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LG GGC-H20LI Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive install?

Best Method to install LG GGW-H20L Blu Ray drive in a Mac Pro Desktop?

As I see it there are five choices to get some functionality out of
the LG GGW-H20L Blu Ray drive in a Mac Pro Desktop.

1. External case and USB SATA converter ten use USB port on Mac Pro.
connection. In this case can the USB support the highest possible
output resolutions that the drive is capable of?
(Can anyone recommend an external case that facilitates all drive functions.)

2. External case and a firewire connection. Faster than USB.
Only one poster seems to have done this, most going for USB.

3. Connect to one of the two Optical Disk Drive (ODD) SATA connections on
the mother board using right angle connector and approx 60cm cable.
But it will be difficult and involve removing fan (and power supply?).

See description and image of ODD SATA pins here;
http://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable/2008/03/_updated_march_2008_working_wi.html

4. Connect to spare hard disk SATA port (4 ports total). Much easier to do than solution 2,
but you lose a hard disk output.
Not sure how well this works?

5. Get a SATA to IDE adapter circuit board. Then connect to the spare optical drive socket.
This seems by far the easiest and most reliable, though I am not sure if there is any performance cost.
A couple of choices of boards are available

A. Manhattan 170000 http://www.computercablesource.com/...oller-manhattan-170000-internal-use-1383.html
See description here.
http://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable/2008/03/_updated_march_2008_working_wi.html

B. Cooldrive adapter
http://www.cooldrives.com/sahadradtoid.html
See description of how to here.
http://www.echenique.com/2008/06/mac-pro-sata-blu-ray-howto.html


But (etrigan63) and others mentioned that:

> Please keep in mind that Blu-Ray/HD-DVD playback is not
> supported in any Mac OS yet (the jury is still out on Snow
> Leopard) so you won't be able to play commercial discs. You
> will be able to burn BD discs for playback on set top players
> and for data storage. Roxio Toast Titanium 9 offers BD support
> via an optional plugin.

Is this the same with all three possible solutions? i.e No matter
what you do you cannot ever play commercial Blu-Ray discs?
I am using 10.5.4 will any solution work with this OS?

Are there any other solutions?
What do people think is the best solution?

Also some people on Roxio forum report that new 9.02 Titanium Toast
solves many problems, but it is not a player.
http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=36942&hl=GGW-H20L mac pro sata&st=0

Amazingly it seems the only solution to play commercial Blue-Ray disc movies is to run "Boot Camp (Parallels/Fusion video drivers are not HDCP enabled)." (quoting etrigan63)
Also see http://www.mcetech.com/blu-ray/#bdplayback under heading Blu-ray and HD DVD Movie Playback on your Mac, which says the same thing as of 12 Jul 2008.
 
I must say I am disappointed by Apple's continued indifference especially since the format war is over. There are at least two players on Windows, so if you want HD disc playback you have to go Windows.
 
I know it's a bit late, but here's a few more pics of running the sata cable up to the top...

macsata1.jpg


macsata2.jpg


macsata3.jpg
 
thanks darthraige, which solution did you use exactly?

SATA to spare Hard disk SATA port?
SATA to one of the two unused ODD SATA ports?
SATA - IDE converter then use standard Optical port?
 
mc2020 said:
thanks darthraige, which solution did you use exactly?

SATA to spare Hard disk SATA port?
SATA to one of the two unused ODD SATA ports?
SATA - IDE converter then use standard Optical port?
Click to expand...

Actually, I went back in and took out that SATA cable and attached 2 Sata Cables which are now both going up top. I will be using them for 2 Blu Ray drives in the future.
 
how about the G5 Quad (late 2005)

I'm sorry but after an exhaustive search I can't find info on whether the G5 Quad (Late 2005) has any sata connectors like the Mac Pro does. Can anyone please advise if they know, otherwise I have to pull my Mac apart and have a look for myself.

Thanks in advance

Regards
GMan
 
GMancusa said:
I'm sorry but after an exhaustive search I can't find info on whether the G5 Quad (Late 2005) has any sata connectors like the Mac Pro does.
Click to expand...

