PowerMac G4 Manual Eject?

The startup disk on my PowerMac G4 got reset so I'm attempting to use my Install Disk to restart my computer. The problem is that I have a wireless keyboard and mouse and neither are responding. Thus, I can't eject my disk drive.
Unfortunately, I also can't figure out how to manually eject the drive (i.e., I can't find the paper clip hole).
This is one of the old G4 towers.
Help? Thanks.

Hi, Gerald -
Welcome to Apple's Discussions.
If your machine is an old (original series) G4s, then it has an eject button on the front of the external (bezel) door for the CD drive.
Try this - restart or boot - immediately start pressing that button rapidly. There is a short window a few seconds long during the boot process when the drive is energized, but before it has spun up and recognized there is a disk in it. The door eject button should work at that point.
Alternate - locate a corded mouse, one good for use on a Mac. Plug it into a free USB port. Restart or boot - immediately press the mouse button, keep it held down - that's a hardware command to the Mac to eject all removable media during boot.
If the problem is that it keeps booting to the install disk, use the Startup Disk control pane (Apple menu > System Preferences) to reset the boot volume to the hard drive.

Similar Messages

  • How to manually eject a CD on my 24" iMac.

    Dear guys,
    Can anyone help to answer my question on how to manually eject a cd on my 24" imac. I inserted the Window XP Pro SP3 into my imac. Its started to run the os now cannot boot the system. Actually can anyone help to advise how to go about do the boot camp process. Great thanks.
    Please help....

    If the mouse routine does not work. on some Macs, there is a little manual trigger in the extreme top of the disc slot. Carefully trip it with something like a straightened paperclip. It is just a fraction of an inch inside.
    Your post is a bit cryptic. Did you actually follow the BootCamp process or just insert this Windows disc?
    There is an entire Apple Discussion forum dedicated to Boot Camp and Windows.
    Whereas, not everyone here with an Intel iMac has installed, tried to install or has experience with BC & Windows, everyone there has or at least has an interest. You may attract help more quickly there.
    The Forums are at the bottom of the main Apple Discussions page under Windows Compatible Technology. Here is a link;
    Boot Camp: Installation and Storage

  • Why no manual eject? Is it for security reason?

    Lets say you want to leave your desk and the disc in the drive is at risk of being stolen. If you log out and there is no manual eject then the disc is safe yes?
    Would the Apple dudes think along these lines or have I been watching too many James Bond movies. Which I have.

    In the Floppy Disk Drives (called SuperDrives) there was a hole where a bent paper clip could be inserted and force the mechanism open. This was also present on the early iMacs (certainly my iMac DV in 1999) and the CD300e which was Apple's second external optical drive we had in about 1994. The paper clip still holds many memories for Apple users and it caused great delight when some iPhones shipped with an Apple paper clip:http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/08/03/iphone-returns-from-service-with-offici al-iphone-tool/
    The hold-your-mouse-button-down-during-startup works beneath the OS so will work for cases where the hardware is not defective.
    cheers
    mrtotes

  • Drive tray stuck open...where does the paperclip (manual eject) go?

    I've got the Sony drive which has stuck with the tray half out. I cannot remove the drive because the tray prevents any movement sideways. If I get any firmer with the tray or little metal door something will break... My only solution appears to be the manual eject but this is hidden by the door which is stuck in place by the tray. There must be a simple answer but I must admit I can't find it.

    The Great Escape?
    After these previous posts I really 'took to' the drive tray and I thought I would let any passers-by know what happened.
    I did some more pushing and pulling. much harder than before and started paying more attention to what was going on in the drive and decided to bend the tray in a middle up, sides down way and pulled... two nasty cracks (noises) and a complete and undamaged tray was in my hand. I took the drive out, used a paperclip to reset the manual eject and gently pushed the tray back in. Two nasty cracks (noises) later and the tray runs in and out as it should. The whole mechanism does feel a little looser than before but I risked re-installing the drive and grabbed the top CD from the nearest pile 'The Great Escape".
    I have already had delivered a Pioneer 112D which takes over as top drive. So now I have two working drives although the second I know I'll never really trust.
    Moral of story: If you have the Sony in your Mac Pro and the tray stays out it can be removed without breaking it using carefully targetted brute force but at the cost of some worry any time a valuable disc goes in.

  • Is there a manual eject?

    my cd drive tray still has problems, i've tried everything suggested but it just wont open if it doesnt have a cd in it. Is there a manual eject for the imac G4?

