Sept. 2006 17" 1.83GHz Intel iMac Combo drive won't read discs...

When I insert a CD (audio or data), the drive spits the disc out after about 15-20 sec. Nothing shows up. Nothing said. The disc just comes back out. Hardware Info shows the drive is there:
MATSHITACD-RW CW-8124:
Model:          MATSHITACD-RW CW-8124
Revision:          DACH
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive:          No
Protocol:          ATAPI
Unit Number:          0
Socket Type:          Internal
Low Power Polling:          Yes
Power Off:          No
But nothing else. Doesn't show the serial number either. Can't find any tools to test the drive with. A friend suggests I remove the drive and try manually cleaning the lens (Using CD/DVD cleaning disc did nothing). But I don't want to go to all that trouble, if there isn't a more than likely chance of it working. Too much disassembly/reassembly effort I'd rather just replace the drive while I'm in there.
I don't have the original discs that came with this system, so I can't run AHT. I'm told it won't tell me anything either, just that the drive is there, which the Hardware Info already says.
Should I try to go in and manually clean the lens or just replace the drive? Has anyone else manually cleaned their lens and had their drive work or is replacement really the only option at this point?
I'm told I should just get a USB external CD/DVD drive and be done with it... but I'd like to restore this computer to fully working order, if possible.

The Early iMac's are one of the most difficult iMac's to open and work on. Another problem given it's age, is that display cables and other connections are very brittle and it is very likely that more harm than good will come from working on it.
On that note: I suggest finding and using an OS X compatible External tray loading CD/DVD drive for several reasons.
1. External CD/DVD drives are faster and more reliable than slim-line super drives.
2. For about the same cost or less, a good External CD/DVD drive should also give you the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
3. Using an External CD/DVD drive is a lot easier than ripping into the iMac and replacing the internal drive.
Personally I am happily using an older LG GE24LU20 with both my Early Core Duo and Mac Mini, but others here have also recommended that the GP10 DVD and Blu-ray, the LaCie's and the OWC FireWire drives are all very good solution for a busted internal super or combo drive.

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Combo drive won't read CDs or CD-Rs or CD-RWs

my combo drive used to read CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
now it can't read any media but DVDs.
why is this so?
please help. i have tried all brands of the CD medias but still it won't work. the drive keeps on spitting out the CDs.
thanks.

Hi.
I had the same problem with a Combo drive in a PowerBook G4 12 inch model.
It ended up being repaired under warranty.
You could try several things to troubleshoot it:
1. Zap PRAM
2. Reinstall system software
3. Check the drive using a utility application
4. Check your System Prefs under CDs and DVDs.
If these or other techniques do not solve the problem, then it is most likely a hardware issue, and your drive will need fixing. The Combo Driive in my "Little AL" went bad after nearly 3 years of use, but just prior to warranty expiration.
Ted

Combo Drive won't read DVDs - How to Install Tiger?

I have an iMac G5 with a Combo drive (Matshita CD-RW CW-8123) that no longer reads DVDs. It handles CDs fine. Other postings offer complaints about Super drives with similar problems, but I have found no solutions. My warranty has expired. I would like to install Tiger, but the installation disk is a DVD. So is the installation disk for iLife '06. Other postings have suggested that installing a new optical drive doesn't always fix the problem. Since I'll be paying for this, that doesn't sound sound like a promising option. Should I purchase an external drive? In the meantime, is there any other way to install Tiger without the DVD? I have other macs that work fine, so I really don't need the DVD to work properly except to install new software. Suggestions are welcome!
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.7)
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.7)
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.7)

An external drive is a great option.
With that, you will likely get a much more capable drive than you would if you were stuck with only the models that will fit in your iMac.
For example, my PC has a 16x Dual-Layer DVD-R drive. But, most Apple compatible Internal drives are still limited to 8x.
So, you could likely get a much faster and more capable external drive than you could an internal drive for the same price.
With an external drive, you can also keep that drive should you get another machine. And, if you have more than one machine, you can connect the drive to whichever machine requires it at the moment. So, essentially, you can upgrade all your systems with just one DVD drive.
And, best of all, you have a product that is covered by it's own warranty, and not subject to how you installed it. And, you don't have to tinker inside your machine.
Also, OS 10.4.x "Tiger" is available on CD-ROM. So, you could send in for the replacement disks if you have the retail box of OS 10.4 Tiger.
From the OS 10.4 "Tiger" sales page:
"Tiger ships on a DVD, but if your Mac doesn’t have a built-in DVD-ROM player, you’ll need CD media. When you buy Mac OS X Tiger, you qualify to purchase Tiger CDs for only $9.95. "
Download the order form.
http://images.apple.com/macosx/pdf/TigerMediaExchangeFormv5.pdf
Hope this helps.

