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Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287628] Sun, 12 April 2015 11:55 Go to next message
William Tomcanin is currently offline  William Tomcanin
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Registered: March 2013
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Junior Member
Hello all,

As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will
no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming
problematic (50-50 chance of success).

Can anyone suggest a replacement?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287641 is a reply to message #287628] Sun, 12 April 2015 16:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bruce Johnson is currently offline  Bruce Johnson
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Registered: August 2012
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On Apr 12, 2015, at 8:55 AM, William Tomcanin <wt8091373@gmail.com<mailto:wt8091373@gmail.com>> wrote:

Hello all,

As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming problematic (50-50 chance of success).

Can anyone suggest a replacement?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

Pretty much any ATA DVD +/- R/RW drive will work, if you’re using 10.5. For previous versions of OS X you need to get Patchburn: <http://www.patchburn.de>

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs


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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287667 is a reply to message #287641] Mon, 13 April 2015 07:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
William Tomcanin is currently offline  William Tomcanin
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Thanks, Bruce!

Bill

On Sun, Apr 12, 2015 at 4:52 PM, Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu
> wrote:

>
> On Apr 12, 2015, at 8:55 AM, William Tomcanin <wt8091373@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will
> no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming
> problematic (50-50 chance of success).
>
> Can anyone suggest a replacement?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Bill
>
>
> Pretty much any ATA DVD +/- R/RW drive will work, if you’re using 10.5.
> For previous versions of OS X you need to get Patchburn: <
> http://www.patchburn.de>
>
> --
> Bruce Johnson
> University of Arizona
> College of Pharmacy
> Information Technology Group
>
> Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs
>
>
> --
> --
> You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for
> those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power
> Macs.
> The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our
> netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml
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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287674 is a reply to message #287628] Mon, 13 April 2015 11:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dan C is currently offline  Dan C
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Registered: December 2014
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Junior Member
> On Apr 12, 2015, at 11:55 AM, William Tomcanin <wt8091373@gmail.com> wrote:
> the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming problematic (50-50 chance of success).


Before you go for a replacement, try cleaning it!

fwiw,
- Dan.

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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287675 is a reply to message #287628] Mon, 13 April 2015 11:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Jeff Walther is currently offline  Jeff Walther
Messages: 134
Registered: August 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member


On Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 10:55:31 AM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will
> no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming
> problematic (50-50 chance of success).
>
> Can anyone suggest a replacement?
>

The difficulty is that PATA drives are no longer manufactured and the old
stock of half-height (normal optical drive sized) PATA optical drives ran
out a long time ago.

SATA optical drives are still available. Newegg regularly has them for
less than $20, so, if there is room, you might install a SATA optical drive
with a PATA to SATA adapter (some of the adapters will work in both
directions).

Another alternative is to get this slim PATA optical drive:
http://amzn.com/B001B7XYZO

This or similar slimline PATA to normal PATA adapter:
http://r.ebay.com/Yy4C5d

And you may need this slim-line optical drive to full-size optical drive
physical adapter: http://amzn.com/B007C1KPQY

The drive is slot-load, so it may not work well if you G4 has doors that
need to be pushed open by a tray.

Jeff Walther



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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #287676 is a reply to message #287628] Mon, 13 April 2015 12:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
James Carroll is currently offline  James Carroll
Messages: 8
Registered: February 2013
Karma: 0
Junior Member



Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S® 5 ACTIVE™, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone


-------- Original message --------
From: trag@prismnet.com
Date:04/13/2015 11:59 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: g3-5-list@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive



On Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 10:55:31 AM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
Hello all,

As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming problematic (50-50 chance of success).

Can anyone suggest a replacement?

The difficulty is that PATA drives are no longer manufactured and the old stock of half-height (normal optical drive sized) PATA optical drives ran out a long time ago.

SATA optical drives are still available. Newegg regularly has them for less than $20, so, if there is room, you might install a SATA optical drive with a PATA to SATA adapter (some of the adapters will work in both directions).

Another alternative is to get this slim PATA optical drive: http://amzn.com/B001B7XYZO

This or similar slimline PATA to normal PATA adapter: http://r.ebay.com/Yy4C5d

And you may need this slim-line optical drive to full-size optical drive physical adapter: http://amzn.com/B007C1KPQY

The drive is slot-load, so it may not work well if you G4 has doors that need to be pushed open by a tray.

Jeff Walther


I use an external firewire DVD drive with my Macs. It solved every problem I ever had burning discs on Apple hardware. USB is cheaper but sucks on PPC macs.

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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #288240 is a reply to message #287676] Mon, 20 April 2015 06:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
William Tomcanin is currently offline  William Tomcanin
Messages: 17
Registered: March 2013
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Has anyone manually cleaned the laser lens on their DVD drive? I'm tempted
at this point to remove the drive, take it apart and attempt to clean it
manually until a replacement arrives.