    Bella&Me,The Open Firmware option works in almost all cases. Follow these instructions:
    Switch on/reboot
    After the startup chime, press and hold <command/apple> <alt/option> <o> <f>
    At the command line prompt, type: eject cd
    Hit Return, the optical drive will then eject.
    Type: mac-boot
    Hit return.
    - I had a fried logic board and wanted to clear the Optical Drive before I took the iMac in to a local AASP for repair - hence my extreme 'crack the case' solution - I wouldn't recommend it in your case.
    It's something I've wondered about wireless keyboards - how good they are when you need to get yourself out of a sticky mac situation - do they let you down?
    mrtotes

  • Is there a manual eject button for the combo drive on the mini?

    My angel of a 3 year old has managed to force two dvds into the combo drive, bless her, and so none of the software solutions to ejecting discs is much use to me, I'm afraid.
    There's a soft, black button to the right of the disc slot, but I don't want to force anything until it's confirmed that it is indeed some kind of manual eject.
    Otherwise, I guess it's back to base ...
    Many thanks for any help.
    Ian

    Hi Boece and IanB1967-
    There is no manual eject mechanism, however one may be able to manually remove a disk from the drive albeit with varied results.
    If two are stuck this may cause mechanical as well as electronic malfunctions within the drive itself. While an external is an excellent idea I think it is important to undo whatever damage has been done.
    If you are daring enough you can open up the mini and replace the optical drive yourself. If under warranty or AppleCare just let them do it, even if they try to hit you for a charge. A firm yet polite stand may get you somewhere, as it is very difficult to actually jam 2 disks into a slot-loading drive.
    Luck-
    -DaddyPaycheck

  • Can manually eject disk from iMac? iMac won't start up. . .

    My iMac started acting up, as if a keyboard key was stuck and it kept scrolling through menu items; so I logged out all users and restarted. I get the grey screen with the Apple logo and timer, then it goes to the blue background/Mac OS X screen but the blue progress bar never fills in.
    I can't start up from the OS X disk because there's already a disk in there. Anyone know how to manually get a disk out? I'm sure this is on Apple's support page, but it's currently down for maintenence.
    We do have an external, USB bluetooth for a bluetooth Apple keyboard and a Microsoft bluetooth mouse; and at first I thought it was the bluetooth that was freaking out.
    I know this is a pretty vague problem, but any others out there with a similar experience? Or can troubleshoot this one? Thanks!

    haythere-
    It sounds like it could be the keyboard. have you replaced the batteries lately?
    I know that if you hold down the mouse button of a wired mouse at power up it should eject the disc. That might work with the bluetooth mouse.
    When it comes back up, this link for troubleshooting CD/DVD eject failures should be helpful.
    Luck-
    -DaddyPaycheck

  • Can you manually eject a disk if you can't power on your computer?

    Computer won't start up and the mouse solution doesn't work.  Any other way to get a CD out of the drive?

    If you have a mid 2011 machine it's covered by a 1 year warranty, take it in for service. You need power to eject a disc.

  • TS2097 I inserted a new DVD, it is working but not coming out. Whenever I try to eject it, it does not come out. Apple should provide us the easy and manual way to eject CD/DVD or?

    Hello,
    I inserted a new DVD in my mac book pro, its working and the drive is reading the dvd but unfortunately is not coming out. I have tried several ways mentioned on all over the net and apple community websites but nothing has worked so far.
    I need a easier and manual way to eject the DVD. Where is apple's help?
    Please help me. This is one of the weaknesses Apple should work on because it is causing us pain and loss of efficiency which is not apple's quality.
    Thanks

    Thanks for asking, actually I just found a trick on a website.
    It siad that restart MBP while holding eject button, I did it and DVD came out right away.
    I hope that this works out for everyone.
    But still there is a need for a manual eject system so that people don't worry about stucking the DVD or CD in th drive.
    Thanks anyway dear.

  • Can't install Windows 7 Pro x64 - device driver missing - can't eject DVD

    Hello,
    I am trying to install Windows 7 Pro x64 - I create the partition in boot camp and start windows install process. **During the Windows install process**, it says "A required CD/DVD device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now. Note: if the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove it for this step".
    Apparently the drivers are on the OSX install DVD. But, there is no way to eject the windows DVD! Why on earth is there no manual eject on Macs? Is there another way to eject? I tried to put a paperclick in the slot next to where a CD is inserted but it didn't do anything. Is there another way to get Windows to see the correct device drivers?
    I am all for clean slick designs, but when it does not have all required functionality, it is kind of useless.
    I am talking to Mac Support and they can't help.
    Looks like I will have to return this Mac, I also need to boot into full Windows (without Parallels or VMWare) to do my work.
    dan
    Message was edited by: dbperson

    You don't mention what Mac you have, so I'd have to say there is almost no way to help.
    IF the 7 Pro x64 came download ISO thru EDU, you have to burn it, and if you use Disk Utility, at 2X reduced burn speed... otherwise it won't work.
    A VM isn't fussy and can use ISOs.
    If you want both native and VM, to have Windows installed on its own hard drive and use it under OS X, then you have to install it and use Boot Camp Assistant.
    I'd say it is all about your DVD media.

