Optical Drive Failure

I was loading Snow Leopard onto my Dad's iMac. The install did not finish since the optical drive failed. I took it to the local Mac dealer, and they replaced the optical drive. The drive still did not work. I took it back and they wanted $500 to check the logic board. That was not a good idea. Is there a way to verify their findings?
Thanks.

Hello RoleneF,
While it's easy to google the web for firewire drives, I believe what u need is recommendations from users on this forum WHO HAVE TRIED A PARTICULAR DRIVE, which I believe is the reason you came here in the first place.
It all depends on what you are looking for exactly: if u r looking for portable drives with firewire, there aren't that many (that I know of) besides LaCie's found here http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10985
If u r looking for a desktop alternative, OWC offers a wide range of desktop dvd burners, found here http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/
u also have the option of purchasing an internal superdrive and putting it in an enclosure (purchased separately of course)... I believe OWC has those as well... a little research on their site will help for sure...
Personally, I'd go for LaCie's portable drive, I've read excellent reviews about it, but that's just me.
Good luck!

Similar Messages

Possible solution to your Optical Drive failure

Hey everyone. So I've been having the same issue that it seems like everyone else has been having with their optical drive spitting out DVDs and CDs.
Well first off here are the specs of my drive:
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N:
Model: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N
Revision: AP09
Serial Number: K0078710705
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
Power Off: Yes
So it's the same as drive thats been causing lots of problems. My issues started about 5 months ago. One day my drive was able to read/write DVDs just fine but then out of the blue it stopped writing DVDs. I was a little upset but whatever right? I didn't REALLY need to write DVDs. Then it all together stopped reading DVDs that's when I got a little ticked. So then I searched the web for an answer but came up the conclusion that I needed a new drive but the problem is my warranty is over. So then I pretty much gave up. Not really wanting to pay $150 for a new drive I tried to forget that my $2000 macbook pro was crippled. Tonight though I thought about it again. I thought of how disc drives work. Inside there is a laser that reads the disc. Remember your walkman? Before the age of the ipod. It always had a tag right by the laser that said "Don't Touch." So then I thought, "maybe the laser in my disc drive is dirty." So I grabbed my can of compressed air and stuck the straw attachment into the slot. After spraying for few seconds I loaded a normal dvd in and PRESTO IT WORKS! I couldn't believe it. IT WAS DIRTY!
This might not work for you maybe there is some thing seriously wrong with the hardware or the software. But right now what do you have to lose right? Before you run off and buy a new drive try cleaning the lens with some compressed air.
BOTTOM LINE: TRY COMPRESSED AIR. It worked for me =D

my macbook pro is just over one year old, and my inernal dvdrw also stopped working with dvd disks (it still worked with cd disks).
i stuck the nozzle of my spray air into the drive slot, sprayed three times and VOILA, my drive reads and writes dvds again!
amazing and easy fix!!

What are signs of optical drive failure?

I have a Matshita DVD-R UJ-825 optical drive in my iBook G4. After updating to iTunes 9.0.3, every other CD, or so, that I import into iTunes is skipping when playing back on iTunes (the CDs are in new & good condition & play fine on my CD player). I've been able to reimport the CD with success the 2nd or 3rd time. I can tell when it will be a bad import if the import speed is below 4X. I need to get import speeds of 6X to 9X+ to get a good import. Is this a sign that the optical drive is beginning to fail? Is the timing just a coincidence with it showing up after updating to 9.0.3? Appreciate any & all input.

I suppose some drives fail immediately, whereas, some times they slowly go? Is that correct?
Hard to tell for sure, but from your description it sounds like it might be on the way out. If you plan to keep the computer I would go ahead and replace it now so you can get trouble free performance. If, however, you only use the drive occasionally it may serve you for a while yet. Accessing the optical drive on the iBook G4 is a bit of a challenge, but it can be done. If you need to get someone to do it for you I used a service in my area that charges a flat fee of $75 plus parts. If you are interested, let me know.
cornelius

EXTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVES FOR G5

I have an internal optical drive failure. Would like to purchase an external drive.
Any suggestions on brand??

Not all firewire drives, even those sold as 'Mac Compatible', will actually boot a Mac. I learnt this to my cost having last year purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio Edition external hard drive (Firewire 800/400, eSata, USB2, formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) and found that it would not boot my G5 iMac when connected by firewire 400.
I contacted Western Digital who replied as follows: "Unfortunately, such model is not bootable and as of now we do not have any models that will perform such function."
So, not only can they not write correct English, they do not even use a chipset good enough to boot a PPC Mac!
Fortunately for me the vendor agreed with me that this rendered the product completely useless and replaced it with a Maxtor.

