Eject stuck CDs using open firmware

More Mac Sites:
Macworld
MacUser
iPhone Central

Pick of the Week - Nov 10 [Show all picks]
Path Finder 5 - A feature-laden Finder replacement

12,000 hints and counting!

Mon, Dec 15 2003 at 10:48AM PST • Contributed by: UnknownPPC

I had a CD get stuck in my slot-loading superdrive Aluminum Powerbook, running 10.3. The CD became unresponsive and not recognized by my computer at all! Here is the fix.

Hold Control-Command-Option-Eject Button; this will shut down your computer. Turn the power on with the power button and hold Command-Option-O-F -- this will boot you into open firmware. Now type eject cd and wait until the CD pops out. Type mac-boot and you are ready to rock!

[robg adds: As mentioned elsewhere on the site, you can also try holding the mouse button down during boot to force the system to eject any inserted CDs.]

•

Currently 5.00 / 5
1
2
3
4
5

(1 vote cast)

[37,595 views]

Hint Options

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware | 8 comments | Create New Account

Click here to return to the 'Eject stuck CDs using open firmware' hint

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: wgscott on Mon, Dec 15 2003 at 2:40PM PST

you can do the same by holding down the (left) mouse button while rebooting

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: UnknownPPC on Tue, Jun 21 2005 at 12:19AM PDT

I tried that method first. Nothing worked except the above mentioned. Man its been a while since I have been here.

---
-Mr. Unknown-

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: UnknownPPC on Tue, Jun 21 2005 at 12:20AM PDT

Tried this hint too and it failed. Which is why I went to such extremes.

---
-Mr. Unknown-

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: Han Solo on Mon, Dec 15 2003 at 4:00PM PST

If by "stuck" you mean that the CD/DVD has disappeared from the Finder and thus cannot be seen to be ejected, there is a much easier way to do this: launch Disk Utility, and look for the CD/DVD to show up in the list at the left. Then eject it.

Had this work twice for me on my 15" Al PowerBook -- wouldn't you know it, it was the darned MS Office CD that got "lost"!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Eject stuck CDs
Authored by: gatorparrots on Tue, Dec 16 2003 at 3:50PM PST

Don't forget about the eject button in iTunes... It works a good deal of the time and you are probably more likely to have iTunes open than Disk Utility at any given time...

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: Fofer on Mon, Dec 15 2003 at 6:10PM PST

It's worth reminding that there is a handy Menu Extra hidden in:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras called "eject.menu"

Double click that and you'll get a handy Eject widget in your menu bar. This might be helpful for those with 3rd party keyboards...

It might not necessarily eject a stubbon disc that is stuck and not showing up in the Finder, but it's a helpful widget to have on your menu if you really need it.

Command-Click and drag it off the menu bar if you don't like it.

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: ahbe on Mon, Dec 15 2003 at 9:22PM PST

Wow, that's really kewl. It seems like such a simple tip, but I sure enjoy it. I usually run my 12" Powerbook on an external display with a Logitech keyboard. It's always been a paint to open the lid just to hit the eject button. Thanx again for the tip!

Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
Authored by: Fofer on Tue, Dec 16 2003 at 5:12AM PST

Glad it has helped you! One other tip to mention is that on some third party keyboards, holding down the F12 key for a few seconds (like 5 seconds, sometimes) also acts as the Eject key.

On a 12" PB, though, which doesn't have a tray loading drive, the only time you'd need to eject would be if a disk was in the drive. So you could always drag said disk to the trash to eject it. But of course, you knew that... :-)

Search

From our Sponsor...

User Functions

Don't have an account yet? Sign up as a New User
Lost your password?

What's New:

Hints

3 new Hints in the last 24 hours

Comments last 2 days

Links last 2 weeks

No recent new links

What's New in the Forums?

The Editor's Corner...

Here are some of my (robg) other projects...

•	The Robservatory My blog - Macs, tech, etc.
•	Mac OS X Power Hound The best of Hints in print
•	Inside iWork An iWork training DVD
•	Macworld Column, features, online...

Hints by Topic

News from Macworld

The macosxhints Poll

iPad_poll_#1

Other polls | 7,020 votes | 76 comments

Visit other IDG sites: