iMac TFT no longer recognizes combo drive

michaelsanford

michaelsanford

Translator, Web Developer
Randomly, today, my iMac TFT 700MHz (OS X 7M34) has failed to respond to the CD tray open button on the keyboard. Thinking the keyboard was to blame I added the eject.menu menu-extra but when clicked it says, in disabled-grey "No devices".

It also doens't display the CD that's in it any more.

When I opened System Information (System Profiler?) I found that my DVD/CD-R drive is no longer listed in the ATA devices pane.

What the heck is going on ? I've rebooted a few times, tried repair permissions (with /usr/sbin/diskutil) and '/usr/sbin/diskutil -yf' from single-user mode, all to no effect.

I also tried booting with the mouse button down, didn't work.

I tried fink's 'eject' yesterday and it worked perfectly.

I've pretty much exhausted my inventiveness, any suggestions ?
 
No because the CD stuck in th drive is The Sims, and since the drive is unresponsive I can't get that CD out to put in the Installer CD.
 
I found this in Apple's knowledge base. It is worth a try.
To eject a disc with Open Firmware commands, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the startup sound, press and hold the key combination Command-Option-O-F.
Note: The Command key has the Apple icon on it.
3. Release the keys when you see a white screen that says "Welcome to Open Firmware."
4. At the prompt, type: eject cd
5. Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject any disc that is present, and "ok" appears behind your command when the action is complete.
6. Type: mac-boot
7. Press Return.

Your computer should now start up normally.


If you still can't get it out, you will probably need to take the iMac in for repair. :(
 
Does it have the pin hole to eject a disk? Could be hard to see and under the door.
 
Cheryl, why didn't I think of that !? Well, I tried it, but, it didn't work. It said 'No EJECT media present' or something to that effect. Thanks anyway :)

bobw, I see something that looks like a narrow horizontal slot that could be a pinhole eject. When I played with it I found that in fact it's the gear that controls the tray. I rotated it until the tray popped open a tiny bit and then pulled it out gently. At least now I retreived the CD, but the drive is definately not under power.

I guess I'll take it in to a tech...thanks everyone.
 
Maybe a silly question, but have you tried the ol' PRAM zap? That's usually the first thing I try when a drive stops being recognized for whatever reason.
 
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