How to force eject a cd from a macbook?

November 24, 2012 2:39 PM

About 5 minutes ago I put a CD into my computer and it won't read or eject. It's a Macbook purchased in late 2008 running Ubuntu 12.04. I've tried ejecting the cd using Disk Utility and get the following error message: "error ejecting: eject excited with exit code 1: eject unable to eject, last error: Inappropriate ioctl for device" Can anyone help?
posted by eurypteris to computers & internet (7 answers total)

If you restart while holding down the trackpad button, does it eject the disc? I don't know if that's a firmware function or a bootloader/OS thing.

If that doesn't work, try steps 5 and 6 in this article.
posted by WasabiFlux at 2:48 PM on November 24, 2012

Sorry, steps 4 and 6. I don't believe step 5 is an option with your MacBook.
posted by WasabiFlux at 2:53 PM on November 24, 2012

Thanks WasabiFlux. I followed "option 4," which made my comp freeze befrore fully booting; then did a hard restart by holding down the power button. After the next boot, a menu came up with options for Ubuntu or a safe mode to restart, I selected regular Ububntu. After a normal startup, the cd was unstuck and I was able to eject it.
posted by eurypteris at 3:06 PM on November 24, 2012

Yeah, a piece of thin cardboard does wonders. Shut your computer down, put the cardboard in your drive (quite a bit in), then turn on your computer while holding the option key. Wait a few minutes (it's not instantaneous), and you should get your disc back.
posted by smangosbubbles at 3:08 PM on November 24, 2012

Does it have one of those emergency eject pin holes? Shut down the computer, then use a paper clip or pin to open the door.
posted by DarkForest at 3:47 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have worked as a computer tech. Macbooks which came into our shop with these kind of issues were powered down, picked up so the optical drive's load slot faced downward, and gently thumped and shaked, inevitably releasing the disc.
posted by No Shmoobles at 4:34 PM on November 24, 2012

Hold down the mouse/trackpad button immediately after rebooting — don't sit around and wait for the grey screen to show up. Keep holding down the button until the disc exits. This usually works.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:55 PM on November 24, 2012