Looking at the first result in Google (and from what I already knew), the HDD bays were SATA. You could rout a cable through there. You only have one ODD bay, anyway; why not just go external?
 
Thanks Tallest Skil,

Yes I did know the HDD drives are SATA, unfortunatly they are both occupied. I just wanted to know if the mother board had another SATA connector like the Mac Pro.

I have a Galaxy Enclosure for the H20L (USB2 and eSata) unfortunately my Mac is not recognizing the drive on the USB2 port. I was hoping to have better luck with the eSATA. But before buying an eSATA/PCIe adapter card I wanted to connect the H20L drive up directly using SATA that way bypassing Galaxy's on board processor which may be causing the problem in the first place.

So if anybody knows whether a Late 2005 G5 has additional SATA connectors other than the two for the HDD's please let me know.

Thanks

GMan
 
Got the GGW-H20L installed in my Mac Pro 1,1 in the lower optical bay using the ODD SATA port on the motherboard. When I say installed I really mean with much scraping of knuckles and cursing as the connector is not user friendly.

Being an 06 Mac Pro the ODD ports work fine in OSX - except for Toast BD burning which has been mentioned above. However I need some help with Bootcamp as the ODD SATA ports 5 + 6 are not working in Vista as previously reported.

In Vista's device manager it lists the ATA/ATAPI controllers as:
"Intel(R) 631xESB/6321ESB/3100 Chipset Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2680" The chipset driver should read "SATA AHCI Controller" 2681 for ports 5+6 to be active in AHCI mode.

Intel has the AHCI drivers for the Mac Pro's motherboard on their site
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...All&OSFullName=All Operating Systems&lang=eng
but I cannot find a way to install it as there is no real BIOS on Bootcamp.

Could someone give me a runthrough as to installing GRUB as a bootloader in this scenario if it is the only way to enable it.
 
I'm also having trouble getting it to show up in Vista. If it's an issue with the ports not being recognized, maybee a long cable and a cannibalized HD SATA port is the only way unless some MR wizards can sort this out.
 
It has been done but it requires Ubuntu linux and a patched GRUB bootloader. I've got all the tools but not quite enough knowledge so any help would be fantastic.

My setup is:
HD1: Startup OS X 10.5.4 (HFS+)
HD2: HFS+ (partition1) / Vista 64 (partition2)
HD3: Backup of HD1 - currently HFS+
HD4: Spare - currently HFS+

Anyone fancy lending me a hand similar to here
http://forum.onmac.net/showthread.php?t=2739
:rolleyes:
 
Anyone try the SATA to IDE adapters posted above? It seems like they should work with the Blu-Ray drives under Boot Camp.

Any performance issues with this setup?

Thanks.
 
asencif said:
Anyone try the SATA to IDE adapters posted above? It seems like they should work with the Blu-Ray drives under Boot Camp.
Click to expand...
I've not used the adapter, but I don't know of any issues that would prevent their use with an optical drive.
asencif said:
Any performance issues with this setup?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Optical drives are slow. The spec sheet for the GGC-H20L lists a sustained speed of
BD-ROM 215.79 Mbits/s (6x max.)
Click to expand...
That translates to about 27 MB/s.

IDE/PATA runs at 133MB/s, so there shouldn't be a performance issue. :)
 
nanofrog said:
I've not used the adapter, but I don't know of any issues that would prevent their use with an optical drive.

Optical drives are slow. The spec sheet for the GGC-H20L lists a sustained speed of That translates to about 27 MB/s.

IDE/PATA runs at 133MB/s, so there shouldn't be a performance issue. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply nanofrog. I am going to setup Bootcamp on my boot drive, get the BD drive with the adapter, and install on the second Optical bay. Let's see how it goes under WinXP Pro.
 
has anyone gotten anywhere with windows using it with the 'secret' sata ports near the fan? I'd really love if I didn't have to spend $30-50 for the adapter and wait for it to arrive, especially after all that effort to get the damn thing plugged in...
 
wflan said:
has anyone gotten anywhere with windows using it with the 'secret' sata ports near the fan? I'd really love if I didn't have to spend $30-50 for the adapter and wait for it to arrive, especially after all that effort to get the damn thing plugged in...
Click to expand...
Perhaps this may help. :)
Rankrotten said:
Got the GGW-H20L installed in my Mac Pro 1,1 in the lower optical bay using the ODD SATA port on the motherboard. When I say installed I really mean with much scraping of knuckles and cursing as the connector is not user friendly.

