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douglascamera · Sep 5, 2006, 08:09 AM

Ok, this one has me puzzled. I found that my iMac G4 700 15" LCD, 40 GB Hard Drive, 512MB RAM, CD-R/DVD-ROM drive won't recognize discs any longer, it tries to read it, thinks about it for about 30 seconds, and then spits it out. I consistently spits out the same discs and reads a few, but I can't access them and the read time is terribly slow. Why? I haven't a clue.

I was using a Macally keyboard and I've switched to an Apple keyboard and mouse. Could my drive be going bad? I opened the iMac up and cleaned out an ENORMOUS amount of dust! Could it be a driver? I haven't reset the PMU yet, waiting to do that last. Could there be a firmware update I'm unaware of? I ran software update and it's up to date, I'm running OS X 10.1.5 - I was trying to update to Tiger when I discovered the problem because it wouldn't read the Tiger install DVD. Honestly, I've never even heard of this problem before, so I'm essentially at a complete loss.

Ideas? Thanks much.

Big Mac · Sep 5, 2006, 08:10 AM

It does sound like the drive to me.

douglascamera · Sep 6, 2006, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

It does sound like the drive to me.

I've tried some different disks and when I put in a factory game disc, I get a message that reads,
"This disk needs to be prepared for burning. Do you want to prepare this disc?"
It comes up as an untitled CD, buy it's a commercial software disc that reads fine in my other computer.
I tried zapping the PRAM, but am waiting to reset the PMU as a last resort.

Big Mac · Sep 6, 2006, 06:12 AM

It's not the PMU. I can almost guarantee it's the drive. The optics are dirty, out of alignment or perhaps just plain broke.

douglascamera · Sep 6, 2006, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

It's not the PMU. I can almost guarantee it's the drive. The optics are dirty, out of alignment or perhaps just plain broke.

That's what I'm afraid of. I've tried cleaning the drive.....When I put in a CD Cleaning Disc, it simply won't read it and after 10 seconds or so spits it back out. Is there any other way to clean the optics???

sparhawk · Sep 8, 2006, 12:20 PM

I think you should just get a new drive there pretty cheap and you can upgrade to a superdrive with shipping for under $50. I just bought the Pioneer DVR-111D Dual Layer DVD Recordable Drive 16X DVD-R/+R, 8X DVD-R/+R DL Writer (BLACK).
It will work with your iMac G4

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/opti...ives/powermac/