repair cd player optical head

[frankhatton]

I have run the hard drive utility but this doesn't repair the cd player. dvds play ok.

 

[pigoo3]

Sorry...but a very confusing post. To begin with...why would you expect a "hard drive utility" to repair a cd player. A cd player is not a hard drive...and a hard drive is not a cd player.

But the bottom line is...if there's something wrong with the computers optical drive (the term for the cd player/dvd player)...software cannot fix a hardware issue (if something mechanical is at fault). Either the optical drive has failed in some way...it's dirty and needs to be cleaned with some canned compressed air...or the CD or DVD that is being used is dirty or scratched up.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. Thread moved to better area. Not really a "Switcher Hangout" topic. Thanks

 

[IWT]

Welcome to our Forums.

Let's assume that you reporting a fault with your Mac's optical drive. And let's assume that Admin Nick's suggestions don't sort the problem.

It is vastly cheaper and easier simply to buy a USB driven external optical drive from, say, Amazon than to attempt any kind of repair.

Avoid Apple's Super Drive not only because it is way more expensive, but also because it will not work with Macs that have an inbuilt optical drive.

Ian

 

[RadDave]

............
Avoid Apple's Super Drive not only because it is way more expensive, but also because it will not work with Macs that have an inbuilt optical drive.....

Hi Ian - now, I was aware of that warning above but not certain why? So w/ a little searching, found THIS DISCUSSION, which included the quote below from another BLOG POST - so appears that there is a 'work around' but not sure that I'd want to give the terminal directions a try - Dave

Apparently, Apple engineers had the need to test the Superdrive with non-MacBook Air computers themselves, so the driver already has an option built-in to work on officially unsupported machines! All you need to do is enable that option, as follows:

The driver recognizes a boot parameter named “mbasd” (Mac Book Air Super Drive), which sets a flag in the driver which both overrides the check for the MBA and also tweaks something related to USB power management (the Superdrive probably needs more power than regular USB allows).

 

[IWT]

Great find Dave.

Like you, I wouldn't venture into Terminal territory especially I'd it's working around the inbuilt system.

Anyway, the alternatives are a lot cheaper.

Thanks for the post.

Ian

 

[frankhatton]

have moved on since told am able to upgrade

I have run the hard drive utility but this doesn't repair the cd player. dvds play ok.

Have since found that I can upgrade ram and os to el capitan (maybe sierra) and will check dvd player then.

 

[IWT]

Don't be too shocked when you find that RAM and operating system have little or nothing to do with whether the optical drive works or otherwise.

Ian

 

[RadDave]

Have since found that I can upgrade ram and os to el capitan (maybe sierra) and will check dvd player then.

Don't be too shocked when you find that RAM and operating system have little or nothing to do with whether the optical drive works or otherwise........

Hello Frank - I'd have to agree w/ Ian, i.e. your steps at the top will likely not solve the issue w/ your optical drive - typically, if one or the other optical mechanisms malfunctions, then the problem is w/ the specific laser - quote "If a DVD drive refuses to read CDs but will read DVDs, or vice versa, the mostly likely cause is that one of the two read lasers has failed. Replace the drive." from iFixit Optical Drive Troubleshooting - take a look at the link for suggestions. Dave

 

[pm-r]

I reinforce using a proper cheap optical disk cleaner and a bunch of good blasts of compressed cleaning air as mentioned, with the extension tube stuck into the disk cavity and moved around.

It could be just a dirty lens and there are two of them. One for CDs and another for DVDs.

A good cleaning disk will often have directions for which "cleaning track" to play and for which lens. Some have multiple little brushes so they'll clean almost anything in their path. As long as it's just a dust or dirt problem.




- Patrick
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[frankhatton]

USB driven external optical drive from Amazon or eBay

Don't be too shocked when you find that RAM and operating system have little or nothing to do with whether the optical drive works or otherwise.

Ian

Thanks and I like your advice to buy a USB driven external optical drive from, say, Amazon.