CD fails to eject

A

Achewood

Registered
Hi,

My old man has a mac, and it's apparently refusing to spit out a CD (or even recognize it.) He sent me this email asking for help, but since I don't know much about macs I'm forwarding it to you guys. Any help is appreciated.


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"Working with iMac 10.4.8.

Problem: I inserted a blank CD-R; no icon appeared; every few seconds, clicking sounds seem to indicate that the drive is trying to accept or reject CD. No applications are running.

I have tried four solutions (the others are inoperable since the icon is missing from the desktop and disc utilities):

1. Hold down mouse while restarting.
2. Using the eject key, upper right keyboard.
3. Hold down the F12 key.

4. To eject a disc using firmware:
. Restart the computer.
. When you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Command-Option-O-F keys. (The Command key has an Apple on it.)
. Release the keys when you see a white welcome screen.
. At the prompt, type: eject cd
Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject the disc

[At this point, nothing happens; it is impossible to alter the “eject cd” command; after a few minutes, I unplug the iMac and restart].

. , and "ok" appears on the screen when the action is complete.
. Type: mac-boot
Press Return."


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The computer is constantly trying to eject the disc, but it never comes out.
Again, any help is appreciated.
 
It is possible the drive is out of alignment and the CD is getting hung-up on something. What kind of iMac is it? Is it one of the older "colored" iMacs or one of the newer LCD screen type iMacs?
 
One of the newer ones.

...anddd, it's just been revealed that he put in one of those clear plastic protective discs that come on spindles, thinking it was some novelty type of CD.
Unless there's some easy way of opening the thing it sounds like he's just going to have to take it in to be fixed professionally.
 
You might have him look and see if there's a paperclip sized hole on the side of the drive. You used to be able to stick a clip in there and forceably eject the disc.

However, it sounds like professional help is needed on this one.
 
The thickness of those clear plasic jobbers are to big and will not eject properly (that was a "duh" statement, one option before sending it in if it is out of warrenty is to usea tweezer and try to grasp the disk and pull slowly and carefully. Since it is not an actually CD you do not have to worry about wrecking the disk. If this at all makes him nervous pay the money to get it removed professionally.
 
Be aware that the following suggestion could damage your drive if not performed with extreme caution. If you're not willing to accept that risk, let a professional remove the disk.

I wonder if slipping in a very thin, but stiff, light-blocking piece of plastic (not all the way, keep your fingers cleched on the end so it doesn't wind up inaccessible too) would make the mechanism spit out the now apparently inserted cd when you hit eject. I'm not sure where the sensor is located, but try one side, then the other. If it doesn't go in pretty easily, try something thinner...

My guess is that a sensor sees light and tells the system there is no disk in the drive whenever you hit eject. Fool proof, until something small (mini disc) or clear (the disk that's in there now) enters the drive.

It sounds like the engineers that designed the drive made it "smart". :rolleyes:
 
It's pretty hard to manually eject a slot-loading drive. Unless the drive has a manual eject, it'd be easiest to just open the thing up. Once you find the right screws, it takes 20 minutes max to disassemble the drive enough to get at the CD (I've done it once when I lost my Tiger install in an old PowerBook..).
 
Problem solved.
He used a pipe tool to keep the cd drive door open, then a bent metal wire fashioned into a hook to grab the center of the disc and pull it out. No apparent damage to the drive.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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