How to Eject a CD Manually on a Mac Mini

A common problem among Mac Mini users is the occasional inability to eject a CD from the drive via normal means. There are multiple solutions to this problem, and each should be attempted in the order outlined below. Any one of them may prove successful in manually ejecting a stuck disc. Only if you exhaust all of the options described here should you resort to taking your Mac to a specialist for CD removal and drive repair.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Flat-edged knife or pry bar Phillips-head screwdriver

1. Reboot the Mac and try ejecting the CD with the "CD eject" key after it boots up. When it comes to minor problems, completely rebooting the system and trying the problematic process again is often effective, and is always the first thing you should try.

2. Navigate to the "Applications and Utilities" section of the OS and select the Disk Utility. Highlight the CD drive and click the "Eject" button. If you get no response, try the next step.

3. Reboot the computer again. As soon as it begins to boot up, click and hold the mouse button. Hold the button either until the CD ejects itself or until the OS has completely booted. If no CD comes out, try the next step.

4. Restart the computer once more. At startup, press and hold down the "Command" key, the "Option" key, the "O" key and the "F" key. This will cause the system to boot up in open firmware mode. When the terminal screen boots up, type "eject-cd" without the quotes and press the "Enter" key. If the disc does not eject, move on to the next step.

5. Type "drutil tray eject" without the quotes into the terminal and press "Enter." If you are still not successful, turn off the computer and unplug all cords from the CPU.

6. Turn the CPU upside down and lay it flat on a desk or table. Use a flat-edged knife or small pry bar to gently and carefully lift the bottom panel off the unit.

7. Use a small Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the four screws at the corners of the large, flat, shiny metal panel directly below the bottom panel. Lift off the panel to expose the CD drive and remove the CD carefully with your fingers.

8. Replace the metal panel and its screws, then snap the bottom cover back into place. Reattach all of the cables and boot up the computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Mac repairs tend to be expensive, and depending on the market in which you live, it can be hard to find an authorized dealer. Outside of major metropolitan markets, repair shops may be swamped, and could take quite a while to fulfill your request.

[Sidhartha]

on 4/11/2009 thank you so much for this article I was having issues with my mini eating up cd's and not spitting them out.