Help! Stuck CD in MacBook Pro!

[hotwire132002]

My MacBook Pro's SuperDrive suddenly stopped being recognized by the computer -- If I go in to system profiler, it doesn't see any optical drive at all. The drive will spin up when I boot up/wake up the computer, but it's not being recognized. I suspect the data cable may have come disconnected somehow. I called AppleCare and they're going to fix the problem, but I'll have to send the laptop in to get it fixed.

The drive died with a very important CD in it which I need tomorrow (of course; Murphy's law ). Is there any way I can get the disc out before I send in the laptop for repair? I know my old tray-loading iBook had an emergency eject paperclip hole; is there anything similar on the MBP?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I hope someone can help me out!

 

[robbieduncan]

Restart the machine holding down the mouse button (from before the grey screen with the Apple logo appears).

 

[will0407]

Have you tried rebooting the system and holding down the "mouse" button? That works on desktops, not sure about laptops tho.

Also, I've heard cases before where people just tip their laptop up and the disc fall out. Might b worth a go.

 

[hotwire132002]

Restart the machine holding down the mouse button (from before the grey screen with the Apple logo appears).

No luck -- the computer doesn't seem to recognize any sort of eject command.

 

[robbieduncan]

No luck -- the computer doesn't seem to recognize any sort of eject command.

Sounds like it doesn't think that the drive exists at a hardware level as that's about as fool proof as it gets.

A certified Apple tech could remove the drive and maybe get the disk back...

 

[hotwire132002]

Sounds like it doesn't think that the drive exists at a hardware level as that's about as fool proof as it gets.

A certified Apple tech could remove the drive and maybe get the disk back...

That's what I figured -- I'll have to find a workaround for tomorrow, and then send in the laptop to AppleCare. Thanks for the help, though!

 

[robbieduncan]

If you open the Terminal and type

ioreg | grep IODVD

what do you get?

I get (with a working DVD drive on a MBP):

jay:~ robbie$ ioreg | grep IODVD
    | |   |   |           +-o IODVDServices  <class IODVDServices, registered, matched, active, busy 0, retain count 7>
    | |   |   |             +-o IODVDBlockStorageDriver  <class IODVDBlockStorageDriver, registered, matched, active, busy 0, retain count 6>

If you get those lines then the machine knows the hardware is there...

 

[hotwire132002]

If you open the Terminal and type

ioreg | grep IODVD

what do you get?

I get (with a working DVD drive on a MBP):

jay:~ robbie$ ioreg | grep IODVD
    | |   |   |           +-o IODVDServices  <class IODVDServices, registered, matched, active, busy 0, retain count 7>
    | |   |   |             +-o IODVDBlockStorageDriver  <class IODVDBlockStorageDriver, registered, matched, active, busy 0, retain count 6>

If you get those lines then the machine knows the hardware is there...

I get nothing; just a blank line.

 

[robbieduncan]

That basically confirms it. The drive is so dead it's not recognised at a very low level.

Sorry

 

[hotwire132002]

That basically confirms it. The drive is so dead it's not recognised at a very low level.

Sorry

It's OK, it's not your fault.

Like I said, I'll find a way to manage without the disc tomorrow and get the laptop sent in for repair next week.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[funkychunkz]

could the drive be disconnected? physically?

 

[hotwire132002]

could the drive be disconnected? physically?

I think that's the case -- my guess is, the data cable somehow came disconnected. Obviously, that's not user-servicable, so I'll have to send the computer in to Apple.