[Cyan421]

There is something in my CD drive. It's a G4 Mac Mini. It won't even pull a disk in. I can push the disk in past where it would normally take over and pull it in. I think there is something small in there, my wife seems to think there is an SD card missing. It looks pretty simple (from youtube videos) to get the case opened, but that doesn't really get me into the optical drive.

What I'm wondering is if I should spend the probably $200 of bench time to have a pro fix it, or if i could possibly get the thing out myself. No Apple store here in boise but there are certified repair guys.

[Janichsan]

Slot-in drives are pretty vulnerable to this. You might try getting the object out with a wire hook, but when it's completely stuck you probably can't do anything but replace the drive. Attempts to take apart the drive are usually a sure way to break it completely. Those things are pretty sensitive and finely calibrated.

[Sneaky Snake]

I'd try to fix it yourself. If the worst happens and you break it you can always buy an external USB dvd drive for about $40

[teflon]

Agreed. I've never taken apart a DVD drive, but the worst that I can imagine happening is that you break it and buy yourself a new laptop drive to drop in there.
You can get a bare drive (I recommend the Pioner K05, K06 and K07 over Matsush ita's drives which Apple love to use) for, maybe $30? And it'll be a drop in replacement.

[Cyan421]

Thanks for the advice. We were planning on getting a USB dvd burner to take advantage of the Lightscribe tech, for my wife's business (photography). Definately gonna need to make some dvd's for that.

So the question remains will it be easier to get into the drive with the case off, or should I just start fishing?

[Bernie]

Cyan421, on August 6th 2009, 02:02 PM, said:

There is something in my CD drive. It's a G4 Mac Mini. It won't even pull a disk in. I can push the disk in past where it would normally take over and pull it in. I think there is something small in there, my wife seems to think there is an SD card missing. It looks pretty simple (from youtube videos) to get the case opened, but that doesn't really get me into the optical drive.

What I'm wondering is if I should spend the probably $200 of bench time to have a pro fix it, or if i could possibly get the thing out myself. No Apple store here in boise but there are certified repair guys.

I like to point out that you seem to be willing to spend $200 on your G4 Mac Mini while new 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac Mini would cost you about $600. It's got a double-layer SuperDrive, but its not a Lightscribe one. Just some food for thought.

If you do get the object out of your CD drive, I'd be hesitant to putting a CD in there because the object might have damaged your CD drive such that the drive might start damaging CDs.

[the Battle Cat]

Bernie, on August 9th 2009, 10:19 AM, said:

If you do get the object out of your CD drive, I'd be hesitant to putting a CD in there because the object might have damaged your CD drive such that the drive might start damaging CDs.

I agree. It might behoove you to first load a fine sandpaper disk from a Black & Deck disk sander to file down any burrs, projections or rough spots.