Optical drive troubleshoot

Hello,
I have a 15 inch late 2011 mac book pro with mac os x 10.7.3. It seems my optical drive is no longer coopreating, any suggestions how I can restore it?
Many thanks,
Caroline Eriksson

There is NO restoring of a DVD drive that has failed. that is unless you are an electronics repair person and can get new parts for that 2 year old Optical drive.
But it might just be dirty and you could try one of those CD/DVD lens cleaning disks. If you are having insert or ejection problems then the motors for those operations have failed.
To replace it will cost you around $120 when done in an Apple store or you can look to OWC or iFixit or other Mac aftermarket parts reseller. Or you can just go out and buy any brand external DVD drive that connects by USB port, except the Apple Branded external Superdrive as those only work on Mac computers that did not originally come with a built in DVD drive, and it will work with your Mac.

Similar Messages

Optical drive will no longer recognize DVDs

My optical drive is no longer recognizing DVDs. It just makes some noise and spits them back out. It will read some CDs, and it recognized my expired AppleCare tech support disk, but not DVDs. I have even tried several DVDs that I watched just a few days ago, and they are no longer recognized by my optical drive.
I checked Apple's optical drive troubleshooting page, and ended up resetting my SMC. Nothing.
Any ideas?
I would be very thankful for some help.

I guess the first question would be did it work immediately before the drive upgrade... and stop working immediately after the drive upgrade? That would seem to indicate that they may have damaged something when they did the upgrade. I'm not sure what your service rep meant by telling you that you need to "reinstall the optical drive from your OS disks". There isn't any special software needed for your drive to function properly. Can you read regular data DVDs okay (meaning if you put your Leopard DVD in... can you view the files on it?).

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.

DVD/CD optical drive is recognized only occasionally and temporarily

Hi, I recently bought an ASUS Essentio desktop model CG8350 running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. My DVD/CD optical drive is not consistently being recognized. I've made few changes to the computer and have even tried reinstalling Windows (system recovery, factory settings), but no luck. The curious thing is that after booting up I can occasionally temporarily see the D:\ optical drive listed under My Computer or under Device Manager, but after a few seconds or about a minute after restarting or trying to read a disk, this disappears and the optical drive is no longer shown. I would take it back to Best Buy I bought it for repair, but unfortunately that was in the U.S. and I've since moved to Canada. It's frustrating that Best Buy Canada won't honor service warranties for items bought from Best Buy U.S. If there's something I can try in order to avoid shipping it off to ASUS or back to Best Buy U.S. (at my expense, and potential loss of PC for a few weeks), I would much prefer that. These are the things I have tried so far: 1) opening it up and checking/re-plugging the power cable to the optical drive and the data cable between the optical drive and motherboard. All cables seemed fine. The drive ejects and spins a little bit when a disk is inserted, but neither a blank CD/DVD nor a commercial CD are recognised after insertion. 2) looking at the registry to try the "delete UpperFilters" and "delete LowerFilters" trick that I've seen posted several times. Since the computer had Windows 7 from the start (was not upgraded), these entries were not visible under the suggested registry subkey. 3) under boot options, I've selected "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" and have booted up. The optical drive showed up under My Computer and/or Device Manager for a few seconds or a minute, but then vanished. 4) disabled integrity checks: I've pasted "bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS" into the Run window. After restarting, the optical drive is again occasionally visible, but only for a short period after which it disappears. 5) following a tip on one website, I tried shutting off and unplugging the data cable between optical drive & motherboard, restarting the computer so Windows could "see" there was actually no optical drive connected, then shutting off and connecting the data cable again and restarting. no luck. 6) I've run the Microsoft Support Fixit executable under "Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media". The first time I ran this, it ran for about 5-10 minutes, but didn't diagnose a problem. The second time I tried to run it (after the Windows 7 re-install), is said my CD/DVD drive was not detected, so didn't run. 7) I've tried built-in Windows diagnostics and ASUS diagnostics, but they didn't help much. 8) I've updated ny BIOS to the most recent version. I've now run out of ideas and can't find any other suggestions on previous troubleshooting searches. The observation of the drive occasionally being seen for a few seconds/minute after start-up before disappearing seems like it might be a good clue, but I'm not sure how to interpret this. I did get it to play an audio CD a couple hours ago, but after trying to use my drive for something else after that, it's right back into the situation of not being consistently recognized, except sometimes immediately after booting up and then only for a short period. Any help or suggestions you have will be very very welcome -- thank you.

