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Mac Mama

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 13, 2015
4
0
Minnesota
I have a 2009 Mac Mini I bought new and the CD drive doesn't work. I've never really used it so I don't understand why it won't work. Is there something I must do first to make it work? I always thought you just put in a CD and it takes it. Mine rejects it, blank or program disk, it rejects. Help! I bought a router and it has a CD I must insert in order to get the router to work. Thanks.
 
Probably just needs a little TLC.
Use a can-o-air a few times, directed into the drive's slot.
Try a cleaning disk.
Try another CD, such as a music CD. Does ANY CD stay inserted?
 
mac mini drives are terrible. i wore out like 5 of them

if everything Deltamac doesn't fix it then you have to replace it
in the old days you could open up the drive and try using a swab and alcohol on the laser , but that not really doable i tried it


mac mini and macbook pro share the same drives, so if all else fails you can use either one and replace it

mac mini would require you to unscrew macbook pro mounting parts. you can get optical drive pulls for these computers cheap on eBay

apple sells an external drive with 1 usb connector , but since your mac is an older 2009 series, i wouldn't count on this one working. pre 2010 macs are limited on usb power.

apple's external superdrive requires 1100 ma and i don't think your 2009 is capable of putting that out. but i could be mistaken, i know for sure my mac mini 1,1 2006 couldn't put out anything more then standard usb current
 
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The optical drive on my early 2009 Mac Mini has long been a bit fussy about what it plays. I picked up one of these @ about $25, and plugged it into a USB port……. sorted:

http://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-GP50NB40-external-dvd-rewriter

Screen Shot 2015-09-15 at 5.59.38 PM.png
 
As DeltaMac mentioned, cleaning disk can be very helpful.
Sometimes you have to run them 5 or 6 times to get all the grime/dust off the lenses/detectors.
 
I have a 2009 Mac Mini I bought new and the CD drive doesn't work. I've never really used it so I don't understand why it won't work. Is there something I must do first to make it work? I always thought you just put in a CD and it takes it. Mine rejects it, blank or program disk, it rejects. Help! I bought a router and it has a CD I must insert in order to get the router to work. Thanks.

There is a reason why Apple went away from Optical media Drives....

I can't tell you how many of them have gone bad on me in my lifetime (especially laptop type)
 
Probably just needs a little TLC.
Use a can-o-air a few times, directed into the drive's slot.
Try a cleaning disk.
Try another CD, such as a music CD. Does ANY CD stay inserted?
Every CD pops right out. Won't the canned air mess up other things? Years ago I used it on my G4 and the floppy drive never worked after that so I've been hesitant to use it on my Mac Mini.
 
I'll try the canned air. If that doesn't work, I'll buy a cleaning disk. If it still doesn't work, I'll buy the portable drive that rigormortis recommended. Thanks, everyone, for all your help. I sure appreciate it. This is an awesome forum. So glad I found it.
 
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