Can I ask for a replace meant of iMac since yjere is a failure of one part every month. Last month lcd replied now optical drive.

Can I ask for a replace meant of iMac since yjere is a failure of one part every month. Last month lcd replied now optical drive.
Imac 27".
i do not like the idea of repairing every month.
Feel the imacs supplied to India are sub standard ones

Folks have reported that the Apple policy is three major component failures and the Mac is replaced. For the first two the Mac is repaired. Apple would not risk alienating its customers from one of the most populated nations in the world, so its time to stop the "discriminating against the poor Indians and selling us sub-standard Macs" routine. Occasionally the universe aligns just right for there to be a Mac lemon. Folks in every country have experienced lemons. It is the hazard of manufacturing millions of Macs with even more millions of parts, all produced by different parts suppliers. And it is why the manufacturer's warranty exists.
Speak to the vender about a replacement. If necessary call Apple Care and request that your warranty service call be escalated to Customer Relations. Politely, but firmly, explain the situation and stand your ground that the solution to make you a happy customer is to have the Mac replaced. Don't make threats, mention lawyers or claim that Apple discriminates against Indians. If you do, you will have lost your case and Apple will then work with you from a distance and follow it policies and procedures to the letter, regardless of whether it makes you happy.

DVD drive failure on some DVD brands

Hello,
I've been using Taiou Yuden DVD-R's for a while on my late 2009 Mac mini (Pioneer DVD-RW DVRTS08).
Now suddenly they fail to burn (Toast Titanium 11.1) with errors like:
The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = HARDWARE ERROR (or MEDIUM ERROR)
Sense Code = 0x44, 0xD9 (or 0x0C)
INTERNAL TARGET FAILURE (or WRITE ERROR)
The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = ILLEGAL REQUEST
Sense Code = 0x21, 0x02
BUFFER UNDERRUN
Previously burned Taiou Yuden DVDs also fail to mount (the Mac mini spits them out or the drive unsuccessfully tries to read them and the only escape is to reboot with the mouse down so the DVD is ejected).
But _TDK_ DVDs burn and mount just OK. Also CDs mount OK.
The offending Taiou Yuden DVDs mount and burn OK on my old 2004 PowerBook as well as on a newer 2010 MacBook.
I have Reset PMU/SMC and the PRAM, verified the boot disk, repaired permissions, and cleaned the DVD drive with compressed air.
I suspect the DVD drive's laser is failing so it can't burn or read Taiou Yuden DVDs while it still can manage TDK DVDs. Could that be correct?
Thanks for any insights you might have!

Here's a video showing how to clean the lens in the optical drive of a Mac Mini. You might also take a look at iFixit for additional instructions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvRVyQvz08I
Fortunately, even if this doesn't work, an external drive is a fairly inexpensive option to work around your possibly failing internal optical drive.

Optical drive problems after upgrade to Tiger 10.4.10

I've just had my machine updated to Tiger 10.4.10 after having two new hard drives installed after a hard drive failure. I'm now having issues with burning data for backup purposes.
I can't burn anything with Mac OS Disc Burner utility, it doesn't seem to recognize blank disc's DVD's or CD's. It keeps telling me to load a disc when one is already in the drive.
System profiler recognizes CD-R's & DVD-R's when they are in the optical drive
I can burn with Toast Titanium ver 6.0.3 DVD's & CD's. The burned CD's will mount. The burned DVD's will not mount.
I have checked the burned DVD's in the optical drive of my iBook G4 Mac OS 10.3.9 and they mount on it fine.
Movie DVD's will mount & play. Software DVD's will mount and load applications.
I have cleaned the drive with a cleaning disc.
The Optical Drive was working fine before the upgrade, so what is the problem?
I can only assume two problems now!
1.) the optical drive has a physical malfunction
2.) there is a software issue between Tiger 10.4.10 & this optical drive (this is my favorite at the moment)
The upgrade was done by an Apple Authorised Service Provider they say there are no issues with Tiger & the optical drive.
So any ideas or help would be much appreciated.
Machine Name: Power Mac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac7,2
CPU Type: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1.5 GB
Bus Speed: 900 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.5f0
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-106D:
Model: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-106D
Revision: A606
Serial Number: DBDL909690WL
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-106D:
Firmware Revision: A606
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2000 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No

