Superdrive question

My iTunes keeps telling me that my laser can't calibrate enough power for the cd-r I am using. I have tried all sorts of different brands and nothing works. I have noticed that other people have had this problem and I have come to the conclusion that it is my drive. I have a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR 104 for a Power Mac G4. So my question is what is a good drive to replace this and where can I look for one? I have tried the searching different web pages but have yielded very little results. I want a dvd/cd burner that will work with iTunes and everything. I am also using Tiger as my OS system. Thanks in advance to any help on this matter!
PowerMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

If you want to add a drive, I would recommend nothing except for Plextor or Lite-On. If you get a Plextor, Mac drivers are available at the vendor's website. The same may be true for Lite-On. If you can get a drive to work with OS X, it ought to work with iTunes as well (but there are no guarantees of this if you don't stick with one of the Apple-supplied drives).
Since you have a desktop computer, you could possibly keep your stock SuperDrive and add a second drive. Since most of the work I do with optical discs involves CDs and not DVDs, my second drive is a Plextor PX-230A (a very good CD-RW drive).

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Current SuperDrive Question

will the current SuperDrive work with an old Mac Mini " macmini4,1"?
The internal drive is broken

Mini must be 2009 or later as noted here > Apple USB SuperDrive - Apple Store

Superdrive question & upgrade?

Hi,
I was wondering what does the little b or c mean after the model number? Fore example, UJ-845-b or UJ-845-c, etc.
And, is there a way to figure out which drive compatible with my model?
Thanks!
Machine Name: PowerBook G4 17"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,5
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.6f0
Serial Number: W8xxxxxxxxx
OS: 10.4.10

With respect to the iApps, the main problem with external DVD drives would be with iDVD. Version 4 and earlier of iDVD were written to only work with the internal Apple Superdrive and will not natively support an external drive. However there is a hack that will allow you to modify iDVD (v4 at least, not sure about the others) to burn a disk image rather than to an actual DVD blank. You can then very easily burn the disk image to a DVD with Apple's Disk Utility application.
If you upgrade to iDVD5 or higher, then you gain support for direct burning to external DVD drives.
Patrick

Replacement Superdrive question

Will this work in my Macbook? I have a 1st gen 1.8gighz CodeDuo model with a dead combo drive...

forgot the link!
http://cgi.ebay.com/UJ-875-8X-DVD-Multi-Burner-for-Apple-and-MAC-laptops_W0QQite mZ350062838269QQcmdZViewItem

Downgrading superdrive question.

I've been reading about, and experiencing, some issues with the "super" drive and its tendency not to read or rip certain CD's, even though those CD's work well in the regular combo drive. So:
1. CAN I get this downgraded at an applestore after demonstrating the problem to them.
2. How much money will I get back?
3. Could I put this money to another feature (RAM upgrade)?
Thanks for any help!

To a Combo drive? Not in a MBP. The only thing Apple could do for you is replace the drive. Other than that, all I can say is to get yourself an external burner. Sorry

Superdrive won't eject from CD-Eject button on keypad...

but it will from the menu eject icon. I've replaced the keyboard with a brand new (Apple) keyboard. Same thing.
Okay...further investigation has yielded an additional complication...the whole top row on the keypad is not functioning. Mute, Volume up/down and eject have quit. The problem is I'm not certain when this happened so I cannot tell you if it is software related.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
TIA
G5 PowerMac D2.0GHz PPC Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Another superdrive question. When using Eject key or
dragging disk icon to trash, the disk unmounts but is
not ejected. If I then use DiskUtility, and try to
eject the disk, I receive a 'Disk in Use' error.
Rebooting does not help. I have consistent success
by booting holding down the Control-OPtion-F-O keys
and typing 'eject cd' then booting the mac, but who
wants to do this often? The eject problem happens
perhaps 30% of the time, but once it starts I have
to resort to the modified bootup to correct.
Suggestions?
Do you have the "Energy Saver" System Preferences set to allow the drives to sleep? Some optical drive will not wake up to eject. OSX can do the dismount but the drive won't do anything.

SuperDrive and DVD-RW Question

Hello, I have a 1GHz G4 iMac with 1GB of RAM. It has the stock superdrive installed, below are the specs from Pioneer:
Writes 4X, 2X and 1X speeds for DVD-R (General 650nm discs only) &
2X or 1X for DVD-RW
Writes to CD-R/RW standard and high-speed media
Rewrites DVD-RW discs at 1x speeds more than 1,000 times
Read speeds up to 6X for DVD (single layer), 24X for CD-R/RW and
16X for CD-Audio Extraction
I have been trying to use DVD-RWs I purchased from Target, but none of them seem to be working. I insert the disc and they get kicked back out after about 30 secs. First I tried Immation DVD-RW. I am not sure what the speeds of these are. I took them back and got TDK DVD-RW. They are 4X and compatible with 2X. Does this mean my superdrive will not read these as they are not 1X?
I have been able to write to DVD-RW using sony DVD-RWs that are 1x-2x speeds, I got these a couple of years ago, and wanted to get new ones.
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am confused with all of the lingo when it comes to writing and rewriting with these things!
* - On a side note, does anyone know of a good inexpensive Dual Layer DVD writer I could put in?
Thanks

