Noisy optical (CD/DVD) drives
Methods for quieting them.
[Wednesday, May 21st]
Various Macs' DVD drive can get exceptionally loud, especially when playing movies, even though it sounds like the fans and parts of the DVD drive are working normally (no odd clanking or buzzing noises). This problem appeared on some of the first PowerMac G5 and Mac Pro units (running Pioneer DVR-106 through DVR-111D drives), and seems to have persisted through to more recent systems running updated Pioneer DVR-112 drives. This behavior appears to happen at random, as one user, Volker Wurst1, described it:
"When playing some Movie-DVDs, the Player does not spin down to a reasonable speed. Instead it produces an unacceptable loud (hairblower like) noise. It only happens on some DVDs, others play normal (i.e. silent). So far, I cannot see a pattern. This behavior only happens with my MacPro. On previous Macs and other computers, these DVDs play normally."
The problem may have to do with custom firmware that Apple installs on the drive, since while it is unknown exactly what Apple has changed with their custom firmware, users who have installed the factory-released versions have found this problem has disappeared. Additionally, the drive seems to otherwise function normally with the factory firmware.
Fixes
Install third-party drive speed limiting software This is a quick fix for folks who don't want to void their warranties by messing with the hardware or who are not familiar with flashing firmware. Here is a suggested drive speed utility that is available through Apple's website. It is a simple slider-based utility that limits the maximum speed of the drive. Just set the maximum speed to the point where the problematic noise disappears. Utilities that will work for this purpose include DiscRotate 0.2.
Flash the firmware of the drive with factory-released Pioneer firmware This fix is only for Pioneer drives and is model-specific, so this only applies to Pioneer hardware. For other drive manufacturers, drive flashing may be possible in other ways.
WARNING: Flashing the drive incorrectly (or with the incorrect firmware) may render the drive useless. Ensure you have properly matched the downloaded firmware with the specific model for your drive before flashing, and that you follow all instructions provided with the flashing utilities.
There are two ways to do this: Since Macs have limited support for flashing hardware, it may be safer to use a Windows PC to flash the drive. You can install the drive either internally in the Windows PC, or externally using a USB drive enclosure. Download the latest factory-released version of the firmware for your drive from the Pioneer website. Then install it using the provided utilities.
If you have Windows installed with Boot Camp, then you should be able to flash the firmware in that environment. However, it is not recommended to attempt a firmware flash in a virtualized environment, such as Parallel's Desktop or VMWare Fusion.
If you do not have access to a windows PC, then you may still attempt flashing the drive using the DVRFlash utility. This utility is a multi-platform solution for flashing Pioneer drives, and has been updated to work on intel machines and the latest Pioneer drives. Instructions for flashing a drive are included with the DVRFlash utility, and firmware can be downloaded from the pioneer website listed above. The .exe file from the site is just a self-extracting zip file, and you can extract the firmware files by opening the downloaded file with stuffit expander.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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