Honestly since it was recalled due to the sandy bridge recall anyways, it is going to have to go to asus eventually so I would just have them fix both in one shot. The Canada and U.S. support number is the same and I'm sure they could fix both issues at once to save you time: 1-866-625-9873
Crystal
Superuser
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*Remember to mark your questions solved and click the star to give kudos to show your thanks!*
While I used to be a Best Buy Employee, I no longer have any affiliation with Best Buy.
My opinions do not in any way shape or form represent Best Buy's Official decisions.

Internal Optical Drive not recognized after trying to Bootcamp

Around 3 months ago I tried boot camping my Macbook with Windows 7 but it ended up freezing and I had to restart my computer. When the computer had fully restarted I found that a few things had changed. First, I now had a 70 GB partition called BOOTCAMP but it was basically unusable since the Windows 7 OS was never installed in the partition, and second the Optical Drive wasn't recognized by my computer anymore so it won't work at all and the Windows 7 CD is now stuck in there.
I tried a lot of different ways that I found on the internet to try to eject the CD but nothing has worked. It's not really a huge deal since CDs are starting to become the new floppy disks but it would still be nice to have this working again.
Also, here's the original post that I made back in December. It never got any replies and somehow got moved but I was never able to see where it got moved because whenever I clicked "discussion" in "Branched to a new discussion." I would get a page that said this - "Unauthorized. Access to this place or content is restricted. If you think this is a mistake, please contact your administrator or the person who directed you here." I know the whole post is pretty long so I have a TLDR; at the end of it and I pretty much summarized the problem again at the top of this whole post.
Alright so earlier today I decided to Bootcamp my Macbook and install Windows 7 with a 70GB partition. I was using https://help.apple.com/bootcamp/mac/5.0/help/#/bcmp173b3bf2 and http://www.howtogeek.com/186907/how-to-install-windows-on-a-mac-with-boot-camp/ to help guide me through the process. Everything was running smoothly at first...I had a 32GB memory stick that I used to load the support software onto and I had a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD in my disk drive.
The first problem I ran into was when Bootcamp wanted to download the files onto the memory stick - it wanted me to format the stick. So I went into Disk Utility, clicked on it, went to erase, then formatted it to the same format it was (because it was already FAT) and then it all worked. After getting the support software onto the memory stick the next step was to partition my disk. After doing a TON of research I finally decided that 70GB would be enough for the OS, a game or two, Sony Vegas Pro, and a few small programs. So I dragged the thing to give the new partition 70 GB and pressed install.
Then, the next problem occurred - a message popped up saying "The USB drive connected to this Mac contains a bootable volume. In order to install Windows 7 from the DVD, the Boot Camp Assistant needs to disable this functionality. No information on the drive will be removed, do you want to continue?" I was hesitant at this point to do anything so I googled it and couldn't find much except this thread - Bootable volume on USB flash drive in boot camp. I decided to try it and press continue since according to the thread it would stop me if there was a problem. Once I did I THINK (I can't remember that it did for sure or not) it dismounted the memory stick, which I remember thinking was okay because I could just unplug it and plug it back in after Windows 7 was installed to install the support software (Also, I NEVER removed the memory stick until after a reboot later on). After that Bootcamp began partitioning my hard drive.
