Blu-ray drives

[cowasaki]

Hello everyone,

Has anyone got a blu-ray drive on their Mac pro? I wanted a 4x drive that also does DL. lots of them dont have the DL option. Clearly it needs to be IDE too but most of them have switched over to SATA which is a problem.

I could attach one externally which would allow me to use it on more than one computer but I was hoping for the tidy internal option.

There is that drive that also reads HD DVD, not sure of the make off the top of my head but I clearly don't want to get one that isn't going to work so I thought I would ask on here.

 

[bryphotoguy]

I have only seen two different blu-ray drives specific for Mac and they are only 2x for single and dual layer. And I think they are both IDE seeing they were for the Mac Pro.
Where's a link to the 4x drive you speak of?

 

[cowasaki]

I have only seen two different blu-ray drives specific for Mac and they are only 2x for single and dual layer. And I think they are both IDE seeing they were for the Mac Pro.
Where's a link to the 4x drive you speak of?

I haven't seen an IDE one yet but this

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=632069

would be perfect otherwise !!

 

[bryphotoguy]

It's for PC. I wouldn't expect it to work for Mac.

 

[cowasaki]

DVD drives are generic, virtually any DVD writer connected via firewire or usb works. The standard drive in a pro is just a standard pioneer 112D just like I have in my pc.

 

[bryphotoguy]

Virtually is not 100%. I put a NEC dvd burner and Samsung CD burner from my PC in a older Mac and neither worked.
I bought the same exact model Pioneer SuperDrive for my Mac Pro and the computer doesn't recognize them equally because the new one isn't certified for Mac so it has a different rom version.
Because it is not for Mac, it might not work properly or at all. I didn't check the price of the dual HD drive but it doesnt seem like a good idea.
you should be able to just use a SATA port for the HDs to connect the optical drive. You would just have to buy a cable.
i thought you didnt want to use usb or firewire? Ive never tried but id assume youd have the same compatability issue. Unless toast is smarter than the native os x burning tool.

 

[wytey]

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...ategory_id=351&manufacturer_id=0&tid=gbw-h10n

it's beige though

 

[Joe Redifer]

I wonder why the Mac needs "special" disk drives and video cards, etc. Of course they usually cost more than the non-Mac ones. Apple really needs to remedy this by making their hardware more compatible.

 

[bobtomay]

According to the specs on LG's site, Windows XP SP2 or Vista is required. Now, as to whether it will work on a Mac is another matter and it could just be that LG has not tested it on anything other than Windows. You might try posing the question on a Hi-def forum also.

I wonder why the Mac needs "special" disk drives and video cards, etc. Of course they usually cost more than the non-Mac ones. Apple really needs to remedy this by making their hardware more compatible.

As to the cost factor; 10,000 units can be produced much cheaper than 500.
As to Apple making their hardware more compatible, see the 2nd half of this post.

 

[bryphotoguy]

I wonder why the Mac needs "special" disk drives and video cards, etc. Of course they usually cost more than the non-Mac ones. Apple really needs to remedy this by making their hardware more compatible.

I am not sure why it would be Apple's job to make their hardware and software more compatible with 3rd party peripherals. There are thousands and thousands of different kinds of hardware and brands. It's really the job of the companies that makes these products to make them also compatible with Mac. It's not like Microsoft makes the drivers for an LG DVD burner.

 

[cowasaki]

If I can just clear things up a bit.

On the Mac pro there are 2 external drive slots both with IDE (PATA) cables behind them. For that reason I require a PATA drive to work in that slot. Apple fit firewire and USB2 connectors and these seem to be quite compatible. I have my old Intel Mac Mini sat next to the TV as a fileserver/multimedia centre/itunes server and connected to it is an LG DVD writer via a firewire box and a PC external USB drive box with a large HD in it.

As for firmware, the standard drive in a Mac pro at the moment is a Pioneer DVR-112D. This is the 16X DVD writer from pioneer without DVD Ram support (thats what the D signifies). You can according to several people who have done it, just go out and buy a standard DVR-112D, pull the front of the draw off it and install it and it will run just fine. I know from experience that you can fir either the 112 or 112D to a Mac via firewire and they work.

I have yet to find an IDE DVD writer that does not work via my firewire box (although I have only tried 5 - I build PCs uhh for people so have used serveral different models and checked them on the Mac). It may be that some firewire boxes are not as compatible as others but I have had no problems at all. If anything I have found that Apple computers seem to work better with external drives than PCs do with the same drives! I often find that when I switch a PC on with a firewire drive it is not recognised. I then have to disconnect the drive, switch it off, switch it back on and plug it back in. This is something I don't need to do with the Mac.

I will accept that older Macs might be different but my oldest Mac is an iBook 12" 1.33 which works happily with any of my external drives, all the others are dual core intel machines.

Anyway I was just wondering if anyone else had fitted an internal one. I can go and get an external firewire to SATA box and fit a standard SATA blu-ray drive but I wanted to keep it more tidy than that!

