Optical Drive suddenly not working

Last week my MacBook 1,1 refused to play DVDs. This week, it refuses to accept blank CD-R's for burning music on iTunes. In the past, i could usually just try another CD as some appear faulty to begin with, but now the problem is systematic.
I tried resetting PRAM, and verified firmware is all up to date. (fyi, my battery seems to have given out in recent days as well). I get the sense that everything is falling apart. I have owned Mac's all my life and I have never had this many problems.
Is this bad luck or is Apple's success creating some negative externalities...namely that their quality control and attention to detail is muddled as they are increasingly preoccupied with launching new products (iPhone, etc)?
The plural of anecdote is not data, so I try and refrain from drawing too strong a conclusion. Nonetheless, for the first time ever, I am having less problems with my Windows machine than with my cherished Mac. Sigh,
Any advice on specifics above and/or reassurance that my faith in Apple is not missplaced would be appreciated.
DFC

I'm having a similar issue. I insert a disc into the drive and it made a "honking" sound 3x before ejecting. I reset PRAM to no avail, then reset the power management, which changed the "honking" to a "chug" sound 1x then eject.
Was there a recent firmware update that hosed our CD drives?
BTW, I tried to set up a repair order, and two of the required fields come up blank and I can't continue without those fields. Grrrrr...

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OPTICAL DRIVE SUDDENLY NOT AVAILABLE

Hi -
Hope Paul reads this post and has time to respond....
Well, from 1 day to the next this NICE HP tower (running Window 7 PRO - factory installed) has decided it does NOT want to deal in ANY WAY with the factory installed OPTICAL DRIVE.
Computer specs:
   > S/N: [Personal Information Removed]
   > P/N: XX093AV
Optical drive specs:
   > Model name:  DVD Writer
   > Model #: TS-H653
   > S/N: [Personal Information Removed]
Attempted solution:
   - Removed it from this computer, connected it another computer = WORKED.
   - Went to HP Support site, used software there to determine prcise model of this computer, clicked link to Software section of HP's site, looked for updates or drivers for the OPTICAL DRIVE in this computer = NOTHING.
Hmmmm.
What to do... What to do....??????
Device (Optical Drive) seems to work, just NOT IN THIS COMPUITER...... :-(
Maybe you'll be able to tell me what to do to fix this unusual issue, eh, Paul.
Thanks - in advance.
Patrick
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Paul -
Sorry for the delay in get'n back to you on the optical drive issue.
Turns out NONE of the attempts to fix it worked. The drive is GOOD. Connected it another computer = worked. Put it back in the original HP = doesn't see it.
FIX = provided client with an EXTERNAL USB DVD/RW drive. Worked perfectly.
Client happy. Patrick happy. Paul ---- hope he's happy too.
Ciou
Patrick

Optical drive does not work completely.

My optical drive stopped working today. It is not regonized by the system and does not show up in the ATA Bus in System Profiler.
I resetted the PRAM and PMU, then checked and the drive was still not found. I then put my computer to sleep and when I woke it up, the drive was there in the ATA Bus list but information was missing. Now it is not there at all.
There is a disc stuck in the drive. It will not eject. If I restart the computer holding the trackpad button down (to force eject the disc), the system stays on a completely gray screen and never finishes booting.
The disc was having problems being read on another computer, which is why I put it in the drive. I'm not sure why this has happened, but if anyone has any ideas or tips that they can give me, i'd be more than willing to listen to them.
Also, I have an eDrive that I made with TechTool Pro, and when I boot up in that the drive is not recognized either. This makes me think that there is a bad connection or a hardware problem. But how is that possible in a Powerbook?
I do not want to call Apple because I bought my Powerbook two years ago and do not have anymore warranty time left. I can open the machine and look at the drive, but I am guessing that I will not see anything special and it will look normal. I really don't feel like buying another drive, they shouldn't break after two years.
Maybe there is dirt in it or something?
When I open Toast, it freezes and never opens. I have to restart my computer to get Toast to close.
I burned a DVD last night.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not sure if I'm threadjacking here, which probably means I am, but that is not my intent.
I have seen scattered posts related to this problem and have this problem myself with my 2 1/2 yr old Al PB. Intermittently, the optical drive is not recognized by the system, sometimes with a disc in the drive, sometimes without. System profiler will sometimes list it on the ATA bus, sometimes not. At times it is noted by System Profiler as on the ATA bus, but if I select "disc burning", System profiler either grinds away and never finds anything or says there is no supported device. At one point it froze while playing a DVD and did not recognize the presence of a disc or the drive. A reset of one form or another always corrects the problem (often only after multiple attempts), but this happens several times a week and I shouldn't need to reset PRAM or PMU that often in my opinion. Sometimes just a restart does the trick, but it's all a bit of a pain. No other issues to speak of. Any thoughts? Thanks.
darth

