CD's will not play...Help!

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I purchased my first iMac approx 6 months ago, and I finally found some time to rip some of my CD's to it. However, when I put a CD in, I hear some faint clicking, and after 10 seconds or so, it self ejects. I have set the preferences to auto open in iTunes, but iTunes does not open. As a matter of fact, nothing at all happens.

Am I doing something wrong, or is my iMac defective? FWIW, it is a refurbished computer that I purchased from Apple directly.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Run a hardware check from Disk Utility, preferably (but not essentially) using the System Restore Disk 1 that came with the computer. From what you post, I suggest that the optical drive itself is faulty. They do fail and quite regularly. What model of iMac is it?
 

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Is the CD player able to play other CDs or pre-recorded CDs? Have you tried another brand of media? Apple refurbished machines carry a full warranty so if the CD burner is defective it should be covered.

Regards.
 
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Run a hardware check from Disk Utility, preferably (but not essentially) using the System Restore Disk 1 that came with the computer. From what you post, I suggest that the optical drive itself is faulty. They do fail and quite regularly. What model of iMac is it?

2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
 
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Is the CD player able to play other CDs or pre-recorded CDs? Have you tried another brand of media? Apple refurbished machines carry a full warranty so if the CD burner is defective it should be covered.

Regards.

It is able to play DVD's; automatically started on it's own without any problem.
 
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I would try other store bought audio cd's.
Also check out all the settings in iTunes preferences.
 
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I would try other store bought audio cd's.
Also check out all the settings in iTunes preferences.

I have tried multiple CD's, and I get the same result. I have the default set to "Auto open iTunes" when a CD is inserted, but iTunes does not open and the CD ejects.

Does it make any sense that DVD's will play but not CD using the same drive?
 
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I have tried multiple CD's, and I get the same result. Does it make any sense that DVD's will play but not CD using the same drive?

Yes, it does make sense. CD & DVD are burned in quite different ways. What you tell us suggests to me that i) the lens is either dirty or faulty, or ii) the optical drive is faulty or iii) there is a firmware issue (unlikely).

Is it a Matshita drive? They fail repeatedly and regularly.

What happens if you choose Ignore (Sys Prefs > CDs/DVDs) when you insert a music or movie disk, either CD or DVD? If you use that option, you need to go to Disk Utility or (hopefully) your desktop to locate the CD/DVD icon, and then open whatever is on it with whatever application you choose. Not a solution, but an elimination process.
 

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