Member Avatar for Nitamickey

Hi, my powerbook titanium, OsX10.3.6, keeps ejecting all cd/dvds - unable to read optical media, tried all types of discs, even disk/laserhead cleaner - no luck. Problem started a while back sporadically when moving to OSX10.3, but after a few attemps did read disk, though now nolonger possible. Any suggestions, other then costly replacement of combo drive, or know which keyboard commands force read the CD/DVD player?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kc0arf

Dani AI

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A short, practical addendum for future readers: solved this thread by fitting a SuperDrive, so the fault turned out to be hardware. For anyone who reaches this thread later and wants to try low-risk diagnostics before buying a replacement, here are a few targeted checks and tricks that weren’t covered in the original replies.

First-line checks (quick, non-invasive)

  • Confirm the OS sees the drive in System Profiler / About This Mac -> More Info.
  • From Terminal try the DiscRecording utility to check and exercise the tray/drive: 
drutil status
drutil tray close
drutil tray open

If the drive never appears in the status output, that points at hardware; if it appears but ejects, the OS/driver or Open Firmware settings may be involved. (ss64.com)

Resets and boot-time tricks (safe, often effective)

  • Reset PRAM/NVRAM (restart and hold Command+Option+P+R until you hear the startup chime twice). This clears a few device/boot settings that sometimes affect peripherals. (discussions.apple.com)
  • Reset the Power Management Unit on PowerBook G4 models (the Titanium has a small PMU/reset location under the rear port flap or via the service procedure) — a PMU reset can clear odd hardware state. (ifixit.com)
  • Forcing an eject at boot: start and immediately hold the mouse/trackpad button (or the Eject/F12 key) to force-eject a stuck disc; Open Firmware (Command+Option+O+F) supports ejectcd for testing if the drive responds at that level. (macosx.com)

If those tests show the drive is absent or the tray/laser is unreliable, replacement is reasonable. When replacing an internal optical unit, confirm exact model/part-number compatibility (mounting brackets, ribbon connectors and firmware differ between models). The fact that a SuperDrive fixed ’s machine strongly indicates the original combo drive had a failing mechanism or laser assembly. (ifixit.com)

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

It is sounding like a hardware error, but there is one thing that you might be able to do. Do you have OS 9 loaded somewhere on that laptop? no, not running Classic, but where you can boot into OS 9? See if you can do that, and then if the OS 9 system recognizes the media. If it does, you have a software problem. If it does not, you have a hardware problem.

If not, try booting from the OS X install disk. If it works, software on the hard drive. If it doesn't, I would be more suspicious on the hardware failure.

If the combo drive is too expensive, consider an external USB/Firewire CD/DVD burner / reader. Instead of upgrading my cd-rom to a DVD, I went out and got an external unit. Then again, I am on a G3 Lombard.

Christian

Member Avatar for Nitamickey

Thanks for your advice Christian, problem has been resolved - I have replaced it with a superdrive and that works wonders.

N :)

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

Glad to hear. Take care, and enjoy.

Christian

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