About an hour later the blue progress bar had actually filled up to at least 99% (but it looked like 100% to me) but Bootcamp still said "Status: Partitioning Disk" so I left it alone for another 1-2 hours. After that I started getting worried and googled how long this process was supposed to take and found out that this step normally only took a few minutes for most people. At this point I started looking up fixes for this but nothing matched my problem since Bootcamp itself wasn't actually frozen (when I clicked and held on the icon it didn't say "Application not responding") so I decided to check to see if the partition had worked. Then, Disk Utility froze like a few seconds after opening it up so I had to force quit that. My next option was to check under "Storage" in "About this mac" so I tried that and it froze as well. While all this was going on I kept checking back to Bootcamp and it never froze.
Now I was getting extremely worried and with no solutions on Google and no idea what to do I decided to just try and restart my computer and pray to god that it would reboot fine. Luckily, it did...for the most part. After rebooting all my applications seemed to be working fine (I can confirm that Terminal, Disk Utility, System Preferences, System Information, and Safari are all working or at least loading). I also had all my files still on my computer so that was good. Next, I checked Disk Utility to see if the partition had actually worked and it did, or at least it is showing up as "BOOTCAMP" under my main hard drive. Then, I tried using Bootcamp again and this is when I noticed something new - a warning on Bootcamp's first page that wasn't there before, "You need an optical drive to install Windows. Connect an optical drive to your computer. You cannot install Windows with a remote optical drive." I can't guarantee that it wasn't there the first time but I really don't remember it there. After reading that I checked my Desktop for the mounted Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD and it wasn't there. Then, I checked Disk Utility and it wasn't showing up there either. The only things I can see on Disk Utility are my main hard drive with both partitions, my memory stick, and a random dmg file called decryptedFile.dmg (the size of this file is only 15.6mb so I don't think it could be the OS DVD).
So now I am trying to figure out how to get my computer to recognize that it does have an internal optical drive and that there is a DVD inside of it. I looked around on Google to try to find answers but all the regular options to fix this don't work since the computer itself is not realizing it's there. I don't know if this helps to prove that it doesn't realize this but I checked in System Information -> Hardware -> Disk Burning and it says "No disk burning device was found. If the device is external, make sure it's connected and turned on." And since a "Superdrive" can read disks I'm assuming it can burn them to and would be shown under that. (I don't know that much about computers though so I could easily be wrong)
Anyways, sorry for the extreme detail that I went into but I wanted to get as much information about what happened as I possibly could. For those of you who don't have time to read all that I'll put a little summary.
TLDR; Basically, I tried to Bootcamp my Macbook to run Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I ran into a few problems and then Bootcamp wouldn't move on from "Status: Partitioning Disk" so I had to restart my computer. After the restart my Macbook doesn't recognize that it has an internal Superdrive and therefore doesn't realize that there's a Windows 7 Ultimate DVD disk in it. I looked around for answers but none of the simple ones (using key commands on the keyboard and typing something into terminal) worked. Now I'm looking for help to get my computer to realize that it does have a Superdrive inside so I can get the disk out.
Thanks in advanced! If any more information is required to help please let me know so I can find it. Also, this is a Mid-2010 White Unibody Macbook.

