cds/dvds eject without mounting

P

pastora99

Registered
Hello all,
I have an iBook G4 running OS 10.4.9. Everytime I put in a cd or dvd (blank or full) it ejects in about 30 seconds without mounting. I've verified permissions, reset pram, rebooted repeatedly--nothing works. Since I can't mount a disc, I can't reboot from install disc and check the startup disc with any utility. It's starting to look like my superdrive gave up the ghost, but thought I'd check here before I did anything financially drastic. Any help would be appeciated.
Thanks
 
Boot to open firmware (apple, alt, o, f held together after boot chime).
type the following two lines, after each enter

reset-nvram
reset-all

reboot. That will reset also nvram, might help solve it.

Try then with install disc of Mac OS X (PPC based 10.4 install disc) inside, hold down alt - can you see and select the install disc? Will it still eject it?
If still .. either something odd with your OS X install, or physical drive itself. Would the computer be still under warranty or extended warranty?
 
Try booting from your OS X disk if the above fails. You can boot from the OS X disk by starting up your computer while holding the "C" key with the disk in the drive. If that fails, then the problem is not your OS.
You may want to try getting a can of compressed air and cleaning the drive before you look at other solutions.
If your warranty has not expired, use it.
If you decide to get a new superdrive, you can order a replacement from someone like OWC. Apple should also do the repair out of warranty, but it won't be cheap. Replacing the optical drive on the iBook is difficult, and if you do not have experience taking apart computers, you should find a tech that can, preferably apple-certified.
 
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