iMac CD drive not functioning

[davidbridges]

Hi all,

I was given an iMac G4 power PC for free! It's pretty old but I can use it for basic video editing unlike my PC. The problem is, the CD drive is a bit dodgey. I can open it using commands, however I can't locate it in the 'my computer' bit of the mac. It wont recognise a blank DVD or CD to burn, however if I put in an audio CD it can play it on iTunes?!! This gives me some optimism for the drives future, but at the minute its had it! It's supposed to be a CD / DVD RW so if it could be fixed it would be great to get some footage to DVD.

Thank your for reading and I look forward to some suggestions!!!

David

 

[Chappers]

It could be that the driver has been corrupted. I bet you don't have an install disk do you.!!! You could boot from that and do a disk repair and see if that sorts things out. Alternatively if someone you know has an external CD/DVD drive you could try attaching that . You may also need to load the drivers and CD/DVD burning software, to ensure it works OK. If it does then the simple answer is to buy an external drive and use that .If you go down this route make suer the software you are using is compatible with your version of OSX

 

[trencheel303]

Macs don't have a "My Computer"? Where exactly are you looking? You will only see that a CD has been inserted when you put one in the drive, and its icon will appear on the desktop. Same as when you insert a floppy disk or flash drive. Otherwise nothing shows up.

If it won't recognise a blank disk to burn, then it is not a burning drive.

 

[Kasalic]

Click on the Apple symbol in the top right corner and select 'ABOUT THIS MAC' from the list, then click on 'More Info'.

This should open System Profiler and you should then be able to select 'ATA Devices' or even 'Disc Burning'. Post back here what you find under those headings if it's not clear to you from there.