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Internal MacPro DVD drive sucks!

slughead

slughead

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 28, 2004
3,107
237
When my G5's crappy DVD drive died, I replaced it with a Pioneer DVR-111D.

I got my Mac Pro and the thing imported CDs and DVDs slower than my G5!

I just stuck this $35 111D in my Mac Pro and WHOA! CDs rip at 40x! (320KBp/s Mp3, with error correction).

The Mac Pro comes with an NEC drive re-branded as a Sony.

The NEC Firmware update (someone repost it, pls) speeds up the Sony but caused stability issues so the best thing to do seems to get a new drive like the 111D.

Oh, and it's dead quiet.

I love NEC but they make CHEAP stuff, this stock drive sounds like a lawnmower and it's slow as hell. I'll probably only use it when I have to burn 2 things at once now.
 
That is one thing apple really skimped out on, the DVD drive. Its speeds are not great to say the least....
 
Apple also puts DVR-111D's in some Mac Pros. I guess I should consider myself lucky that mine came with one. :confused:

I love the Pioneer Superdrives, they've never let me down. In fact I have two in my MP, the second is my trusty DVR-106D that I've had since my PowerBook's Combo drive started sucking.
 
apfhex said:
Apple also puts DVR-111D's in some Mac Pros. I guess I should consider myself lucky that mine came with one. :confused:

I love the Pioneer Superdrives, they've never let me down. In fact I have two in my MP, the second is my trusty DVR-106D that I've had since my PowerBook's Combo drive started sucking.
Click to expand...


The 111D I bought replaced the pioneer (I think it was a 109) in my G5. I bought another pioneer so iMovie would work, and because I recognized the 109's failure as a fluke.

Pioneer's amazing. Sony sucks. NEC's as bad as Sony EXCEPT they charge virtually nothing for their stuff. Run it into the ground and buy a new one, I guess. Probably ends up being cheaper that way anyway, what with upgrades :)
 
My macpro also came with the pioneer... I'm so glad, because I have heard of many issues with the other brands...
 
trainguy77 said:
That is one thing apple really skimped out on, the DVD drive. Its speeds are not great to say the least....
Click to expand...

I do rather think the tradeoff they made for every Mac *except* the PM/MP is a good one (e.g. there's no way I'm going to tray-loading purely for speed. But in the MP case, where there is already a tray, and where the usage profile is more likely to include lots of optical disc use, there doesn't seem to be a great excuse to not use a really fast, stable drive.
 
Guys, it isn't the drive, it's the Apple firmware on it. Mine was the same until I put on the Pioneer firmware. Apple firmware is super slow reading pressed CDs/DVDs (originals). It is always super fast reading burned CDs/DVDs. The side effect of that is that ripping of pressed media is very slow. Also, the drive is *super* loud playing burned media because it's blasting away at full speed. I think it must be some kind of retarded copyright control or something (nothing surprises me from Apple any more). Anyway, replace the firmware on the drive with stuff from here and all will be well (and as a bonus, you get a region free drive).
 
I flashed the 'sony' drive with the NEC firmware and it upped my CD-R burn speed to 48x, It also cut my DVD rip time in half!

I have had NO PROLEMS with this drive, NO COASTERS!

my only gripe is that it is loud.
 
dusanv said:
Guys, it isn't the drive, it's the Apple firmware on it. Mine was the same until I put on the Pioneer firmware. Apple firmware is super slow reading pressed CDs/DVDs (originals). It is always super fast reading burned CDs/DVDs. The side effect of that is that ripping of pressed media is very slow. Also, the drive is *super* loud playing burned media because it's blasting away at full speed. I think it must be some kind of retarded copyright control or something (nothing surprises me from Apple any more). Anyway, replace the firmware on the drive with stuff from here and all will be well (and as a bonus, you get a region free drive).
Click to expand...

In my mac pro i have the sony d150a. I can't find anything about it on that site.
 
product26 said:
I flashed the 'sony' drive with the NEC firmware and it upped my CD-R burn speed to 48x, It also cut my DVD rip time in half!

I have had NO PROLEMS with this drive, NO COASTERS!

my only gripe is that it is loud.
Click to expand...

What about burning DL DVDs? I made a lot of coasters with HP media, but have had no problem when I went with Verbatim DVD+R DLs. If flashing the firmware will help out with that, I might be convinced. I could always grab a cheap burner from Newegg, but would rather wait until the Blu Ray drives come down in price...

cheers.
 
dkoralek said:
What about burning DL DVDs? I made a lot of coasters with HP media, but have had no problem when I went with Verbatim DVD+R DLs. If flashing the firmware will help out with that, I might be convinced. I could always grab a cheap burner from Newegg, but would rather wait until the Blu Ray drives come down in price...

cheers.
Click to expand...

if switching to a different media cured the problem, i would suspect the media its self. I have seen HP media everywhere for DIRT CHEAP... probably for a reason too. it is crap!
 
