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Mid 2010 Model A1278 / 2.4 or 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo processor

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Optical Drive mechanics stuck

For a year or so my wife complained that DVD drive is blocked. No sound from mechanics, although System profiler always identifies the drive (Matshita DVD-R UJ898), which means electronics is working (to some level) and electricity is connected.

It is impossible to look inside, because of the protective brushes that hide the inside.

Today I gently poked with a little plastic spudger to see if there was a disc inside. after a few seconds, I managed to extract a little wooden eskimo-stick probably put there by my then 2 year-old daughter.

I was very happy, and immediately tried to stick in a real DVD to see of the drive works.

Mechanics tried to spin-up for a few seconds, did not succeed, and ceased.

Trying to eject also gives a few little faint tries, and cease. Now I DO have a stuck DVD inside…

Maybe there's another wooden stick together with the DVD inside… I don't know.

1. How to extract the DVD from the drive?

2. Is there a force-eject spot in this optical drive which I can push somehow to release what's inside?

3. How to open/take-apart/clean this drive's mechanics?

If I fail - I already know how to replace (there's a guide here).

Thank you very much for any hint.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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I love the story of your daughter poking the wooden stick in!

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Sadly, you will need to take your laptop apart a bit here to take the drive out to either repair it or replace it and hopefully salvage the disk in the process.

Here's the IFIXIT guide you'll need to follow: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 Optical Drive Replacement.

The guide will get you to the drive. The next part is not so easy... Here you'll need to take the cover/s off to then carefully move the eject mechanism manually to take the disk out.

I suspect your daughter had a very wet and sticky stick at the time, so the sugar and other stuff has gummed up the works. Here you'll need some distilled water to carefully wipe the surfaces to extract the dried stuff and free up the gears and arms. Using Q-Tips (cotton swabs) soak the area and then use a dry one to remove the dirty water. You'll also want a can of Can'ed air to blow the little bit of water out you couldn't pickup with the dry Q-Tip. Take care not to dirty the optical lens of the unit in the process.

If you find cleaning it fails to fix it or you would just rather replace the unit thats OK too. These drives are not too expensive.

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TNX !!! I solved very easy with your guide! TNX TNX TNX

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I hadn't a chance to thank @Dan myself, but I did use his guide, to clean the internals of the DVD drive, and it did work for me too. In my case, the problem was (as I suspected) another stick inside the drive, and 2 coins too. Obviously my daughter (now 8!) had great time with that drive. The drive was cleaned, and works flawlessly ever since (and that's some 6 years now).

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Motti Shneor will be eternally grateful.
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