Member Avatar for New2mac

Hi. I am new to mac I just got this computer for my daughter to play games on. Well it is 8.5.1 and i started finding my way around it and installing her games, well one came with a free aol trial so I was trying to install that and get it online but I had to go in and change settings to run it through a network cable modem I was not successful but that is the least of my problems now. After doing that I now cannot get my cd rom to read anything not even the games that worked earlier that day. I tried looking for settings I could have possibly changed while trying to do the aol thing but couldnt find anything that would seem to effect my cd- rom. I turned on and off extensions and control panels and it still will not load any cds. What are the odds of the cd rom going bad right at that time??? If somebody could please help me Im lost. Thank you so much in advance.

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Dani AI

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Short, practical checklist that ties to the advice already given by and focuses on the things that most often bite older Macs.

Start by isolating the drive: try one or two different, known-good pressed CDs (an original audio CD or factory game disc — not a burned CD-R). Many legacy drives read pressed discs reliably but are picky with burned media. If you hear scraping or grinding, stop using the drive to avoid further damage and use the small manual-eject hole (straightened paperclip) to remove any stuck disc.

If the disc is removed and the tray or mechanism still behaves poorly, try a safe lens-cleaning disc first. If that fails and you are comfortable opening the machine, power it down and unplug it, ground yourself, then check the drive mounting, power plug and flat ribbon or multiwire connector for loose pins or dirt. Look for broken plastic gears or a cracked rubber belt in tray-style drives — those age and cause the grinding you described. Reseat connectors rather than forcing components.

If the drive is completely unresponsive (no spin), note the drive model printed on the face or chassis before deciding whether to repair or replace it; replacement units for older Macs are often available used. If you prefer not to open the machine, take it to a shop experienced with vintage Macs or a hobbyist who handles legacy drives. Combining these hardware checks with ’s suggestion to confirm whether the system actually detects a drive will quickly tell you whether it’s a mechanical failure or a software-level support issue.

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

You do have an older Mac... thinking that it is not one of the trayless models of the newer era (ones that you slide the disk into a slot).

A Mac running pre X will not be able to use the CD-ROM with the extensions off... it is possible that you disabled the CD-ROM extension, and/or the support extensions (one was called High-Sierra, another was ISO 9660, and I think there were one or two other support extensions).

There are a couple things you can do.

* Turn the Mac on and hold down the C button and slide in the System CD-ROM before the computer starts loading. This should enable the computer to boot with the system CD, and it will test if your computer can read the disk or not. If you do not hear the disk spinning in the drive, then there is a hardware problem.

* When the disk is in there, and turning, do you hear a grinding / scraping noise? If so, we have an alignment problem.

You can also get into the OS, and look for the System Profiler application. If you cannot find it, go to the internet, and see if you can find some software called TechTool Pro. You might also search for other system-identification programs, and download them. I remember using TechTool Pro though.

Anyways, Check to see if the computer can find the CD-ROM. It will most likely be a SCSI device. If the computer doesn't find the CD-ROM, it will not know that it should use the device.

Let us know how it works for you.

Christian

Member Avatar for New2mac

Thank you so much I will try all of that except I bought this computerused and have no system software at all will it work with like a game cd to see if it is trying to read it. My cd-rom was working fine and now that you mention it the last time i tried before it would read the disk at all it was grinding/vibrating. well I will let you know once I try the above thank you so much again.

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