Hi,You've surpassed my experience as I've never owned a tower based Mac since my brother had a Performa 6400..
For non Apple hardware - you'll have to check out the OEM (i.e. Pioneer) website for firmware upgrades.
...but if it ain't broke don't fix it!
The only firmware update I've done to an optical drive is on my TiBook where Apple had removed DVD-RW support and reduced DVD-R burn speed from the drive's 2x capability down to 1x. To me, that was worth the update!
OS X Tiger (10.4) is, however, very supportive of third party drives (although I suspect that support does not go as far as distributing firmware updates!) - so updating to that will help if you are having difficulties taking advantage of your Superdrive. The other option is to install a third party drive like Patchburn. Having said all that the Apple has shipped many types of Pioneer optical drive in its desktop Macs so Software Update may well provide updates unaware that it's a replacement drive (but that's only a guess).
regards
mrtotes

Apple USB SuperDrive with iMac question

From what I've read elsewhere. The Apple USB SuperDrive if connected to current iMac's will not be recognised.
I was wondering if it would be possible to connect the Apple USB SuperDrive to the iMac when it is used with/has a Virtual Machine with Parellels Desktop, would the Apple USB SuperDrive be then recognised in the Windows side?
Thanks in advance.

stephenfromhalifax,
I read with interest your post about adding a command to the Terminal that will allow a
Apple USB SuperDrive to be used with a Mac equipped with a built in Optical Drive.
Unfortunately my attempts to perform this modification were unsuccessful.
First a question: Does the SuperDrive have to be connected to the iMac when the
command is entered?
Next, Here are the steps I took. First I double clicked on the Terminal icon in the Utilities folder
in the Hard Drive and a window opened on the desk top. This first line at the top of the window
had my user name - "bash"- 80X24. The contents of the window had login information followed
on line two with user information, iMac, my user name, a $ and a rectangle.
In addition to opening a window on the desktop, a "Terminal" icon appears in the Dock and when
you click on it a number of choices appear. One of the choices is "New Command". That selection
opens a window that allows you to enter a command, choose "Run command inside a shell" (huh?)
and "Run" or "Cancel".
I decided to try the "New Command" and "Run" option but when I finished the the USB Superdrive
still wouldn't work. Perhaps there is something I'm missing here?

Question about the SuperDrive 8X (DVDR-DL/CD-RW)

I read the tech page on the iMac, and am left with a question.
This new drive, well new for me.... is it a Dual Layer Media (DVD-R DL) or Double Layer Media (DVD+R DL) burner? If it is, how much luck has anyone had burning full UDF movies to a single Dual Layer Media (DVD-R DL) or Double Layer Media (DVD+R DL) disk?
Thanks,
Apple //GS
Just ordered my 20" and can't wait to get it ... and my luck will be that the day I get it MacOS 10.5 will come out. If that happens, I hope Apple will give me a copy at NO charge.

From System Profiler;
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846:
Firmware Revision: FB2U
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
From the Apple.com specs page;
17-inch model with 2.0GHz processor, 20-inch model and 24-inch model with slot-loading 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD-RW/CD-RW)
Writes DVD+R DL discs at up to 2.4x speed
Writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 8x speed
Writes DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs at up to 4x speed
Reads DVDs at up to 8x speed
Writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed
Writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed
Reads CDs at up to 24x speed
I've never copied any movies.

Problem with Superdrive (?) and a few questions

Hello, everyone,
Yesterday I bought my Mac Mini and soon I wanted to test the dvd player. I popped in Casino Royale and then it started.... I heard a few noises but the DVD did not appear on my desktop. First I thought that perhaps I had the wrong side up but that didn't help the problem. The dock didn't respond anymore. I pressed the eject button on my keyboard... no dice. In the end I decided to reboot but even that didn't work.
I was forced to cold reboot the Mini by holding the power button and then pressing it again. To my relief the mini restarted and this time he recognized the DVD. The question now is:
why did the mini react the way he did?
Perhaps there was something I needed to do before popping in a dvd or cd? I tested the drive with different cd's and dvd's. Now there are no more problems.
Ah, yes, some other questions.
1. I have a 1 terabyte usb drive that I used to use with Windows. Now I want to create a partition on it to use with the mac. Is there a program that I can use? I want to keep the data on it and create a partition for the mac. So I have 2 partitions: 1 with NTFS and 1 with Mac.
2. Is it possible to boot install Windows on a USB drive and create a dualboot with Bootcamp?
Thank you for your time and effort.
Marc

I did create an extended journaled partition and a ntfs partition. I still use that drive for windows so guid is not an option.
As for boot camp, at 1 time I installed snow leopard on a external drive to see if I could use the internal drive solely for windows...nope.
It looks like I'm looking for the impossible. So I indicated that my question has been answered.
Thanks for your help, David.

