Comments on: MacBook (Pro) Matshita SuperDrive 2.1 Solution

By: walter

walter — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:52:49 +0000

I’ve called Apple without exit. So, following the experience of others I’ve bought a ‘used’ ‘matshita uj-875s’ in ebay and change it myself.

I use linux and the drives behaves identically so the problem (at least in my case) is probably the hardward. Till now the new driver works well in the sense I can mount and read all cds dvds but linux console report some errors reading some sectors with verbatim cds in the same way the old drive did at the first time. Common sense says the new matshita will end like the old. I could buy a pionner but people reports problems with them too.

Don’t expect quality today. Money is a serpent biting its own tail.

By: JamieC

JamieC — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:26:27 +0000

I have a MPB Pro and have developed the same SuperDrive failure reading DVD-R Blank disks since upgrading to OSX10.6. It appears to me that Apple is starting to follow Microsoft in releasing defective software updates.
Does anyone have a solution for the drive failure as I tried re-flashing the drive with Ben11 fix but still encounter the same problem.
Nothing seams to work and OSX10.6 will not support a large number of external DVD drives ether.
I am getting ready to move 100% to Linux and the hell with MS or APPLE.

By: TravP

TravP — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:32:38 +0000

i have a macbook pro 2.16 intel. it has a problem reading some dvd’s but not others. i was just trying to install new software that had multi dvd’s. disk 1 would not read at first then it read it after a few tries. now it refuses to read disk 2. only 3 more after that… these same disks worked fine installing it on my G5 Tower.

By: walter

walter — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:45:40 +0000

Well I’ll correct myself; english is not my language . I said `employers’ when I meant `employees’.

By: walter

walter — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:21:33 +0000

I have an iMac intel 17″ early 2006 same problem with matshita uj-846. Two month ago I’ve got apple replace the lcd screen (vertical lines issue) for free. Tomorrow I’ll call apple for the superdrive issue; with luck I’ll got it replaced for free like the lcd.

The secret is to call apple service. Apple record customer calls to control its employers.

By: victor

victor — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:16:28 +0000

long story, short version – spread the word: I upgraded both my G5 and MBP a few months ago to Leopard, both superdrives subsequently failed. I researched, read here and elsewhere about the firmware issue. I opted not to fuss with hacks and flashing etc., got on the phone w/Apple Customer Relations (as I prepared an email to Steve Jobs), patiently, politely detailed the story. Despite being out of warranty, Apple arranged to have a local Apple tech (Tekserve in nyc) cover a replacement drive in my MBP (on my own w/the G5 as it was too old, but at least I have a working burner and if I really want to put a burner in the G5, it’s only ~$40). Bottom line: contact Customer Relations, be thorough, be polite, ASK.

I’ll be more careful with firmware updates in the future.

Good luck – and thank you Richard Mondello

By: ErvDog

ErvDog — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:39:03 +0000

Suffice it to say, ever since a firmware update a while back, things just never seemed to be “right” with my SuperDrive anymore.

I have two spindles of the exact same CD-R Media, and 75% of the way through them, things got drastically worse. No reads, spitting out discs–even store bought discs and DVD Movies.

Now I have a drive that will only read about 1% of the time.

I went to iFixit.com to rip apart my MacBook and physically clean the laser to no avail. Same problem, and lack of flashing firmware to undo the chaos isn’t helping.

Haven’t written to apple yet, but I’ve never had a drive stop working on me in this way on any computer I’ve owned.

By: Richard Mondello

Richard Mondello — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:22:08 +0000

I’m sorry you haven’t had a positive experience with Apple on this issue. Companies suck, sometimes.

By: Chris Cauble

Chris Cauble — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:31:11 +0000

I have an Imac Intel Core Duo early ‘06, the white one, with Matshita Uj-846 drive. Same thing here. It worked until Apple care ended this summer and now it spits out DVDs the majority of the time. I have cleaned lens, upgraded to a clean install of Snow, repaired disk/permissions, etc, and it still does the same thing. It sporadically will read an old bought DVD, but nothing newer (last 5 years), including all install discs. I never used the superdrive much with DVDs, but CDs I did a lot. It still reads and burns all CDs. It did play only DVD-Rs, but now they all load and show up as “blank DVD”. I guess I’m lucky that I got 3 years out of it, but it is disappointing to see so many similar tales. On a side note, the original hard drive died after only about 15 months, and 2 trips to the Apple store finally got me a new drive with Apple Care. I love my Imac, but I feel a bit cheated on the Superdrive. Thanks for the forum!

By: Richard Mondello

Richard Mondello — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:20:29 +0000

Thanks for the feedback, Adam!

Lens cleaners are great, sometimes.