DVDs won't mount

[pottidmeat]

Here's the lowdown...
I'm on a 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 with a Super-drive (though I'd rather call it something else right now!). I'm also on OS 10.3.9. The drive is a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-106D. The specs say it handles both +R and -R. Blah, blah.

Okay, now here's the problem (which seems to be fairly common based on other forums I've perused) ... lately all of the DVDs I've burned (both +R and -R) won't mount once they've been removed from the cradle. They burn fine and even mount on other drives, but not the Pioneer. CDs both burn and mount without a hitch. I've read up on firmware updates and drive cleaners, etc but most people (if not all) claim that these fixes didn't work for them. It doesn't seem to be a hardware issue necessarily... Could it have to do with updating to 10.3.9? I'm vexed and bleary eyed. Hope someone smarter than me can lend a brother some love.

[barhar]

'I've read up on firmware updates and drive cleaners, etc but most people (if not all) claim that these fixes didn't work for them.' - yet, no web page links were provided.

'It doesn't seem to be a hardware issue necessarily...' - yes, it may be a hardware issue - such as dust.

'Could it have to do with updating to 10.3.9?' - no.

'I'm vexed ... Hope someone ... can lend a brother some ...' - first, try to use a can of compressed air, directing the air stream into the drives center.
If that produces a temporary or failed result, then consider removing the Superdrive, disassembling it - exposing the read / write heads, blowing compressed (or human generated) air across the read / write heads - and elsewhere, reassembling only the laser protective shield, (temporarily) reinstalling the Superdrive, burn a new disc and attempt to read it.
If successful, remove and fully re-assemble the Superdrive. If not, try cleaning the heads and elsewhere again ... (temporarily) reassembling, burning, reading, fully assembling, etc. Otherwise, some other factors exist.

I have performed the above on CD and DVD burners (D106 included) with much success.

[Lekid]

Hi Thread and everyone who has the same problem,

I called Apple, they refered me to the Apple help page where I didn't find a thing about the subject. Here is why... It's not a technical problem from the DVD drive it's simply because it's very dusty!!! I got myself a CO2 air spray can and a DVD cleaner and it made magic! First, I opened up my G5 for the first time since 2 years and discovered that my room was pretty dirty. I cleaned up the inside of my mac spraying the air can everywhere using the entire can and then I played the DVD cleaner at least 3 times and each time the DVD reader got better and better. I can now play DVD that used not to work in my G5. So that's it, not a technical problem just have to clean the damn thing. Hope that this will help cause I had the same problem... I wasn't able to read burned DVDs but it was ok for commercial movies and audio CDs. Now, my Mac is as new. Good Luck!!!

[jawajawaj]

I can't believe that this is the solution, but I tried it on my G5 desktop and it worked great (so far). Opened the unit, removed the DVD drive, unscrewed the top and bottom to expose the read/write heads and sprayed the canned air on them for a bit. Reassembled it all and now my DVDs mount fine. I was skeptical because I was able to mount older data CDs and music CDs, so I was sure this was something specific to the data DVD format. I am happily wrong. Dusting out the case and the DVD drive makes all formats work great. Many thanks for the tips.

[Satcomer]

Just remember this cheese grader G5's are dust magnets! Plus any computer after six months should be inspected for dust, on a regular basis. This goes for Macs as well as PCs. Always remember this and pass it on to loved ones and friends.