Macbook Pro keeps ejecting anything I put into the internal optical drive

My hard disk crashed and I need to reinstall Mac OS X. I restart, insert the installation DVD, press c on the keyboard and the dvd ejects. I've tried different DVDs, even CDs. It's a Macbook Pro from march 2008.

Is it broken? Or can it be something more severe like the firewire controller on the motherboard (since I noticed this after my hard drive started to act strangely)? I've ran Apple Hardware Test successfully.

Solution 1:

I had the exact same fault. The drive is faulty and needs to be replaced.

Solution 2:

Just did something that worked for me. After trying to insert a Leopard install DVD several times with all results ending in it being ejected, I lay the laptop so the back of the display side was resting on the floor, resulting in the keyboard side being 90 degrees to the floor. I inserted the DVD downwards into the slot, and it was recognized!

I can't assume that it would be this easy for anyone else, but it worked for me, so you may as well give it a try.