine! but that's for another thread lol).

I then loaded a music CD in the target iBook G4, and the iMac immediately gives me an error "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." However when I put an application program CD in the iBook G4, the iMac can access it just fine. DVDs inserted into the iBook G4 can also be played by the iMac Quick Time player fine.

So I am at a loss. How can I get my iMac to read and play a normal legit music CD? The second issue of the iMac not reading music CDs placed in the target iBook G4 is also concerning since both application CDs can be read by the iMac no problem, AND the iBook G4 plays music CDs perfectly on its own when not in target mode.

Thanks again!