Burnt out optical drive?

arc07693 · arc07693 #1 (**permalink**)

10-16-2011, 05:13 PM

So, my iMac G4 isn't dead. But I think the optical drive is. A while ago, I smelled something burning from my iMac, I thought it was the iMac itself, but I've come to the conclusion it was my optical drive. It was working fine though.

Anyway, I shut off and unplugged my iMac for a few days. Yesterday, I opened it up, checked the connections, everything was as it should be (besides a missing screw on the metal grate-type thing below the drive door), so I closed it back up. I tried installing Tiger off of the DVD. Nothing. The drive ejects, but doesn't read. Doesn't even spin.

So I installed Tiger from a USB drive. Install went fine.

Tried putting in a game CD, it ejects, but, again, doesn't read.

Is my drive dead? Where would I go about getting a cheap replacement?

Thanks for your advice and opinions!

hughvane · hughvane #2 (**permalink**)

10-18-2011, 11:02 PM

Don't mess about with a faulty optical drive, which may cause even further problems with things like the psu and logic board. Cut your losses and install a new (Pioneer recommended) drive, not a difficult job inside a G4 iMac.

hughvane #2 (permalink)
Member Since: May 18, 2008 Location: Banks Peninsula, New Zealand Posts: 3,269 Mac Specs: MacMini 2.4, 4 Gb, OS 10.9 and 10.6; MacBook 2.4, 2 Gb, OS 10.6.8	10-18-2011, 11:02 PM Don't mess about with a faulty optical drive, which may cause even further problems with things like the psu and logic board. Cut your losses and install a new (Pioneer recommended) drive, not a difficult job inside a G4 iMac. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Please post your Mac (or other) specs and MacOS version in your post, your profile or your signature. It helps us to help you better. I'm leaving now to go and find myself. If I should return before I get back, please ask me to wait.
	QUOTE Thanks

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arc07693 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 30, 2011 Posts: 22 Mac Specs: iMac G4 800 MHz, 512 MB, 60 GB Hard Drive, Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard	10-16-2011, 05:13 PM So, my iMac G4 isn't dead. But I think the optical drive is. A while ago, I smelled something burning from my iMac, I thought it was the iMac itself, but I've come to the conclusion it was my optical drive. It was working fine though. Anyway, I shut off and unplugged my iMac for a few days. Yesterday, I opened it up, checked the connections, everything was as it should be (besides a missing screw on the metal grate-type thing below the drive door), so I closed it back up. I tried installing Tiger off of the DVD. Nothing. The drive ejects, but doesn't read. Doesn't even spin. So I installed Tiger from a USB drive. Install went fine. Tried putting in a game CD, it ejects, but, again, doesn't read. Is my drive dead? Where would I go about getting a cheap replacement? Thanks for your advice and opinions!
	QUOTE Thanks

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