It worked fine. Seems faster, also louder. One thing I noticed is when in a dark room you see the light on the front of the drive flicker when in use. I didn't think it did that before the update.
 
Is there a logical way to make the drive quieter when playing DVDs? I've already tried dousing the sound with some clothes over the top...
 
if u get a mac pro with one dvd drive,
can u put a second dvd drive by yourself? i mean not apple drive, from other company nec pioneer etc etc.

my english sux :D
 
gpapava said:
if u get a mac pro with one dvd drive,
can u put a second dvd drive by yourself? i mean not apple drive, from other company nec pioneer etc etc.

my english sux :D
Click to expand...

I just put in a Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x20 DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive Lightscribe drive to my Mac Pro 2.0, running OS 10.4.8. I just followed the directions on "replacing an optical drive" in Apples little owners booklet that came with my Mac Pro. It went right in and then was immediately recognized by Mac OS 10.4.8.

So the answer to your question would be Yes!!

FWIW the Lite-on drive is a bit quieter than the original Sony superdrive in my Mac Pro, to my ears anyway, and a whole lot faster. It ripped a cd into iTunes at an average of 37-40 X compared to 17-20 times for the same disk on the Sony, and burned a copy of a 1 hour home made DVD from my Sony in under 4 minutes using Toast 6. Very happy with the drive.
 
paxx said:
I just put in a Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x20 DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive Lightscribe drive to my Mac Pro 2.0, running OS 10.4.8. I just followed the directions on "replacing an optical drive" in Apples little owners booklet that came with my Mac Pro. It went right in and then was immediately recognized by Mac OS 10.4.8.

So the answer to your question would be Yes!!

FWIW the Lite-on drive is a bit quieter than the original Sony superdrive in my Mac Pro, to my ears anyway, and a whole lot faster. It ripped a cd into iTunes at an average of 37-40 X compared to 17-20 times for the same disk on the Sony, and burned a copy of a 1 hour home made DVD from my Sony in under 4 minutes using Toast 6. Very happy with the drive.
Click to expand...

WOW! I didn't know that drives that cheap and powerful even existed. Are most internal drives compatible with OS X or is there very little to choose from? Could someone get a drive like this at Best Buy or Staples?
 
TheSpaz said:
WOW! I didn't know that drives that cheap and powerful even existed. Are most internal drives compatible with OS X or is there very little to choose from? Could someone get a drive like this at Best Buy or Staples?
Click to expand...

Yes, most internal drives are compatible with the Mac Pro and OS X. You just need to make sure that the interface of the drive is the correct one. (All new macs use ATA for their Optical drives and SATA for the hard drives.) You can usually find these drives at Best Buy, Staples or wherever. I have seen the Lite-On that I mentioned above as well as the Samsung SH-S182M (lightscribe) in local stores. I purchased mine in a PC computer store.

Hope that helps some
Paxx
 
paxx said:
Yes, most internal drives are compatible with the Mac Pro and OS X. You just need to make sure that the interface of the drive is the correct one. (All new macs use ATA for their Optical drives and SATA for the hard drives.) You can usually find these drives at Best Buy, Staples or wherever. I have seen the Lite-On that I mentioned above as well as the Samsung SH-S182M (lightscribe) in local stores. I purchased mine in a PC computer store.

Hope that helps some
Paxx
Click to expand...

This is not quite true. While the mac pro does use ATA for the superdrive (and there is a second ATA connection available for a second optical drive), there are also two SATA ports in the optical drive cage for the purpose of using SATA optical drives (it's unclear to me whether windows will recognize these optical drives since reports are that hard drives connected to these ports do not get recognized by windows).

cheers.
 
I just installed a LG 52x cd-rom. I love it. I use it for anything CD related. I got it for free from my work so thats great. We have a stack of 20 of them from stripped machines. :rolleyes:
 
dkoralek said:
This is not quite true. While the mac pro does use ATA for the superdrive (and there is a second ATA connection available for a second optical drive), there are also two SATA ports in the optical drive cage for the purpose of using SATA optical drives (it's unclear to me whether windows will recognize these optical drives since reports are that hard drives connected to these ports do not get recognized by windows).

cheers.
Click to expand...

the 2 extra sata connections are not in the optical drive cage, they are actually below, in the main pci/hdd area, near the airport card. The exact purpose is not known... but it is nice that they are there.
 
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