Ejecting a CD on OS X

I decided that it was time to do a clean install on my iMac in order to get rid of all of the junk and tools that have been accumulating. So, I load up the panther install disk, erase my drive, and start the install. However, I forgot that my Panther disk was an upgrade disk. No problem I thought, I just eject the CD and put in my original OS X install disk.

Hmm…, how do I eject the disk? I can’t get into the OS anymore since I just erased it. I try it from the Disk Utils section of the installer, but the eject button is disabled. Try to eject button on the keyboard, no go. Of course, there is no way to manually eject it. OK. time for a quick search on google, which turns up this:

http://forums.osxfaq.com/viewtopic.php?t=2259

Hold down F12 key. No go.

OK. Reboot, hold down mouse button. No go.

Reboot, hold down option key. No go.

Reboot, hold down cmd-option-F-O. I am now at some firmware prompt. Type “eject cd”. The CD ejects!

Man, why didn’t I think of that? Dear apple, please put a manual eject button on the cd/dvd drive. Ejecting a CD is not something that should require a trip to google.