Superdrive not responding - any ideas?

[jeb123]

Hi

Mac newby here. Was toasting when horrid sound occured in superdrive and although it opens and closes OK it no longer reads anything. Any ideas?

Am on Mac OS X.10.3.5. platform and very frustrated!

Any constructive replies appreciated. Can't afford to lose eMac to doctors.

[kc0arf]

Hello,

It sounds like a mechanical problem to me. If you heard some bad sounds, it takes a mechanical move to hear them. Do you see any wear marks / patterns on the CD you were cooking?

With it being an eMac, it is not going to be an easy thing to get the superdrive out of there to service on it. If you have warrenty coverage, take the computer in and have it looked at (back it up first!). If you don't, and are in a real pinch, go and get a USB or Firewire external unit. I have a Sony one that was written "windows only" all over it, and she works just fine on my Powerbook.

Christian

[jeb123]

Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes, there is a circular wear mark on the cd-rom I was burning. Is that a bad sign?

Do you know if there is anyway I can check its not a software problem? I have no way of backing-up at the moment as for some reason my pen driver has decided not to let me read the large side of the partition (any ideas on that one?)

Many thanks

Jan

[kc0arf]

Hello,

Is it a physical mark on the surface of the disk (like a scratch), or is the mark a discoloration of the media? When disks are made "burned", they do change the color of the media, and I want to make sure that the mark you are refering to is abnormal.

If it is a scratched in mark, similar to an old vynil record, then you have a definate hardware issue.

Software problem? Sure. Check to see if it shows up in the System Profiler. It should be listed in there. You should also be allowed to setup the disk for burning, and then have it fail with the attempt.

As for the pen drive, I do not have one to relate to. Sorry there.

Christian