[bastula]

Hey all,

I am new to the forums, but have been recently considering becoming a switcher . (15" PowerBook looks like it might be in my future )

My girlfriend got a 12" Powerbook on the 26th of January at our local Apple Store. Everything worked fine until we tried to burn a CD last night. Her combo drive didn't recognize the cd at all and just spit it out. We tried brand new 48x TDK discs, some slower 12x discs, and some of my older 4x RW discs. NONE would stay in the drive and get recognized. The drive would just make a few noises like it was trying to read the CD then about after 20 seconds, it would just spit it out.

I tried a pressed CD and it wouldn't read it either. Now the odd thing is that I tried a DVD movie and it took the disc and played it, but only occasionally. It would spit that disc out too once in a while.

The drive worked fine about a week ago when she was playing some VCDs and she didn't use it again (the drive) until last night.

The machine came preinstalled with 10.3 and we have applied all the patches listed in Software Update (except iPod - since she doesn't have one).

If anyone has any ideas, we would be most appreciative. She just recently switched, and this drive problem is quite frustrating.

Thanks for your help in advance!

[Phat Bastard]

Welcome to the forums! I hope you become a switcher yourself soon.

The problem your girlfriend's 12" PB is having has nothing to do with an incompatibility between the Powerbook and ALL of those CD-R's/DVD's you're trying. I have a 12" PB myself (a first generation one at that) and I haven't had any problems whatsoever with a variety of CD and DVD types. It's not like you're taking a risk when you "switch" because CD-R's/DVD's aren't recognized by Macs--they are.

The only incompatibility I know of is DVD+R discs in some Superdrives, but I'm not the one to comment about this since my 12" is a first generation one, like I said.

She should call up Apple and get them to replace her Powerbook. It must be a factory defect. She'll get it back working perfectly soon enough.

[bastula]

Thanks for the reply.

I actually wanted to try my firewire CDRW from my PC on there, but I don't have a 6 to 6 cable to test it yet. If that worked, that would eliminate software being a problem.

We bought Toast and it recognizes that the CD was inserted (it says "waiting" when the disc is in the drive), but it doesn't provide any clues. Therefore, you are probably right - it could be the Matshita drive.

We'll try sending it back this week and see what happens.

Thanks again!

[Dr.Michael]

Hi,

I agree, send it back to Apple immediately.
I had these problems with the first series of the Titanium Powerbook (500MHz). It was due to alignment problems of the disk in the drive. Definitely a factory problem. Get it repaired as long as your Powerbook is under warranty. Otherwise it will become really expensive (300 $/€)

I am shocked to hear that the the latest generations of slot-in drives still fail. My TiBook drive failed after 13 months and the replacement drive failed 6 months later. That was one of the major reasons why I got rid of my damn good TiBook.

I feel a little bit uneasy now to hear that my 12 inch Powerbook (2gen) can develop these problems too.

What is the general experience with these Combo drives? Are there more TiBooks and Albooks where the combos failed? How did Apple treat this?

Michael

[Phat Bastard]

I too had a first generation Titanium Powerbook 400 MHz, and I never had any problems with my slot-loading drive but I was acutely aware that many other people were having problems. I was a known "bug" in those machines.

Whereas with the Aluminum Powerbooks, this is really the first I've heard of such a problem with the slot-loading drive...so bastula's problem must be a rare thing. Dr. Michael, I wouldn't worry about your 12" developing the same thing.

[bastula]

Just dropped it off at the Old Orchard Apple Store last night. The Genius there tried a disc said we had to send it back for repair. He said it would take about 7-10 days, but more than likely we would get it back by the end of this week.

Hopefully it will be fine when we get it back. I'm kind of worried about the case getting warped or scratched.

[bastula]

Got the laptop back. The drive was either fixed or replaced and works perfectly. Also got a chance to check out the iPod minis as well.

Took a hard look at that 15 inch for myself, but couldn't bring myself to buy it as my current laptop works well for me.

[amazing]

Congrats on getting back: Love that 3 day turn around time. And thanks for posting back with the successful resolution!

[Phat Bastard]

Good to hear everything was repaired successfully, and in such a short time! Gotta love Apple Service.