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G4 Cube optical drive replacement

C

comatory

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 10, 2012
739
0
I have become a proud owner of first gen G4 cube! So stoked, always wanted this. Airport card is on the way, as well as original Apple Pro Mouse. Only shame is that the sound card has damaged usb wire, previous owner used some soldering action on it. But it works, might replace it as well. The only thing missing from this beast is Apple studio display :)

Shame for those cracks, the seller assured me that there were none but after inspecting at home I saw there are hairline cracks on the body... :(

Anyway, to stick to the topic... The optical drive is fracked, the seller warned me about it that it doesn't work 100 percent. Anyway, it swallowed a CD (no biggie) and now it can't be ejected. I decided that I will replace it anyway since it's faulty.
Where to get this optical drive? Can I just get a regular ATA laptop drive or does it have to be specific apple branded?

I'd like to restore the Cube to match it as much as original.. but not for crazy price. I bought the Cube as a collector item, maybe possible investment, who knows right? :D
 
I'm a big fan of the Cube myself. One of the problems with replacing the DVD player is the bracket that the Cube uses. If you want a new DVD drive, your best bet is the model from MCE. It comes with the bracket. The alternative, of course, is used drives on auction sites. You will also need to think about the Master/Slave drive problem.
A good place for additional information on fixing up your Cube is Cubeowner. There is information there that dates back years, plus active members who can help figure out your best options.
I don't know that I've ever seen a Cube without cracks, and I've owned five over the years, so don't beat yourself up about that.
Love the Cube myself! Congratulations! :)
 
mike457 said:
I'm a big fan of the Cube myself. One of the problems with replacing the DVD player is the bracket that the Cube uses. If you want a new DVD drive, your best bet is the model from MCE. It comes with the bracket. The alternative, of course, is used drives on auction sites. You will also need to think about the Master/Slave drive problem.
A good place for additional information on fixing up your Cube is Cubeowner. There is information there that dates back years, plus active members who can help figure out your best options.
I don't know that I've ever seen a Cube without cracks, and I've owned five over the years, so don't beat yourself up about that.
Love the Cube myself! Congratulations! :)
Click to expand...

Oh I forgot to add that I'm in EU which means anything over 15 USD needs to get declared at customs. So looking for some European resellers... but these PowerPC darlings don't have a lot of love so no spare parts anywhere (besides RAM).

What is that bracket good for? I've looked at iFixit, do you mean that logic board? I thought that I can just put it behind the new ODD.
Will ask at CubeOwner.

Are there any cool games to play on the Cube from that era? I'm RPG/Adventure games fan... waiting for Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition to come out and I knew that MacPlay was compatible with some of those games... wouldn't mind busting some Icewind Dale 1 :)
 
I'm not a game player myself, so I can't help you there.

The bracket holds the DVD drive in the correct position within the Cube case. Unfortunately, replacing the DVD drive is not simply a matter of pulling out the existing one and plunking in a new one. You have to make sure that it fits correctly in the bracket, which most don't. Apple also uses a reversed mini-IDE circuit board on the bottom of the drive, just to make life more exciting. As a final problem, most DVD burners are set as master drives, but Apple used the firmware to set the Cube's drive as a slave. If you replace the drive, you will probably have to switch your hard drive to slave. The easy (and cheaper) route would be to connect an external drive by firewire 400.

I don't know European sources for Cube parts; my suspicion would be that your best bet is auction sites.

Have fun! :)
 
Would this work?

----------
mike457 said:
I'm not a game player myself, so I can't help you there.

The bracket holds the DVD drive in the correct position within the Cube case. Unfortunately, replacing the DVD drive is not simply a matter of pulling out the existing one and plunking in a new one. You have to make sure that it fits correctly in the bracket, which most don't. Apple also uses a reversed mini-IDE circuit board on the bottom of the drive, just to make life more exciting. As a final problem, most DVD burners are set as master drives, but Apple used the firmware to set the Cube's drive as a slave. If you replace the drive, you will probably have to switch your hard drive to slave. The easy (and cheaper) route would be to connect an external drive by firewire 400.

I don't know European sources for Cube parts; my suspicion would be that your best bet is auction sites.

Have fun! :)
Click to expand...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/180989074466?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
 
To be honest, I don't know. When I did mine, I used an MCE drive. It was expensive, but I didn't have to worry about anything as it came with all the correct parts.
 
No that one will not work. Only Apple drives will work. This model was used in the slot loading G3 iMac and G4 Cube. They are square drives and don't have a section missing like on the one you posted. You could try disassembling the drive and cleaning the rollers. They sometimes don't want to eject a disc when they get stuck. Just note that the rollers go in a certain way. If you still want a new drive, try looking for a G3 iMac slot loading drive. You'll have a very hard time finding a DVD drive for it, so you may have to settle for a CD-ROM drive.
 
Origional Cube

I have all the origional parts you may need including origional fish bowl monitor, sub woofer and install discs...
I live in S.F.
 
The Cube was my very first Mac, and I loved it! Hairline cracks and all!
comatory said:
Are there any cool games to play on the Cube from that era? I'm RPG/Adventure games fan... waiting for Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition to come out and I knew that MacPlay was compatible with some of those games... wouldn't mind busting some Icewind Dale 1 :)
Click to expand...
I'm not much of a games player. IIRC I played Black and White on the Cube though. And something by Pangea.
 
666sheep said:
OP, here you can find more accurate info about Cube optical drive upgrades:
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showforum=35

There's a guy who makes custom brackets for regular slim optical drives:
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14493

I have one pair bought from him, but I didn't mount them because I was too lazy (so far) to buy new drive for my Cube. But my friend bought one set too and he told me that it fits well.
Click to expand...

I did buy the kit from him, and it fits well. He's very helpful with advice about how to fit them. I did go with the MCE model in the end, but his version works well.
 
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