I'm having a similar problem. I bought my G5 with Panther OS on it a few years ago. The DVD drive functioned perfectly back then. Then I upgraded to Tiger this past year which caused the DVD drive to open later..that is, I'd have to hold down the eject button for a good 2 or 3 seconds before it would open or close. Previously it responded instantly. Now what happens more and more is it can't read DVD-ROM disks that it has burned. My imac G4 with Jaguar has no trouble reading the disks but Tiger 10.4.9 and 10.4.10 simply refuse to mount DVD ROM disks that it burned.
I'm trying to make a duplicate DVD of the offending disk on my single-processor G4 and then put THAT disk into the G5 so it can read the info. Hopefully that will be my work-around.
It's got to be a software issue and I keep hoping the Apple wiz kids will put out an update to remedy this. Something's fishy with the DVD drive programming.

MacBook Pro Repeatedly Loads Purple & Teal Stripe, Gray, Light Blue, Bright Blue and Bright Blue Stripe Screens Instead of OS after Optical Drive Replacement by Apple (PICTURES INCLUDED)

17 inch March 26-29 (order date – shipping date) 2011 MacBook Pro, 256GB Solid State Drive, 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, 1 processer, 4 Cores, 256 KB L2 Cache per core, 8 MB L3 Cache, 8 GB Memory (8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB), AMD Radeon HD 6750M Video Card, Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 512 MB total of VRAM. 110 GBs of free/unused disk space remaining.
Full Specs are in subsequent post.
The issues described in the title continue even after I’ve reinstalled the operating system twice (Snow Leopard) and installed Mavericks (which is working fine and even faster). I’ve tried many commands to repair this.
If anyone has experienced any of the symptoms above or below, your advice and response will be much appreciated as well as marked. These are the details:
My Early 2011 MacBook Pro has had the typical blue screens, screen freezes and graphics issues since I bought it about three years ago but nothing like this and NEVER any load issues until about a month ago. That was when my superdrive replacement was put in.
Since then my MacBook Pro will go into hard freezes or kernel panics. Then I’ll have to power it down manually and power it up manually. It’ll then refuse to load the OS until after multiple tries. It started out just 2 or 3, then 4 or 5, then 6-12, then 20. Now it takes over 30 boots to load the OS. These boot issues also occur even if it doesn’t freeze, i.e.: when I shut it down or restart it naturally (via the Apple menu, etc.).
95% of the time it’ll load to a gray screen instead of the OS. 4% of the time it’ll load to a light blue screen. Then there are the others: the first time this happened it loaded to the striped purple and teal screen shown in the picture. This happened the next four times then intermittently for about 5 or so more times.
It also loaded gray flickering screens. Flickering screens also occurred right before it froze and had to be manually powered down and up. Then it began to load regular gray and light blue screens and all flickering screens stopped. And then bright blue screens a couple times intermittently for a few days, sometimes with lines. Sometimes it’ll load to a blank/black screen as well. I’d reset the NVRAM and SMC but it still continued, happening multiple times a day, each time taking more and more hard shut downs and hard power ons to finally load the OS.
Until I installed Mavericks, every time it finally loaded the OS Finder began indexing. After Mavericks this has occurred 95% of the time.
After talking to Apple Support they had me do a NVRAM and SMC reset again over the phone. The MacBook Pro refused to load the entire time we were on the phone. After the call it got worse. It froze over 6 times that day and at worse took over 30 boots to load the OS.
I finally had time to deal with it the next day when it froze again. After over 25 boots it loaded and I put in the Snow Leopard OS dvd and ran Disk Utility. I verified the hard drive and it said it was fine. Repaired the disk anyway and it gave this message at the end:
“Updating boot support partitions for volume required”.
Next I tried to start in safe mode and it just hung up for hours. Then started up in single mode and it loaded the OS. It then loaded normally for three times in a row. I reinstalled Snow Leopard. Everything loaded normally. I waited an hour or so and then I downloaded Mavericks. 5 or so hours later Mavericks was installed. Everything hardware wise was fine for a day and all software issues were easily fixable incompatibilities. My Mac was even faster with Mavericks. However, Photoshop did give a perhaps relevant message:
“Photoshop has encountered a problem with the display driver, and has temporarily disabled GPU enhancements. Check the video card manufacturer’s website for the latest software.
GPU enhancements can be enabled in the Performance panel of Preferences.”
(I have OpenGL enabled in Photoshop and it was already checked when this error occurred).
Two days ago I went to Disk Utility to repair permissions while logged in to a non-admin account. Verified and repaired the disk, then verified permissions. Everything fine. After repairing permissions however, it gave a weird error box:
"Unapproved caller, SecurityAgent may only be invoked by Apple software".
The box stayed “stuck” in the Disk Utility window. My MacBook Pro then failed to do anything. I manually powered it down and up. It loaded to a gray screen with the error message box again: "Unapproved caller, SecurityAgent may only be invoked by Apple software".
It then refused to load anything else but this message box on a gray screen even after rebooting it multiple times in safe, verbose and single modes and after resetting the NVRAM and SMC. I went online with an iPad and entered in the error and got some advice. I tried to run fsck and erase the /var/folders/ via single user mode but it still loaded to a gray screen with the error message. I just decided to skip to the end and Cmd-R loaded into recovery mode and reinstalled Mavericks again. That worked: the message has not appeared since.
Some people have said this error is related to a hard drive cable failure. I know that this cable was tampered with during the optical drive replacement procedures because I watched them do it.
Everything was fine for a day. Then yesterday my MacBook Pro froze while trying to open a VLC file. It took 12 boots to load the OS. I tried single mode once and verbose mode once. 10 times it loaded to gray screens, even in those mode. A Safe boot lead to a bright blue screen. Finally reset the SMC and it loaded on the 12th time.
Just five hours ago the same thing happened except it took over 30 boots to load the OS. Single, verbose and normal boots, NVRAM and SMC resets lead to gray screens. Safe boots lead to bright blue screens with and without lines (see pictures). Finally loaded on a normal boot.
I know I should have tried safe booting, verbose, single and recovery modes, disk utility, fsck and other command methods earlier this month but in the end, these methods have not solved the problem anymore than resetting the NVRAM or SMC.
There seems to be conclusive evidence that it’s a hardware problem, stemming from last month, the FIRST AND ONLY time my MacBook Pro was opened up. Maybe it’s the hard drive cable, but it could also be the graphics card and/or logic board (something that’s always been defective on this MacBook Pro, in my opinion). Many early 2011 MacBook Pro owners have given evidence to the latter possibility online.
The first time it started it seemed to stem from me using iPhoto and Photoshop a lot. I had both running continuously for about two weeks. This is another reason for suspecting the graphics card/logic board is at fault (in addition to three years of screen/graphics glitches). And since the card is soldered to the board and the board connected to the cable...I also have serious battery draining issues, something else that got bad after the Apple Superdrive repair. And the battery is connected to the board...
Also, since downloading Mavericks, windows from every app get blurry/fuzzy when I scroll or zoom in. I have read that this is happening to a lot of folks though for various reasons.
I guess it could always be the hard drive. I just don’t know. I’m taking it in to Apple, but can't right away because it’s not local. I know they’ll be able to run a test on the hard drive. I wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem (especially the purple and teal striped screen) before they start poking around, possibly creating another problem that goes beyond my Apple Care Plan allotment.

