Actually, it’s a friend’s iMac (no really), and his daughter put a DVD microdisk (the one that usually fits in the center part of the CD tray) into one of the CD readers that slurps it in rather than using a drawer. He has tried everything to get it out, but it won’t grab it since the rollers are toward the front. Turning the computer upside down didn’t help.
I recommended giving it a violent shake, but short of this, is there anything to be done about this other than the repair shop? Will this require installation of a new CD/DVD drive?
I searched under “computer CD”, but I apologize if this has been asked already. Who am I kidding, everyone else read the warning on the DVD case…
I’m not too familiar with iMacs, having a desktop G3 myself, but if it’s like most CD trays,there’s a little “emergency eject hole” in which you can insert a paperclip to eject a stuck CD.
The technique advocated here involves putting the iMac on its face to get the tray in a vertical position when trying to eject the offending DVD. Of course if its still under warranty, you may want to bring it in to avoid making the situation worse by dislodging some other component.
I’m not too familiar with iMacs, having a desktop G3 myself, but if it’s like most CD trays,there’s a little “emergency eject hole” in which you can insert a paperclip to eject a stuck CD.
If you can’t get it to eject using the Macfixit trick, you’re pretty much screwed. You’ll have to take it to the shop and have a tech extract it from the drive. If you’re handy at computer disassembly, you could probably do it yourself, but since opening up an iMac exposes the high-voltage video circuitry (which can electrocute you even when unplugged) I don’t advise anyone except trained techs to do this procedure.
Unfortunately, this isn’t something that Apple covers under warranty. On the other hand, it isn’t something that wrecks your drive either, you’ll just get charged labor.
Apple did put out an advisory that you should never put anything but standard CDs into a self-loading drive. Mini-Cds and business-card CDs (etc) are verboten. It’s probably in the manual somewhere. But the little kiddies don’t read the manuals.
But don’t feel bad, it could be worse. A vendor once sent me a 3.5in floppy disk in a promotional envelope full of mylar confetti. I suppose they thought it was cute, when you opened the envelope the confetti strewed everywhere. Unfortunately, the vendor didn’t realize that 3.5in floppies aren’t sealed (despite the metal shutter). There is a big opening around the spindle. I opened the shutter to look inside the disk, it was full of confetti. If I’d stuck the thing into my drive, it would have blown electrically conductive metalized confetti all over the insides of my machine. I called the vendor and told them they were idiots.
Mwha-ha-ha-ha!!! -That’s ridiculous. Any Mac owner will tell you that there is nothing wrong with Macs. Those mini CD-s are a Microsoft conspiracy!!! - MC
