Mac desktops forum: Mac Pro Super Drive tray opens only intermittently

Thanks — and no, I definitely don't intend to take it in for servicing. I'm hoping there might be some DIY option, since it does operate fine when ejecting a disk.

On a Mac Pro, it's pretty easy to swap the optical drive out on your own. The only real issue is whether you have a PATA or SATA drive. An Early 2009 model should have a SATA drive.

Basically you just pull the side cover off, and then the optical drives are in a removable tray. You'll see an obvious place to grab it, and just kind of work it back and forth until it starts sliding out. Just don't pull too hard or too fast, because you still have to disconnect the cables from the drive. After you do that, it's just a couple of PH2 (or maybe PH1, don't get to work on many Mac Pros sadly) screws holding the drive in. Any basic 5.25" optical drive will work, though you may want to avoid bluray drives simply because there's no official support in the OS for that... Yet anyway, and whether or not there ever will be remains to be seen. Apple actually seems to be angling to drop optical drives completely, just like they did with the floppy some years back. You may need to pull the front cover off any replacement drive you get so it doesn't get stuck in the enclosure slot for the tray. When you're done, you just slide the tray back in part way, connect the cables (which are even conveniently labeled top and bottom), then put it back in the rest of the way. About the only thing easier on a Mac Pro is dealing with the HDDs.

While not always true, in the case of Mac Pro optical drives, there's really nothing particularly special about them. In this case, replace it with whatever you want, it won't make a bit of difference, but it would be a good idea to consult someone with experience working on Macs any time you have an issue like this. There are instances where it's probably worth the extortionate amounts of money to get it repaired by Apple or an AASP using "genuine" Apple parts. iMac HDDs come to mind as an example. Doesn't have to be us, but it should probably be someone who's an ACMT. That way, they should be reasonably familiar with some of the more little known details, like why you don't want to swap out an iMac HDD with just any random drive. It's still not a guarantee, but your odds are significantly better.

Owners tend to want to try everything before they swap a drive. At the shops they humor them and run up the bill trying anything to save the drive. Then as the bill pops over a few hundred the owner gives the OK to try a new drive.

This story repeats far too often and I don't see it will end anytime soon.
Bob

Again, I appreciate the input, but not knowing how to
replace an optical drive isn't the issue. I know how to do that, as stated in
the original post: "I replaced the factory Super Drive with the more capable
Pioneer DVR-115D."

What I'm wondering here is, given the drive's described behavior
(especially because it does eject flawlessly, and its reluctance to first open
came on very gradually), is there something I can check out on the drive to
possibly fix?

If it's trashed, sure, I'll buy a replacement and pop it in myself,
no trip into the shop needed. But since the drive tray ejects fine, if there's
just something I'm not aware of that could be tweaked, I'd rather try that
first.

If the maker supplied new firmware we try that and cleaning. But even that costs more than putting in a new drive today!