Optical drive serious problems

I can only think of two obvious ideas:

1. Call Apple

2. Return to an Apple Store


Since your product is only 3 days old, if there is a defect they will probably replace it on site.

Hi,

I have the same problem except that my drive was working fine for the first 7 months or so; it only now went bad. Same problems as Anderson described; the computer will not read any discs anymore; it spits them out.

My drive model is:

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857:

Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857
Revision: HAE4
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes

And my computer model is:

Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: MacBook Pro 15"
Machine Model: MacBookPro1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP11.0055.B08
SMC Version: 1.2f10
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

Are there any diagnostic tests out there to determine what the problem is?

These drives have been very unreliable, I've already had one replaced, and this one is marginally better and falling fast.
At least this isn't quite as serious as the ibook logic board...

Thanks for the reply. Did they replace the drive or the whole computer? I am hesitant to bring the laptop to the Apple Store because I use the computer everyday and I don't want to get a whole new unit with a blank hard drive; I just want the drive swapped out. How was the repair process?

Bruno

They only replaced the drive, it was really quick and painless, so I wouldn't sweat it.
Then again, this is an apple approved repair center on my University campus, and I know the guy that fixed it, so...its hard to say what exactly your experience will be like.
But he did all the normal stuff, testing it for the error, found the error, fixed the hardware.

I'm replying to all of the discussions in this area. I just bought my MacBook Pro and had problems right off the bat with the CD/DVD. Can't download music, play music, or movies without the system freezing up. I took it in to the certified repair center and they ran the diagnostics which it failed. They sent the machine back to Apple to replace the driver for CD etc. I just got it back, it works but is very unpredictable...mostly stopping, skipping like an old record player. Today I tried to get onto myspace.com to view some videos and they all show and "error". I'm not sure what to do other than return the machine to the store again and have them dig further into the machine. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My optical drive started behaving badly a few months ago, but I always thought it was due to cheap blanks or scratches or what not. Now about 3 weeks after my 1 year support is over, so is the superdrive and the magsafe adapter(pins no longer come out at all) 😟
I really hoped I wouldn't run into that many problems with the MBP it's almost as id someone swichted the 1 year switch...

That is what it is, its the one year switch, mine just got turned too. I am experiencing similar problems with my Superdrive but the disk will not eject. Mine sems more mechanical but since I get the same message, thought it might help someone. Very unpredictable behavior but it always seems to know when I am in a hurry. I always heard MACS were smarter than PCs. Amazing!

My machine (17" MBP CD) is refusing to see any DVD-R, DVD-RW (both + and -) etc disc I put in my machine. The problem is with both blanks and ones with movies on. It is even refusing to see discs which I have previously used successfully. I have tried setting preferences to open DVD player automatically, ignore the disc etc. No luck.

I have tried using an external drive with limited success. Here the Mac sees the discs, but will not play them, the screen freezes constantly. All associated applications (DVD player, Handbrake, Mac The Ripper) freeze up and quit. The external also has problems burning from iDVD, it takes days, literally, if at all.

I have tried the discs on a colleagues G4 Powerbook and he has no probelms, I also tried with the external on his machine and this was fine too.

Now, oddly, original, commercial DVDs work with no problems at all on the internal DVD player.

I am using 10.4.9 and my machine is almost 1 yr old.

All suggestions welcome

I have had problems with the optical drive.

I've had an iMac which caused me no trouble for seven years (apart from being ancient and only running OS 9!), and then recently decided to upgrade to a MacBook Pro - I'm on the move, and needed a new computer soon for work and study.

It arrived on Monday. Wednesday the drive started refusing to eject CDs - it would take 10/20 minutes of constantly hitting the eject button to get out. Using Disk Utility or the Startup trick (holding down the trackpad button) only made the computer think that the disk had been ejected.

Up till that point I had been impressed at the speed it handles CDs - even when it's not ejecting cds it was very fast at imports!

I've had the thing so little time that I've not backed up data yet. The one thing to be thankful for is that all the data is still on cds or on my 7 year old iMac (which I will be using until my brand new computer is repaired).

I phoned up Applecare, who gave me a reference number and told me to go to any repair centre and they'd do it for me free.

I went to the local repair centre, who told me that my warranty was with Apple and they couldn't repair it - they could only ship it to one of the main repair centres. I'm in Ireland by the way.

So, it's been shipped to have the drive replaced. I've only had the MacBook Pro 4 days, am looking at a week before I get it back and I had to pay shipping.

I think it's an understatement to say I'm unimpressed.

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi, I also bought a new Macbook Pro and I am having the same problem. My MBP doesn't want to take any cd/dvd, it spits them over 3/4 seconds back out after inserting it in. What did u do about this? Did u bring it back to the US or what?

My Pro is just days in my possession (it's a work computer, so the help desk had it for a week or so before I got it). I used a bunch of CDRW and DVDRs with it no problem. Now put in a DVDR and it just spins and spins - can't eject, none of the "emergency" methods work (do these computers have an emergency eject hole? where is it?). Every ten minutes or so I get the "You have inserted a blank disc - what would you like to do" dialog - I select Eject, the spinning sound changes a little for a few seconds but the disc is not ejected and the spin of death resumes.

It's amazing to me how many posts this thread has received - some of which, if I were in Apple marketing, I would be very concerned about - with no response from Apple. Until now, one of the things I've liked about Macs compared to Windows is the helpfulness of error notifications when something isn't working right. I wouldn't say I'm totally disillusioned (I've had plenty of hardware problems with Mac products before) but I'm certainly very disappointed in Apple's apparent lack of concern. I guess all they really care about now is the iPod market, the rest is just there as an honor of legacy until it fades away out of customer frustration.

DG

OK, I went away for a while, the "Blank Disc - Eject, ignore, or open finder" dialog came up again and the computer went to sleep; I came back, the disc wasn't spinning, I woke it up, saw the dialog, clicked on eject and depressed the disc eject button for good measure, and low and behold, it ejected; but that was a close one!

DG

PS: I still want to know: do these new Intel dual Core MacBook Pros have a hidden disc eject hole? Thanks!

DG