SuperDrive Rejects Certain CDs + DVDs

Before I clarify my problem, I'll clarify this mac's specs:
- Early-2008 MacBook, 13-inch
- 500GB 7200RPM SATA HDD
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- Mac OS X Lion 10.7 (although this problem has also happened on SL)
- Superdrive MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857E: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R DL,
DVD+R DL

My Superdrive has been rejecting certain discs lately, to my annoyance. Yesterday, I was doing a clean install of this MB. I was at the point of inserting the Install Disc 2 (10.5.2) and the drive reved up 3 times, then spit the disc out again. I tried many times, trying things like resetting PRAM and cleaning the disc, but it wouldn't work. But I was able to bypass the installation on disc 2 by reinstalling disc 1 and skipping installing from disc 2 altogether.

Now, I want to install the included bundled software with the Mac, such as iMovie, located on Install Disc 2, but I'm facing the same problems as during the clean installation. I also want to use Boot Camp to install Win 7 but like the install disc, it rejected the Win7 CD. Every other disc I've tried to insert in the drive mounts fine, and the rejected discs mount fine on my other Windows XP PC.

Is the problem more likely with the affected CD's or with the drive itself? I heard that Superdrive is picky about mounting CDs with copyright protection, but I wasn't too sure about the reliability of that information. Also, any suggestions to correct this problem?

This is interesting, my 2006 macbook just started doing the same thing yesterday. Sometimes I think software updates cause problems. I just did the latest update. Could be a coincidence.

Try cleaning the drive. If there are any variations on the media, a dirty lens may not read it and it'd get ejected.

I'm a little reluctant to take apart my MacBook since I'm a little clumsy and tend to misplace a lot of things (like the billion screws that need to be unscrewed along the way).

If I happen to take apart the MB and fail to put it back together, about how much would I expect Apple or a retailer to charge me to reassemble all the components?

Take it apart?

Nah, just try something like this


Amazon.com: Maxell DVD-LC DVD Lens Cleaner (Blue): Electronics

btw, that's just the first hit on my search, I have a different one.. they all work pretty much in the same manner.

Would blowing compressed air into the drive work as far as "cleaning" the drive?

One of the major problems associated with slot loaders ~ they have a high failure rate affecting MacBooks, Minis and iMacs. Have a look through the threads.

Now this is strange...

The first time I put the disc in the drive (or at least the first time after a few hours time frame), it mounts fine, but if I eject it and put the disc back in the drive, it fails to mount. At least this is the case for the Win7 install disc... most other discs mount fine every time.

I just posted a new thread addressing my sudden DVD drive issues.

By any chance have you used/installed MacKeeper? Other than the change in OS, that was the only thing new I had added.

I would gladly revert back to Tiger as a baseline if I could get the Disc to read.

gbouchzoo said:

I just posted a new thread addressing my sudden DVD drive issues.

By any chance have you used/installed MacKeeper? Other than the change in OS, that was the only thing new I had added.

I would gladly revert back to Tiger as a baseline if I could get the Disc to read.

Click to expand...

Nope, never even heard of MacKeeper before reading the changelog for a Mac OS X Software Update, saying "Removes versions of MacKeeper".

Okay, I (finally) got a lens cleaner for the optical drive. Instructions said to place it in the drive, press "PLAY", let it spin. I placed it in the drive, but like other DVD's, it just ejected it after a few rotations. I thought, "Well, that's okay, as long as the cleaning disc spun a few times, but the drive still rejected DVD's.

But CD's can be read fine. Any other tips, besides taking apart the MB?

bump.

failing matshita dvd-r on macbook

I have the identical? setup that allen12 reports:
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857E:
Firmware Revision: ZF1E
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View >Refresh

My problems have been intermittent, and various; it has generated many frisbees over the past year, and it only once in awhile [when stone cold?] will read a CD [and let me import music to iTunes]; it hasn't just spit out a disk like others are reporting but often the disk won't mount. I've been contemplating buying an external superdrive for my Macbook, but it finally dawned on me that perhaps firmware is the problem, and that perhaps someone smart can help me out of this. Thanks in advance for any help.