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View Full Version : Macbook Optical Drive is garbage



mhat
Dec 22, 2009, 08:19 PM
Can someone explain why Macbook's are "so superior". I've been having nothing but trouble with mine. My MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857 optical drive is, for lack of a better word, garbage. DVD technology was around in 1995...here we are close to 15 years later and Apple can't supply a working one in the most expensive laptop I've ever owned?

I'm obviously upset, mostly because I ordered a new drive from ebay waited 2 weeks for it to arrive, pulled apart my entire Macbook and the ribbon connector doesn't fit into the new drive I purchased.

I'm here to try to repair my ignorance on the subject of optical drives and their ribbon connectors.

According to the ebay ad, this drive should be compatible with a Macbook. The new drive I purchased is SuperDrive HL GS21N. I didn't realize that my original optical drive interface is ATAPI and the new one is SATA.

Can I buy a new ribbon to use this new Superdrive? Does such a thing exist? Do I need to replace my original drive with another Matshita?

Thanks!


flopticalcube
Dec 22, 2009, 08:24 PM
You need another ATAPI drive but it doesn't have to be Matshita. Only the new MB are SATA. Yes, the Matshita (aka Panasonic) drives are rubbish.
milton.sheaf
Dec 24, 2009, 10:41 AM
SATA and PATA are not compatible so you'll need a new drive with PATA interface. Apple doesn't make the drive, it's made by Panasonic and used by many other laptop vendors too. I've never personally had one go bad, but all laptop optical drives are generally built for light use. They're not built for high duty cycle environments. If you're constantly using CD's and DVD's all day long, you might want to invest in an external Firewire optical drive.
iLog.Genius
Dec 24, 2009, 10:58 AM
Good thing I hardly use mine. Prior to my problem, I have never touched the SuperDrive. One day I had to burn a DVD video of an event. When it tried to burn it gave me a power calibration error. Googled the problem and many had to replace it. I read something about trying to use compressed air and voila it worked. Since then, every time I had to burn something, I need to use compressed air for it to work properly.