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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Powerbook 12" G4 Al. Stuck Dvd In Slot Drive

spanchal - Jul 1, 2005 - 1:28 pm

Dear sirs

I inserted a new, legal DVD (Great Escape) for a different region to the one set on my laptop. I decided to not change the region and hit eject. The DVD icon disappeared from the desktop and then reappeared again asking me if I wanted to change regions. The DVD would not eject. I tried all the different "tricks" such has holding the trackpad on reboot, tapping the bottom whilst ejecting, memory resets, even the "eject cd" firmware and the paper clip methods but nothing worked. I finally called Apple support, who for $50 concluded that I would have to take the unit in to an Apple service centre. I do not have an Apple service centre anywhere near me (I'm near Cancun in Mexico) so this option is useless to me.

Eventually I decided to change the DVD region to see if that helped. It did not. The DVD runs just fine, it just refuses to eject. I played the DVD to the end and then tried again but still no joy. Each time the DVD icon will momentarily dissapear from the desktop and then reappear ready to run.

I am reasonably technically competent and am willing to take the unit apart if need be (although I would need instructions on how to do so). I have also read that I might be able to solve this problem by running certain UNIX commands from the Terminal. If that is the case could you please give me instructions (or tell me where to find them) to run the terminal and the commands as I have never used the Terminal before.

I am running OS X 10.4 tiger with the latest software upgrade, but I don't have the version number at hand. The slot drive is a combo cd burner / dvd reader. The laptop is just over 2 years old.

thoule - Jul 1, 2005 - 1:34 pm

Hi-
Sorry to hear it's stuck - You can get a CD out of a drive at boot up by holding down the mouse button. Turn on the computer and immediatly hold down the mouse button. The disk should pop out, then the computer will boot. It's a long story why it's mouse button- I'll tell you that another time if you're interested Hope this helps!
Todd

spanchal - Jul 4, 2005 - 5:45 pm

Thanks for your reply Todd. I presume you mean the trackpad button? Unfortunately the dvd does not eject even with that method. Is there anything else I can try?

thoule - Jul 4, 2005 - 6:17 pm

Hmmm- it sounds more like it's physically stuck instead of software-stuck. I think the next thing you can do is to look for the paperclip hole on the left side. Looking into the slot, you'll see a hold- you can insert a straightened paperclip in that hold to force the hardware to eject. Give that a try. Don't mess with it too much- you don't want to damage any equipment in there.

Sadly, if it doesn't work, then you'll need to bring the laptop to a hardware technician to see what they can do. Good luck!

Todd