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is slot-load compatible with 8cm discs?

toughboy

toughboy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 2, 2003
796
16
Izmir, Turkey
You know about the little cds, (not MD) which carries 210mbs (I can be wrong) of data on them. I wanna know if anyone of you use that kind of cds with their powerbooks or ibooks or any other Apple slot-load machine.. I wanna insert one to my 12"PB but I'm afraid that I cant get it out :D

Thanks in advance..
 
I cannot find the link now, but I'd swear that I read here that the slot-loading drives were not compatible with the smaller disks. I definitely would not try one unless someone here confirms that, in fact, it works on their 'book. Not that they heard somewhere that it would work - wait for someone to verify that it does work.

Edit: too slow. See above....
 
Will not work

I know I have read numerous times that they will NOT work. I think it says this in the manual somewhere, but not sure. Pretty much, if you put one in, you will not be able to get it out....easily.
 
Not compatible!!

No, no no! The only way to get those mini discs out of a slot loading drive is to take the entire drive apart, and it DOES state in the manuals they are not compatible. I'm not sure the tray loading drives (PowerMacs) read them either, but the mini discs won't get stuck in a tray loading drive.

Again, DON'T. We get ppl in the store all the time with stuck mini discs in their laptops. It's an expensive, time consuming repair.
 
if you need to access an 8mm cd, id recommend buying an external usb cd-rom drive... that way, you dont take the chance of really messing up your drive.
 
I'm surprised someone hasn't developed some sort of caddy that you could use with those dinky little CDs. Something the mini-CD would "snap" into, and then you could insert like a regular CD.
 
neoelectronaut said:
I'm surprised someone hasn't developed some sort of caddy that you could use with those dinky little CDs. Something the mini-CD would "snap" into, and then you could insert like a regular CD.
Click to expand...
there is something like that made by memorex as well as other manufacturers. as for the topic, i found out the hard way on a school computer a few years back on a b&w. ;)
 
jsw said:
I cannot find the link now, but I'd swear that I read here that the slot-loading drives were not compatible with the smaller disks. I definitely would not try one unless someone here confirms that, in fact, it works on their 'book. Not that they heard somewhere that it would work - wait for someone to verify that it does work.

Edit: too slow. See above....
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the replies and help.. Well.. it's sad hearing that I wont be able to use those tiny little useful things.. :( whatsoever.. they only carry 200mb..
 
toughboy said:
Thanks for all the replies and help.. Well.. it's sad hearing that I wont be able to use those tiny little useful things.. :( whatsoever.. they only carry 200mb..
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was always my big beef. I see them in stores and I think they're cool...but they only hold like 200MB. That's 1/4th of what big CDs hold. Not worth the price. :)
 
neoelectronaut said:
I'm surprised someone hasn't developed some sort of caddy that you could use with those dinky little CDs. Something the mini-CD would "snap" into, and then you could insert like a regular CD.
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure I remember reading about something that worked exactly like that. I think it was made by Sony to let you put their minidiscs in your computer. I tried a quick Google search, but couldn't find anything. Anyone want to take on the challange?
 
I've also seen those 8cm to 12cm CD adapter things; here's one from Memorex:

http://www.circuits2u.com/pages/MEMPKTCDADPTR.htm

...although they discontinued this particular one a few months ago. There are other companies that make them (I've seen non-Memorex onesat GameStop), but I wonder if there aren't issues with them, which may be why Memorex discontinued theirs even though they're pushing their Pocket CDs these days.

My guess would be they don't take well to high-speed computer CD drives, which can spin discs VERY fast. More importantly for the iMac question, I wonder how well they grip the 8cm CD inside, since the drive is mounted vertically--having the thing pop out inside the player seems like a real danger.

Then again, if somebody with a new iMac wants to take the risk and try one, we could all learn something!
 
If you reeeeeaaallllyyy need 200MB of space, use a USB flash drive. They have USB 2.0 speeds, and over 1GB of space nowadays. Or 200 floppies, if you havn't turned them into coasters already. Or, suck it up and buy a CD-RW for a nickel and a song (a dime if you are a bad singer :eek: )

Last time I saw one of those, they were attached to a LEGO Bionical shamgey.
 
Cube Boy said:
I don't know about the ibook/powerbook but I use the 8cm discs in my works G4 cube & I've had no problems what so ever with them.
Click to expand...

Well isn't it a bit confusing? do they use another technology on Cubes?? :confused: or are we talking about the same kind of cds...
 
toughboy said:
Well isn't it a bit confusing? do they use another technology on Cubes?? :confused: or are we talking about the same kind of cds...
Click to expand...

I know that if I wanted to I could use a powerbook/ibook superdrive in the Cube so I guess it's the some technology & I'm talking about the little 8cm CD-RW I use them all the time.
 
It really depends on how you line the disks up when you put them into the slot loading drive. If you line them up directly center there is a chance that it will work, but if try to insert it to one side it can get jammed. I have spent a lot of time removing mini CDs from people who have put them into their slot loading iMacs. Taking apart a CD drive can be very annoying.
 
Macmaniac said:
It really depends on how you line the disks up when you put them into the slot loading drive. If you line them up directly center there is a chance that it will work, but if try to insert it to one side it can get jammed. I have spent a lot of time removing mini CDs from people who have put them into their slot loading iMacs. Taking apart a CD drive can be very annoying.
Click to expand...

Well.. we have different and confusing answers.. Its way too much confusing and I guess they are not "that" cute to risk my 12"PB.. :) Thanks for all the help and replies..
 
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