Retrieving disc from dead ibook which won't turn on?

Question

Hi. How would I go about ejecting a disc from my dead ibook? I've tried resetting the PRAM / PMU, neither will work. It won't turn on at all. I really just need to get a disc out of the disc drive. Is it possible? How would I go about doing it?
Also, is it possible to retrieve a file from the HD? (this is far less important).
Thank you!

Answer 1

The usual way is to hold down the mouse button as you start it up, but that probably won't work for you if it won't start up at all. But you could try anyway.
An alternative is to prop the iBook up with the slot pointed down and if you're lucky the disc will eventually drop out thanks to gravity.
Another thing that you can try--get something very thin like a business card or very thin plastic ruler and some two sided sticky tape and see if you can stick the disc and pull it out. Be sure the tape is well stuck to whatever you are using--you don't want to lose it inside the drive.
If the iBook is truly dead never to be revived, you could just take it apart until you get to the optical drive and then take that apart.
As for the hard drive, you could take it out and put it in an enclosure. It would then be an external hard drive and you could access the data on it. As long as it will spin up, you should be able to do this.
Disassembly instructions can be found at:
http://www.ifixit.com/
How come the iBook is dead? Will it just not start up, or is there some other known issue like a dead logic board? If it just won't start up, it might be worth a little troubleshooting to see if it can be revived. If you have access to an Apple Store, you could try an appointment with the genius bar and see if they can get it going, maybe with a known good power adaptor. If not, post back for help with this.
Good luck!