Drive no longer recognizes media

Question

My iMac PowerPC G4 (1.25 GHz) for some reason no longer recognizes any media that is placed into it. At first I thought the issue was just discs that I burned myself -- they were recognized on other computers, but not mine -- so I tried to put in a commercial DVD but that doesn't work either.
When I look on System Profiler, if I click on "Disc Burning" System Profiler just crashes. Each and every time.
It is a SuperDrive that is installed in my computer.
Does anyone have any ideas for how to remedy this without a trip to the Genius Bar?
Thanks in advance! Happy New Year!
John

Answer 1

Well, the quick answer may be the original superdrive
in the computer could have failed, as they sometimes
do at various intervals of time and after some use.
A replacement drive may be found at places such as
MCE and other third party suppliers; or a newer one
(than the original part number) should be available
anywhere they have authorized Apple techs & where
they know their parts. The drive has a superior newer
replacement model, as some of the originals failed
after operating system upgrades and other incidental
activity; in addition to those failures due to materials,
wear and tear, or perhaps in a design which was later
superseded by an upgraded part number.
If you go into the situation where you may be having
an optical drive replaced, and it is confirmed, then
you have a choice; to have it done there or elsewhere.
If someone there can figure out a fast workaround or
lens cleaning, etc to get it working (they get dusty)
then you are OK for awhile longer until it really fails.
Short of actually having to boot the computer from the
internal optical drive, it may be better in the long run
to have a good external FireWire superdrive equivalent
and one that does not have region codes. That puts off
the likelihood of the original superdrive's eventual failure.
Mine still has the original, but it seldom sees use other
than to boot the computer from the factory DVD installer
for some aspects of computer and disk maintenance.
To have an use external drives (optical and hard disk)
can be a better way to go; unless you have a tower.
But, I suspect the internal optical drive may have failed
in the case of your computer's symptoms. Plan for the
worst and hope for the best. There are ways to test a
computer to see if the internal optical drive has failed;
some require an external optical drive and other means
to perform hardware tests & related troubleshooting tests.
If a tech goes into your iMac, be sure to get it cleaned well,
and the 3.6v. battery on the logic board replaced. More
RAM in the hidden slot can also be added; be sure it is of
high quality, since getting into there is not easy. A tech
can also be sure the machine is put together correctly;
since there is the thermal paste & duties to perform in it.
{About all the upgrading one can do to an iMac G4 can
be done when that upper dome is disassembled.}
The Apple Hardware Test is on the original boot install
DVD included with the iMac G4. Have you been able
to get that to work? Hold Option key to get into an odd
set of iconic menu choices; unlike running Installer,
where you'd hold the C key on startup... if it works,
there could be error messages in strange language.
PS: Sometimes, things happen in a computer which
has too much on the internal hard disk drive; in so
much as too much means the system can become
corrupted and some symptoms may appear to be
hardware failures. At some point, if that happens,
actual hard disk drive & operating system failures
may occur and be a troublesome matter. If the
software that reads optical media has become
corrupted due to hard drive contents being over-
written (too full, low free-space capacity, etc) then
other things would also be on their way out.
Good luck & happy computing!
edited to add more words.