Black screen and CDs not being read correctly by CDRW drive

[cronjob78]

Powerbook G4 running OS 10.4.7
I'm also running os 9.2.2 on another partition but rarely use it.
CDRW drive

Problem: CDs not being read correctly by CDRW drive.

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When I insert a 5 track audio CD the computer only picks up tracks 1,3 and 5. Similarly for a ten track CD it will not 'see' 2 or 3 tracks. The missing tracks are random for different CDs.

iTunes opens automatically when I insert an audio CD but the CD does not show up in the program. I cannot burn CDs on iTunes, Toast or Adaptec Jam.

When I insert an audio CD, the drive sounds as you would expect. It puts the audio CD icon on the desktop and I can open a window to show the tracks (won't show missing tracks as mentioned). When I try to drag them to the desktop it puts up a progress window but makes no progress. All CDs work fine in other machines.

When I insert a system CD like Tiger installer, hardware test etc. it tells me that the volume I have inserted is not readable before the screen goes black. When I open and close the screen it comes back on for a few seconds before going black again. I can't boot from CD - it seems to ignore the fact that I'm holding down 'c' when I restart.

I have verified and repaired all disk permissions. I did this from within Tiger and also from the single user prompt using the FSCK -yf command.
In OS X I tried adding another user account and logging on this with this.
I also reset the PRAM, waiting for the five chimes etc.

I notice that the light on the power connection flickers anytime the processor/hard drive does any work. I don't think used to happen.

I have set the sleep time for battery and power to 'never'.

When I boot in OS 9 the same problem exists. When I insert an audio CD, the screen goes black. When I close the Powerbook and open it again the screen comes back on briefly. A window appears telling me (incorrectly) that a blank CD has been inserted and asks me if I would like to eject or initialize it.

Everything else about the computer is working perfectly.

The last time I can remember the CD drive working correctly (I rarely use it) was to install Virtual PC. When I boot Virtual PC and insert a CD the screen goes black (the white sleeper light also goes off). Again, I can close it and wake it up but as soon as it checks the CD drive it goes black again almost straight away giving me no option but to force a reboot. I uninstalled Virtual PC to no avail.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[cronjob78]

Mac info -> Profile -> CD burning:

Basically the drive is recognised and says it supports burning etc. which makes me think there is some internal hardware problem.

(for some reason explorer quits when I try to access macosx.com on my mac - so posting this from a PC)

[DeltaMac]

Your optical drive (the CD-RW) is failing/failed, or you are losing power when a disk is inserted. Does the CD eject OK when you try?
Can you get an audio CD to play any songs (through iTunes, or other) I suspect the display goes black when you try that , also.
Put your Tiger installer (or another bootable CD) in the drive and reboot while holding the Option key. You should see any bootable volumes on that Boot Option screen - Do you?

If you can't get the system to respond to a CD, then the optical drive needs to be replaced....

[cronjob78]

Thanks for the prompt and helpful reply.

Your optical drive (the CD-RW) is failing/failed, or you are losing power when a disk is inserted. Does the CD eject OK when you try?

Drive ejects correctly and when requested to. Obviously not a diagnosis on its own but the drive sounds mechanically normal. No odd sounds - whirrs up as it always did etc. If there's a problem with it then it must be the laser.

Can you get an audio CD to play any songs (through iTunes, or other) I suspect the display goes black when you try that , also.

Can't play any audio CD. I can click on the track icons on the CD but the system doesn't seem to know what its doing.

Put your Tiger installer (or another bootable CD) in the drive and reboot while holding the Option key. You should see any bootable volumes on that Boot Option screen - Do you?

I only see the "macintosh hard drive" icon.

If you can't get the system to respond to a CD, then the optical drive needs to be replaced....

Pretty much as I suspected. Its 4 years old so I'm not too surprised.
I'll take it to a repair shop and let you know the conclusion. Might be helpful to somebody with the same symptoms in the future.