I have a iMac g4 swivel and it seems that the ethernet port and the optical drive are not working.

Is there any troubleshooting I can try, short of replacing everything?
I really love this version of the iMac and want to use it in place of my eMac for some home business inventory and printing work.
I need the ethernet to work because the printer can only connect that way. It's a great laserjet from HP (1998 version) and it works like a champ.
As for the disc drive... I would love to install office or iwork but as I said nothing seems to mount. I also can't upgrade it to Tiger. It's running Panther and I can live with that I suppose.
I have wondered if I could exchange parts from the eMac (Motherboard, Optical Drive, Hard Drive) since its bulkyness takes up so much room.
Any ideas?
Thanks
And yes I have a modern macbook pro as well.

You can use the dvd drive on your macbook via target disk mode.
"Installing OS X 10.4 'Tiger' on DVD-Challenged Macs Using FireWire Target Disk Mode"
http://lowendmac.com/misc/06/0710.html
1) Do you have a router? Do you communicate to the internet via wifi?
connect the printer to a router with an ethernet port. This will be an input eithernet port.
You may need to change ip addresses on your printer or on your network.
2) usb to ethernet dongle
Apple USB EN Adapter Network adapter - Hi-Speed USB
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial &client=firefox-a&q=usb+to+ethernet+dongle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1255179391 6678370799&sa=X&ei=L7xdTsDTGsXz0gHdvazcAg&ved=0CF8Q8wIwAw
verify that the dongle will work on your machine. Any drivers needed?
3) You can firewire to for TCP/IP ( ethernet) to comunicate between macs. Connect your printer to your macbook. Use firewire to communicate between macs. Enable printer sharing.

CD/DVD drive suddenly not working on brand new macbook pro?

I have a BRAND NEW 15" macbook pro, was ripping some commercial cd's into my itunes, when the computer , suddenly stopped recognizing them at all, they dont even show up on the desktop . It ejects them fine. What is the deal? Is the cd dvd reader defective? Please advise...

Firstly, try resetting PRAM…
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Failing that, insert a DVD and see if it works. If it does then I would contact AppleCare as this would most likely mean you have a failed CD laser (it's different to the DVD laser).

Optical drive doesn't work after installing itunes 11.0.5.5

After updating to iTunes 11.0.5.5 my optical drive does not work. I have put the same CD in another PC and it works fine. When I right click on the optical disc drive in 'Computer' I get the error message "Windows cannot access the specified device, or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item." If a CD is in the drive, the drive will either keep popping open or not open at all on its own. The CD will not open in any other player such as Windows Media Player either.

I read this article:
http://www.gearsoftware.com/wiki/index.php/CD/DVD_drives_disappear_after_install ing_iTunes
I did not have any AFS drivers.
This is what I did and my optical drive is now working:
1. Backed up iTunes
2. Unistalled iTunes
3. Tried to install iTunes 10.7 for Windows 64
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes
4. When iTunes tried to launch I received the message "iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes"
5. My computer would not recongize the optical drive at all now
6. I re-installed iTunes 11.0.5 for Windows 64
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes
7. All my iTunes data is there and my optical drive works now
Note: I should clarify that before uninstalling iTunes 11.0.5 my optical drive worked sometimes. It would play maybe one song, both in iTunes and Windows Media Player and then stop working. The drive would also pop open on its own whether there was a disc in there or not. Also sometimes I had to manually open the drive with a paper clip.

