The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer

[bayoutwang]

I have a macbook 13" purchased one-year and 15 days ago (just out of warranty - figures). Inserting any music cd (commercial music, burned mp3) generates the following message "The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer" and provides me with the option of "ignore" or "eject". If choose "ignore" disc does not mount. If "eject" it ejects with no problem. Other cd media (data, pics, software) and dvds work fine.
I have repaired disk permissions, have it set to open iTunes when a music cd is inserted, and am running OS X 10.6.1 with all software updates (including iTunes 9.0.1).

At first I thought it was a hardware issue but now thinking it is possibly software related. Anyone have suggestions on what is going on?


mb 2.4 core 2 duo, 2gb memory, 250gb hd, osx 10.6.1

 

[cwa107]

Sounds like a bad Superdrive to me, unfortunately. Try booting off your System Discs to rule out a software issue.

 

[chscag]

It may be a defective Superdrive as cwa107 has said, however, try cleaning the drive first. You can pick up an optical drive cleaning kit at most stores which sell computer accessories.

It is rather strange that the drive works OK with DVD media and not an audio CD. It's usually the other way around as it requires a higher amount of optical power to play a DVD than a CD.

Regards.

 

[bayoutwang]

I was afraid that it might be the superdrive.

I have booted from the install disc and it begins the set up process without a problem.
I will look into a optical drive cleaning before tapping my bank account.
Thanks. I'll post the outcome.

 

[cwa107]

Very strange that it only seems to effect CDs. I'd tend to agree, try a CD cleaner and see if that helps. It's not like you have anything to lose at this point.

And if you have to replace the Superdrive, you can find parts and how-tos at ifixit.com

 

[bayoutwang]

Update and outcome:
I tried a optical disc cleaner - no change
So I brought it to the Apple Store and they diagnosed it as a bad optical drive. I had them replace it becasue it wasn't much more than purchasing a refurbished drive and installing it myself. They also helped diagnose a high temperature cpu and abnormally high fan speed (a dashboard widget that was sucking 30% of system resources).

The downside is that there also was some unexplained software issue(s) which required them to re-install the original OS (10.5, I had since upgraded to SL). In doing so they renamed my computer something completely different than what it was (why they didn't use the same name I have no idea), but now I'm stuck with the Genuises name for my computer.

I know this is out of this forum, but any way to change the name without a re-install?

Thanks for your second opinions and suggestions, made me feel better when throwing down the cash that it would be the correct fix.

 

[cwa107]

Is it just the name of the main account? If so, simply create a new account and delete the old one.