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mishap · Feb 19, 2003, 06:11 PM

How can i force eject a cd when my PBG4 is having trouble reading it? This seems to happen a lot.

holding the eject button does not work and i usually have to restart or force a restart to get it out.

is there anything else i can do in OSX?

Cipher13 · Feb 19, 2003, 07:21 PM

Short of using a paperclip? Nope.

You can reboot and hold the mouse button down...

G-mac · Feb 19, 2003, 07:56 PM

I believe there is a small hole inside of the slot for the DVD/CD (at least with my PB/550). Using the aforementioned paperclip, gently poke the area on the far right hand side of the CD slot - should be hidden behind the gray flaps. You'll feel a small button depress when you poke in that area, then the drive should manually attempt to spit out whatever's in the drive (makes noise). Hope this helps.

fitter · Feb 19, 2003, 09:57 PM

You can also try this, if you're not averse to using the terminal:

sudo hdiutil eject -force /dev/disk1

This assumes that you have one physical hard drive, and one cd-rom drive. You'll have to adjust the disk number (e.g., /dev/disk2) if this is not the case

11011001 · Feb 19, 2003, 11:47 PM

And easier than typing is to hit the eject button in iTunes. Believe me, it works most of the time when I can't eject a CD with the eject key on the key board, or selecting the disc in the finder and ejecting it.

mishap · Feb 23, 2003, 12:41 PM

none of these methods worked while the computer was on.. here is the apple care document i found.. but still, i need to have the computer turned off.

Applecare document link

what a waste of time.

thanks anyway for the suggestions!

clebin · Feb 24, 2003, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by mishap:
How can i force eject a cd when my PBG4 is having trouble reading it? This seems to happen a lot.

It's not just mine then... it's a sensitive little soul the Powerbook DVD drive isn't it?

Chris

Mediaman_12 · Feb 24, 2003, 07:07 AM

If you restart & press 'cmd-opt-o-f' will get you into Open Firmware. Where typing eject CD, or CD eject, will eject the CD/DVD

Greenland is for toy dogs · Feb 24, 2003, 07:25 AM

I have a friend who is having this problem with his new 12" powerbook. Tried everything with it, including going into open firmware and typing eject cd. It starts making very pronounced hardware noises - in other words the software instruction is telling the drive to eject and it is obeying the command - but something has happened hardware-wise to prevent the CD from ejecting.

Any other options, apart from taking it back? We didn't try poking the 'emergency eject hole' with a paper clip, as his slot drive does not have one. Or doesn't seem to...

Mediaman_12 · Feb 24, 2003, 08:29 AM

Originally posted by Greenland is for toy dogs:
I have a friend who is having this problem with his new 12" powerbook. Tried everything with it, including going into open firmware and typing eject cd. It starts making very pronounced hardware noises - in other words the software instruction is telling the drive to eject and it is obeying the command - but something has happened hardware-wise to prevent the CD from ejecting.

Nasty

Any other options, apart from taking it back? We didn't try poking the 'emergency eject hole' with a paper clip, as his slot drive does not have one. Or doesn't seem to...

He hasn't been putting mini, or other oddly shaped CD's in there has he? These don't play well with the slot load drives.

Greenland is for toy dogs · Feb 24, 2003, 08:44 AM

Originally posted by Mediaman_12:
He hasn't been putting mini, or other oddly shaped CD's in there has he? These don't play well with the slot load drives.

Yeah, it's nasty all right. Crunching, hardware meshing sounds. It's a standard sized CD in the drive. We were considering opening the case and having a look ourselves, but aside from voiding the warranty, we thought that we'd simply be able to see the drive but the disc would we inside it, and inaccessible.

Currently stumped. Seems like a return to manufacturer situation.

tkmd · Feb 24, 2003, 09:58 PM

Try this little program- its called "eject me", quite frankly it worked for me only once- but give it try. I have a problem ripping old CD's that tend to get stuck. If that doesnt work reboot (and remember to log out)

heres the address http://www.versiontracker.com/morein...780&db=mac

bradoesch · Feb 24, 2003, 10:51 PM

Originally posted by G-mac:
I believe there is a small hole inside of the slot for the DVD/CD (at least with my PB/550). Using the aforementioned paperclip, gently poke the area on the far right hand side of the CD slot - should be hidden behind the gray flaps. You'll feel a small button depress when you poke in that area, then the drive should manually attempt to spit out whatever's in the drive (makes noise). Hope this helps.

This works, but they don't recommend using it on a regular basis.

sgrup · Feb 25, 2003, 08:37 AM

this has always worked for me so far - even when the CD wasn't showing at all in the Finder:

fstat | grep Diskname (to see if any files are open)
df (to get the /dev name of the drive)
hdiutil eject -force /dev/drivename (where you got drive name from df)

obtained from somewhere on the web - credit to the original author

s