Imac wont recognise optical drive unless repeatedly reset smc at startup.

Hello all,
having a problem with my mid 2007 2.0ghz imac, in that it refuses to recognise the optical drive unless i repeatedly reset the smc, can anyone offer some advice?
thanks so much,
B.

Normally in the iMac the memory and hard drive and battery are the only items considered user serviceable, however, since it is out of warranty anyway, look for Fixit on Google.  They have instructions for many, many repairs you can do on computers.  They may have one for replacing the optical drive yourself, which would cost less than an external drive in a case.  Having a working internal drive is useful if you need a boot drive other than the hard drive.

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