Macbook Pro Superdrive (More Drive, Less Super?)

Kris

Hey all. Since receiving my Macbook Pro (15", last gen of old case design) the Superdrive has been a bit finicky, sometimes spitting a disc out after first inserting it, but then happily accepting it when reinserted. However, lately it's been a bit more problematic. Some discs won't be accepted no matter how many times I try to insert it (ex. Wu-Tang Clan - Forever), some discs will eventually load after like 5-10 tries (Nas - Lost Tapes), and some discs will work on first insert sometimes, but never work other times (CD-R's for instance). What happens is that I insert the disc, I can hear the drive spin up, and then about 10 seconds later it spits the disc out. However, many discs still work no problem first try.

Back when the Mac thread existed, I remember some other people saying they had the same issues. Is this pretty much par for the course as far as Superdrive's are concerned? Or should I be taking this in to my local Apple store to get all fixed up? Am I a huge pussy for even asking this question? :P

wunderbar

I'd be making an appointment to the genius bar.

ZackSchilling

My superdrive cannot burn CDs or DVDs anymore in addition to the type of problem you're describing. You'll need to get it replaced. Yes, failure does seem par for the course on these things.

LoneIgadzra

Yeah my superdrive was a worthless POS that I had to replace within 6 months as well.

Ziggymon

Had my drive from my old macbook replaced, one problem someone told me that the casing around the slot of the drives were weak in design and would bend in under any pressure, thus causing similar problems to what you are experiencing. The genius bar guy told me the same thing when i got it replaced.

KalTorak

ZackSchilling wrote: »

My superdrive cannot burn CDs or DVDs anymore in addition to the type of problem you're describing. You'll need to get it replaced. Yes, failure does seem par for the course on these things.

Same here. It kept reading discs for a while, but now I have a hard time getting it to do that. Luckily I had an old DVD-RW drive hanging around that I stuck in an enclosure and hooked up via firewire, but if you're still under warranty then get it checked out at an Apple store post-haste.

Kris

Thanks for the replies guys! Guess I'll make an appointment with the "geniuses" at the Apple Store next week.

Hallucinogen

I must be really lucky. The top of my PowerBook's case got bent down into the superdrive enough to curve the disc slot to near unusability, but the drive is still working fine. It makes unpleasant noises pretty frequently though.

KalTorak

Hallucinogen wrote: »

I must be really lucky. The top of my PowerBook's case got bent down into the superdrive enough to curve the disc slot to near unusability, but the drive is still working fine. It makes unpleasant noises pretty frequently though.

That happened to me too - I must have grabbed it too hard. I was actually lucky to get a very nice and helpful Apple genius when I brought it in - he told me it wasn't covered by the warranty and to replace it I'd need a whole bottom case piece, which would be like hundreds of dollars. Then he offered to take it in the back and try to fiddle with it - fixed it up just as good as new, didn't charge me a thing.