My 9 year old son decided to try a mini-CD in his slot-loading G3 iMac (iMac DV.) Of course, it wouldn't mount nor would it come out. After searching the net for some suggestions, it became apparent that the only way to remove it was to open the case of the DVD-Rom drive.

I took apart the iMac, removed the DVD-Rom drive and opened the case. The mini-CD didn't want to come out easily but I finally got it out. When I did, I noticed the drive kind of sprung open. I've never taken a DVD-Rom or CD drive apart before so I wasn't sure what I did. I put it back together and reinstalled it.

When I turned on the iMac, the DVD-Rom drive acted like it had a CD stuck in it and tried to eject it. I tried to put an old CD in it and it didn't grab it like it's supposed to.

I'm going to take it apart again to see what I might have done wrong but does anyone have any tips on what I should look for? If it's dead, it's not the end of the world. I have 52X CD-R/RW burner in a firewire case that I can use for it but he loses the ability to watch DVDs on it.

Thanks for any tips you might have.

Michael

This might be your best solution [cgi.ebay.com]

You can get a new, high speed DVD-RW from many vendors for $29-35. newegg.com comes to mind.

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Yeah, I know I can get a new one relatively cheap and I can put it in the external case I have the CD-R/RW drive in but I'm trying to avoid spending money on an old computer. Plus, there's a side of me that just wants to see if I can fix it.

Michael

> there's a side of me that just wants to see if I can fix it.

It doesn't hurt to try, but I think the odds are against you. I've killed a few CD players in my time doing similar stuff.

Having learned my lesson, rather than cracking open the metal enclosure, I would have removed the drive and then tried using a metal ruler or hemostat to pull out the disc.