Mac Mini drive dead, need help

[ramirezm315]

Ive had my mac mini for about a year and all of the sudden its ability to run discs has died. When I try a DVD it says there is an initialization error and can't eject the disc. I had to hold down my mouse as it was restarting to get it out. Does anyone know why or how to fix this problem? It seemed like it just died. It is not reading any type of disc, so whatever you stick inside of it basically doesnt exist.

PS: And I just got a disc caught in it and can't get it out even after holding the mouse. I think what happened its that my external dvd burner was on and hooked up and it ejected the burner instead so now it thinks there is absolutely nothing inside so holding down the mouse doesnt work. HELP!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi ramirezm,

Have you any luck removing that caught disc? You could try a pair of tweezers but please do so gently and only grasp the very edge of the disc. (I presume your Mini is slot loading?)

If you remove the disc successfully, pop your install disc in and reboot holding down the "C" key and navigate to Disc Utilities folder and check your Macs Permissions and HD. Repair them both too or even just hit the Repair button instead of the Verify button. That's what I usually do anyway.

 

[ramirezm315]

Cool thanks I will try that, I just hope I can find some tweezers that are small enough to grasp it. Im not sure if the install disc will work becuase it doesnt seem to be reading anything but it seems like my best option.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I've seen mention of using the tweezers that come with a Swiss Army pocket knife ...

 

[ramirezm315]

Questions should I do it in sleep mode?

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I would turn it right off snd at the power point too.