I am getting a Blue-ray writer for my 2008 Mac Pro, primarily for optical backup, but I would also love to play my movie collection as well. I know from reading online that OSX doesn't support Blue-ray playback, and that a Windows installation under Fusion won't work either. I don't want to set up a Boot Camp partition just to play my movies, so my question is this: is there ANY way, no matter how hacky, to play a Blue-ray on a Mac Pro? I have enough HDD space to extract the video from the disc if necessary, so if there isn't a more elegant solution, I'd love to hear people's recommended software to do just that.
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Blue-ray on a Mac Pro
- Thread starter NoManIsland
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Has anyone else had this experience, with Parallels and AnyDVD HD working as a virtualized playback engine? I have Fusion, but if Parallels can do this, I would switch.
Thanks for that. Has anyone seen a more elegant or automated solution to accomplish the same thing?
I use makeMKV to extract an archive and then play that with VLC. Yes you do need lots of disk space.
Thanks for the tip
When I downloaded makeMKV, it warned that it will only function for 60 days - did you find a way of extending that time indefinitely?
Thanks for the tip
Look in their forums. While it is in beta, they have a perma-license key available.
Thanks for the tip
Whatever version I got, I do not recall getting that message.
Ack! I just noticed that the Blue-ray drive I ordered from OWC (the Pioneer BDR-206) connects via SATA, not ATAPI as my System Profiler indicates I have! The drive I ordered comes as a kit, with cables and instructions for installing in a 2006-2008 Mac Pro (I have a 2008), so I didn't anticipate this hurdle. Does anyone know if they are using some sort of SATA to ATAPI bridge? I'm setting up two SSDs in my second optical bay using the ODD SATA ports, so I'm really hoping that they aren't using one of those to connect the drive - has anyone had experience with this kit to know either way?
Okay, I called OWC and unfortunately I've made a mess: the Blue-ray drive kit connects to one of the ODD SATA ports that I was saving for my two SSDs in the OWC Multimount. I asked their tech support if a SATA to ATAPI bridge would work to attach the drive to the optical bay connection rather than the ODD port and he expressed concern that doing so would overload the power capabilities of the Mac Pro when the two SSDs were hooked up as well. I'm not convinced, as I would be replacing the existing optical drive and powering the Blue-ray with its connection, then powering the two SSDs with the lower optical bay connection (through a splitter), which to me is what the OWC Multimount is marketed to do. Does anyone have some guidance to offer about this? Or, if it is a good idea to use a bridge, a recommendation on a good one?
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Good to hear. Has anyone used this bridge?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...CODE=NEXCA&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCWw0fzTCjCVqHCjCdwwp
It seems to do what I want, but I'd love to hear from someone who has used it, especially as I'm not sure if it would fit behind the drive without hitting against the power supply. I estimate about 2" clearance, but haven't been able to find any dimensions for the bridge.
So I found a data sheet on the adapter I linked above:
http://us.startech.com/media/products/PATA2SATA3/Manuals/PATA2SATA3.pdf
It says that it has a depth of 50 mm (around 2"), which might be too tight for the optical bay in my 2008 Mac Pro. It receives power through a 4-pin SP4 floppy drive connecter, but they say a LP4 to SP4 adapter cable is included - will that work on a Mac Pro? Would this mean I'd need to use a splitter to power both the drive and the adapter? I don't know if this would be the best option for a bridge, so I'd love to hear someone's success story with this or another device.
http://us.startech.com/media/products/PATA2SATA3/Manuals/PATA2SATA3.pdf
It says that it has a depth of 50 mm (around 2"), which might be too tight for the optical bay in my 2008 Mac Pro. It receives power through a 4-pin SP4 floppy drive connecter, but they say a LP4 to SP4 adapter cable is included - will that work on a Mac Pro? Would this mean I'd need to use a splitter to power both the drive and the adapter? I don't know if this would be the best option for a bridge, so I'd love to hear someone's success story with this or another device.
I found a new option for a bridge that is far more economical space-wise:
http://www.cooldrives.com/satoidecofor.html
Anybody have some insight into this one? I'd love to have some feedback as to whether this will do what I need before purchasing. Thanks!
http://www.cooldrives.com/satoidecofor.html
Anybody have some insight into this one? I'd love to have some feedback as to whether this will do what I need before purchasing. Thanks!
Okay, so I bought this:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812240012
It seems to be what I need and a workable size, plus well reviewed. I'll post here with some feedback once I get it in case anyone else is doing the same thing
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812240012
It seems to be what I need and a workable size, plus well reviewed. I'll post here with some feedback once I get it in case anyone else is doing the same thing