Hello Michael Dixon2,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
In order to troubleshoot this issue where the optical drive does not accept discs, please follow the steps below.
Doesn't accept discs
Be sure to check your disc to make sure it is flat. You can check this by putting the disc upside-down on a flat surface. If the disc is bowed up on any side or in the center, do not use the disc because it might get stuck in the drive. Do not use discs that have anything attached to them or dangling from them (such as "sweeper" or cleaning discs).
If the drive struggles when you put in a disc or stops part-way, carefully look at the disc for labels that may be interfering. If there aren't any raised labels then try putting the disc in a few more times.
Try another disc to see if the issue is being caused by a specific disc.
Make sure you insert the disc far enough for the drive mechanism to activate. You need to insert discs nearly all the way before the drive will activate and pull them in. If you don't completely insert a disc, the drive will reverse and push the disc back out.
Allow the drive one or two seconds to accept the disc while it is fully inserted.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC).
If the drive repeatedly does not accept discs, contact Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or make an appointment with an Apple Retail Store.
Apple Computers: Troubleshooting the slot-loading SuperDrive - Apple Support
Cheers,
Alex H.

Broken Optical Drive

I tried to install Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro Mid-2010 13 inch laptop. I soon found out that the optical drive in the laptop no longer works and is beyond repair (without sending it out for repairs). I have tried every troubleshooting tips Apple Support and MacRumors has to offer (editing Bootcamp plist for USB, using ReFit), but to no avail. I know it is possible to buy an Apple Superdrive for ~$70, but those are not compatible with my computer without changing a .plist. Is it possible to install Windows 7 with Bootcamp on a Mac compatible external usb optical drive?

Have you upgraded your Macbook Pro with more RAM and an SSD drive? I did this with my 2007 Macbook, which made it run like new. I am running Lion, which is as far as I can for the operating system. My 16 year old is using it for his high school needs.

IMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) - CPU and Optical drive fans rev up to 4000 rpm

Hello,
I just want to share my experience with my rather new Imac
I bought this Imac last April and I had the fans roaring after 2 weeks of light usage. I followed instructions like resetting the SMC, unplugging the imac and restarted.
However, I started installing other software like Paragon NTFS, VLC, Firefox and also Istat nano. This happened on a more regular basis and istat nano was showing up fairly normal temperatures - an average of 50° C and I had the CPU fan at 3800 and the Optical drive fan at 4200 rpms. According to apple support, at this temperature fans should be running at factory level or a bit more. Even when I stop all activity, the fans keep up and does not stop even after a couple of hours of inactivity on the imac. Apple support recommended that I reinstall macos on a new partition and run tests and during the tests, the only software I installed was istat nano and still got the fans going with the same result - required a shutdown to bring fans at normal levels and yet average temperatures were around 50 - 55 °C.
Eventually got apple to replace heat sensors - this did not help - still got the same unwanted result, fans reving up to 4000 rpm and not stopping and all that without going above 60°C. I was at the stage to demand a complete replacement but decided to give it another couple of weeks testing.
Last test, a complete reinstall of the OS and this time, without any other software apart from standard software delivered with the mac. Ran a few things like importing over 10,000 pictures with iphoto and some other stuff to increase activity - overall CPU usage was at 5% idle for a good few hours and could not reproduce the problem (istat nano was not installed, so I could not monitor temperature). I started installing Paragon NTFS for mac and ran the same scenarios and still no fans going crazy - putting my hands over the top of the imac, can feel a slight breeze...).
Installed other software such as VLC and Firefox 5.0 but still no istat nano and same high activity, import high volumes in iphoto and also did an empty secure thrash to increase load. CPU usage was to 95 again and still fans are behaving properly.
One thing that comes to my mind with istat nano is that, when the fans get going, the ambient value change to -140 - I do not want to rush into any conclusion but is it possible that there is some interference between istat nano and those new sensors that have come in with Imac mid 2010 (from reading mac forums, Apple has added a new ambient sensor..). Because all the time I have been reinstalling the OS, I have always installed istat nano to monitor temperature and fan speed and I always got this issue. But since yesterday, I have installed clean OS, tested, added some 3rd party software but still no istat nano and I canot reproduce the issue. I have been using the same scenario during all this testing - very high import with iphoto, viewing a film, empty secure thrash, enough to use up to 95% CPU.
Has anyone experienced this? I hope this is the cause of my problem because this mac is making my life easier at home compared to previous PC and also, I want to know that my hardware is not at fault...
I will keep you posted if I get the issue again - could be tempted to install istat nano and run the tests to see if the fans will rev up after this but not sure I want to go through another 4 days of just doing this...
regards
Philip

Hey nycbigapple2,
I'd run through the recommended troubleshooting steps for when your iMac runs slowly here:
OS X Mavericks: If your Mac runs slowly
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13895
Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Take care,
Delgadoh

Can I use my old mac mini (G4) as an optical drive with new mac mini late 2014?

Can I use my old mac mini (G4 Tiger) as an optical drive with new mac mini, late 2014?

I think so
DVD or CD sharing: Using Remote Disc - Apple Support
You should also be able to connect the two via FireWire using a FW 400 cable plugged into the old Mini, thne a FR 400 femial to FW 880 adopter plugging into a FW to Thunderbolt adopter
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support

ITunes Won't Recognize Optical Drive / Can't Burn Discs.

