The Apple Core

How-to: Reset a noisy optical drive in the Mid-2009 MacBook Pro

Posted in:

Hardware
MacBook Pro
Optical Drive

While playing with my new 3GHz "Mid 2009" MacBook Pro I noticed that it made that weird optical drive load/unload sound three times in a row, instead of the usual one, any time the drive was used. If you don't have a CD or DVD handy you can invoke the sound by clicking on System Profiler > Hardware > Serial-ATA. The solution, according to an Apple knowledge base article, is to reset the optical drive as follows:

Insert a CD or DVD almost all the way into the drive.
Remove the disc.
Insert the disc fully into the optical disc drive.

The optical drive is now reset and the noise should no longer be present when you start up or wake the computer. A video of the procedure is also available and it worked like a charm for me.

posted by Jason D. O'Grady
July 2, 2009 @ 3:13 pm

Previous Post: iPhone executes SMS binary code as root
Next Post: Episode 113: PowerPage Podcast

Last 10 posts:

1Password is must-have eshopping nirvana (11-24)
Apple's latest TV ads defend AT&T (11-23)
Another Apple Black Friday leak rumor - with prices! (11-23)
Apple to smokers: butt out or void your warranty (11-23)
Apple's Black Friday sale to include online shopping (11-23)
New iPhone worm found in the wild (11-23)
Schiller: App Store isn't broken (11-22)
First serious iPhone app for DJs: Touch DJ (11-20)
Appearance: PPUG meets tomorrow in Philadelphia (11-20)
iTablet goes OLED, bumped until late 2010 (11-19)