Early 2008 Mac Pro optical drive dead?

[kirkbross]

I have a Mac Pro (early 2008) and suddenly my (original factory) superdrive can't burn CD's any more.

I keep getting a MEDIA ERROR... the disc failed to burn. I forget the exact message.

I tried several different brands of blank CDs and both iTunes and Toast. No luck.

I think it started happening after I upgraded to El Capitan but I'm not positive.

Thoughts?

 

[nigelbb]

Probably the Superdrive died with a hardware failure. Just get a replacement. I bought a used one complete in aluminium cage for £10 on eBay.

 

[Machines]

If you are comfortable removing some internal parts, you can access the two unused SATA 1 data headers on the Mac Pro 3,1 (2008) logic board and snake a SATA data cable into the optical drive bay . With a molex to SATA power adapter , you will now have the ability to mount two modern SATA optical drives . Seems like a good occasion to upgrade to Blu-Ray .

 

[Chung123]

I have a Mac Pro (early 2008) and suddenly my (original factory) superdrive can't burn CD's any more.

I keep getting a MEDIA ERROR... the disc failed to burn. I forget the exact message.

I tried several different brands of blank CDs and both iTunes and Toast. No luck.

I think it started happening after I upgraded to El Capitan but I'm not positive.

Thoughts?

The drive on my old 2006 Mac Pro did something similar. Since the drive is acting up anyway and may need a replacement---you may be able to open it up and gently clean the lens on the CD-Drive.