G4 DVD drive bay, can I add one?

My old G4 MDD has the stock DVD and ZIP hardware. What I'd like to do is add another DVD drive instead of the ZIP drive.
Does such a drive bay exist, or must I hack away the ZIP section of the cage and construct something?

On many of the G4 models the space for the ZIP drive smaller than that needed for a DVD. The MDD version seems to have the right size space without any case modification. I'm still chasing that down. Does the space appear to be the right size? If it is then the swap should be rather simple.

Keep in mind that some apps of that vintage such as oDVD could be a bit twitchy about the which DVD drive is present. The Pioneer drives were known to work most often.

If I remember, there was an insert for the Zip drive, which fit into the DVD slot. Should slide right out after removing the screws.

As mentioned, no problem depending on the model and I added a second CD/DVD drive to my G4 last MDD model with no problems.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1.25_mdd.html

One of the best Mac's I've ever owned BTW…

For any help, you might want to check the "upgrades" suggestions I'm sure will still be available for such a project at:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com

And add this:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...w-to-replace-zip-drive-install-multiport.html




- Patrick
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cradom said:

If I remember, there was an insert for the Zip drive, which fit into the DVD slot. Should slide right out after removing the screws.

Click to expand...

No such luck here. Both the drive carriages I have here have the large bay for the DVD and a smaller one for the Zip, no insert. One of mine is from an older B&W G3, the other from the G4 in question. The smaller bay from the G4 has no Zip drive in it, but it's still too small for another DVD drive.
I'm attempting to create a duplicator where I can use Toast without needing to insert read disc, eject, then insert record disc.

You don't have to use the Toast Titanium disc. Install it in the Applications folder is the norm.

In that case might I suggest this: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/drive/enclosures/optical_drive
or something of the sort.

While I think on this a bit, I think you may be confused on the "MDD" model if it's standard and I don't think any Mirrored Drive Door (MDD) G4's actually came with ZIP drives, and I think they may have even been dropped when the Quicksilvers arrived.

The latter MDD G4s did come with two 5.5" enclosures I'm sure which made the addition much easier. I still have mine in the basement. Also not all brand/model opticals would work and some files needed to be modified with a Text editor or was it ResEdit for os 8-9… if I recall correctly??

Maybe check here:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com
and also
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-to-replace-upgrade-optical-cd-dvd-drive.html
or
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Power+Mac+G4+MDD+Optical+Drive+Cage+Replacement/1619

As suggested, you might find it easier and cheaper to just add an external optical drive these days.





- Patrick
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AudioApe said:

No such luck here. Both the drive carriages I have here have the large bay for the DVD and a smaller one for the Zip, no insert. One of mine is from an older B&W G3, the other from the G4 in question. The smaller bay from the G4 has no Zip drive in it, but it's still too small for another DVD drive.
I'm attempting to create a duplicator where I can use Toast without needing to insert read disc, eject, then insert record disc.

Click to expand...

What actual Mac model do you have and is it stock from Apple and without any drive mods or enclosures other than those you mentioned???



- Patrick
======

My bad. Just checked the number, and it's actually a dual 1GHz, 2002 Quicksilver. If Apple supplied some models with dual 5.5" bays, it's time to go shopping.
I do have Toast installed in the Applications folder. With only one drive one inserts the disc to be copied, selects the tracks to be copied and selects record. Toast then creates a temporary file, ejects the disc, and asks that you insert a blank disc. What I hope to do is avoid the disc-changing step, so I can go do something else and return to find a completed copy. I have three Apple DVD drives available.
I do have an older external CD burner, but I wish to avoid using USB to transfer music data.

I'd definitely suggest consider a newer and faster model like the last of the G4 MDD towers:
Apple Power Macintosh G4 1.25 DP (MDD)
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1.25_dp_mdd.html

Faster bus as well and all the two 5.5" bays already installed.
And even though they used the same vents as earlier models, they didn't suffer the same disadvantages or noise of the "Wind Tunnel" Macs.

BTW: The Burn app works well and possibly a lot better than the later Toast versions IMHO. Toast 6 was the last and best that worked for me that I used. (It bypasses any DRM as well as it didn't even know about it!!)

EDIT:
BTW while I think of it, when you get your Mac and the two internal optical drives installed, there's a builtin OS feature that allows opening the top or bottom tray from the menu icon when enabled. Very handy.





- Patrick
======

AudioApe said:

I'm attempting to create a duplicator where I can use Toast without needing to insert read disc, eject, then insert record disc.

Click to expand...

I've seen a few suggestions about modifying the G4 cases to accommodate a 5.25 in. drive (optical). Unfortunately the ones I've found don't seem to be functional.

BTW if you don't want to use an external drive to create your disc duplicator here's a workaround that I've used before. I think it is supported by the version of Toast that you are using:
1. Insert the source disc into the drive.
2. Follow the normal steps for setting up files you want to burn.
3. From the File menu tell Toast to Save as a disk image and choose a save location. Now you can remove the disc you are copying from the DVD drive.
4. Double click the image you just saved to "mount" it.
5. Start a disc copy operation with the mounted disc image as a source and the blank disc in the drive as the destination.

Bit of a pain but I've used it a few times when I needed to duplicate a disc.

Thanks,
Don't think I'll be upgrading this G4 until it dies. It only cost me $50, and does what I need for the most part. It runs all my old Classic apps. More importantly, with the card installed, I can access all my old SCSI drives over my network.
I'm still in the dark ages: late 2005 G5 for music production, G4 for graphics and Classic apps, and Pismo for a road laptop. Only Intel Mac I have is this Macbook Pro on which I type this.
Shoot, I still have an 8100 with an audio editor which I use for surgical editing.