Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

ibook DVD keeps ejecting

Jun 19, 2007 10:35PM PDT

Hello again..
My newly revived ibook is great,but i have a few problems that i just can't work out & im hoping you guys might be able to help me please.
The ibook is 500MHz PowerPC G3
Dual USB
256 MB SDRAM
DVD/CD Combo
Firewire
Mac OS X Version 10.3.9
I seem to have three problems,the date keeps reverting back to 1970,the mouse/trackpad won't work no matter what i try,and i can't play dvd's.
For the moment i would be grateful of any suggestions about the dvd problem. All i can tell you is that music cd's play fine as do the OS cd's but the movies just keep ejecting after about 10 seconds. There is also a clicking noise coming from the dvd drive when a dvd is in it but not when a cd is in it.
The only movie software i have is imovie,so this morning i downloaded Apple DVD software but that hasn't made any difference,infact i can't get it to run. I think thats something to do with not having a classic system folder? So maybe the dvd software i downloaded was for an older version but im sure it was for OS X..
Iv googled the problem with the dvd as well as searched it here on Cnet but i can't find a thread which properly matches my problem,so i keep going round in circles.
Thanks everyone.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Actually I've seen that issue.
Jun 19, 2007 10:43PM PDT

It was a zombie drive or half dead. Drove it's owner nuts since they couldn't accept the drive was dead. Yes it played CDs but not the DVD anymore. It took about a year for them to give in and swap the drive out. I even got lucky and was able to show them another drive doing the same thing without a PC or Mac attached. Then I'd put a new drive in and the problem would disappear. Even then it was another 6 months till they replaced the drive. No one knows how much time they spent "trying to fix it."

In closing, see if new firmware is out for said drive.

Bob

- Collapse -
Brilliant!
Jun 19, 2007 10:49PM PDT

Brilliant because its been driving me nuts for a week or two & im going to take your word for it! I dont want to spend silly amounts of time banging my head against a brick wall..
Just one thing though,'new firmware for said drive'? do you mean an update to iron out any bugs?
thanks Bob

Bev

- Collapse -
About firmware.
Jun 19, 2007 11:32PM PDT

It's very specific to that drive so I can't offer much more pointers to where to find it. Try apple.com but if you can get the exact make and model you can dig on google.com to see if you can find it.

Yes it may correct an error. One such error is laser calibration or add recognizing DVD+R disks.

Bob

- Collapse -
Yeh i think ive found it
Jun 19, 2007 11:46PM PDT

on google but for the xp. I think it is a Matshita cr-177 from what the system profiler says. Can't find it at Apple at the moment but i will keep searching. Its definately worth a try before buying a new one.
Thanks again!

- Collapse -
iDVD
Jun 20, 2007 4:21AM PDT

runs on a system that has an Apple recognized DVD burner installed.

If/When you decide to swap that defective drive out, you might consider the SuperDrive as an option. (Burns both CD and DVD)
They can be had fairly cheaply

P

- Collapse -
iDVD
Jun 20, 2007 8:48PM PDT

& a superdive is certainly worth considering if i do swap the drive as we don't have a dvd burner on any of the computers in the house,just DVD players. I would really like to keep this little ibook,but i have to iron out the problems with it soon as it's starting to niggle me!
I received the Mac 802.11 WiFi adapter today from the US,so hopefully i won't have to be wired upto my router after iv installed it later today.
Then im going to have to purchase a new battery so that im not hooked upto the mains all the time. Then i think i will tackle the DVD drive,then hopefully the mouse problem. Im beginning to think the original owner either bought a duff or has not looked after the ibook.
Thanks P

Bev