Power Mac G5 Superdrive won't read DL DVDs

Hey all,

I have recently inherited a 2003/2004 Power Mac Dual Processor G5 1.8GHz, and I'm having some issues with the Superdrive.

It won't read any burned dual layer(DL) DVDs or CD+Rs. Either the disc will sit in the Mac without any drive activity, and without appearing in the Finder, or the Mac will spit it back out. I've tried using a cleaning disc with several brushes, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

I have pulled the drive and installed another one just to ensure that it wasn't the computer itself, and sure enough, the other disc drive played and read any disc quite easily.

The drive in question is a Pioneer 106PB. Is there a firmware upgrade for this disc drive, or is it simply worn down after many years of faithful service? Would opening the drive and cleaning the laser lens with rubbing alcohol help? The Mac is currently running 10.5 with all the latest updates.

The superdrive in your PM G5 has done well to last this long, replace it with the one you used to test it. The G5 uses ATA optical drives, these are far less common than they used to be, as SATA become the norm some time back. There's far less choice now, but found here in the UK LG ATA optical drives still easily available.

techiesteve said:

The superdrive in your PM G5 has done well to last this long, replace it with the one you used to test it. The G5 uses ATA optical drives, these are far less common than they used to be, as SATA become the norm some time back. There's far less choice now, but found here in the UK LG ATA optical drives still easily available.

Click to expand...

I 2nd this motion..

the ODD in the G5 has to be one of the easiest-to-replace components in the system.. shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. and a new replacement will be MUCH faster at burning...

just make sure you check the ATA settings on your original drive (it's likely set to Master), and set the replacement to the same....

Case closed!

techiesteve said:

The superdrive in your PM G5 has done well to last this long, replace it with the one you used to test it. The G5 uses ATA optical drives, these are far less common than they used to be, as SATA become the norm some time back. There's far less choice now, but found here in the UK LG ATA optical drives still easily available.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the advice guys! OK, I had a feeling that a replacement was called for. The new drive is much more capable and effective than the old one ever was. In addition to support for more disc formats, such as DL, it also burns faster, and best of all, it doesn't reject any discs, so it's working as intended.

Since I've already done the replacement, and checked the IDE cable master/slave setting on the original so the new drive is set accordingly, I don't think there is anything left for me to do except thank you both, and close the thread!

Cheers!