Hi. I’m having some problems w/ an installation of iTunes on a Windows 64 bit PC. Specifically, when iTunes is installed, Windows 7 no longer recognizes the optical drive, and I can't burn discs via iTunes. I’ve attempted to implement all the solutions identified here,
Optical Drive is No Longer Recognized, or "Disc Burner or Software Not Found" alert after Install
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2308
iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting CD issues caused by device filters
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2372
Can't burn a CD in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1436
iTunes for Windows: Additional troubleshooting tips for burning issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1374
, and still find myself trapped in a vicious circle; i.e., (1) with iTunes installed Windows 7 no longer recognizes the optical drive, (2) Upon clearing the UpperFilters Value of GEARAspiWDM in the registry at {4De36E965 … } Windows 7 functions as expected and I can play cds in iTunes, but iTunes produces an error messages at start up along the lines of “iTunes did not install properly. Or, there’s a registry error ” In either case, I am not able to burn cds via iTunes.
My most rigorous effort amounted to (1) uninstalling all Apple products and third party GEAR driver update software via Control Panel, (2) a registry repair w/ Registry Mechanic and (3) reinstallation of all identifiable Apple software. Still the problem remains.
Apple I love you, but you’re bringing me down
From iTunes Diagnostics (w/ UpperFilters Empty (I notice the Diagnostic Utility is also seeking a LowerFilters entry. The registry doesn’t have references to LowerFilter at this location. Maybe that’s the problem?)) …
Microsoft Windows 7 x64 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
iTunes 11.0.5.5
QuickTime 7.7.4
FairPlay 2.4.14
Apple Application Support 2.3.4
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.3.0
CD Driver DLL 2.1.3.1
Apple Mobile Device 6.1.0.13
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.64.0.0
Bonjour 3.0.0.10 (333.10)
Gracenote SDK 1.9.6.502
Gracenote MusicID 1.9.6.115
Gracenote Submit 1.9.6.143
Gracenote DSP 1.9.6.45
iTunes Serial Number 0037B5E00A92****
Current user is not an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2013-09-03 09:58:34.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.
WebKit accelerated compositing is enabled.
HDCP is supported.
Core Media is supported.
Video Display Information
ATI Technologies Inc., AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
**** External Plug-ins Information ****
No external plug-ins installed.
Genius ID: ce02c1*****d19e716edbe5d8ac7*****
iPodService 11.0.5.5 (x64) is currently running.
iTunesHelper 11.0.5.5 is currently running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.3.0.0 is currently running.
**** CD/DVD Drive Tests ****
No drivers in LowerFilters.
No drivers in UpperFilters.
Failed loading CD / DVD drives, error -43. Try doing a repair install on iTunes from the “Add or Remove Programs” control panel.

update ... ran sfc /scannow as admin. windows reports 100% integrity.

Combo / Optical Drive detected but not reading CD & DVD

Hi everyone,
Firstly, I apologize if this topic has been covered but I've searched up and down and couldn't find it.
I'm running the following computer:
G4 MDD Dual 1.42Ghz, 1Gb RAM, OS 10.4
My computer has been dormant for about a month now and last night I fired it up with the following problem: _Grey screen with spinning 'loading' icon and it wouldn't get into the desktop_
I managed to successfully boot to the desktop after I did a combination of the following:
1. Reboot in Safe Mode (Shift)
2. Reset NVRAM (Opt + Cmd + O + F)
3. Reset PRAM (Opt + Cmd + P + R)
4. Removed all 3rd party cables
I haven't used the Combo/Optical Drive for about a month now and I decided that maybe I should re-install Tiger. When I inserted the Installer CD, the Combo Drive (1st slot) just ignored it. Initially, Superdrive (2nd slot) also ignores all discs I inserted. After countless restarts, I managed to get the Superdrive to read the G4 Hardware Test CD.
I've done the following:
1. Finder preference is set to not ignore inserted media
2. Tinkered with the Optical drive by unplugging and plugging it back
3. Everything else I could find on the internet regarding troubleshooting it
4. Made sure that the cables are connected properly inside the computer
5. Ran the Apple Hardware Test CD and everything is OK.
6. Checked with the System Profiler and it detects both Optical Drives (1st slot = Combo Drive, 2nd slot = Superdrive).
Now the problem is:
1. Combo Drive does not read any inserted disc (CD & DVD)
2. Superdrive reads but spits them out soon after
3. I can't re-install Tiger
Any advice / suggestions is very much appreciated.

