CD drive stopped working with some disks? Very odd.

Hello,

I always buy Memorex 700MB CD-R disks, and have never had any
significant problems with them (occasional coaster). But recently I
bought a 50 pack and I tried 10 disks and none of them work. Toast
prompts me to insert a blank, and I do, and it sits there 'waiting for
the drive'. Same problem with other apps. The disk will not eject,
even after a reboot, even holding the mouse button at boot. I must use
a paper clip. These same disks work on 3 other Macs. Once burnt, I
still can't read them on my Mac. My Mac is able to read audio CDs, my
existing CDs (even the same brand), and I can even read & write CD-RWs!
I returned the disks, and got a new 50 pack-- same problem!

What the heck is going on? Could my drive have partially died, with
only these disks being symptomatic? I'm scared to trust this drive
now... Any advice? Can I troubleshoot this somehow?

Thanks!

Kevin McMurtrie <> wrote:

> In article <cwatson->,
> Sean McBride <> wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I always buy Memorex 700MB CD-R disks, and have never had any
> > significant problems with them (occasional coaster). But recently I
> > bought a 50 pack and I tried 10 disks and none of them work. Toast
> > prompts me to insert a blank, and I do, and it sits there 'waiting for
> > the drive'. Same problem with other apps. The disk will not eject,
> > even after a reboot, even holding the mouse button at boot. I must use
> > a paper clip. These same disks work on 3 other Macs. Once burnt, I
> > still can't read them on my Mac. My Mac is able to read audio CDs, my
> > existing CDs (even the same brand), and I can even read & write CD-RWs!
> > I returned the disks, and got a new 50 pack-- same problem!
> >
> > What the heck is going on? Could my drive have partially died, with
> > only these disks being symptomatic? I'm scared to trust this drive
> > now... Any advice? Can I troubleshoot this somehow?
> >
> > Thanks!
>
> The drives do go bad after a while

And on some machines more commonly than others - it would have been
helpful to know what kind of machine this is. Of course it could also
just be dirty; give it a zap with some compressed air just in case. m.


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In article <mcmurtri->,
Kevin McMurtrie <> wrote:

> > What the heck is going on? Could my drive have partially died, with
> > only these disks being symptomatic? I'm scared to trust this drive
> > now... Any advice? Can I troubleshoot this somehow?
>
> The drives do go bad after a while. Can you still boot from the system
> CD?

I didn't try the System disk, but I can boot from the Disk Warrior 3
disk. Every disk I've tried works fine except this one brand, which has
always worked before. And I've tried 2 batches of the disks, so I doubt
the disks are bad.