Member Avatar for 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.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kc0arf

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Short summary and practical next steps based on the thread: reports a circular wear mark on the burned disc and was right to suspect a mechanical fault. That mark, plus the strange noises, is consistent with the disc contacting the drive mechanism or the drive failing to track properly. Before assuming replacement, run a few simple checks and safe workarounds.

Quick tests (do these first)

  • Try several known-good, commercially pressed discs (audio CD or store-bought DVD) and a different burned CD from another brand. If pressed discs read but burned ones do not, that points toward laser/format calibration or media compatibility. If nothing reads, hardware is likely.
  • Look for the drive in System Profiler (Apple menu -> About This Mac -> More Info -> System Profiler -> Hardware -> look under ATA or Disc Burning). If the drive does not appear there, that is strong evidence of hardware failure.
  • Open Disk Utility (Applications -> Utilities) to see whether inserted discs appear. Use Verify/Repair if a disc shows but won’t mount.
  • Try a reputable lens-cleaning disc once. Avoid poking inside the drive, canned air into the mechanism, or home disassembly—eMac internals are awkward and risky.

Backup/workarounds while troubleshooting

  • Use FireWire Target Disk Mode to back up the Mac without the SuperDrive (restart holding T and connect to another Mac with FireWire). This is the safest way to copy data off the machine if the DVD drive is dead.
  • A cheap external USB or FireWire optical drive is a practical temporary fix; many “Windows-only” units work fine on older Macs.

When to get help

  • If you hear scraping or if the drive is missing from System Profiler, stop trying to force discs. An internal SuperDrive replacement/repair in an eMac is not trivial; take it to an Apple-authorized shop if under warranty or if data recovery is required. For the pen-drive partition issue, try Disk Utility first—do not reformat until data is safely backed up.

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Member Avatar for 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

Member Avatar for 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

Member Avatar for 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

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