Optical disk trays won't open

Question

Greetings!
I have a problem with my internal DVD drive's trays: they are stuck. When I press the “Eject” button (or “Option-Eject” for the second tray), I hear the drive trying to open the tray (the motor is forcing to push) and it stops around 10 seconds later (the usual abort when it can't open). Both drives are stuck.
Last month, I've opened my Mac Pro and took out the drives. I've unscrewed them and managed to find the issue (using an IDE kit, I powered one of them and tried to see where the problem lied). I was unsure I found the problem, but it worked. However, one week later, one was stuck again, and again two days later, the other too.
So, I want a definitive fix. I can't manage to open my computer each week to make my drives working only for one week and repeat this. I'm wondering if someone has or had the same issue?

Answer 1

I realize this is an old post but it is the closest I have found discussing the Mac Pro optical drive problem. There are other posts about iMacs and software problems, but this deals with the MP mechanical problem. I have an early 2008 Mac Pro with the original SuperDrive and a SuperDrive from my old G3. Both work fine if I get a disk in them. I went through the whole routine. Three or four tries with the eject key used to work then nothing. Drive doors not working? Something broken inside? No. THE SOLUTION - The little rubber belt on the plastic pulleys that you can see if the tray is out needs to be cleaned/rejuvenated. However you get to it, clean it with some pure alcohol or other such solvent. I used automotive belt dressing. I pulled the drives out and opened the cases. Not too hard to do. I tried a little petroleum jelly on the rails of one and some spray wax on the other. This can be done without opening the case. I'm not sure if any lubrication was really needed. THE PROBLEM - There is a metal and plastic disk built into the top case of the drive centered over the spindle. With the tray closed, the spindle and drive mechanism are up in the "play position. Without a disk inserted, the MAGNET built into the top of the spindle makes direct contact with the disk in the top case. The rubber belt looses grip over time and can't break the magnetic bond anymore. It needs to be rejuvenated (or replaced if you can find one). The drive has to drop the spindle to allow a disk to be inserted. When you try to open the drive, it senses the mechanism is stuck and it gives up. When a DVD is inserted, the spindle is up and it pulls the metal disk in the top case down on top of the DVD to hold it in place. The top metal disk spins along with the DVD. I haven't tried a band-aid fix of always leaving a disk in the drive since my drives are working fine after cleaning the belt. Having a disk always in the drive may allow enough space to weaken the bond between the magnet and the top metal disk and allow the mechanism to do its job. Hitting the enclosure with clenched fists was probably enough to break the magnetic bond but I hope the rest of the computer survived. As for replacing drives, as recommended elsewhere for this problem, I think you need to get one that is Apple compatable. Otherwise you cannot boot from it. I hope this helps at least one person. It drove me crazy for a long time pressing the eject key multiple times to get the tray to open until that finally stopped and I had to do something.