 

[bryphotoguy]

I think you are confusing internal and external.
The Mac Pro has two 5.25" internal drive bays for IDE optical drives. My setup has the original 112D drive and a second 112D drive I installed myself. Both work fine with Toast. But I was given instructions with the second drive that I need to install a patch to make it work with the iLife apps. (i don't use them so i cannot say it works or not but I assume there is a compatability issue if I was given instructions to download a patch.)
About my SATA comment, I would assume you could install a SATA optical drive in th front bay and run a SATA cable to a SATA connector on the logic board inside the computer. It would mean you could only install 3 HDs in the Mac Pro but you could use the optical drive you need so badly.
I have never used an external optical drive, only HDs, so if you say all work, then they must.
This dual HD format drive may work with a Mac. It isnt certified for Mac so I doubt it would. I mean, if the manufacturer tested it and it worked with OS X, they woud state it did, right? Plus, all the software that will come with the drive will be for Windows. I know Toast has blu-ray support. I don't know if there is an app for Mac that supports HD-DVD burning. I doubt Mac apps support either format for burning discs.
If you really want the drive, try buying the SATA cable and run it interally to a SATA bus on the logic board. Or just ignore me some more.
I've build many PCs and refurbished Macs, mainly laptops but a few Mac desktops. I know everyone wants to believe all computer parts are plug and play for Mac but they aren't.

 

[cowasaki]

I think you are confusing internal and external.

No i'm not confusing internal and external. By external I mean there is a whole in the front Externally accessible may have been a better description but internal implies that they are inside the computer and inaccessible if you see what I mean!

I doubt you can run a cable from one of the hard drive bays to a DVD as Mac OS will not be expecting this - Just opinion unless someone has tried

The dual format drive is likely to work under Toast for Blu-ray only as this is all that Toast supports. There is no support YET for HD DVD that I am aware of on the Mac BUT the 2nd generation Mac pro MAY have this! If it was being used externally then it could be used on a PC with HD DVD or under windows on the mac.

I may just wait until Apple offer Blu-ray themselves and use the same drive but this might not be until the 2nd gen intel Mac pro which might actually have SATA DVD connectors anyway!!

 

[bryphotoguy]

If you wish to word it as externally accessible drive bay you are free to but you will be the only one that does. It is a given that the 5.25" bays are internal seeing they are inside the case but they are for optical drives and accessible externally because of the drive tray.
How can you explain that any optical drive will work with a Mac but discard my theory that you could use a SATA port on the logic board for whatever you want. If I felt like it, I could remove my second optical drive and install an IDE HD and it would work just fine.
OS X should be smart enough to read a SATA optical drive although it was placed in a certain spot by the computer's designer for a HD.

 

[cowasaki]

If you wish to word it as externally accessible drive bay you are free to but you will be the only one that does. It is a given that the 5.25" bays are internal seeing they are inside the case but they are for optical drives and accessible externally because of the drive tray.
How can you explain that any optical drive will work with a Mac but discard my theory that you could use a SATA port on the logic board for whatever you want. If I felt like it, I could remove my second optical drive and install an IDE HD and it would work just fine.
OS X should be smart enough to read a SATA optical drive although it was placed in a certain spot by the computer's designer for a HD.

I am the only one that describes an externally accessible drive bay as an external bay !!!! Go look at some computer case manufacturers web sites OR computer resellers web sites. In the rest of the industry that is what we call them!

Connecting optical drives to HD SATA ports - Are you going to try it? I wasn't discounting it completely I just explained that I would be surprised if it worked. If you want to try it and let the rest of us know then fine - go ahead! As for loosing a drive bay, Mine are all full now and I have a drive connected by FW800 too. I wouldn't want to loose a SATA port for an optical drive.

 

[bryphotoguy]

Then you are SOL using it as an optical drive mounted inside the computer, right?
How is it a HD SATA port? What is the difference between a optical drive SATA port and a HD SATA port?
My bad about the external/ internal drive bay theory. Everyone I know including myself refers to the size of the bay (5.25" or 3.5") and not if it is considered internal or external. I mean, they're all inside the case.

 

[cowasaki]

Then you are SOL using it as an optical drive mounted inside the computer, right?

Eh!

How is it a HD SATA port? What is the difference between a optical drive SATA port and a HD SATA port?

It is a HD SATA port because that is what Apple have done with it! ALL the SATA ports on the motherboard go the the HD bays! Argue with them.

 

[bryphotoguy]

it is a HD bay because it is a 3.5" bay that an optical drive cannot fit in.
The Mac Pros designers put those SATA ports there so there wouldn't be a jumble of wires inside the case.
The only SATA device i own is a WD external HD I had from an old Mac that I took apart and mounted the HD inside the Mac. I am unwilling to buy a SATA drive and cable and test it for you. It will work though.

 

[cowasaki]

it is a HD bay because it is a 3.5" bay that an optical drive cannot fit in.
The Mac Pros designers put those SATA ports there so there wouldn't be a jumble of wires inside the case.
The only SATA device i own is a WD external HD I had from an old Mac that I took apart and mounted the HD inside the Mac. I am unwilling to buy a SATA drive and cable and test it for you. It will work though.

What are you arguing about? I started this thread to see if anyone had a blu-ray drive on a mac and you seem to want to argue about everything.

The SATA ports in the macs are connected to leads which go the the HD drive brackets. I have no interest in hooking an optical drive to one (remember it is you that brought that up) and are they are fitted with the connector that plugs into a drive how would you connect one to a DVD anyway? unless to can find someone selling a SATA male to female lead - you would find that you cannot get a lead to do this.

As for whether it will work - Who cares? I don't and I never said it wouldn't work!

 

[bryphotoguy]

So that's all you wanted?
Even novice computer uses can use google. (I typed Blu-ray for Mac)
Or try doing a search in these forums. I started a topic a month ago "Blu-ray drives for Mac."
MCE Blu-ray Drive
FastMac Blu-ray Drive
LaCie external Blu-ray Drive
They're all certified for Mac so they all have 100% functionality with OS X.

The rest of this I will drop. I bow to your superior computing knowledge. Next time someone asks if they can use an item not certified for Mac on top of not even being able to connect to the Mac how he or she wants, I will not reply to the thread and let it die like the other hundreds of posters in these forums.