Combo Drive Won't Read DVDs

When I insert a DVD into my combo drive (HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4120B), it spins for a while and then gets ejected without being read. I've tried this with a number of commercially made DVDs with the same result.
It's been a while since I tried to read a DVD on my iMac but never had a problem before. My hard drive was replaced about 2 months ago and I'm wondering if this could have caused a problem.
Any suggestions on what to do?

Replacing your hard drive could have caused the problem, here is a good way to check it.
Shut your computer clear off. Wait for a few minutes.. Fire it back up and double click Mac HD, when it opens double click Applications folder, when it opens go to DVD Player and double click.when it opens to the Black Screen then and only then Insert a Commercial DVD Movie and don't touch anything, it should take a minute to read all the encryption and security on the DVD, it should start playing the DVD automaticaly, If it doesn't then I would say you have an issue with whoever replaced your hard drive..
Make sure you have all the latest Firmware and Security updates for your Operating System,after changing the hard drive and reloading your Software..
If your updates are in fact up to date this should work.
One last thing make sure your DVD is clean no fingerprints.
It could be a dirty lens also...Hope this helps...Don
Sorry, I just read your other post, as Brody points out chances are NORTON is your culprit.

Combo drive won't read

I have a PowerBook G4 with combo drive. Everything works fine. Until yesterday. I put a cd in the drive and 10 seconds later it ejects it. Doesn't matter if it's a new cd, used cd, music cd or hardware test cd. It always ejects it. What is wrong? Any suggestions would help.

Hi Cindy,
Does it read DVDs? If so that's the exact same problem I'm having with the combo drive in my iBook. There are tons of us experiencing this exact same problematic behavior. I would say too many for it to be coincidental!
Look at these other discussion threads:
here, here and here for a few examples.
Try searching the discussions forums for others too...

Combo Drive Won't Eject Discs

My 1G MacBook that just came home from being repaired by Apple won't eject my installation disc. I'm downloading updates for my MacBook at the same time but I don't know if that's why it won't eject. Is there a problem with my combo drive?

Never mind. I was using a program that required the disc and I thought the installation was done.

Imac 10, 1 won't read certain CDs

my imac , iMac10,1; Intel Core 2 Duo won't read certain bought CDS and spits them out. We can hear a whirring noise-- but not the clicking sound of the tracks being read-- and then, the CD comes out.
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please help and thank you.

iMac Superdrives are notoriously finicky - what brand are the ones that didn't work? It could also be that the media is slightly scratched, dirty, or the printed side is not in perfect condition. My iMac (only) likes Verbatim.

Combo drive failure: Ejects all discs

While watching a very scratched DVD, the combo drive on my month-old Mac Mini began making very loud noises; after that the film skipped and froze. After a few minutes of disturbingly loud knocking and clicking noises, I turned the computer off by pressing the power button. After restart, I ejected the disc by moving it to the trash icon in the dock. Now the combo drive refuses to read any other disc that I put in: DVD, music, or data. It makes spinning sounds and then ejects them after about 10 seconds.
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Welcome to Apple Discussions!
It is possible that the drive has been damaged, in which case if it can't read the correct track of an inserted disk, it will automatically eject it. The fact the drive pulls the disk in and spins it up at all suggests the drive is otherwise functional, thus tending to indicate the lens is at fault.
You might first try a PMU/SMC reset (depending on whether yours is a PPC or Intel mini. This would be the first step if you were getting errors re failure to calibrate power when trying to write to a blank, and I would not have much confidence of it working in this situation since it seems unlikely to be a controller issue, but it's worth trying. Instructions are below - PMU if it's a PPC and SMC if it's an Intel.
If that doesn't help, try a lens cleaner. That has been known to help in these situations.
Ultimately, if the system is no longer under warranty, you would be better I think to get an external firewire drive than replace the internal. It would be much the same price and tend to give better performance!

Imac dvd drive, will not read games disks

imac dvd drive, will not read games disks whilst running in windows 7, cd and film dvd run ok. Can not believe Apple care who told me I cannot run pc games on iMac EVEN under windows 7. Any help please.

Zap the PRAM and Reset the SMC, then try again.

