DVD stuck in MacBook Pro

Posted by Mike on 3 June 2006 Leave a comment (493) Go to comments

Earlier this evening I inserted a blank DVD into my MacBook Pro wanting to burn some files. However, OS X never recognised the disc, nothing on the desktop, nothing in the Finder, not even in the Disk Utility. I pressed the Eject button, pressed and held F12 for a few seconds, but the disk was stuck.

I had a DVD stuck once before, even though recognised by the system, and I got it out after tilting the computer 45 degrees forward. But this time, whatever I did there was no eject mechanism sound at all, just a very quiet sound of the disk spinning up and slowing down every few seconds.

So I decided to use good old trick of holding down the mouse button while booting the computer up. Rebooted, held the trackpad button down – but nothing. Even more interesting is that the computer wouldn’t start up at all.

The only thing I hear, following the Apple sound, is the disk spinning, possibly trying to read the boot sector and then slowing down. And this gets repeated forever. The screen stays grey, no Apple logo, nothing.

OK, another try, held down Cmd-Option-P-R, then held down D and finally held down even C while booting, but exactly same result – disk spins up and slows down few times, grey screen and a high blood pressure.

I thought, the computer is trying to boot from the optical drive but is unable to read the disc hence going into the endless loop. So I used a little trick, I inserted a small piece of thin battery pack cardboard just above the disc and twisted it (the cardboard) a little so the disk can’t spin when starting up. I turned the computer on and held down the trackpad button.

I could hear the sound of the optical drive inside, not the spinning sound but rather sound of something moving ever so slightly. I heard it only two times and the third sound was a well known one – the offending DVD came out.

The computer then happily booted the OS X. I looked up the disc very carefully and there were no faults with it at all, no bends, no scratches or cracks, just a perfect DVD.

Get 5 GB of free cloud storage with a a bonus 500 MB if you register via SilverMac, so you can safely back-up, share and synchronise your documents, photos, videos, music…

Oh, there is one more thing … Since 2006 this page was visited about 336.000 times (as of Dec 2011) and counting. Say 10% of visitors had a problem with their DVD drive. That’s 33.600 computers. Each of those would have paid at least $100 to Apple service centres to get their DVD out, and in some cases much more to replace the DVD / Super drive. This means Silvermac has saved you about $3.36 million, or maybe even much more.

However, the total for all donations to Silvermac is $140. That’s in five years. So once your disk pops out show your appreciation and make your donation here. A cup of coffee would be just fine. You can use either your PayPal account or your credit card and it’s much easier that getting that DVD out.

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493 Comments.

Michelle 18 August 2011 at 02:29

Pure genius. So…you married? No, really. Offering the reason for the problem (optical v. hard drive boot) is a valuable bonus. Thank you very much.
Shawn 18 August 2011 at 07:41

Thanks… that actually worked : )
Graham 21 August 2011 at 13:10

It worked! Thanks!
iris 5 September 2011 at 11:45

perfect hint…only thing that worked…thank you very much. i was almost about to flip out…very very much appreciated
MmM 13 September 2011 at 00:48

Holding the trackpad button down Worked,the dvd is finaly out,Thanx.. now i have a new problem the macbook stuck on startup screen …Help needed..
MAry 20 September 2011 at 02:39

I just tried this trick and it worked perfectly! I literally shouted “Thank you Jesus!” when the CD popped out and I’m not even Christian.
JJUT 27 September 2011 at 07:55

Freakin’ hysterical. It worked and thank you!
Viking 28 September 2011 at 23:53

Thanks! Finally i got that damn cd out of my wife´s macbook. :razz:
ACDCHVEZE 18 October 2011 at 09:32

Wow! Thanks a lot, it’s the only thing that worked, I swear I tried out everything… holy crap mannnn, thanks!
tvicious 19 October 2011 at 07:48

The only thing that worked for me. My DVD is finally out! THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!
Vicbang 20 October 2011 at 04:24

Only thing that worked! ThnX !!!!
ArsenalFreak 23 October 2011 at 03:12

Thanks man it worked! I didn’t believe it :razz: :shock:
Rick 29 October 2011 at 13:15

Wow! Thanks for the tip. It works and I managed to eject the DVD from my MacBook pro. I have been trying all the other options, but it doesn’t work on my Mac.

