This weekend I went to the Apple Store Genius Bar to see if they could find a resolution to my slot drive problems.

Well, it was the CD-R brand after all! I showed the Genius Bar representative my problems with my Sony (Brand A – I don’t need to protect the innocent anymore) and my Memorex (Brand B) CD-Rs. She popped in a Staples brand CD-R (Yes, a Staples Brand!!!), and it burnt an iTunes playlist flawlessly.

Thus it seems the MacBook Pro slot drive is finicky; but better than having it sent in for repairs.

I am heading to Staples soon.

At least I thought it was harmless.

I have two brand of CD-Rs, let’s just call them Brand A and Brand B in order to protect the presumed innocent.

Brand A: Premature Ejection (and I did use this term purposely to see what “personal problem” jokes I could get )

When I insert Brand A, the slot drive spins and whines for a few seconds and then the slot drive just spits the CD-R out. No message box, no questions, and definitely no answers.

Brand B: Laser Power Levels

When I insert Brand B, the slot drive teases me and actually allows the CD-R to remain inside. I then try to burn my playlist and it actually starts to go through the process. However, my glee is short lived because as soon as the process starts, it ends and I get this wonderful message.

The slot drive will read/play already “burnt” CDs just fine. It will read DVDs when I install software. So initially I thought it was the brand of CD I was using. Other people thought the same thing. Take a look at some of these threads:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=333966

http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-31974.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=233×5280

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7540512

There was also this strange fix that worked for some people:

http://bura-bura.com/blog/archives/2005/07/11/a-fix-for-my-superdrive-problems/ (initial post from this person: http://bura-bura.com/blog/archives/2005/07/05/uh-oh-superdrive-problems/)

(It didn’t work for me)

I am not convinced it is the media. I think it is hardware related. The downside of a slot drive I guess.

So I have an appointment with the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store this weekend. I have AppleCare for my MacBook Pro, and assuming I am right that my slot drive is all messed up, it will be replaced at no cost.

Anyone else have this problem???