G3 iMac 4X DVD (slot load) problems (678-0232)

[ctarstar]

I found and read the excellent slot-loading rebuild guide, but that guide is really for the common problem of the discs not ejecting. I couldn't find any information on other types of failures - my problem is that CDs and DVDs no longer read successfully. When the CD or DVD successfully reads and mounts, it shows on the desktop, but then doing anything on the disc or transferring files from it takes a really long time and usually times out. When I worked through the rebuild guide I tried to clean the lens w/ IPA and a Q-tip, but the problem remains. Any ideas? Is this also a common failure mode? The only thing I could find online was about the ejecting problem. The strange thing also is that this was working flawlessly (aside from the occasional trouble ejecting) until fairly recently. Suddenly it just stopped working well in terms of reading data to the point where the machine sometimes hangs on stuck reads. Thank you!

 

[alectrona2988]

Unfortunately, these drives are over 20 years old and were already problematic to begin with. Your laser seems to have worn out. What you could probably do is increase the intensity of the laser VERY SLIGHTLY as there may be a potenteometer. This sort of thing also manages to fix PS2 disc read errors.