MacBook hardware issues, need help

[idkim]

folks,

I have dropped my MacBook from a shoulder height few months ago - I know, it's the stupidest thing I've ever done - and my superdrive is practically gone. I mean the optical drive is still functioning mechanically but it does not recognize the inserted media. It tries to read it but it spits the DVD out. So if there is anything I can do to determine the source of the issue before I purchase a replacement drive, that's be great.

Secondly, whenever I try to reboot the MacBook, it just goes to an idle state. It looks like it shuts itself down properly and the sleep light comes on and it stays there forever. The only way to restart the machine in that situation is to press down on the power button to manually turn it off and press it again to turn it back on. I tried the "take the battery out and press the power button for 5 seconds" method and it didn't work. I wanted to reset the firmware but it can only be done by the firmware reset CD - duh - so I'm really, really stuck. Any help is appreciated.

P.S: Applecare isn't an option until all the other options are depleted since I took apart my MacBook to shove in the optical drive I had on my Acer laptop. It turns out the Acer's optical drive has about 2mm thicker thickness so while it operates perfectly, the CD cannot be inserted when the MacBook case is assembled.

Thanks again,

Dan

 

[ab2650]

folks,

I have dropped my MacBook from a shoulder height few months ago - I know, it's the stupidest thing I've ever done - and my superdrive is practically gone. I mean the optical drive is still functioning mechanically but it does not recognize the inserted media. It tries to read it but it spits the DVD out. So if there is anything I can do to determine the source of the issue before I purchase a replacement drive, that's be great.

Secondly, whenever I try to reboot the MacBook, it just goes to an idle state. It looks like it shuts itself down properly and the sleep light comes on and it stays there forever. The only way to restart the machine in that situation is to press down on the power button to manually turn it off and press it again to turn it back on. I tried the "take the battery out and press the power button for 5 seconds" method and it didn't work. I wanted to reset the firmware but it can only be done by the firmware reset CD - duh - so I'm really, really stuck. Any help is appreciated.

P.S: Applecare isn't an option until all the other options are depleted since I took apart my MacBook to shove in the optical drive I had on my Acer laptop. It turns out the Acer's optical drive has about 2mm thicker thickness so while it operates perfectly, the CD cannot be inserted when the MacBook case is assembled.

Thanks again,

Dan

Hi Dan,
Sorry to hear about the drop, but it happens to the best of us; you seem to be taking it well however.

From what you've described I'd assume that the optical drive is hosed, and possibly the hard drive may be failing. The not-waking-from-sleep issue is troubling and I wouldn't know where to start. From my experience of stories, Applecare would replace the logic board first thing and see if that fixed it.

If you're really interested in resetting the firmware (hey, try what you can at this point, right?) I'd look at borrowing an external optical drive (FW preferably, but USB would work too I think) and running from that.

One thing I'd be sure of is to look at the S.M.A.R.T. info for your drive and see if you have anything that's being reported as bad mojo.

 

[idkim]

Hi Dan,
Sorry to hear about the drop, but it happens to the best of us; you seem to be taking it well however.

From what you've described I'd assume that the optical drive is hosed, and possibly the hard drive may be failing. The not-waking-from-sleep issue is troubling and I wouldn't know where to start. From my experience of stories, Applecare would replace the logic board first thing and see if that fixed it.

If you're really interested in resetting the firmware (hey, try what you can at this point, right?) I'd look at borrowing an external optical drive (FW preferably, but USB would work too I think) and running from that.

One thing I'd be sure of is to look at the S.M.A.R.T. info for your drive and see if you have anything that's being reported as bad mojo.

Thanks for the advice, I will try to reset the firmware that way and if it doesn't fix the issue, I guess I'll just use my MacBook till it dies or just send it to Applecare. My HD is sound and well thus far. I think SMS took care of it when it took the hard drop. I was really impressed and surprised. As per the optical drive, I think the best way to fix it is to snap a new one there.

Once again, thanks for the help,

Dan

 

[idkim]

Recommandation for Internal Optical Drive

Folks,

Can anyone recommend a good "3rd party" internal optical drive for MacBook? I'm afraid to just buy a similar looking one from newegg after failing to install the one that looks fairly similar to stock Mac superdrive due to thickness issue.

Thanks,

Dan