Imac Superdrive not recognizing inserted media, runs disc for a minute then spits it out.

2009 intel 24 inch Intel Imac either does not recognize cd or dvd I put in it and spits it out after spinning it around for a minute, or it swallows disc and I have to force shut down to get disc out. Other times it is able to read disc. Any ideas?

If the drive lenses have never been cleaned since you purchased your iMac, you may need to run the cleaning cycle more than once. Did you run the cleaning disc more than once?
If the problem is lessening, that means it still could be some dust on the lenses.
Also, look at the backs of the CD/DVDs to see if there are lots of scratches on the writing surface.
If there are, it may not be just the drive, but the discs, too!
I don't know about auto polishes for cleaning CD/DVDs, but they make consumer cleaners and polishes specifically to minimize, clear up most minor scratching on DVDs or CDs.
These are available in places that sell electronics and can be found online.
Maybe you need to try these ideas, first, before investing in a new drive.
Because if the CD/DVDs have surface scratches or imperfections that prevent it from being read or written too, this will still happen with the new external drive.
Trybthese ideas one more time, if still no joy, time to purchase an external FireWire CD/DVD writer.
Good Luck!

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