I understand that the lenses on the original Pioneer 103 DVR drives must be
immaculate in order for them to work properly.

Bill

On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 12:13 PM, void <void@comsouth.net> wrote:

>
>
>
> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S® 5 ACTIVE™, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: trag@prismnet.com
> Date:04/13/2015 11:59 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: g3-5-list@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive
>
>
>
> On Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 10:55:31 AM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> As the subject line implies, the Superdrive in my trusty Quicksilver will
>> no longer read DVDs. CDs appear to read ok, although burning is becoming
>> problematic (50-50 chance of success).
>>
>> Can anyone suggest a replacement?
>>
>
> The difficulty is that PATA drives are no longer manufactured and the old
> stock of half-height (normal optical drive sized) PATA optical drives ran
> out a long time ago.
>
> SATA optical drives are still available. Newegg regularly has them for
> less than $20, so, if there is room, you might install a SATA optical drive
> with a PATA to SATA adapter (some of the adapters will work in both
> directions).
>
> Another alternative is to get this slim PATA optical drive:
> http://amzn.com/B001B7XYZO
>
> This or similar slimline PATA to normal PATA adapter:
> http://r.ebay.com/Yy4C5d
>
> And you may need this slim-line optical drive to full-size optical drive
> physical adapter: http://amzn.com/B007C1KPQY
>
> The drive is slot-load, so it may not work well if you G4 has doors that
> need to be pushed open by a tray.
>
> Jeff Walther
>
>
> I use an external firewire DVD drive with my Macs. It solved every
> problem I ever had burning discs on Apple hardware. USB is cheaper but
> sucks on PPC macs.
>
> --
> --
> You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for
> those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power
> Macs.
> The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our
> netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml
> To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
>
> ---
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> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>

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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #288241 is a reply to message #288240] Mon, 20 April 2015 07:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Peter Devlin is currently offline  Peter Devlin
Messages: 13
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
On 20/04/2015 11:39, "William Tomcanin" <wt8091373@gmail.com> wrote:

> Has anyone manually cleaned the laser lens on their DVD drive?  I'm tempted at
> this point to remove the drive, take it apart and attempt to clean it manually
> until a replacement arrives.
>
> I understand that the lenses on the original Pioneer 103 DVR drives must be
> immaculate in order for them to work properly.
>
> Bill

Hi,
Yes I've done that with many of the optical drives I've had over the
years - alcohol on a cotton bud will usually do the trick for just cleaning
the lens. An associated problem with age is focus drift errors on the lens -
I had this problem with an Xbox dvd player - fortunately there are screw
adjustments available for the laser lens focus and a fiddle with these fixed
my problem. I would recommend googling for some kind of tutorial first
though as you need to be able to reverse your chosen adjustment back to it's
original position if it's the wrong one and before you attempt another.

Pete


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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #288252 is a reply to message #288241] Mon, 20 April 2015 11:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
William Tomcanin is currently offline  William Tomcanin
Messages: 17
Registered: March 2013
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Thanks, Pete.

I'll look into the adjustment as well. Hopefully I'll be able to attempt
the cleaning within the next day or two as time permits.

Thanks for the prompt response!

Regards,
Bill

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 7:28 AM, Peter Devlin <pdimage@mail.com> wrote:

> On 20/04/2015 11:39, "William Tomcanin" <wt8091373@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Has anyone manually cleaned the laser lens on their DVD drive? I'm
> tempted at
>> this point to remove the drive, take it apart and attempt to clean it
> manually
>> until a replacement arrives.
>>
>> I understand that the lenses on the original Pioneer 103 DVR drives must
> be
>> immaculate in order for them to work properly.
>>
>> Bill
>
> Hi,
> Yes I've done that with many of the optical drives I've had over the
> years - alcohol on a cotton bud will usually do the trick for just cleaning
> the lens. An associated problem with age is focus drift errors on the lens
> -
> I had this problem with an Xbox dvd player - fortunately there are screw
> adjustments available for the laser lens focus and a fiddle with these
> fixed
> my problem. I would recommend googling for some kind of tutorial first
> though as you need to be able to reverse your chosen adjustment back to
> it's
> original position if it's the wrong one and before you attempt another.
>
> Pete
>
>
> --
> --
> You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for
> those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power
> Macs.
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> netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml
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Re: Replacement for Quicksilver G4 Superdrive [message #288256 is a reply to message #288252] Mon, 20 April 2015 13:36 Go to previous message
peterhaas is currently offline  peterhaas
Messages: 80
Registered: September 2012
Karma: 0
Member

>>> I understand that the lenses on the original Pioneer 103 DVR drives
>> must
>> be
>>> immaculate in order for them to work properly.

By the time of the Pioneer 113, the drives had gotten quite good.

But, they were still priced at about $100, whereas the price of SATA
burners had depressed to nearly $15.

Time waits for no man (nor for any product, either), and the time for PATA
burners was, alas, OVER!



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