Won't recognize inserted disks

The drive in my black MacBook won't recognize an inserted CD or DVD unless it's blank. If it's blank, it asks what I want to do, but if it's a data disc of any kind - for example, the Snow Leopard install DVD - the drive takes it but as far as the OS is concerned, there's no disc in the drive.
Once I go to restart the computer, however, it sees the disk and mounts it.
Any clues?

Hi PWolves04, the fix bobapcoed described probably won't help you because your computer still "sees" your CD drive--it just doesn't read the disks you insert. The fix makes your computer see your drive again when it has completely disappeared from "My Computer". Speaking from personal experience (I've had to replace three CD/DVD-Rom drives over the years) one of the first signs that they're dying is the inability to recognize and read disks.
If you want to try the "Fix" before you move onto other troubleshooting avenues, here is a link to one thread that discusses it:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1457169?
I recommend that you search the Importing and Burning Category for entries by "toonz" for more information if you really think this will help.

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