Combo drive won't play CD's

after recently (seemingly) ironing out the bugs in iTunes 7.0.1, my combo drive won't play commercial CD's. MP3 CD's play in iTunes just fine and it will burn CD's. but both the finder (copying) and iTunes freeze when i try to play commercial CD's. when trying to copy aiff files to harddrive as a workaround, i get the following error message:
"some data on (in the file) is unreadable or unwritable. error (-34)"
i suspect the problem is with the drive itself as an external CD-DVD firewire writer has no problem and works with iTunes just fine.
is the combo drive dying? is there a software patch somewhere? is the problem caused by iTunes? quicktime?
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

As in the posting of Oct 3 from regmetc, following
the install of iTunes 7.0.2 and QT 7.1.3, my combo
drive won't play most commercial CD's. Most curious
is that I have so far found ONE commercial CD in my
library that plays just fine, but haven't had the
time to check all of the 200+ cds I own. It will burn
CD's and read DVDs. but iTunes will freeze when I try
to play commercial a CD.
An external CD firewire writer has no problem and
works with iTunes just fine.
Booting from an external backup drive with an earlier
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problem.
Hardware test shows no hardware problems.
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I am now assuming that there is some code change whereas OS 10.4 and itunes 6 or 7 doesn't provide the proper driver for the cd combo drive. I have a cd rom drive in another laptop that is not affected and any external cd drive seems to be fine. It would be curious to know if a different enternal drive like a superdrive would work.

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i'm using
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i've updated to the latest bios ver using MSI Live Update

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Well our new iMac 17" just arrived and it is gorgeous. When I put in the CD to install Office there was this VERY loud whirring that didn't stop until I completed the installation and removed the CD. I put in another CD and it did this for several seconds and then quieted down. Is this normal?
Thanks in advance
eMac, 1g, 640 RAM, combo drive Mac OS X (10.3)
eMac, 1g, 640 RAM, combo drive Mac OS X (10.3)

I guess I spoke to soon. It's still awfully loud. Any insights here, guys? I need to know whether or not this is a serious problem. TIA...

IMacs' combo drive doors are stuck closed

We have ten flat-panel G4 iMacs (700 MHz) at work, and at least five of them cannot open their optical drive doors. When the eject button is pressed, I can hear what I presume to be the motor trying to push the door open, but nothing happens. The first iMac to do this had it's combo drive replaced and now works, two others never stopped working, and I didn't check the remaining two iMacs. On one that is not working, I tried opening the drive using open firmware and by holding the mouse button down while restarting (as other threads have suggested), but I could still only hear the motor trying open the door. Having 6 drive doors all fail at the roughly the same time seems like a software problem rather than a hardware problems. (Everyone does their own updates, but I think all or most are running OS 10.4.11.) Does anyone have an idea about what to try next.

I'd try installing a fresh copy of 10.4 on an external firewire hard drive. Now boot the iMacs from that fresh copy of OS X. If the issue persists you can assume it's hardware.
If you use a finger nail to lower the white dome optical drive door do the trays open then?
My iMac G4 certainly still works fine since 10.4.11 was installed.
mrtotes

Combo drive won't recognize CDs or DVDs

My original iMac won't show Cds or DVDs on the desktop. When I insert one, it says it needs to be formatted.
Probably need, a new Cd reader, right?
Can I install this myself? Cost?

Sorry for my late reply. I kept forgetting! Thank you for your responses (and for your helpful links, mrtotes). The more I read about internal DVD writers vs. external DVD writers, the more my head spun. Some user reviews expressed the opinion that the small form factor DVD burners (internal, slot loading) were the devil's peripherals and that they had a much easier time of it with external tray loading ones. Others wondered about buffer underrun (or is it overrun?) with externals.
While I was mulling this over, my service provider had already ordered and received the new combo drive for my iMac; so it looks like I'll be going with an external DVD burner (just as he recommended).
Here are a few links I found helpful:
Xlr8 Your Mac: searchable database of DVD drives with user reviews (both internal and external):
http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/search.drivedb.lasso
Mac OS X Hints Forum (where I obtained the above link; also has info about brand of internal CD/DVD drives Apple uses)
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=79620&highlight=superdrive
Apple Discussion from June 2006 about internal and external DVD writers.
One person wrote, "Internal drives seem more reliable and are also far cheaper." But several responded with their experiences of external drives that work "flawlessly" (according to one poster, describing his Sony DRX-720UL).
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2608144&
Article from Low End Mac (from Oct. 2007) titled "External $100 Sony DVD Burner Likes Macs"
http://www.lowendmac.com/ed/bgray/bg07/1010.html

Imac optical drive will not allow disc insertion. (blocked)

Hello out there.
I have a 2009 27" imac (intel) with an optiarc disc drive. After installing an update a year or so ago, the disc drive started making cycling type noises at startup, and would occasionally not allow insertion of a disc. Then it would accept a disc only rarely, and recently not at all. The disc will only go in about a third of the way, then is physically blocked.
I want to run the Apple hardware test on my startup disc, but that's obviously a problem since I can't insert it.
If anyone can offer guidence, it would be greatly appreciated!
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It may be broken or you might just need to do a PRAM reset 2-3 times. Instructions for the reset are in Intel iMac SMC and PRAM resets

Sept. 2006 17" 1.83GHz Intel iMac Combo drive won't read discs...

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