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HELP PLEASE ---->>>> 2 Major Problems

M

mattyc2580

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 9, 2009
4
0
Hi i got a hand me down old mac g4 tower the other day and i tried to use the DVD drive in it but it will only play audio CDs and nothing else. I have all of my music and files of my old pc stored on disk and it wont read it..... Any Ideas???

Also i tried to put another HDD in my mac and it kept searching for the mac OS and couldnt find it. So i tried putting the HDD's in in a different order and still done the same thing..... Any Ideas

Thanks
Matt
 
mattyc2580 said:
Hi i got a hand me down old mac g4 tower the other day and i tried to use the DVD drive in it but it will only play audio CDs and nothing else. I have all of my music and files of my old pc stored on disk and it wont read it..... Any Ideas???

Also i tried to put another HDD in my mac and it kept searching for the mac OS and couldnt find it. So i tried putting the HDD's in in a different order and still done the same thing..... Any Ideas

Thanks
Matt
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what's going on with the the DVD player... it might help to know what you tried and if they are +R or -R burnt disks.

For the second HDD did you set the dip switches in the back of the second HDD to slave? That's all that should be needed to get it up and running, swapping the order isn't needed.
 
First, a suggestion regarding posting. If you use thread title that describes your problem, such as "G4 drive won't read DVDs" or "HDD not recognized", you'll attract more responses that are relevant.

I believe the older G4s have CD drives, not DVD. You didn't mention which model you have, but that would explain why you can only play music.

Are you trying to boot from a HDD that doesn't have Mac OS X installed on it?
 
ggjstudios said:
I believe the older G4s have CD drives, not DVD. You didn't mention which model you have, but that would explain why you can only play music.

Are you trying to boot from a HDD that doesn't have Mac OS X installed on it?
Click to expand...
I'm assuming he got one of the later G4 towers that had DVD drives in it... but you never know. If the OP is unsure which tower they have they should check EveryMac's G4 page to know what they have.
 
They are -R Disks. dont have any other type of disks around. The G4 recognises its a DVD / CD player in the specs.

And how do i change my HDD from master to slave??

Yes this is a later G4 with a DVD drive. The original one was still in it when i got it that didnt work properly either so i swapped them over for the one in my PC.
like i said it recognises it and knows that it is a DVD / CD ROM

cheers
 
mattyc2580 said:
And how do i change my HDD from master to slave??
Click to expand...
There should be a diagram (either a sticker, or maybe something printed right on the circuit board) that tells you how the dip switches on your 2nd HDD need to be set up to slave it.

I don't really have the time to write a lot of instructions on the matter, but a quick google search came up with this site, that seems to have a decent explanation & pictures to illustrate where everything is.
 
Thanks Raid hope this helps will go there now and check it out and try again :D
 
patrick0brien said:
-mattyc2580

It's more likely that you'll need to look for jumpers rather than dip switches. They are usually in a bank of pins in a 5x2 configuration.
Click to expand...
Jumpers, dipswitches, annoying tiny chunks of plastic and metal.. whatever... :p :)
 
I think all the G4's, if not most until the end, only came with either a DVD/CD READER or just a CD BURNER. Basically either a combo reader or cd burner only.

Sounds like you have the cd burner. You can buy an IDE/ATA pioneer DVD/CD burner online for cheap these days, and depending on your OS, all you would need to run is patchdisk which you can find online to install the drivers.
 
cheers

cheers everyone i got this problem sorted now DVD drive is working havent tried copied disks yet but hopefull will work....
yer the jumper switches werent set right had to go on the website to set them up
cheers agin for the help
 
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