My Hybrid 1TB Seagate Hard Drive will not work in my data doubler caddy installed in the optical bay

My Hybrid 1TB Seagate Hard Drive will not work in my data doubler caddy installed in the optical bay of my MacBook Pro

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like I have finally got my MBP working again (after two weeks of pain).
The WD HD works fine internally, but restoring from TM introduced a whole load more of issues/incompatabilities (see above). Eventually the only thing left was to re-build rather than restore:
i) mount the WD disk internally and install Snow Lepoard from the orginial installation disks
ii) get online, and after much trying download Lion (previously purchased). Perfrom all update.
iii) Connect my Time Capsule, identify my data, photo and music files and then copy them accross by hand
iv) install all the other applications (e.g. MS Office:mac, etc) from scratch.
This exercise has shown me that even though tools and procedures exist to address separate issues, when the complexity of inter-dependence is introduced there are a raft of problems that crop up.
Now I am back in business I will be using TM and CCC to take full and regular copies. I did this previously, which has saved me from losing my data and cherished pictures, but hopefully next time (and I'm sure there will be a next time) the recovery will be less infuriating.
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Optical drive will not open disc

Optical drive will not open CD or DVD since upgrading to Lion.

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Optical Drive is not recognised in Windows 8.1 (x64), or in UEFI System Diagnostics.

Description of Issue:
Optical Drive is not recognised in Windows 8.1 (x64), or in UEFI System Diagnostics.
Steps to Recreate:
UEFI:
Boot PC into UEFI System Diagnositcs (F2 at POST)
Component Checks
Optical Drive
Sequential Check
Error: Not Optical Drive Installed.
Windows 8.1 (x64):
Run Device Manager
Error: No DVD/CD Drives section.
Scanning for new hardware changes nothing.
Relevent System Specifications:
Laptop: HP Pavilion 15-n023sa (Vanilla build)
Optical Drive: HP DVDRAM gu70n
Steps Already Taken to Solve:
Replaced DVD drive with one from similar spec HP Pavilion. The gn70n hotswapped perfectly in the other machine. No change on problem laptop. Conclusion: DVD Drive is working, and there are no issues with Windows 8.1 (x64).
Removed DVD Drive. Rebooted computer. Log into Windows. Shutdown. Refit DVD Drive. Boot laptop. This attempts to solve hardware glitches with PnP devices; as well as helping to fix any intermittent loose connection problems. Conclusion: No change.
Ran Troubleshooting for Hardware and Devices, via the Control Panel. Issue Found: Hardware changes might not have been detected. Exploring more options just takes you through to http://social.answers.microsoft.com/search/en-us/?query=hardware+device, this is a 404 error page. Conclusion: Windows Help and Support is severely lacking. They show no more information than just that something has been detected as being wrong.
Ran the Microsoft FixIt Optical Drive Troubleshooter and Automatic Repairer. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/5/8/F586FB7C-78E0-40EB-AF41-4C925F803CAF/CDDVDWin8.meta.dia... The troubleshooter reported that the device could not be found. It recommended removing all power cables, switching the device off and various other things that have no relevence to laptop hardware troubleshooting. It then said if the problem still persists, contact the manufacturer. Conclusion: Windows Troubleshooting cannot fix the problem.
Run Windows Update to ensure all updates and definitions have been installed. Conclusion: Windows is fully up to date.
Run a full Rootkit and heuristic Malware scan, using Sbybot S&D 2.3; as well as a signature based scan using Windows Defender. Conclusion: Laptop is clean of rootkits and malware, to the best of my knowledge.
Notes:
The DVD Drive is NOT showing up in the Device Manager, OR in This PC.
The DVD Drive is NOT being detected by the UEFI System Diagnostics.
There is NO reference to the DVD Drive in BIOS, other than as a boot option, which is generic.
The DVD Drive, itself, DOES work, and has been verified on a different machine.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Oh ok, that's fine. I was expecting to go through a first response resolution process. Once the gate keepers realise they're talking to someone who actually knows what they're talking about, it's usually pretty simple to skip through a lot of the script. Once you've got past the gate keepers once, it's usually easy to get a direct number for the actual resolution department.
Will they question why I've opened up the case to exchange a 1TB HDD for an 80GB HDD? (The only physical spare I have, atm). I know they'll understand, I'm only worried about giving them any reason to deny the warranty on such an extensive fix.

