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General discussion

G4 - Upgrading to a DVD drive....need some insight!

Feb 23, 2007 10:23PM PST

Greetings! I have a 466 MHz G4 that has an internal CDR drive. I am upgrading to OSX 10.3 (or 10.4) but I need a DVD drive to do it. Question 1: can I fit an internal DVD drive along with the CD drive in the tower, or do I have to swap it out? Question 2: can I still record CD's with a DVD drive? and question 3: what kind of DVD drive?

Toonaman

Discussion is locked

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Upgrading a G4
Feb 23, 2007 10:37PM PST

I have some good news and some no so good news.

Good news first:
10.3 comes on a CD, no need for the DVD device.
Yes, you can swap the existing drive for another. (Straight swap)
Yes, you can still record regular CD's with the CD burner

Not so good news:
10.4 running on a 466Mhz machine will not give you the experience that you would like. It will work but it will be slow.
10.3.9 (after software updates) will run like a champ on that machine.
DVD burners (8X Dual Layer) are cheap, check out www.macsales.com, and are very easy to install.
You cannot get two Optical devices into that tower.

Any help?

P

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G4 - Upgrading to a DVD drive....need some insight!
Feb 23, 2007 10:47PM PST

Help indeed! Thanks! You mentioned "10.3.9 (after software updates) will run like a champ on that machine" What do you mean by "software updates"? Would that be OSX updates, or updates to my programs, such as photoshop, etc.?

I think it's a good idea about switching to the DVD drive. Does 10.3 come on a DVD as well? 10.3 is Tiger, right?

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10.3
Feb 23, 2007 11:08PM PST

When you first install 10.3, the version is usually much lower than the current available version.
My install disks are 10.3.0 but the current, and final version, is 10.3.9
The move from .3.0 to .3.9 is done using the Software Update utility. It's free and painless, as long as you have a broadband connection.

Regarding your existing programs. If you are currently running OS 9, all of your current applications will run in Classic mode. Classic is a stripped down version of OS 9 which runs alongside OS X, when needed.
If this is the case, then all the programs that you are currently running will not work directly in OS X. OS X versions of Photoshop, and almost everything else, are available.

If you ARE currently running OS X, of some flavor, then the above paragraph is moot.

Yes, I was going to add on my last post that it would be a good idea to go ahead and replace the existing optical drive with a DVD burner. $42 is not too high a price to pay for added convenience.

OS X (10.3) is NOT Tiger, it is PANTHER and it comes on CD's.
Tiger is 10.4 and at 466MHZ your machine may be a little slow. It's worth a try though. I have a G4 Cube running a G4 450Mhz and the results are just acceptable.

If you are not planning on purchasing a new machine any time soon, you might want to check out the processor upgrades at macsales while you are up there.

P

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Upgrading a G4
Feb 23, 2007 11:02PM PST

I found this one on macsales. Any known issues or reasons to choose another one?

Pioneer DVR-111D Dual Layer DVD Recordable Drive
16X DVD-R/+R, 8X DVD-R/+R DL Writer

I really appreciate you insight.

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That will do nicely
Feb 24, 2007 7:00AM PST

I got mine from there, DVR-110D, and have had no problems with it. It is also a great price.

Going internal with this one is cheaper than going external Firewire and increases you onboard capabilities.

If you need to know how to remove stuff to get the replacement in, just post here


P

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Also looking for a DVD Drive
May 8, 2007 9:45AM PDT

I am also looking for a DVD drive. I have a Mac OS X 10.2.8. I visited the macsales.com site and found they have the Pioneer DVR-112DBK.

I also did a search on Amazon.com on this product and someone put in a review saying... "Burns real fast both on DVDs and CDs but there is one problem. You can't play the DVD movies on there because they did not provide you with the codecs to play it. If you want to play DVDs you have to buy FULL version of Nero 7 Ultra (the one that comes on the CD with the burner has a stripped down version). This really sucks. You put in a DVD and a Nero message comes up saying that you need to purchase the codec for $75.. so yeah. If you're into burning data and movies it's great. But if you're into actually watching movies on your PC -> get a better deal on a DVD-ROM."

Do you know if this is the case? that the Pioneer DVR would need the Nero 7 Ultra inorder to play DVDs?

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Codecs for DVD
May 8, 2007 9:59PM PDT

are built into the OS.

You will not have a problem


P

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and more information
May 8, 2007 10:45PM PDT

I note that you are reading reviews from a user who is using Windows as their OS.
You have a Mac running OS 10.2.8, which is a little old, but is a completely different OS.
Whatever the Windows reviewer was saying, only applies to the Windows platform.
Nero does not run, nor is it required, on a Mac. iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD will all see this DVD burner and treat it as a factory installed device.
Apple DVD player has the necessary codecs to play DVD's.

You might want to consider moving up to 10.3, requires a purchase.

P

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Does the new DVD drive need
Feb 24, 2007 1:26AM PST

to be internal? A FireWire (400) external DVD may meet your needs - I've successfully used an external LaCie on my G4 Quicksilver tower (along with the internal CD writable), but there are others.

http://www.lacie.com/

The DVD drives I've looked at will write CDs, too... rephase that - I have not seen a DVD writer that won't write CDs...

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External adapter for DVD drive?
May 10, 2007 4:59AM PDT

I have just gotten a new CD/DVD burner (see my postings in the Mac Utilities and Applications forum about DiskWarrior). I never thought that I might be able to use the new drive externally, but a piece of paper that came with the drive seems to imply that I might be able to do just that, if I buy an adapter.

Oh, wise ones, is that so? I am pretty handy, but the video I watched on installing the drive internally indicates that I'd have to cast about the G4's innards without being able to see just what I'd be doing. I was going to get a tech to come in and do it for me (very expensive in my part of the US), but that might just solve my problem, if it truly is feasible.

Thanks, everybody.

Jenny

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to do this externally
May 10, 2007 7:05AM PDT

you would need a case to put the drive into. The case would connect to the Mac via a Firewire Cable.

Right now you just have the bare bones drive.

If you want to go the external route, go back up to Macsales.com and look for an External Firewire Enclosure.

I just got back from there, didn't find one big enough.

You really can do this yourself.

P

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Can not write CDs on a Pioneer DVR-112
May 24, 2007 8:08AM PDT

I just bought the Pioneer DVR-112, but i am not able to copy files onto a CD-R Disk. When I put in a blank CD-R, this error message showed up, "The disc could not be used b/c the disc drive is not supported, (Error Code OX80020025) does anyone know why this is? and How can this be fixed?

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(NT) Did you try Toast?
May 24, 2007 8:49AM PDT
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The DV-112 is not
May 24, 2007 10:06AM PDT

supported natively by OS X.
If you purchased this from OWC, there is a statement to that effect on their web site.
All is not lost though.
You can patch the firmware using an app called Patchburn which is available, free, from this site:
http://patchburn.de/download.html

Choose the right one for your OS, download and install and you should be good to go.

The othere method of using it would be as Bob suggested. Toast or DragonBurn will make it work. Neither are free.

Hope this helps

P

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You guys are the best. Thanks!!!
May 24, 2007 2:27PM PDT

It works now Happy