Thanks again :-)
Joelle 13 November 2011 at 14:46

:grin: So so happy! A business card and poof out it comes. You saved me!
Aline 15 November 2011 at 15:35

Had tried every tip around to get the cd out, but only this one worked :)
Used 2 business cards to stop the disk spinning.
Diane 25 November 2011 at 02:05

I had a dvd jammed in my macbook and finally got it but how do I know if the dvd is usable of is every disk going to get stuck…Thaks …Diane
Diane 25 November 2011 at 02:06

I meant to say if the drive is usable or if every dvd is going to get stuck…kind of hesitant to put another dvd into the mac drive
Janine 1 December 2011 at 16:36

I LOVE YOU!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!
Natalie 11 December 2011 at 12:20

Where’s the trackpad button, I’m not sure what this is?
hn 11 December 2011 at 20:11

THanks a million, that’s the only thing worked for me !!!
DVD stuck in MacBook Pro | Silvermac » chimac.net – Stuff worth knowing about - pingback on 12 December 2011 at 08:35
Adu 21 December 2011 at 02:42

It worked! OMG Thank you sooooo much! I was going crazy thinking about how much this would cost me to get fixed! Whew
Janine 24 December 2011 at 03:06

OMG I can’t believe this worked!!! Thank you so much, I was about to lose my mind!
ken 26 December 2011 at 06:21

This is an old trick. I use a paper cd cover to do the same thing, it also works in your car cd player when the same thing happens.
Sarah 11 January 2012 at 21:57

you. are. awesome!!
luke 12 January 2012 at 21:44

You are a motherfrickin’ GENIUS!!!
Tony 16 January 2012 at 04:51

CD has been removed, donation has been submitted. Mucho Thankso!
Chris 16 January 2012 at 08:54

Worked like a charm! Awesome! Thanks.:)
Inday 18 January 2012 at 02:08

OMG!!! Thanks… It works!!!
Jaywiilie 18 January 2012 at 07:58

wow that really workd! Tried for 3days til i got this method. frickn genius
Milly 22 January 2012 at 10:53

Finally it works. You are a genius. I got this inside for a lot of months. The only problem now is that the dvd don’t work. Thank you so much
Alex 25 January 2012 at 19:08

You are a genius. I’m not sure how this worked but it did and I am so happy =D
Evan 30 January 2012 at 17:13

It worked, the only suggestion I read that did. Thanks
Christina 31 January 2012 at 14:04

Thank you so much! This is the only thing I tried that actually worked – I was on the verge or manually dismantling my macbook and removing the superdrive.
gautam 13 February 2012 at 12:43

hats offf….. phenomenal
Sheron 15 February 2012 at 20:22

I cannot thank you enough, I thought my world had ended. You are magical.
Sara 19 February 2012 at 19:24

Thank you! You saved me a night of distressed sleep waiting to hot-foot it over to the Apple Store in the morning.
Abe 4 March 2012 at 16:45

Genuis!!!!
Wizam 10 March 2012 at 05:10

Many Many Thanks!!!!
Rosa 22 March 2012 at 11:31

Thank you very much genius!!! this is the only suggestion that works!! dunno how to express my gratitude, but really, THANK YOU!!!
Rosa 22 March 2012 at 11:32

Thank you very much genius!!! this is the only suggestion that works!!! dunno how to express my gratitude, but really THNK YOU!!!!
nadine 30 March 2012 at 08:05

didnt work for me though i NEED HELP
ak 25 April 2012 at 11:56

yup…worked….i was worried there for a sec….err 1/2 hr. ““`cool, `im happy now.