My Pen Pressure Sensetivity is Suddenly Not Working With My Wacom Bamboo Creat Tablet

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First check and see if Wacom has a driver update.
If their most recent driver does not solve the problem, then you need to call Wacom and work with them to see why the driver is not working on your system.

External optical drive (HP) not responding to iDVD

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PowerBookG4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Combo drive, 768 MB memory, 1.33 processor

Hi and welcome!
iDVD 4 did not natively support and external burner. But, you should use DVD-R disks.
You will need to look at these:
BURN DVDS TO AN EXTERNAL BURNER OR A DISK IMAGE WITH iDVD:
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Patchburn
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Drive suddenly stopped working

Hi there, can anyone help/advice on this issue. My Lacie external firewire drive suddenly stopped working, the green light on the power pack had died so i replaced the powerpack thinking this was the problem. Still nothing. Te HD does not show up on the desktop or disk utility. The drive does not seem to power up audibly like before, although the blue light comes on. I have tried it on several other newer more powerful macs in the office and still no joy. Ideas? thanks

hi there, thanks for getting back in touch. Yes I guess it could have just died The power brick is rated the same yes, same input power and output, also tested on another brick which belongs to another drive exactly the same. I dont think there is any warranty, it is about 5years old. Not tried the USB, I will give it a try though. Not sure what the drive configuation is inside the case, but may try and remove them and put them in another case, see if I can get any data off. Thanks

Optical drive Diagnostic not available in windows 8

In regard to my Hp pavillion g6 2380ea laptop running windows 8. This laptop is about 5 weeks old. I bought it new with windows 8 installed. Over the past fewweeks I have noticed a weird electronic noise together with a click coming from the right side of the machine when I turn it on. Its not a terribly loud noise, but perhaps unususual, although it could be completely normal for all I know. Anyway I am still concerned about it.
The problem is, I have been trying to diagnose the optical drive.I believe there should be an option for this in the diagnostic section of hp support assistant, but there is only options to diagnose the battery and network on mine. I know they removed the hard drive diagnostic tool from here because of some problems, wonder if they might of removed the optical drive diagnostic tool too, or does its absence mean that my optical drive is not detected. the optical drive is detected in device manager butI would stilllike to know if it is working okay. It plays dvds, although very noisy when doing so
Thaught this might mean a problem but my brothers hp laptop is also loud when playing dvds. Anyone know whee I could download the optical drive diagnostic tool for windows 8. the windows 7 one I downloaded wont work with windows 8. Need.
any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks

Hello Dermot30,
Take a look at this document, which provides steps to test for Hardware Failure using Windows 8. Please let me know if this helps to diagnose your issue.
Good luck!
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Flash Slideshows Suddenly not working

Hi All,
My site is "www.neilmarksphotography.com"
I have 5 pages leading off "GALLERY" menu option, which all contain flash slideshows created in Lightroom. They have all been working fine, but today I slightly changed the content of the slideshows, and now they are not working - they just show the "GET ADOBE FLASH PLAYER" icon. The home page (index.html) is working fine - I have not changed the code there at all.
I have tried to compare the code in the changed gallery pages with the home page, but cannot see what I have done to stop all the galleries from working properly. GALLERY pages are previewing fine locally off the hard drive. It's only on the live page that I am getting the problem
Any suggestions?
thanks
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Hi
thanks for your suggestions - I finally found the problem!
regards
Neil
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:32:38 -0700
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Flash Slideshows Suddenly not working
Hi
Try removing the following line of code (marked in red), from the problem pages -
<script type="text/javascript">
var pageTracker = gat.getTracker("UA-3534258-1");
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PZ
>

Optical Drive suddenly not working

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