[G4] Help!

[Alex]

On Monday, Apr 19, 2004, at 10:21 Canada/Eastern, Barbara Adams wrote:

> 1)	I was taking a small-sized CD (128 mb) out of the tower when it 
> slipped out of my hands and went into the bay somehow. Apparently, it 
> is inside the player as it didn't shake out.

Almost impossible to have fallen into the bay -- CD drives are 
completely closed -- so it must be inside the drive. Can the tray open 
and close? If yes, turn off your Mac, use a straightened paper clip to 
force open the tray, and try to extract the CD with pair of fine 
pincers. You can also open your Mac, remove the drive, and try to shake 
it out or extract it like that. You shouldn't attempt this with the 
power on. Although it's not a likely occurrence and the beam is quite 
weak, nevertheless you do not wish the slightest chance of your 
eyesight exposed to the laser.

> Do I have to take it in for service or is it something I can do to try 
> and get it out?

If the suggestions above don't appeal to you, then, yes, you'll have to 
take it to a technician.

> Maybe it's not such a good idea to use those

The idea is fine, except that they cost twice as much -- if not more -- 
than 12-cm discs of equivalent quality...

> 2)	Occasionally, the message portion of some emails print out BACKWARD 
> for no apparent reason [...]

I believe it's a Panther bug already noted by others; I'm not sure if a 
work-around has been found.

f