DVD drive capable of reading Dual Layer DVDs?

jhonrox · Apr 13, 2009

Hello there,

I have a PowerBook G4 Aluminium 15" 1.25 GHZ. Could some body tell me how to know if my drive supports Dual Layer DVDs, please? And if it doesn't, does that mean I won't be able to install OS X Leopard?

Also, I read in the specs given that it supports DVD-R but not DVD+R, but I'm having trouble getting the drive to recognize DVD-RW disks. Any idea why this is?

Any help will be very much appreciated!

cwa107 · Apr 13, 2009

I don't believe it supports writing DL discs, but it can read them (as can any DVD-ROM drive). So you shouldn't have any trouble installing Leopard.

I'm not sure on your second question, with the age of the drive, it's entirely possible that it's ready for a replacement.

harryb2448 · Apr 13, 2009

The machine will read the DVD no problem and your difficulty could be if you wished to make a copy of the Leopard disc for day to day use. Then you would need a DL burner. To find out if you have a DL burner, or indeed any other reading/writing information, go to 'About this Mac'>'More Info'>'Disc Burning'.

brianwmay · Apr 14, 2009

Have a look at my thread about my DVD drive "making coasters". Considering the age of the drive, it is quite possible the laser lens is dirty.

I cleaned it with compressed air and a cleaner (not recommended by Apple but you're well out of warranty anyway) disk and now it's as good as new.

jhonrox · Apr 14, 2009

Thank you cwa107 & harryb2448 for your replies. Thanks to brianwmay as well for the information on the 'DVD drive making coasters' thread, I'll look in to that ...)

DVD drive capable of reading Dual Layer DVDs?

jhonrox

cwa107

harryb2448

brianwmay

jhonrox

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