SPECS OF MY MACBOOK PRO:
Model Name: March 26-29 2011 MacBook Pro (order date – shipping date)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3
Processor Name: Quad-core Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:    2.3 GHz
Number of Processors:    1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 8 GB Memory (8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB)
HARD DRIVE: 256GB Solid State Drive
DISPLAY: MBP 17" HR Antiglare WS Display
AMD Radeon HD 6750M:
Chipset Model: AMD Radeon HD 6750M
Type:    GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width:    x8
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x6741
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0170L-573
gMux Version: 1.9.24
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.573
Intel HD Graphics 3000:
Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Type:    GPU
Bus: Built-In
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: Intel (0x8086)
Device ID: 0x0126
Revision ID: 0x0009
gMux Version: 1.9.24
Displays
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:    C01111403GLDGKMAE
Manufacturer: DP
Device Name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code:    0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0406
Hardware Revision: 0001
Cell Revision:    1102
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 4583
Fully Charged:    No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 7765
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 276
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA):    -4487
Voltage (mV): 11306
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake on LAN: No
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: No
GPUSwitch: 2
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):    15
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    5
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: No
GPUSwitch: 2
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:    No
AC Charger Information:
Connected: Yes
ID:    0x0100
Wattage (W): 85
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x0085
Serial Number:    0x007ad8c5
Charging: Yes
Current operating system: 10.9.3 (Mavericks) ; Installed on 6/21/14
Previous operating system: 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard); Installed 4/4/11
        Reinstalled multiple times. Last reinstall: 6/21/14

How can I install winxp to bootcamp on imac with bad optical drive?

