08-13-2009, 10:02 AM

My old Core-based Macbook lay dormant for 3 or 4 months because the HDD died. I finally found the original drive and got it back up and running. The problem is, the super drive isn't working, which sorta impede my attempts to get a fresh install of Leopard to replace this ancient Tiger install.

Mac OS X still acknowledges it in the System Profiler, and the eject button in iTunes will occasionally elicit that ineffable sound of the drive when ejecting a disc or when the 'book is powered on (Normally, it doesn't do much of anything on power up ATM), but it won't accept discs, and it's not seen under Disc Utility.

I'm pretty much stumped here.. The only thing I can think of at this point is throwing a LiveCD on a USB drive to see if the drive is seen under Linux.

08-13-2009, 10:30 AM

The simple answer to the problem may be that your Superdrive is broken.

Just because the System Profiler shows it, and just because the Superdrive makes the occasional noise when you do something...does not mean that the Superdrive can be made to work.

You have made some valiant attempts to get it to work...but if it's broke...it's broke.

You could make one additional attempt...try cleaning the Superdrive.

Here's a link with a simple method:

Cleaning a DVD or CD-Rom Drive

- Nick