iBook - Major optical drive problems

my iBook g3 (900mhz Dual USB) optical drive has been really acting up
It Makes really strange noises with no media inserted
and when media is in the drive, like dvds and cds
it will either say that its empty
make some weird noises and spit it out
or say that its a blank dvd, when its either a normal cd dvd (with content)
could this be a firmware or driver problem
some assistance and/or advice would be greatly appreciated

-Emoguy