I have a mid-2007 20" aluminum Intel-based iMac and I'm having trouble getting a clean install of MacOS10.5.8 and Win XP (through Bootcamp) on a new drive.
The problem stems from the fact that I have no internal optical drive. My Superdrive began acting up a while ago (couldn't recognize, read from, or write to DVD). I replaced the drive, but the problem persisted. Calling Apple Support, they determined (guessed?) the problem was the logic board, and, as the machine is out of warranty, isn't worth replacing. No big deal - I've been using an external USB optical drive when needed.
However, my hard drive is beginning to experience issues (SMART Failure), and I want to reinstall everything MacOS, Bootcamp/Win XP on a clean new drive. The problem is that I cant resinstall Win XP to Bootcamp without an internal drive (which seems unlikely to ever work). I've tried creating a bootable USB key with the XP installation files going through the Bootcamp installation process using the WintoFlash/rEFIt method, but to no avail (won't recognize boot from USB).
Is it possible to remove the internal hard drive, boot from MacOS (10.5.8) on an external drive, and connect the optical drive to the sATA port where the internal drive was? Or is there a second sATA port on these logic boards? Or can I somehow connect the USB optical drive in a way that the iMAC thinks it's internal? I'm not afraid of digging into the iMAC (changed HDD and Superdrive already).
Is there anyway to test the pATA connection on my logic board to find out if it's really the problem? If it's not, maybe I can install WinXP on a second Windows formated drive, to take the space of the internal Superdrive.
There must be some good ideas out there somewhere. Barring that, my only other option is to use Parallels and take the performance hit that comes with running a virtual machine. UGH!

Actually, when I followed that link, one of the related links in More Like This was a real find! An actual download of Aperture, albeit a trial, but that would have solved my problem too. I tested it and although it's embeded in a support article, the link to the trial version of Aperture still works.
Thanks! Great info here if you can find it.

MacBook (2007) Hard Drive failure?

Half an hour ago my MacBook started to have quite a large clicking noise, somewhat kind of like the optical disk checker that happens when you start up your Mac, but slightly different.
20 seconds later, everything started freezing. I forced-shutdown the Mac and when I opened it up again, it had a dimly lit screen and had the loud jingle noise that happens when you start it up.
Is this a hard drive failure or a logic board failure? There's no broken folder indicator-It's just a dimly lit white screen and that's it.
Please reply back.
Thanks,
JFWarr

Apple has a hard drive repair program for Macbooks sold in 2007. See information at http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/

How do I detect a hard drive failure on MacBook Pro

My laptop boots up, the meter proceeds across the screen, after 3 minutes the device shuts off. Is this a hard drive failure?

Could be. Try:
Boot from the Recovery HD;
Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD if the computer did not come with Lion pre-installed.
Boot Using Command+R keys:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
"COMMAND" and the "R" keys together.
3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple
logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Once booted from one of the above you need to run Disk Utility. If the hard drive does not appear in the Disk Utility sidebar then the drive is dead.

Hard Drive Corrupted - No Disc or Optical Drive Available.

HI all,
Just looking for some advice. I have a MacBook Pro (15-inch) Early 2011. I think it was Snow Leopard installed.
Yesterday, the hard drive came to the end of it's life. During use the computer started to make a buzzing sound every two seconds or. I'm not an expert, but I would go with it being the hard drive.
I currently live in China & the internet is very slow, yet the only way to get to DU is via the internet recovery. I attempted to 'repair' the disk, but it syas the 'Macintosh HD etc etc is corrupted'. In your experience would you believe this siffucient evidence to place it at the door of a HD failure?
THe info on there, I can deal with losing. Hopefully I can somehow get music from my iPad back onto the new HD.
I will purchase a new HD & I feel competent enough to fit it in the laptop. I then have a couple of issues. I have left the OSX disc in England. I have no access to it. My optical drive is also broken after a student tried to put a mini-disc in there. That said, how will I be able to install an operating system? Is it possible to do via an imternet link, USB drive?
Unfortunately I cannot speak Chinese well enough to get an expert in. I would like to do this as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Please note, I have no access to the OSX discs & my optical drive is broken.
Thank you for any advice.
Regards,
Stuart.

Snow Leopard is installed only via a disk. You would have either get duplicate disks from Apple or find Snow Leopard disks that are for the EXACT same model as yours.
The other option is to try to clone Mavericks (10.9) into your MBP from another Mac. Downloaded from the Internet, Mavericks will have all of the necessary drivers for your MBP but I am not certain if that will be the case if another Mac is the source.
Ciao.

