Mac Pro optical drive hardware is causing Leopard to hang on startup

I had installed Leopard on a new internal drive with a clean install. However, everytime I tried to boot, it hanged on the blue screen or took me to the Leopard desktop where it froze.
I called Apple and through the process of elimination they asked to to disconnect my two optical drives...the first is a Sony NEC Optiarc DVD RS AD-7170A that came with the computer. The second is a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-112. After separating the ribbon cable that connects both drives, I was able to successfully boot into Leopard with no problems. That said, Apple regarded my issue as now a hardware issue rather than a software issue...and said I should take the Mac Pro into the local store for repair.
I've tested each of the optical drives individually to see if by hooking them up one by one to see if one will allow the system to boot. But neither one allows me to boot into Leopard successfully. Apple also says that the ribbon cable could also be a possible reason as well.
Before I make the trek to the store, does anyone out there have any similar stories to share with their Mac Pro? I have NOT updated to the latest firmware for the Mac Pro which is EFI 1.2 and I may try that as a last resort. Also, I tried to find any Superdrive firmware updates for the Mac Pro's Sony Optiarc drive on Apple's website, but could not locate any.
Let me know if anyone out there has some info to share on this.
Thanks,
John

Thanks for the reply, but I took it to the apple store today and they ran a full diagnostic test on it. It turns out it really wasn't the optical drive. There was a bad sensor on the logic board causing the power supply fan to run at full blast. Looks like im gonna have to wait even longer to be able to enjoy my mac pro:(

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Thanks for the reply, but I took it to the apple store today and they ran a full diagnostic test on it. It turns out it really wasn't the optical drive. There was a bad sensor on the logic board causing the power supply fan to run at full blast. Looks like im gonna have to wait even longer to be able to enjoy my mac pro:(

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Mac Pro optical drive hardware is causing Leopard to hang on startup

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