I have lost the use of the dvd/cd player in my 867 mac.<br>I think it is completely dead. I hear no sound, can't open the<br>drive with the open key and can't restart from system disk by holding the C key. (the disk is in there too). I talked to mac support and they said my 3 month phone support is up so it will cost $45 bucks a pop to talk to them. <br><br>Before I send this in for repair does anyone have any suggestions?<br><br>and is there a way to open the drive and get the disk out?<br><br>Bofreddy<br><br>bofreddy

Sounds like one of them reasons why Apple shouldn't have discontinued the eject button on the door of the CD drive. <br><br>You might try F12 key, although I suspect it won't work if keyboard "eject" ("open") key won't work. Also, if disk mounts, try putting it in trash.<br><br>I'd also fiddle with the door a little. Push in and wiggle it around a little to see if that frees up jam. You don't mention if the CD (DVD, whatever) mounts on desktop or not. This likely won't work if it won't mount. If it will mount (or you get error message and click on "eject") then wiggle door as you click message (or put in trash, whatever).<br><br>If a restart, cold restart (using off/on switch of Mac) fails to bring up a message of some kind about the CD (won't initialize, won't mount, something along those lines) that suggests a visit to authorized Apple service center is necessary. <br><br>Good luck.<br><br>128k_Mac<br>"When in doubt, reboot" - CaseCom

Try restarting and holding down the mouse button right before the happy Mac appears. Also, if the drive has a paper-clip "emergency eject" slot, then now is probably an appropriate time to use it. Many drives have this, although sometimes they are hard to see.<br><br>

hey thanks for the suggestions of couse none worked.<br>Having the cd drive replaced. I just hope they remember to take my work disk out before disposal.<br><br>What were they thinking when they took the eject button out?<br>They also took out the microphone in plugin<br>all that wonderful voice activation software and you gotta buy a USB microphone.<br><br>Anyway, thanks<br>Bofreddy<br><br>Your tone, It's all wrong. Do it again and I'll stab ya in the face with a sawdering iron!!! "Joe Dirt"

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>What were they thinking when they took the eject button out?<br>They also took out the microphone in plugin<br>all that wonderful voice activation software and you gotta buy a USB microphone.<br><p><hr></blockquote><p><br>1. They weren't thinking.<br>2. See #1<br><br><br><br><br><br>128k_Mac<br><br>"The box said 'Requires Windows XP or better' so I bought a Macintosh." - Anonymous

I had to take it to compUSa cause they were the only Mac place in okc I actually had to go in and show them what to do. HAHAHAh<br>First I had them put the cdpplayer in a different computer and it worked. (the guy said thats a good Idea) Then we made sure it wasnt the software. so I checke the cables to the CD player and motherboard (hooked it to another puter and it worked. So we decided it has to be in the motherboard. They are ordering a new one. But the interesting thing I found out was that by holding the mouse button down during the start up, you can open the cd. and if that doesnt work, open the door to the CD player and you can find the hole for the paperclip eject.<br><br>Just thought you would like to know that they didnt completely screw up.<br><br>Bofreddy<br><br>Your tone, It's all wrong. Do it again and I'll stab ya in the face with a sawdering iron!!! "Joe Dirt"

Unfortunately the trick of holding down the mouse button is rarely of value. I've never known it to work any better than dragging an icon to the trash. It can be helpful when restarting an older Mac or one from the OS9 generation if one forgets to restart with a different drive, but rarely, if ever, for ejecting problem media.<br><br>With lack of an external button, since the door can't be readily opened, access to the hole for the paper clip is not especially helpful.<br><br>The paper clip has always manually cause the drive (whether floppy or now CD) to cycle. It's real advantage lies in most cases when multiple floppies or CDs have been inserted.<br><br>Yes indeed it happens. I have seen it too many times. Children are the usual sources of this dilemma, although adults have been known to do it as well. With adults it happens when a CD is inserted and it doesn't mount, they're distracted, then turn back to the task at hand and see no CD on the desktop so they insert a second one. This is one reason I've always like the tray CD drive mechanisms better.<br><br>When two (or 3, or 4, or 5) CDs are inserted into a slot-loading iMac, for example, the technique that works (other than disassembling the Mac by an authorized technician) is to use all three of your hands to insert a paper clip to activate the motor whilst carefully inserting another CD about half way, lifting up on the part in the hand so as to exert a little pressure on the "stack" of CDs in the drive, then carefully "dragging" out the top CD.<br><br>The process is repeated until all CDs are extracted. This method rarely harms the CDs stuck in the drive. However, it usually trashes the CD being used for retrieval so it's recommended that a CD that's become tiresom be used.<br><br>This can be accomplished with two hands, but three work much better, with two on the CD being inserted, the third being used to insert the paper clip. It should be noted that some care be used in inserting the "retrieval CD" and this is where two hands grasping it are helpful, lest it be sucked into the drive and join the rest.<br><br>(No, this is not a method which will be recommended if you call Tech Support at Apple. A similar method, or simply a kitchen knife, can also be used to solve "multiple floppy" situations.)<br><br>There may, perhaps, be a means of gently prying open the tray door of the present G4 towers in order to access the paper clip hole, but it strikes me this wouldn't do the mechanism any good.<br><br>Since I don't have one of the present models handy, do you simply insert something like a knife blade to pop open the tower's door in order to access the hole?<br><br>Mac owners since 1984 have always had a "Mac Tool" (straightened paperclip) handy. In the bad old days that was the quick and dirty means of ejecting a floppy that was stuck. No sensible Mac owner computed without one.<br><br>For whatever reason some Macs have not worked with the mouse button down method. Unusual, as it becomes part of the boot process and occurs well before the OS loads. Some "Macs" that weren't, i.e., the Clones, didn't have the functionality of holding down the "c" key in order to force a CD to become the startup disk during the boot process.<br><br>I've never understood why Apple left that out as they provided the mother boards, and most certainly the ROM chips, for many of the clones. Some may have had it but I know that UMAX didn't and their high end motherboards, like the ones in the two s900 models I owned, were built by/for Apple.<br><br>Sorry to hear it's your motherboard. Hope a new one solves the problem. Since you're dealing with a motherboard replacement that should go smoothly. Even CompUSA techs would have to work at it to foul of that "repair."<br><br>128k_Mac<br><br>"The box said 'Requires Windows XP or better' so I bought a Macintosh." - Anonymous

Well I guess somehow I lost my CD-DVD Drivers from the <br>System Extensions folder. OOPS!!! Can't figure out how I did that.<br>Anyway, I got a new CD-DVD Drive and a new motherboard <br>out of the deal.<br><br>Do I feel Like a Moron.<br><br>Your tone, It's all wrong. Do it again and I'll stab ya in the face with a sawdering iron!!! "Joe Dirt"

You got two new pieces of hardware and you feel like a moron? I should be so lucky! <br><br>And that's true too.--Shakespeare, King Lear

hey, I agree with yoyo52. <br><br>besides, I can't imagine them replacing the mobo and drive if there wasn't a problem. if indeed you didn't have the software installed that didn't break the hardware imo.<br><br>glad it's fixed, but sorry you had so much frustration.<br><br>128k_Mac<br><br>"The box said 'Requires Windows XP or better' so I bought a Macintosh." - Anonymous