Hi David,
My computer has been dormant for about a month
Have you checked the PRAM Battery, they can cause strange things & last 4+5 years...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/BAA36VPRAM/
Combo Drive does not read any inserted disc (CD & DVD)
Opticals do go out, but 2 at once doesn't seem likely. What happens if you open Disk Utility then insert a Disc?
Have you tried a Cleaner CD in them?

Mac Pro 'forgets' that it has optical drives

I have a Mac Pro which is exhibiting an unusual (and rather annoying problem). It keeps forgetting that it has optical drives. When I first turn it on, all works correctly. I can access both optical drives normally. After a while, however, it seems to 'forget' that it has optical drives connected. It hasn't, so far, forgotten that it has optical drives while they are in use. I can watch a DVD right through, for example, or write a disc - but if I leave it for too long without accessing the optical drives then it will forget that it has any until I next restart it. If there is a disc in the drive when it forgets then I can't get the disc out until I restart, and if I try to access the drive then the program that I try to access it with will crash - and need to be force quit. If the program is Finder then Finder won't restart until the computer is restarted.
The problem is limited the optical drives - I haven't, so far, had any problem with the hard discs. If I don't use the optical drives at all then I can leave my Mac turned on indefinitely without difficulty - with the proviso that it will need restarting if I need to use the optical drives.
Troubleshooting done so far:
Swapped the drives around and tried running with one optical drive only (no improvement seen)
Checked the system logs for clues and discovered them to be worryingly full of 'crap':
18/03/2012 16:20:27.000 kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: miBnot otootBooCa tecnate cache hon bad hcrme oinn hitrate
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: btCatneaa oech: ctcace:oted hrmB ootiCache: terhineco uld nototrnmin tubaaermiatnate ctaoulte e
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: d hlddcache on bad hitrati te
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: e nracte
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: notot t cateacrmeriBcoomihnaBoBootCache: could not terminattee ccanate cache on bad hitrate
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: ahcheeo och ntCatCchaec: baon BootCache: could not terminate cache on bad hitrate
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: bae d heh: cioutde onB oclbraodu lnaoodd hh ntootitCt trn bachee tadrm: i coaulhitee
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: rtinamitd rnanot teramitte
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: te ctrachenae
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: te e cacach aBootete
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: che on CB obaad hitnron ootCate
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: achchBoee ba:: ot coBoCad hbaiBootCache: could cchonotue td:l hd ittrarerminateulonc cache on bad hitrate
18/03/2012 16:20:34.000 kernel: oattte
Specification:
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Processor 2.66 Quad Core Xeon
Memory 12GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GT120 512MB
OS Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3
Storage 2*2TB Seagate, 1*500GB, 1 Pioneer BDR206D, 1 Superdrive.
All suggestions gratefully received!

First, get a utility like Lion Cache Cleaner 6.0.9 and clear out all user, system, and font caches. Then try reinstalling OS X:
Reinstalling Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

EMac optical drive: Reads but ceased writing. I get "Sense key=MEDIUM ERROR, Sense Code=0x0C, WRITE ERROR. Drive is Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-127D.

eMac optical drive: reads fine but has ceased writing. One day it's working fine, burning DVDs, then after repeated attempts stops copying and gives the following error message: "Sense key=MEDIUM ERROR, Sense Code=0x0C, WRITE ERROR". Drive is Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-127D. Is this a software issue or is the drive half dead? Get the same result with either Popcorn or Toast 10.

Are you using Roxio Toast? That error seems to be discussed a lot in the Roxio forums. Scroll down this thread:
http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/1686-the-drive-reported-an-error-sense-key medium-error-etc/
and you'll find a step-by-step troubleshooting scheme.

