12-19-2004, 01:38 AM

Has anyone had any experience adding a DVD-RAM drive to a Powermac G5 Dual 1.8ghz (internal or external)? I just bought a Panasonic E55 standalone DVD-R/RAM for my living room, and I would like to be able to read the DVD-RAM disks from it into my G5 for import into iMovie, iDVD, etc. I'd like to make backup copies of my old home videos on VHS, some old laserdiscs, as well as some old RCA CED discs, but I can't edit on DVD-R, and DVD-RAM isn't supported by my Pioneer SuperDrive.

I looked into the Pioneer DVR-108 which looks to be an upgrade to the DVR-106D which came with my G5. The DVR-108 will only READ DVD-RAM at 2x which might be ok, but I wanted to see if anyone knew if that drive could replace the 106D that's in my machine already? Will OS X find it? Is there a workaround?

Another alternative is the LG Electronics model GSA-4160BB, which records almost every format known to the DVD world, including DVD-RAM at 5x! Problem is, I also don't know if it will work in the G5 internally or externally with a firewire enclosure? Anyone? Both drives are around $70-80.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

12-19-2004, 02:48 AM

xlr8yourmac.com has a database of drives that are OSX compatible, maybe check there...

Basically I think the pioneer drive should be recognised natively and you should be able to burn from iTunes, iDVD, Finder without any trouble as it will appear to be a "Superdrive" rather than just any old DVD burner.

The LG model might not be supported that easily, but if the system won't recognise it properly, you just need to download 'patchburn 3' that enables iTunes,iDVD,Finder burning for non-superdrive dvd burners internal & external...

12-19-2004, 04:15 PM

I just flashed my A107 into an A108 and I can read DVD-RAM just fone now. There is a thread over at the apple discussions fourm at apple.com with a link to the guy with an OSX flasher. I also had to use another app to make it work in disk util and the itools, but it works fine. As an added bonus it also writes to dual layer now using NTI dragon burn!

12-21-2004, 12:25 AM

I've been doing more research, and I'm wondering if just getting the ReadDVD software will serve my purpose. I flashed my 106D drive to the new 1.08 firmware. DVD-RAM disks are still not read and don't mount on OSX. I have a feeling that ReadDVD may read the disks but there is no trial version to download and I don't feel like wasting $25 to find out if it works or not.

Any ideas?