  • How do you remove a cd from the macbook air superdrive when it won't eject.  all is get is the option to burn a cd when i click eject

    Just bought a mini and a dvd superdrive.  was uploading pictures and one cd won't eject when I click on the eject icon.  It will display that I can burn one if I insert a cd, but won't eject the current cd.  How do you override the pop up or manually eject the  cd from the superdrive without taking it to a store or asking for a replacement?

    You can also eject a disc by restarting your computer and holding down the primary mouse button while the computer is starting up until the disc is ejected.

  • CD-ROM won't eject CD / system doesn't recognize CD-ROM drive

    Hi.
    My CD-ROM recently ate a CD and now refuses to eject it. The CD does not show up on the desktop (is "unmounted"?) and resetting the PRAM and holding down the mouse and eject buttons on start-up have not been the solution to this problem.
    I think the main issue is the system no longer reconizes the CD-ROM drive... so I'm unsure how to 1) eject the cd and 2) reinstall the CD-ROM But obviously I can't install without a CD-ROM drive...
    Is there a driver I can download to get the drive working again? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

    Hi
    If the drive now longer shows up in ASAP, it's dead, or the power supply to it is dead.
    You will need to manually eject the CD, by inserting a straightened paperclip through the small access hole located under the drive tray; it may be on the left, center or right side. Do this with the computer off.
    New drives can be had for under $40 (DVD Burners) online, CD Burners are under $25.
    For more info, You can read owner reviews @ xlr8yourmac's Drive Compatibility, just enter your system & choose a drive type.

  • CD won't eject, doesn't appear on desktop, or in restart ... how do I?

    Cannot eject the CD/DVD that is currently in the drive. It does not appear on the desktop, and when I restart the PowerBook pressing C it doesn't boot from it. The Media eject button doesn't display the eject hologram when I press it, and restarting pressing the trackpad hasn't work. Opening up the DVD player displays the message 'A Valid DVD Drive could not be found (-70012). My PowerBook doesn't have the manual eject button to press with a paperclip.
    So that's everything I've tried, as well as searching on these forums but the questions aren't as specific. If anyone can suggest something I'd be grateful.

    Hi,
    Apple Knowledge base lists the follwoing:
    The drive doesn't eject discs
    If the drive ejects discs slowly or appears to be struggling, insert and eject a disc several times.
    If the drive does not eject discs, press the F12 key or, on original PowerBook G4 computers, the manual eject button located on the side of the slot. Holding down the trackpad button during startup should also eject a disc.
    If the disc still does not eject, update the optical drive's firmware. This step may not be needed for all computers.
    Reset the parameter RAM (PRAM) and/or the Power Manager (PMU.)
    If the disc still does not eject, contact Apple to arrange for service.
    volker

  • Macbook retina eject cd

    I used the external cd reader to install a windows copy on vmware fusion with my macbook retina 15".
    Now how do I eject the cd???
    There's no key, the drag and drop on the bin doesn't work an neither the ctrl+clic does.
    Obviously there's no place for the manual eject on the external device. This is annoying.

    Set Finder Preferences to show on desktop, eject from there:

  • Eject button not working on dvd/cd tray

    You name it, I've tried it! Apples advice was to backup my work and wipe the dripe and reinstall the OS. Guess what - the eject button still doesn't work! Well done apple. That'll be 2 days wasted of precious production time.
    All this after a new power supply and logic board being installed by the apple store in birmingham because the mac had no power going to it. (6 week old MacPro 2.66) Yet the eject button worked fine when it came back from repair.
    Has anybody got and realistic ideas as to why the eject button doesn't work.
    I can manually eject the tray and also when using toast I can eject the tray - its just in the OS that its not working. I hav tried dropping a link to the eject button on the customize menu but the icon is just greyed out.
    I have even dropped in a brand new cd/dvd drive from another mac still with the same result.

    Right - the story is concluded - Finally!!!! Apparently when the technician removed the optical drive unit whilst fitting the new power supply and logic board he didn't fit the cables back into the right places on the drive!!!
    But at least now its fixed and I can get back on with some work.

Maybe you are looking for