This Optical Drive is Crazy

My optical drive is going bad...I think. I can no longer burn movies. Brand new blank (high quality) media is not recognized when I try to burn. Every archived photo CD -- will not be read. When I put the Apple Install CD's in -- it can read that. It seems to be able to play a DVD. But everything I read seems to indicate this Matshita drive is crap.
Well, at least I have Apple Care, right? Right. But they want me to mail my laptop in to them. Mail my entire laptop in to God knows where??? Or take it to a store and they will MAIL it off for repair. I cannot be without a computer. I would be out of business. And do I really want all of my personal, business and client information to be floating around -- again -- God knows where.
If I had a Dell, they would come in one day and repair it on-site. I am so angry. I have been a Mac owner for over 20 years, and this type of customer service is why I will probably buy a Dell next time around.
Any thoughts, help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Specs are:
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846:
Firmware Revision: FQ3T
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No

somewhitechick1 wrote:
Sounds like you work for Apple. Dell absolutely will come to your home, your office...they come to wherever your computer is -- so that you have no down time. That's a pretty darn good selling point, in my opinion.
LOL. Um, we manage over 600 systems, about 45% are Apple the rest run Windows and a good number of them are Dell. We have both Apple and Dell servers. When I call Apple and describe the steps that I've taken to figure out the problem and what my conclusion is, the actually listen, go thru their pages that tell me what steps to try, and suggest any that I have missed, or just plain out put in my order for parts. Straight forward and quick. We have called Dell before with a know problem, but have had to troubleshoot the same steps we already performed in house, time and time again, while they are on the phone. In one case, with a server, we were on the phone for over 6 hours for the span of 2 days before they agreed to send us out a new controller for our RAID. Mind you we have 4 hr (or is it 6?) same day support on these!
My point is.. every tech call does not go as smoothly as we would like. Apple keeps scoring at the top of service call satisfaction as rated by (from what I understand) an independent body. Nobody is saying that they are perfect. I have far fewer problems calling for support with Apple than I do Dell or HP. If your whole point was just to rant about service and not solve a problem.. then this is not the place for such a discussion.