Superdrive/target disk mode question revisited

My mbp has a broken superdrive. I have connected my mac mini to my mbp and am running the mini in target disk mode. my problem comes with installing software -- when the software asks me to insert the dvd, and i put it in the mini, it does not recognize me as having inserted the dvd, and i can't progress in the installation without inserting said dvd. is there a setting i need to change to have it read the mini's superdrive as default? thanks!

Hi dmmd,
What model of "mini" is it, and what OS version does it have running on it?
There are now ways of using another mac's optical drive for software installation and the like which don't actually require TD mode to be used.
Have a look at http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/Snow_Leopard_InstallationInstructions.pdf for a good example.
Cheers
Rod

Superdrive and SATA (hard drive) questions

on my 15" mac book pro i will randomly get error messages that say my cd/dvd drive cannot be found or that there is no software installed for the superdrive whenever i am about to burn a cd/dvd.
also just last night i made an idvd project and then burned the dvd and im aware that this requires a good amount of disk space but when i was finished i moved the project and all other files to and external drive and then deleted them from the drive on the MBP. but then i checked my disk space and it said i had even less than when i was totally finished with the project. can any one tell me whats going on?

well this is weird. i opened disk utility, then opened image checksum but i didn't perform anything with either of the two so i quit disk utility because i didn't know what i was doing and then i noticed that the trash was full again. so i opened it and there was the dvd project i know i deleted. so i empited the trash again and voila! i got my disk space back! i don't know what happened, but as long as i got my disk space back im happy. thanks for the reply!

Question for Mac Pro owners w/Pioneer DVR-112D superdrive: what firmware?

For those whose Mac Pro came pre-installed with the Pioneer DVR-112D superdrive, what firmware revision is it running?
The reason I'm asking is that I have an aftermarket 112D, bought from OWC, that I purchased for it's rip/burn speed advantage over the pokey, possibly riplock crippled, Sony DW-150A that came with my Mac Pro. This advantage was indeed gained, but at the expense of living with some quirkiness with the drive, namely the "two-ejects required" problem discussed here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...highlight=112D
This quirkiness has gotten worse since the latest Mac Pro EFI firmware update on 09/27/07. Now if I'm watching a movie from a DVD in the 112D tray, any extended pause (and by extended I only mean more than a minute or so) causes an unrecoverable error in DVD Player and I'm forced to restart the DVD Player and restart the movie.
My suspicion is that this all has something to do with some (overzealous?) power management feature in Mac OS X that's not playing nice with the existing 112D firmware (I'd be interested in hearing any other plausible theories).
Currently, my 112D firmware is at revision 1.06. There a number of updated firmware revisions for the 112D circulating on the internet, PC centric, of course and mostly related to disabling region-locking etc.
I'd like to match my 112D firmware to whatever Mac Pro owners with a 'bona-fide' 112D enjoy, if it's publicly available somewhere.
Thanks.

Forrest McElfresh1 wrote:
The latest Pioneer DVR-112D/212D OEM firmware is v. 1.22 dated august 7, 2007. My general practice is to Avoid Apple firmware on OEM drives, it often disables features and is most infrequently updated.
My 112D is at version 1.21. Over the years I have successfully updated the firmware in my Pioneers using the Terminal app DVRFlash. But DVRFlash doesn't support the 112 or 111 series (yet). I wondered how you had updated to 1.22. I know it can be done by connecting to a PC, (which includes Bootcamp, but not Parallels) but I don't have ready access to a PC. At the moment I am waiting for Leopard before going Bootcamp way.
Any advice?
Hope this isn't hijacking the thread.
Mike

Installation of 2nd superdrive- Jumper question

I have just installed a Pioneer Superdrive into my G4 Mirror Drive FW 800 Power Mac. It is in the lower bay, in the upper bay is the original combo drive that came with the computer.
I currenty have the new drive's jumpers set to "CS", and the original drive 's jumper is on the third pin (there are only 3 pins), I assume this is also "CS".
Now when I press my eject key, the upper bay opens the original drive. I'd like to make the new Superdrive the default when I press the eject key. How do I do this? And how will I access the second drive, when I need too?
Thanks,
Cheri

It is probably a jumper setting problem. There should be a sticker on each drive showing the settings. On the Pioneer, the position closest to the flat cable is Master, next is Slave, and third is Cable Select. If both drives are set Cable Select (and the cable and computer support Cable Select) the drive at the end of the cable will be Master, the other drive Slave.
If you are not sure if Cable Select will work on your system, set the drive at the end to Master, and the other to Slave.

SuperDrive replacement question

I have a MacPro that I purchased in 2007. I am not sure if it is a 2006 or 2007 model. The SuperDrive is about to go out and I was wondering if I could replace it with a SATA drive. I was considering the Plextor PX-L890SA. The issue is that the current drive is ATAPI and I do not know if the 'first/boot' optical drive has to be ATAPI or if it can be SATA.

The bays on a 2007 model are wired for ATA. The SATA data connectors are on the motherboard below the drive bay area, and you will need to "go fishing" to connect SATA data cables to them. For the power, you will need a 4-pin Molex to SATA adapter cable (very common).

Superdrive question

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