PowerMac G5: Some Hitachi optical drives cannot boot from CDs or DVDs

On numerous occasions we've reported on an issue where users are inexplicably unable to startup from valid Mac OS X installation discs.

One MacFixIt reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, now reports that Apple has unofficially acknowledged an issue with some Hitachi drives included on Power Mac G5 systems and is working on a fix.

The reader writes:

"There is a known problem with the Hitachi optical drive included in many currently shipping Power PC G5's which makes it impossible to boot up from a DVD and possibly CD or disc either using the 'C' start, "option" start or system preference start.. I've been through a couple of drives and a lot of TLC from Apple and they have acknowledged that there is a problem that they (as of now) cannot remedy. They went so far as to confirm and identify the drives that are problematic as identified in 'About This Mac' under ATA-6 BUS:

• HL-DT-ST DEV-RW GWA-4082B

"Their solution: hold tight and wait till the engineers solve the problem. Perhaps a firmware update, perhaps something more troublesome. They acknowledged to me that there are likely lots and lots of folks who have the problematic drives who do not know about it yet."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Resources