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Model A1311 / Late 2009 / 3.06 or 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo processor

309 Questions View all

Why is My Optical Drive malfunctioning?

When I start up my iMac, and when I wake it from sleep, my optical drive makes a lot of noise and tries to take in and eject a disc, two times for each action. It also doesn't recognise my attempts to insert discs.

e.g. I will try putting a disc in the drive and I can push it all the way in, put the drive does not notice, nor does it draw it in and read it. I need to put my computer into sleep mode and wake it for it to draw it in and read it.

I have tried updating my drive's firmware, yet the installer says I don't need it. I have also looked at google, and tried looking at the discussion boards, however I am unable to access them due to an error with the AppleID servers.

Is this a software problem or a hardware problem, and can i fix it?

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Most Helpful Answer

Sound to me like a hardware problem, likely something is stuck on a disc sensor arm inside the drive.

I say pull the computer apart and take the drive out. Then open up the drive and see if anything inside looks amiss (something stuck in there, arms not moving, etc.)

Let us all know how you got on

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