Help with iMac DVD drive

The DVD drive on my mid2010 iMac died.According to the local Apple shop replacement drives are no longer made.

So I tok it to a local repair shop who fitted a refurb reader/drive.

Got it home and lo and behold wouldn't recognise the music disc (pink floyd) I inserted.

Took it back.....they found and installed a NEW reader.

Got it home and it accepted the pink floyd disc and imported the tunes onto the iMac.

Clicked on eject, icon vanished and b...all happened.Disc now stuck in the machine.

All attempts to get it to eject failed ,probably because the machine thought there was nothing in the drive!!!

Each time I turned the mac on the DVD drive tried to eject the disc....click click click.

Took it back... not the reader it's your iMac.

Take the blooming thing out and give me my disc.

Question.....if I buy an external USB DVD Reader/burner will it work??

The DVD drive on my mid2010 iMac died.According to the local Apple shop replacement drives are no longer made.

So I tok it to a local repair shop who fitted a refurb reader/drive.

Got it home and lo and behold wouldn't recognise the music disc (pink floyd) I inserted.

Took it back.....they found and installed a NEW reader.

Got it home and it accepted the pink floyd disc and imported the tunes onto the iMac.

Clicked on eject, icon vanished and b...all happened.Disc now stuck in the machine.

All attempts to get it to eject failed ,probably because the machine thought there was nothing in the drive!!!

Each time I turned the mac on the DVD drive tried to eject the disc....click click click.

Took it back... not the reader it's your iMac.

Take the blooming thing out and give me my disc.

Question.....if I buy an external USB DVD Reader/burner will it work??

Buying an external one will work - and to get the disk out, it's doable, but you have to be careful, figure out which way it's wedged, get a torch on it, and something to grip it (like tweezers, with something soft on the ends)

If a CD is stuck in the drive, try pressing the left mouse button when starting up the Mac; if you're lucky, it will spit out the disc.

And yes, the optical drives of Macs of that age are a bit "iffy". . . they take forever to load anything, then eventually die. . . I've had several fail on me and had to resort to using an external USB optical drive and boot from the recovery DVD by pressing the C key.

Removing the obsolete optical drive on newer Macs and replacing it with the Internet Recovery was the best thing our Stevie ever did

x

The way I used to get stuck DVD's etc from iMac's & MacBook Pro's was with the Mac powered off. Use two cable ties(zip ties) held together with the ribs touching each other. Then push them into the drive mechanism to sandwich the DVD, slide a pair of small pliers as far along the cable ties to squeeze the ties. Then gently pull, the ties should grip the DVD and pull it out.

You will be able to use a third party USB DVD drive. Make sure it is DL,DVD,CD compatible. most are, and the mac will find the right drivers if it is compatible.

I have repaired Macs & PC's since 1986.

Mick

Can anyone help with upgrading IMac operating system from Snow Leopard?

Its best to start your own thread but do you know if it can be upgraded?

You should be able to upgrade it to El Capitan if you have an iMac which came out in Mid 2007 or after.