Apple USB external drive can't eject CD

I have a 27" iMac and am having trouble starting up. So I tried starting up from a Techtools CD in the external drive (there is no internal CD drive on the iMac). Unfortunately the iMac would not start from the CD and the CD is now stuck in the external drive.
Pressing the eject button on the keyboard while trying to startup does not eject the CD. I tried connecting the external drive to a 23" iMac but it would not recognise the external drive.
As for my startup problem I tried a PRAM zap but the startup still hangs and the iMac tries to restart again after a little while.
I tried starting up holding down Cmd + R which I think is the recovery system but the startup still got stuck.
Any ideas on how I startup and/or get my CD out of the external drive?
Thanks

RRalph Landry1 helped me get my stuck CD out of my external drive by suggesting in a post on 19 Jan 2014 to hold down the mouse button or trackpad while restarting the iMac. It worked and the CD ejected.

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USB external drives won't eject

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Searching through the web, it seems this is an common/known problem. Does anyone know the solution?
Thanks,

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.
Feedback

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Sharon,
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I have an older iMac 5,1 and the disc drive no longer works. I was hoping that I could the Apple USB super drive as a replacement, but the info on the super drive page says compatible with iMac 2012 or later. Does anyone know why it would not work for me?

A reply to similar question (Q & As , in product page Apple Store) says:
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Welcome to Apple Discussions.
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Is it this drive?:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD564ZM/A/apple-usb-superdrive
"Compatible with the following computers:
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MacBook Air
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http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/
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OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive can run from usb stick?

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Having troubles reading usb external drives.

I have a macbook pro, mid 2010 is when I got it. The issue I've ran into for about 6 months now is my usb external drives are not currently being recognized. It's only external drives and thumb drives though. My mac recognizes my iphone, charges my camera usb, lets me use a usb midi controller. About six months ago I was having trouble connecting a usb dmx lighting interface. I called the company and they sent me to a workaround and it worked. http://groups.google.com/group/dmxis_users/browse_thread/thread/c5746c10c618bf19 ?hl=en_US
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That would explain your problem! If you have a backup then see if it's on your backup. Otherwise, you will need to restore it from your installer DVD using Pacifist:
How Restore Deleted or Missing OS X Components
A few of the basic OS X installed applications can be restored from the Optional Installs installer located in the Optional installs folder on your Installer DVD. However, if what you need is not there then follow the instructions below.
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Insert the OS X Installer DVD into the optical drive. Use a simple utility like TinkerTool to toggle invisibility so you can see invisible items. Alternatively, open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder and at the prompt enter the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles Yes Press RETURN.
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Download the shareware utility Pacifist from VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Use it to extract a fresh copy of the missing item(s) from the file archives on your OS X installation DVD. The file archives are in the /System/Installations/ folder (use Go to Folder option in the Go menu of the Finder.)
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B. Click on “Open Package ....” and navigate to package desired and click “Open” in the open/save window.....proceed to step 7.
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/Volumes/disc name/System/Installation/Packages (where disc name is the name of the CD/DVD that you inserted.
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20 files were scanned. 20 of 20 files were present on the hard disk. 0 of 20 files had file permissions that did not match those specified in the package. 0 of 20 files had checksums that did not match those specified in the package.
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7. In the Toolbar (upper left), you now have the option to extract or install. Click a file in the lower list and those two icons will be enabled.
8. If “Extract to...” is selected.... navigate to the location where the file will be placed, select “choose”, select “extract” in new dialog that appears,authenicate , if prompted, click “OK”.
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Not sure what's going on here. Is this a USB "Flash" drive or a USB "Hard Drive". There *Is* a distinction.
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Apple USB external drive can't eject CD

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