Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

tigemac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2005
8
0
Hello,

I had some sudden problems with my SuperDrive this evening. I suspect it may be dirty. The initial symptom was it failing to detect several CD-Rs in addtion to original CDs that I had previously used and/or recorded with the drive (so I know they are good and should have worked). The drive would make a soft clicking noise for 60 seconds or so and then eject the disc without error message.

I then used some compressed air and blew all the dust out of the tray which seemed to help slightly as the drive would then detect the discs (however it did so VERY slowly taking a good 60-90 seconds before the CD would mount to the desktop).

I decided to give resetting the PRAM a go. That seems to have helped a bit, but I am not certain that it was 100% the issue. I am still hearing that "seek" sound over and over on occasion from the drive while it is searching the CD for the playlist in iTunes. It gives the appearance that it is having difficulty reading the disc still, but eventually it comes around and it works.

Does this sound like a dirty drive/lens? Is there a safe and reasonable way to clean the lens of my SuperDrive? If so, what do you all recommend? Any other thoughts on the possible problem or more suggestions in diagnosing it?

Thank you.

-TigeMac

P.S. In the event this turns out to be a bad SuperDrive does anyone know what the cost might be to replace it? Sadly, my 3 year Applecare warranty expired on 9/2005. I never had a problem with my Imac until now. It is very unfortunate for me that this didn't happen under warranty. Thanks.
 

NYmacAttack

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2005
432
6
NY
tigemac said:
Hello,

I had some sudden problems with my SuperDrive this evening. I suspect it may be dirty. The initial symptom was it failing to detect several CD-Rs in addtion to original CDs that I had previously used and/or recorded with the drive (so I know they are good and should have worked). The drive would make a soft clicking noise for 60 seconds or so and then eject the disc without error message.

I then used some compressed air and blew all the dust out of the tray which seemed to help slightly as the drive would then detect the discs (however it did so VERY slowly taking a good 60-90 seconds before the CD would mount to the desktop).

I decided to give resetting the PRAM a go. That seems to have helped a bit, but I am not certain that it was 100% the issue. I am still hearing that "seek" sound over and over on occasion from the drive while it is searching the CD for the playlist in iTunes. It gives the appearance that it is having difficulty reading the disc still, but eventually it comes around and it works.

Does this sound like a dirty drive/lens? Is there a safe and reasonable way to clean the lens of my SuperDrive? If so, what do you all recommend? Any other thoughts on the possible problem or more suggestions in diagnosing it?

Thank you.

-TigeMac

P.S. In the event this turns out to be a bad SuperDrive does anyone know what the cost might be to replace it? Sadly, my 3 year Applecare warranty expired on 9/2005. I never had a problem with my Imac until now. It is very unfortunate for me that this didn't happen under warranty. Thanks.


It sounds to me like it could be a faulty Superdrive. If the lens was dirty it would be a more consistent problem. This sounds as if the drive is slowly failing.
 

tigemac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2005
8
0
Well the fact that I blew the drive out with compressed air and it started working a bit better leads me to suspect it could be just a dirty drive (at least I am hoping that is the case). The tray was pretty dusty.

Are there products available to clean a superdrive's lens? I'd like to go that route I think before taking the entire thing into the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.