Did reboot a few times before the original post, but nothing. Tried force restart with the CD inserted just before restart.
If I go to system profiler I was wondering if I should find the CD player there somewhere. Tried, but nothing looking like the CD player came up.
Lastly, usually when I put a CD into the slot I hear the whirring sound as the cd starts to spin - now there is no spinning, just a few minor clicks and after a few seconds the cd gets spit out.
Thanks.