Foo - help! a DVD is stuck in my laptop

I was going to do a cycling DVD this afternoon since it's raining (again!), but the current DVD won't eject. The computer doesn't recognize that a DVD is in the drive either. I've tried restarting the computer and it acts as if it's trying to spit the DVD out, but nothing actually comes out.

I have a friend who can fix this easily, but I won't be able to meet up with him until the weekend. Is there anything quick I can do to get the DVD out? Tweezers perhaps?

My laptop is a macbook pro.

Most dvd drives have a little hole on the door you can jam a straightened out paper clip into. That should trigger a mechanical release. If macs don't have mechanical problems they might not have that.

There's no hole on the front. there is something on the side next to a bunch of usb ports, but I have nop idea what that hole is for. It's actually kind of big (5mm long or so) but it doesn't seem to have anykind of connector plug inside it, so I have no idea what it is for.

any other ideas?

http://rickmc.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/apple-laptop-in-garbage-can.jpg

:innocent:

http://rickmc.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/apple-laptop-in-garbage-can.jpg

:innocent:


Yeah, if it weren't for one of my guy friends who fixes laptops, that's where mine would be right about now.

I was going to do a cycling DVD this afternoon since it's raining (again!), but the current DVD won't eject. The computer doesn't recognize that a DVD is in the drive either. I've tried restarting the computer and it acts as if it's trying to spit the DVD out, but nothing actually comes out.

I have a friend who can fix this easily, but I won't be able to meet up with him until the weekend. Is there anything quick I can do to get the DVD out? Tweezers perhaps?

My laptop is a macbook pro.

try pulling the drive and checking for a way to eject it. Usually there is one screw on the bottom that holds the drive in and it just slides out afterwards. there may be an eject hole hidden in it once you have it out of the case.

turn the computer off, and gently hit the edge of the computer on your knee, or a towel covered table edge with the DVD drive facing down. a few soft but firm hits should have the cd poking out, which means you can grab it.

turn the computer off, and gently hit the edge of the computer on your knee, or a towel covered table edge with the DVD drive facing down. a few soft but firm hits should have the cd poking out, which means you can grab it.

That worked!

Thanks a bunch. May you have an awesome tailwind on your next ride.

That worked!

Thanks a bunch. May you have an awesome tailwind on your next ride.

only if i don't have gas.

Most dvd drives have a little hole on the door you can jam a straightened out paper clip into. That should trigger a mechanical release. If macs don't have mechanical problems they might not have that.


There's no hole on the front.
Why does this not surprise me?

Computer repair 101... if a first you don't succeed, hit it!

Computer repair 101... if a first you don't succeed, hit it!
That's what Tiger said...(about 18 times)

http://rickmc.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/apple-laptop-in-garbage-can.jpg

:innocent:

Nope, bring it over my way, we will take it to the shooting range and have fun with it before we place it in the cylindrical filing cabinet... ;)

Seriously, Mac...UGH never in my house. Not even an ipod. No google, either. Not allowed on my computer ;)

Nope, bring it over my way, we will take it to the shooting range and have fun with it before we place it in the cylindrical filing cabinet... ;)

Seriously, Mac...UGH never in my house. Not even an ipod. No google, either. Not allowed on my computer ;)

I hope you use linux. Other wise your computer would just suck. I'm sorry :p

I'm a semi-mac fanboy. I love em but not enough to care whether other people use em or not :innocent:

I'm OS agnostic. However, if I'm using a laptop on the road, I'd probably consider a Mac. In the US it is fairly easy to obtain AppleCare support, and I have had very positive experiences with Apple in this department. Without a business level SLA contract with a PC vendor for "gold" level support, most PC companies will give a craptastic experience at best. (Hold times greater than 1-2 hours, techs demanding I run diagnostics on a machine even though the box won't POST, etc. I have even had a tech accuse me of not cooperating and hang up when he demanded I boot a machine with a failed hard disk into Windows. All I needed was an RMA on the hard disk, but L1 techs in a lot of PC companies are forced into running a script even when the problem is quite obvious.

Newer Mac hardware runs Windows 7 just fine, even without BootCamp, where Windows is installed directly on the disk.

Nope, bring it over my way, we will take it to the shooting range and have fun with it before we place it in the cylindrical filing cabinet... ;)

Seriously, Mac...UGH never in my house. Not even an ipod. No google, either. Not allowed on my computer ;)

fpfpfpfpt!
A few chemicals mixed in the right amounts and right conditions, I can open that baby up in a thousandth of a second.

Did you try yelling at it? When I do that some one usually comes around the corner and asks what wrong.

For future reference, with Macbooks and Macbook pros, hold down the mouse button when the computer boots and it will force a disk ejections. I haven't tested these on the new touchpads that don't have the button but I'm sure it should work the same way.