Expert Hardware assistance pplz!

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ejin

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Hey guys, I need help with my iMac CD-Rom drive!!

I have a Dark blue, 350MHz, slot loading iMac, running OSX 10.2.6 which I have only had for a short time. Recently, I noticed that the CD-Rom was reading CD’s progressively slower, until finally it has now stopped reading CD-s altogether; instead it’s deciding to spit the CD out, after about 1 second in the drive…?
I’ve tried both CD-R and regular printed discs- and it does the same thing every time. I’ve changed the RAM incase there was a conflict, and still no change. And Ive even hooked the iMac up to my PC and tried to transfer the 10.2 install discs through and try some sort of HD install. (Partition etc?)
I think this all happened about the same time I installed the 10.2.6 update? Although I can’t be sure.

Is there any way to properly roll the system back to just the regular 10.2, just to be sure? I obviously can’t do much without the CD drive….
Any help would be much appreciated guys! Thanks in advance :)
 
Try cleaning the CD drive (pick up a CD/DVD cleaning disk at your local big electronics retailer or large office supply (OfficeMax or Staples etc.) Your system is a good 3 years old, cleaning the drive may be all that's needed. This behaviour does not sound related to your recent software update, more typical of a drive that's beginning to fail, but try the cleaning trick first. (a few spurts from a Can-of-Air wouldn't hurt, just push the little tube through the foam slot, no more than an inch or two, at several different angles)
 
Don't know where I read, but once I got the info that any kind of chemical or physical cleaning of the laser has more potentials to damage than to clean.
But DeltaMac is right. The problem doesn't sound like a software-issue...
 
Originally posted by ejin
Hey guys, I need help with my iMac CD-Rom drive!!

I have a Dark blue, 350MHz, slot loading iMac, running OSX 10.2.6 which I have only had for a short time. Recently, I noticed that the CD-Rom was reading CD?s progressively slower, until finally it has now stopped reading CD-s altogether; instead it?s deciding to spit the CD out, after about 1 second in the drive??
I?ve tried both CD-R and regular printed discs- and it does the same thing every time. I?ve changed the RAM incase there was a conflict, and still no change. And Ive even hooked the iMac up to my PC and tried to transfer the 10.2 install discs through and try some sort of HD install. (Partition etc?)
I think this all happened about the same time I installed the 10.2.6 update? Although I can?t be sure.

Is there any way to properly roll the system back to just the regular 10.2, just to be sure? I obviously can?t do much without the CD drive?.
Any help would be much appreciated guys! Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

I think that you should better have someone with LOADS of Mac knowledge to have a look at your Mac problem, PLUS, it should be even better take your Mac to an Apple Authorized Reseller! Of course you can try any kind of CD cleaning but if you cannot fix this follow the previous solutions... And yes, welcome here! :D
 
Thanks for the responses guys;

Ok- so I can say then its 90% not a software issue- having said that, I will take the advice of DeltaMac and clean the drive 1st.
Btw the reason Im really keen to get the cd drive working is; I want to load OS 9 on, as I have OS X 10.2.6 without a classic install- which as you can imagine, OS X is incredibly slow on a little 350Mhz system. So OS 9 will make it much more pleasurable to work in until I upgrade to a G4/G5.

Also- does anyone know if it is possible to boot the system with an external USB cd drive? –If the drive proves to be too much trouble, I am thinking about buying an old USB cd-rw drive and trying to load OS 9 on; but will that work? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance guys!
 
Hmmmm, good question. Ok, usb gets initialized before booting as well, since you can use your usb keyboard to use those apple bla bla bla combos. The question is, does your comp mount the drive that early too? A firewire-drive would work for sure. But I am not sure, if there are firewire-cd-rws out there?!
Anyway, ppl having iPod should be able to answer you this question. I think iPod has an usb-interface as well...
But wouldn't usb 1.1 be a bit too slow for a cdrw-drive?
 
No, I use a USB CD drive and even burn with it.

But I do have a question, Before you updated to 10.2.6, did you check for any firmware updates for your Mac?
 
If you have an iPod, you could put the OS 9 installation stuff there, and install it from the iPod. (Or well, ask one of your friends to put the files to the iPod). (iPod uses firewire btw).
 
I am not expert in older macs. Am one of the switchers and the time before my switching is kinda dead (mac related)! ;)
But I would be very surprised, if you mac wouldn'T have firewire. Anyway, doesn't have much to say, if you are planing to buy usb-cdrw anyway. you should just make sure you tried all conventional methods to reawaken your cd-drive. Let us know if anything worked.
 
Originally posted by ejin
Hey guys, I need help with my iMac CD-Rom drive!!

I have a Dark blue, 350MHz, slot loading iMac, running OSX 10.2.6 which I have only had for a short time. Recently, I noticed that the CD-Rom was reading CD?s progressively slower, until finally it has now stopped reading CD-s altogether; instead it?s deciding to spit the CD out, after about 1 second in the drive??
I?ve tried both CD-R and regular printed discs- and it does the same thing every time. I?ve changed the RAM incase there was a conflict, and still no change. And Ive even hooked the iMac up to my PC and tried to transfer the 10.2 install discs through and try some sort of HD install. (Partition etc?)
I think this all happened about the same time I installed the 10.2.6 update? Although I can?t be sure.

Is there any way to properly roll the system back to just the regular 10.2, just to be sure? I obviously can?t do much without the CD drive?.
Any help would be much appreciated guys! Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

...if you will change your internal CD? And if you are lucky you may a get a CD-RW too! Here in Greece such a change costs around $100 at the most... I don't think that an external USB/FireWire box+device would cost less (I think that they will cost a lot more :p ) or serve you better... ;)
 
Unfortunatly- My old iMac doesnt have firewire :(

Cheryl, good thought- but to answer your question, no firmware updates have been on this machine at all- only the 10.2.6 update...?

Thanks for your responce hulkaros, I have thought of the idea of replacing the internal drive- and since we dont know if the system will boot with an external usb drive- I might as well give it a shot, as its a pretty good bet.

I've just done a quick serach on the web- and I cant find many sites that sell internal Apple slot loading cd drives for my model. (I found a few tray loading ones) -I checked ebay however there was none atm.
Assuming that replacing the drive would fix the prob, does anyone know of any good sites that sell Apple internal cd-rw drives?
 
Originally posted by ejin
Unfortunatly- My old iMac doesnt have firewire :(

Cheryl, good thought- but to answer your question, no firmware updates have been on this machine at all- only the 10.2.6 update...?

Thanks for your responce hulkaros, I have thought of the idea of replacing the internal drive- and since we dont know if the system will boot with an external usb drive- I might as well give it a shot, as its a pretty good bet.

I've just done a quick serach on the web- and I cant find many sites that sell internal Apple slot loading cd drives for my model. (I found a few tray loading ones) -I checked ebay however there was none atm.
Assuming that replacing the drive would fix the prob, does anyone know of any good sites that sell Apple internal cd-rw drives?
Click to expand...

...you will have to follow the traditional way of visiting an Authorized Apple Reseller for the internal component... Although, it is not THAT difficult to change it by yourself, you can be sure that they will find the internal component for sure ;)
 
I was able to get a slot loading internal from MacMall. You will need to call them and ask for it.

While I have not needed to boot up the computer with the USB drive, You should be able to. Insert the CD and then go to the start up drive panel and select it from there.
 
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