Replacement optical drive for '07 20" iMac.

Have a 2007 20" iMac, that was refurbed in 2008, who's optical drive(DVR-K06PD) was making horrible noises. As there seems to be a rather high failure rate with these, thought I'd replace it with something else.
Picked up a Sony AD-7630A after reading that people had success with it. Worked OK...except it wouldn't eject media consistently. Then tried a UJ85C that was available. It worked fine until you put the bezel back on the computer. Then it wouldn't load media unless you pushed it in with something. Even a swift shove wouldn't get it completely past the slot protector.
After a bit of poking around, it seems that only the K06 will work in these iMacs. I did find a repair site that mentioned a UJ-875, but that was the only other one. Hoping someone might know of good replacements. There is not a lot of info out there. Puzzling, as they've been around for a couple of years. Lots of references to the white versions.
Thanks
PS - In researching this, I did come across a blurb from the Apple KB that recommended that these drives only be used in a horizontal position!.

The www.ifixit.com website says that your iMac needs this replacement drive; 12.7 mm PATA 8x Pioneer SuperDrive They list this part number, but I cannot tell if that is Pioneer's number or their in-house number; IF167-005-1. They say that your iMac has different mounting slots and requires this drive to correctly attach to the optical drive bracket.
Dah•veed

Second optical drive problem

New to macs after a 14 year hiatus. I recently installed a new pioneer BDR-205 blu-ray drive as a second lower drive in my mac pro 2009 running SL and fully updated. The original first upper drive is a model HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N. Pioneer and OWC both confirmed that the new drive would be plug and play. After proper installation, I confirmed that both drives could at least play a dvd.
But after using the computer for a while and then trying to open the new blu ray drive, the eject won't open it, rather eject only opens the upper first drive. The new drive shows in the system profiler but not the disk utility or anywhere else. When I click on the eject icon at top right of screen, that action hangs for a while. When it resolves itself, only the upper primary drive is available to eject. Clicking alt + eject on keyboard temporarily shows the eject symbol on screen but either does nothing or opens/closes the wrong top drive. I reboot, use the computer for a few hours, try it again to check it but the same problem exists.
FYI- I've researched other similar help threads everywhere and I don't see any options for "cable select," jumper options or the like with this new drive.
Any ideas?

I have a similar problem with the Pioneer 205 blu-ray burner in my Mac Pro (2009). It would disappear after a period of time but then eject would fail and the drive became non-responsive. Typically it would be less than half an hour before the drive would disappear. Changing Energy Saver preferences made no difference.
Also, restarting doesn't bring the drive back, but shutting down and restarting from cold does.
Alone, this isn't so bad, as the drive's failure doesn't stop the system from working — I just need to shut down and restart to use blu-ray. But I think I've found a solution. To stop the drive falling asleep in the first place, I'm using this AppleScript, running in AppleScript Editor for now:
repeat
do shell script "drutil info"
delay 28
end repeat
So, every 28 seconds, the optical drives are polled. A delay of 120 seconds was too long, but it's been a few hours now and the drive is still responsive. I'll leave it running overnight; if it's still good in the morning I think we can chalk this up as a useful workaround.
Obviously, a Pioneer or Apple firmware fix would be better. I've had something similar with a Samsung hard drive — it would fall asleep and not come back after 20 minutes — but that was far worse, as it locked up the Finder. This is benign by comparison, though perhaps indicative of a fussy SATA problem in the Mac Pros?
Hope this script helps someone out.

Can I safely open an optical drive to retrieve a CD?

I have a dead MBP with a cd stuck in the optical drive. I saw a few video tutorials on ifixit.com that show how to open the drive to retrieve the cd and it looks really simple. It's just a matter of taking out the drive then taking out the 4 screws on the top of the drive which will open it. But will this damage the drive or gears in any way?

If you have to open a drive to remove a disc from it, the chances are good that there is already a mechanical failure of some kind in the drive. The only other real possibility is that the drive's cable connection to the logic board has worked loose and just needs to be reseated. Check that before opening up the drive -- firming up the connection may enable you to eject the disc and keep using the drive normally.
If you do go ahead and remove the disc manually and then you find that the drive doesn't work right afterward, it's probably not because of anything you did. Chances are that the drive has simply failed. It's a relatively complicated mechanism with tight tolerances, and failures are pretty common -- not just in MBPs, but in all computers with slot-loading optical drives. The relatively high drive failure rate is one of several reasons why Apple is moving away from optical discs and drives.

Optical Drive Failure

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