I have something blocking entry of DVDs into the drive on my 2009 Mackbook Pro

[tanthony]

I use my DVD/CD drive to watch movies, etc, and also burn cds at times. This spring after ejecting a movie I had just watched, the drive quit working. I could no longer put a disc in. Something in the right side (near the monitor) is blocking entry. Some pin or mechanism is in the way and will not move. I tried using the terminal and inputting the command: drutil eject , to no avail. Also tried shutting down and rebooting, while holding down the left side clicker on the touchpad (was suggested by someone?) but that is of no use either. Any suggestions would be much appreciated Thanks

 

[chscag]

The slot loading drives on Macs are more fragile and subject to failure than tray loaders. If you've gotten 6 years of usage from the drive, consider yourself lucky. It sounds like the drive mechanism may have failed. Your choices: replace the drive or use an external drive instead. You actually have a third choice... remove the drive and try to repair it.

 

[Rod]

I think you could buy an external for less than the price of repair or replacement by Apple.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

 

[IWT]

@tanthony,

I know that I've posted this info several times before, but I think it's worth a repeat:

If you decide to purchase an external optical drive (that would be my choice); don't be tempted by Apple's Super Drive. It will not work on any Mac which shipped with an internal optical drive.

For half the price of the super drive, you can acquire a perfectly serviceable optical drive - try Amazon, for example.

Ian

 

[tanthony]

So the SuperDrive won't work with my Mackbook..., Will one built buy Memorex or some other company for PC's work on a Mack??

 

[chscag]

Most any external USB optical drive will work with your MacBook Pro. There is one problem, however. Any software that defaults to the internal optical drive will not work properly with an external drive. iDVD is one program that you may have which will not work with an external drive. There are others.

 

[IWT]

@tanthony,

The reason Apple's Super Drive won't work is related to the hard-wired arrangement of those Macs that ship with an internal optical drive. They won't recognise the Super Drive. There is nothing wrong with the Super Drive (apart from the cost).

More or less any make of external Optical Drive will work. They are generally not platform-specific; ie they will work with Macs or PCs. So, if you have one already, try it.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

@tanthony,

I know that I've posted this info several times before, but I think it's worth a repeat:

If you decide to purchase an external optical drive (that would be my choice); don't be tempted by Apple's Super Drive. It will not work on any Mac which shipped with an internal optical drive.

For half the price of the super drive, you can acquire a perfectly serviceable optical drive - try Amazon, for example.

Ian

+10000!!!!!

And many of the non-Apple drives are often better and faster.

Just make sure any internal replacement, if going that route is Mac compatible, most are now, and most all "normal" external optical drives are.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MMB5SD8XDLK/
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2009+Optical+Drive+Replacement/1368
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2009+Optical+Drive+Replacement/1728

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- Patrick
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