CD-DVD ( Optical Drives ) Common Problems and Solutions

CD/DVD Common Problems…
Dear friends, I have noticed that many laptop users suffering from some common problems. cd/dvd ( Optical Drive ) problems are one of them.. so here I am trying to collect and make available solutions related to cd/dvd drives . Almost all solutions are already advised in previous posts but these are all are in one post. We all are here for sharing problems and solutions. I always appreciate all corrections and additions. In first look optical drive problems seems like hardware problem. These problems have hardware/software both possibility so I request to administrator, to make available this post in both ( hardware – software ) sections. I put only solution links to save forum’s valuable space.
CD-DVD drive called an OPTICAL DRIVE.
CD-DVD discs called A MEDIA
There are 2 possibilities for optical drives problems.
Widows based problems
Hardware based problems
First here are windows based few common problems
All windows based solutions are from Microsoft Corporation.
Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs - Windows XP...
Symptom:Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or not recognized by Windows or other programs, so you cannot play or access a CD or DVD
The CD drive or the DVD drive does not work as expected on a computer that you upgraded to Windows V...
Symptom : You upgrade a computer to Windows Vista or install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or you install or uninstall applications that have a CD/DVD filter driver.
When you restart the computer, the CD drive or DVD drive no longer works as expected
Your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media
Symptoms : Your CD or DVD Drive does not read or write and is shown as disabled
The media in your CD or DVD drive cannot be read
The media cannot be written to by your CD or DVD drive
You receive one of the following errors:
A class specific or device specific driver is missing or corrupt
A CD or DVD drive cannot be found or is not connected
The CD or DVD drive is experiencing a problem that prevents it from working properly
The CD or DVD drive is not accessible via an assigned drive letter
How to troubleshoot common problems that occur when a Windows XP-based computer cannot read a CD or ...
Symptoms:
The disc label does not appear in Windows Explorer.
The contents of the disc do not appear in Windows Explorer.
When you insert the disc in the drive or when your computer tries to read the disc,the computer stops responding.
You cannot eject the disc from the drive.
The computer takes a long time to read the disc.
CD drive or DVD drive errors may cause unexpected program crash in Windows XP
Symptom : Error
"Program_name has caused and error and must be closed. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve rogram_name. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous. To see what data this error report contains, click here."
You cannot write to a DVD-RAM disc that is in a DVD-RAM/CD-RW combination drive
Symptom : "The disc in the drive is not a writable CD or it is full. Please insert a blank, writable CD into drive D:\, or insert a disc with enough free space to hold all the files you have selected for writing to CD. "
DVD-RW Drive Appears in My Computer as a DVD-R Drive
Symptom : "If your computer has a DVD-RW (digital video disc rewritable) optical drive, the DVD-RW icon may not appear in My Computer. Instead, your DVD-RW optical drive may appear as a DVD-R (digital video disc recordable) icon."
Windows XP does not recognize a DVD-RW disc
Symptom : When you insert a DVD-RW disc into the DVD drive of a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, Windows XP does not recognize the disc. For example, you do not see any files on the disc.
You may also experience this problem with DVD-RW discs that have been formatted as VD-VR. Some consumer DVD recorders use the DVD-VR format.
CD-R drive or CD-RW drive is not recognized as a recordable device
Symptom : When you try to burn data to a CD-R or a CD-RW, you do not have the option to send data to the CD drive.
When you view the properties of the CD-R drive or the CD-RW drive, you notice that the Recording tab is not displayed in the CD Drive (drive_letter: ) Properties dialog box, where drive_letter is the letter of the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive.
Note To view the CD Drive (drive_letter: ) Properties dialog box, click Start, click My Computer, right-click the CD drive that you want, and then click Properties.
Additionally, you may receive the following error message:
There is no disc in the drive. Please insert a writable CD into drive.
CD-ROM Drive May Not Be Able to Read a UDF-Formatted Disc in Windows XP
Symptom : Your computer cannot read some or all files on CDs or DVDs that were recorded through the use of the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system standard. Symptoms may include:
The disc is not recognized at all and shows up as empty.
Error messages such as "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable" appear when you try to access files in Windows Explorer.
Some portions of a DVD-video may not function correctly
How to troubleshoot issues that occur when you write data to a CD-R or CD-RW optical disc in Windows...
Symptoms :issues that occur if you write data to CD-R and CD-RW optical discs and how to troubleshoot issues with CD-R and CD-RW drives.
These are most common issues related to optical drivers.
Tomorrow will try to explain hardware possibilities.
All friends suggestions and correction are highly advisable..

I upgraded to W7 and everything works fine except two things.
I followed the
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Operating-systems-and-software/Windows7-Upgrade-Guide-for-dv6000-dv9000...
process and still have the problem DVD not under device manager
DVD spins when booting but after W7 splash screen no longer functions, it did work prior to upgrade.
I have seen many listed problems but no solution. my device is a TS-L632N and based on the most recent drivers i can find still not working. I looked in the registry and it is not listed under cdrom or
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
there are no upper or lower filters

Do I need a new optical drive?

My CD/DVD drive stopped working a few weeks ago. It is recognized by Windows but discs are not recognized.
My system:
dv6-1350us
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
optical drive: CDDVDW TS-L633M
What I have already done:
Uninstalled and re-installed the drive
Looked for new drivers (don't see any)
Ran the Microsoft Fix-It... it said there may be a problem with the drive
Ran the HP troubleshooter... it recognized a blank DVD-R but would not do a write test... did not recognize a blank DVD +R DL or any other DVD's or CD's (blank or otherwise).
Have I exhausted my troubleshooting options?
I am no longer under warranty and if I need to buy a new drive what do I need to know to make sure it is compatible with my notebook? I don't want the same model I have now since a lot of people seem to have had problems with it.
Thanks in advance for your help!

I added a screen shot of the price and of the part for your notebook and you can also check this link if it will work for you:
http://h20141.www2.hp.com/Hpparts/Cart.aspx?mscssid=0E983EBD415E40E8A28EE9F13089C55B&setDest=Cart&Se...
Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.
...Click on Kudos if my reply was helpful and answered your question...
Attachments:
DVD drive.JPG ‏77 KB

Optical drive troubleshoot

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