iMac G5 swallowed something it shouldn't have. Heimlich maneuver for CD drive?

June 11, 2009 8:16 AM

How do I manually eject a CD meant for Windows (including XP and Vista) from my iMac G5?

Yeah, brain fart. I inserted a CD given to me by my boss without looking at it. It's software meant for Windows. I inserted it into my iMac G5 with the CD slot on the right side. Of course, no icon for the CD shows up. I've tried every method of manual removal suggested on the internet.

Eject button on keyboard.
Restart holding mouse.
Restart holding eject button.
Restart hitting eject button continuously.
Open Firmware (Opt-Cmd-O-F) and typing "eject cd".

And many, many more.

There is no issue with the CD being "stuck", there is no "it seems to want to come out, but then goes back in".
No eject sounds like it's trying to eject.
It's just not recognizing the it's holding a CD, and none of the suggestions so far seem to make the computer spit the disc out.

And no, there is no special paperclip hole that I overlooked.

I need major guru advise here (besides, "take it to an Apple Store").

posted by UnclePlayground to computers & internet (25 comments total)

Did you try rebooting and holding down the option key? That brings up a screen where you can choose what to boot from, and if I recall correctly there is an eject button there.
posted by procrastination at 8:20 AM on June 11

Which iMac G5? If it is the first generation there are thee screws on the bottom that make removing the back very simple. Then removing the CD drive is also only a few screws and plugs. After that youmay be able to prise out the disc.
posted by Gungho at 8:26 AM on June 11

Does the straightened-paperclip-into-little-hole trick not work?
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:32 AM on June 11

Well according to comments in this blog, you have to shut down while holding down the eject button and then restart. Sounds odd to me, but worth a try? He mentions that he tried all the things you mentioned and none of them worked.
posted by The Bellman at 8:33 AM on June 11

Oh and methyl: there's no little hole any more, which is very frustrating. Apparently that's a CD-ROM drive thing, not a DVD multi-drive thing.
posted by The Bellman at 8:34 AM on June 11

No little hole, eh. How about the two-plastic-cards trick?

God, I have owned some crappy Macs.
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:35 AM on June 11

Um, there are a number of issues here, the most surprising of which is that no-one knows the official way to eject a stuck CD on a Mac.

1. Windows CDs will show up just fine on your desktop. Why this one isn't, I don't know, but it's not because it's a Windows CD.

2. To eject a stuck CD, reboot your Mac, and hold down the mouse button. The CD will eject during the boot sequence.
posted by Mwongozi at 8:36 AM on June 11

Methyl, are you proposing to rid my frustration with some magic and card tricks?
I'm ready. *picks a card, shows it to the audience*
posted by UnclePlayground at 8:37 AM on June 11

Mwongozi: OP mentioned that in the list of things already tried.
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:38 AM on June 11

UnclePlayground: basically using plastic credit-card type things, slide one in top and bottom of the CD, and use those to lever it out. HOWEVER it was years ago I actually did this successfully, recent changes may make it inadvisable/impossible.
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:39 AM on June 11

Googling also reveals a Terminal command line solution, if you've not yet tried it (scroll down to Terminal)

Good luck by the way!
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:41 AM on June 11

Procrastination: I did get a screen that allowed me to choose only my hard drive disc, and then it started up like normal. Nothing with an option of "eject button".

The Bellman: Are you saying that there's a difference between "Restart" and "Shutdown then Restart" while holding down eject button?

Mwongozi: I did that. Please re-read my description. Thanks.
posted by UnclePlayground at 8:42 AM on June 11

If holding down the mouse button doesn't work, then the disc is properly stuck. (Or you have a firmware password set.)

It's worth noting that many slot-loading drives do in fact have a hole for a paperclip - it's right at the end of the slot.
posted by Mwongozi at 8:43 AM on June 11

Uncle: According to the blog post, you have to hold down the eject button while shutting down, which seems odd to me, but that's what it says.

By the way Mwongozi evidently didn't read the question very carefully, but he's right that any CD, windows or otherwise, should at least mount and show up on the desktop. Have you tried going in to Disk Utility to see if the DVD shows up as mounted there? If not, it's possible that the drive itself has gotten disconnected, I suppose.
posted by The Bellman at 8:58 AM on June 11

The Bellman: I'll try the eject while shutting down method.
But after about twenty restarts, the CD still does not show up, even in Disk Utility. I wonder if you are right, and the drive has become "disconnected". But how could that happen?
posted by UnclePlayground at 9:04 AM on June 11

To elaborate on Mwongozi's answer.

Restart the mac and 1 second after after the bootup chime finishes, hold down the mouse button (as if you were clicking) until the DVD drive opens. Probably won't work if you are using a bluetooth mouse but works for sure using wired mice.

This is an old trick for macs that works on cd/dvd/floppy drives from way back since Mac's were black and white.

Good luck.
posted by boomcha76 at 9:09 AM on June 11

Yeah, sounds like a hardware error of some kind. If you run Utilities-> System Profiler, does the dvd show up anywhere? It is under the ATA entry on my intel Mac.
posted by procrastination at 9:17 AM on June 11

This may be too simple but I had an old laptop which would occasionally NOT eject CDs when I manually pushed the appropriate button. Yes, it was those days.

I eventually discovered that a music player I almost never used (Music Match, I think) had an EJECT command among its controls (right there next to PLAY, RECORD, STOP etc). I tried it and voila, it worked ... and was my fallback for years.

Good luck.
posted by philip-random at 9:30 AM on June 11

That's a good point from procrastination -- see if it shows up in Profiler. It should be under Hardware-> ATA and/or Hardware -> Disk Burning (assuming you have an all-in-one iMac). I'm not sure whether a dead drive would show up or not, but if it DOESN'T show up then that's your problem.
posted by The Bellman at 9:49 AM on June 11

Does the computer have a virtual machine running? My mac won't see any kind of CDs until the VMWare program is suspended.
posted by Wet Spot at 9:53 AM on June 11

I have had two experiences with this in a G4 powerbook. It's one of the few things I don't like about a Mac.... they need a bulletproof eject button that just does the job. The G4 powerbook had to have its first DVD drive replaced, and in a year or so, the replacement acted up. This time, it was out of warranty and I had to disassemble the entire thing to access the drive, disassemble the drive, remove the disk manually, then reassemble it. Took a few hours. Very difficult.

I had the unit fixed at a local Apple shop, and my guess is that there was a mechanical problem with the case and the drive. The odds of two identical failures like this related to the drive were very, very, very low. Point is.... if you get yours out, pay close attention to how you did it because you'll likely have to do it again.
posted by FauxScot at 10:01 AM on June 11

It sounds pretty wedged. If it's not spinning and none of the basic eject procedures work you've got a hardware problem. You could ask at the apple forums but I'm sure you'll get the same responses you got here. I'd take it back to the Apple store or at least give them a call. Then I'd go to Fry's and pick up an external USB drive and never use the built-in one again.
posted by chairface at 10:04 AM on June 11

Launch iTunes. Create a playlist to burn. Press the burn CD button.
posted by emelenjr at 2:48 PM on June 11

One other thing to try is turn it off for a few hours and let it cool down, if the disc is slightly warped it may contract enough to come out again.
posted by Lanark at 4:03 AM on June 12

In my experience, when you do the holding-down the mouse button thing on startup, you really have to hold the button down for a long long time, even if the drive isn't reacting. Are you sure you're not letting go after the first five/ten seconds?
posted by suedehead at 4:05 AM on June 12