Mar 14, 2007

Ejectile dysfunction: CD is stuck in the drive!


My CD/DVD burner drive won't let me insert a disk. I think it thinks there's a disk already in there but there isn't. Is there a way to get it "unlocked?"

So, is this a "slot-loading" or do you put the disc in a tray that pops out?

Reminds me of the time at Kinko's when the older lady put the CD into the 5 1/4" floppy disc drive. A Windows computer, natch, and I wish I had a picture of the look on my face. I seem to recall that those damn PCs were bolted down. I giggled a lot.

Either way, try opening iTunes and pushing the eject button at bottom right. If that doesn't work, follow these instructions:

From macosxhints.com: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031210193237190)


I had a CD get stuck in my slot-loading superdrive Aluminum Powerbook, running 10.3. The CD became unresponsive and not recognized by my computer at all! Here is the fix:

Hold Control-Command-Option-Eject Button; this will shut down your computer. Turn the power on with the power button and hold Command-Option-O-F -- this will boot you into open firmware. Now type
eject cd
and hit the Return key and wait until the CD pops out. Type

mac-boot

and you are ready to rock!
[robg adds:
As mentioned elsewhere on the site, you can also try holding the mouse button down during boot to force the system to eject any inserted CDs.]

2 comments:

r harvey said...

I can get the cd to pop part of the way out using the open firmware instructions but it is stuck - any ideas?

The Mac Whisperer said...

Depends if you've got a tray-loading or a slot-loading drive. If slot-, I would be afraid of breaking it, and would take it into the Apple Store or another authorized place. If tray-loading, those are easily replaced; I might suggest gently yanking on it until the tray came all the way out.