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MacPro 09: Slow DVD Drive? Plus Noisy!

T

TheNightPhoenix

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 16, 2005
498
5
Hi,

Got my Mac Pro about two weeks ago, when installing software it seemed to be very noisy. Mainly it sounded like the laser head moving back and forth was very loud.

When I ripped a DVD it was much quieter. I assume this is because the head was reading continually from end to end, and was not moving about so much.

But when I ripped from the Disc I found it to be slow.
It took 26Mins and 42Secs

I plugged in an external Freecom drive via Firewire to rip the same disc.
It only took 16Mins and 32Secs.

How does this compare to other peoples experences?

Currently I'm looking for a Pata to Sata adapter to stick the Freecom inside now.
 
Read the wiki in Riplock :(

I wonder if something like MacTheRipper could be modified to get around it.
 
TheNightPhoenix said:
Read the wiki in Riplock :(

I wonder if something like MacTheRipper could be modified to get around it.
Click to expand...

Nope, it's a drive firmware thing. I've reflashed all my drives to get rid of it. Makes 'em louder, but that doesn't bother me any. Ripping a DVD with MTR takes around 6 minutes now.
 
grue said:
What's your drive model # and firmware revision? Check System Profiler for these, under disc burning
Click to expand...

HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N:

Firmware Revision: PQ04
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD-ROM
Blank: No
Erasable: No
Overwritable: No
Appendable: No

thanks for this
 
TheNightPhoenix said:
HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N:

Firmware Revision: PQ04
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD-ROM
Blank: No
Erasable: No
Overwritable: No
Appendable: No

thanks for this
Click to expand...


Hm… haven't run into those yet. Honestly I'd pull it out and replace with a Pioneer DVR-216… they're inexpensive ($20), fast, and reliable. Easily reflashed to be RPC-1 (Region free) without Riplock.
 
If i buy this drive, where do I get the new firmware, I found a site but it does not appear to have firmware for this particular drive.



I ordered a Pata to Sata adapter so hopefully my external will become internal and that should speed things up a bit. But would love to have a 6 minute rip time!:D
 
hey guys running in to the same issues:

19-25 min dvd backups just is not cutting it!!

i have the pioneer 112d

picture below!!

where do i gt the stuff and how do i eflash?


thanks!!

this will be way better ... i hope!:)
 

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j2048b said:
hey guys running in to the same issues:

19-25 min dvd backups just is not cutting it!!

i have the pioneer 112d

picture below!!

where do i gt the stuff and how do i eflash?


thanks!!

this will be way better ... i hope!:)
Click to expand...



bumpp...

and by the way, i tried to flash under windows and it did not work!!

i need to be able to rip dvd's in under 20 minutes!!

please assist me in the flashing !!!!

thanks
 
Pismonium said:
And can the flashing be done in Fusion/XP?
Click to expand...
I flashed both my Lite-On and Samsung drives using VMWare Fusion running Windows Server 2003, so it should work. You just need to turn off auto detection of the drive in fusion and set it to use the drive you want to flash.

This may be a bit more risky than doing it from XP installed via Bootcamp though.
 
Pismonium said:
Thanks for the info grue. I'm about to order a 216 from Newegg and yank this Hitachi. I don't have time right now to read the entire thread you've supplied above, but, in short, is the 216 supported? Is there a better Pioneer to be considered? And can the flashing be done in Fusion/XP?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The 216 is supported, but you'll need to get Windows into AHCI mode if it's not already. That can be a pretty ginormous pain. I'd hope the Nehalem models already do it.

Fusion… not sure if it'll work.

I cheated on my first one and just used a friend's PC.
 
Dark Dragoon said:
I flashed both my Lite-On and Samsung drives using VMWare Fusion running Windows Server 2003, so it should work. You just need to turn off auto detection of the drive in fusion and set it to use the drive you want to flash.

This may be a bit more risky than doing it from XP installed via Bootcamp though.
Click to expand...

That's damned good to know.
 
grue said:
Nope, it's a drive firmware thing. I've reflashed all my drives to get rid of it. Makes 'em louder, but that doesn't bother me any. Ripping a DVD with MTR takes around 6 minutes now.
Click to expand...


This.

And get one of the Samsung 223s (flash the firmware), the fastest ripping I've ever seen.
 
Pismonium said:
AHCI? Pardon my Windows stupidity.
Click to expand...

It's a drive controller mode. As it stands with the 2006-2008 Mac Pro, booting into Windows puts it in a crap Legacy mode where the SATA HDDs are severely restricted in terms of throughput, and it won't recognize SATA optical drives at all.

I'm not sure what they've done with the 2009 models.
 
jons said:
And get one of the Samsung 223s (flash the firmware), the fastest ripping I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

Since I only know Pioneer drives, is the Samsung a better choice even if I'm not flashing? Will my MP support it straight out of the box? Can I do better? I looked at Micro Center and they don't list a drive as a 223. Where can I find this drive or better that's supported by MCSE and my MP?

Thanks
 
Pismonium said:
Since I only know Pioneer drives, is the Samsung a better choice even if I'm not flashing? Will my MP support it straight out of the box? Can I do better? I looked at Micro Center and they don't list a drive as a 223. Where can I find this drive or better that's supported by MCSE and my MP?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The Samsung, Lite-On and NEC drives I used in my Mac Pro all worked out of the box without any major problems (The Lite-On tries to seek every few minuites with no disk).

When I went to choose which drives to buy I went on CDFreaks and read a load of reviews. I've been very pleased with my flashed Samsung SH-S203B.
 
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