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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Macbook - dead HD, trackpad issue....eject CD?

Macbook - dead HD, trackpad issue....eject CD?
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Snow-i
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Jan 7, 2010, 03:53 AM
 
Hey folks,

I have a white Core Duo 2.0ghz macbook that I'm trying to run hardware test on. I have a snow leopard DVD and the original install discs for it. My problem is this...

The macbook has a dead HD, and aside from that appears to be okay, minus one other issue....the trackpad mouse button has a consistency problem. I would like to boot the machine off the discs i have, but there is already a CD in the drive. Is there any other way to force-eject a CD without holding the mouse button or booting the machine? Anyways, here are my resources right now, any solution to eject the CD and/or run AHT would be greatly appreciated. I have another machine, which i could possibly boot from or run AHT from...if'n i could find a way...

-White macbook CD, dead hd, broken trackpad, CD in drive
-SL 10.6 DVD
-Aluminum Macbook 2.4ghz (the model without firewire)
-more firewire cables than i can shake a stick at
-A USB cable
-A time machine backup drive for newer macbook, usb and firewire enclosure.
-A USB mouse (didn't seem to help)
-One blank 4gb flash drive.


Any suggestions to combine my resources to make the white macbook run apple hardware test would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to prepare this macbook to be sold and I want to ensure everything else is working before i ship.

Thanks!
     
Simon
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Jan 7, 2010, 05:40 AM
 
Apart from pressing the eject button, ejecting from the Finder, ejecting from DiskUtility, and holding the mouse button while booting, I recall one other way to eject a CD. In a shell enter "drutil eject".

That said, I'm confused why holding the mouse button at boot time to eject the CD isn't an option. To run AHT you need to boot from the install disks anyway, so you'll have to reboot. Might as well hold a mouse button while doing so. If the trackpad is busted, any attached USB mouse will do the same trick.

If the drive cannot eject the disk for mechanical reasons, no software trick will help. You'll have to either open your MB or get an AASP to do it for you.
     
NeverTriedApple
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Jan 7, 2010, 09:31 AM
 
Unless you want to rip Macbook apart to physically remove the CD there's couple of things to try:

A. Power up, press and hold F12. I tried that before and it worked for me.

B. Eject a disc using firmware:
1. Restart the computer.
2. When you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Command-Option-O-F keys. (The Command key has an Apple on it.)
3. Release the keys when you see a white welcome screen.
4. At the prompt, type:
eject cd
5. Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject the disc, and "ok" appears on the screen when the action is complete.
6. Type:
mac-boot
7. Press Return.

The second option taken from here: Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Ejecting a CD or DVD when all else fails
     
Snow-i  (op)
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Jan 7, 2010, 07:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Apart from pressing the eject button, ejecting from the Finder, ejecting from DiskUtility, and holding the mouse button while booting, I recall one other way to eject a CD. In a shell enter "drutil eject".

That said, I'm confused why holding the mouse button at boot time to eject the CD isn't an option. To run AHT you need to boot from the install disks anyway, so you'll have to reboot. Might as well hold a mouse button while doing so. If the trackpad is busted, any attached USB mouse will do the same trick.

If the drive cannot eject the disk for mechanical reasons, no software trick will help. You'll have to either open your MB or get an AASP to do it for you.
I tried a usb mouse and it didn't spit it out. As far as i can tell the drive is okay...i can hear it spin up when the computer struggles to boot from the hard drive and when i hold C. The mouse button is for all intents and purposes broken on the machine itself - and was before the hard drive died.
     
Snow-i  (op)
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Jan 7, 2010, 07:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by NeverTriedApple View Post
Unless you want to rip Macbook apart to physically remove the CD there's couple of things to try:

A. Power up, press and hold F12. I tried that before and it worked for me.

B. Eject a disc using firmware:
1. Restart the computer.
2. When you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Command-Option-O-F keys. (The Command key has an Apple on it.)
3. Release the keys when you see a white welcome screen.
4. At the prompt, type:
eject cd
5. Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject the disc, and "ok" appears on the screen when the action is complete.
6. Type:
mac-boot
7. Press Return.

The second option taken from here: Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Ejecting a CD or DVD when all else fails
A.) f12 as in the eject key? or as in f12. This is a white macbook mind you, they are different keys.

B) That is for powerpc macs unfortunately. AFAIK there is no way to bring up a command prompt with EFI.

Thanks for the effort!
     
NeverTriedApple
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Jan 8, 2010, 05:31 AM
 
Originally Posted by Snow-i View Post
A.) f12 as in the eject key? or as in f12. This is a white macbook mind you, they are different keys.
The latter.
     
   
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