Being an 06 Mac Pro the ODD ports work fine in OSX - except for Toast BD burning which has been mentioned above. However I need some help with Bootcamp as the ODD SATA ports 5 + 6 are not working in Vista as previously reported.

In Vista's device manager it lists the ATA/ATAPI controllers as:
"Intel(R) 631xESB/6321ESB/3100 Chipset Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2680" The chipset driver should read "SATA AHCI Controller" 2681 for ports 5+6 to be active in AHCI mode.

Intel has the AHCI drivers for the Mac Pro's motherboard on their site
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...All&OSFullName=All Operating Systems&lang=eng
but I cannot find a way to install it as there is no real BIOS on Bootcamp.

Could someone give me a runthrough as to installing GRUB as a bootloader in this scenario if it is the only way to enable it.
Click to expand...
nanofrog said:
Perhaps this may help. :)

This thread (different forum) may also help. Gives some detail on the subject (AHCI for a Mac Pro).
If you try this, and it's successful, please post. It could definitely help other members. :D
Click to expand...
Thought I'd just use quotes this time. ;)

Good Luck. :D
NF.
 
Just more fuel to the fire.

I bought back when a blu ray burner for my older Mac Pro. It was not easy taking apart the computer to get to the ports on the mother board. What I decided to do is once open, run sata cables to both open ports on the mother board and snake them up to the optical drive area .

Presently I have one regular DVD RW drive from Apple and the blu ray.
I will be planning to get the LG offering and replacing the Apple DVD RW.

For movie playback. Don't fret!

If you are willing to use VMware Fusion and XP it will see your Blu Ray drive. (At least it sees mine.) Parallels 3x does NOT see the Blu Ray (more to do with the onboard sata ports 5 and 6).

This is what I do -

Fusion VMWare with XP.
AnyDVD HD
TSMuxer
EACt3to (GUI)
Delaycut.

From the above, I can archive the entire blu ray to the drive. I opt to use the VM/OSX share folder so both operating systems can engage the files.

I find the main movie file(s) and use TSmuxer to remux and remove unwanted streams. Originally, I used the vid stream and AC3 so that the files could play on PS3.

Presently, I like playing back on the Mac itself and use PLEX. My iMac 2ghrz 20" alum, plays back the movies 1080p for the most part very well. Some movies remain skiddish due to very high bitrate.

PLEX is free and is a neat replacement for front row. Only draw back is related (in my opinion) to iTunes and in general, Music playback. However, for DVD and blu ray archive of the main move, its impressive.

Recap - VMware with AnyDVD HD to archive your blu ray to hard drive. Manipulate the movie file(s). Most movies you can actually just use the main movie file as is. Plex can pull DTS from HD-DTS and can do AC3 from Dolby audio.

Hope this helps.

For those inclined to convert the M2TS file from your blu ray back up archive, check out Ripbot. It will work in your XP virtual windows but be aware, it takes a LONG time to process.

- Phrehdd
 
Mce Bluray Drive?

I want to save myself this whole hassle so I plan on getting the MCE 6X Bluray drive which is made ready to set up in Mac Pro with IDE (I think and hope). Any ideas?
 
Well according to the specs, the IDE internal solution will work as the bluray bandwidth is slower than the IDE connection. There may be issues with setting master and slave drives on it, I'm not sure. But whoever said they were going to test it haven't reported back so not sure if IDE will create a bottleneck for speed... I think the reason most Blurays are SATA is simply IDE is being phased out, not necessarily due to needing that speed.
 
What USB enclosures did you guys use or could recommend? (just bought the GGC-H20L and don't plan on internalizing it until Apple supports BR)
 
Tallest Skil said:
You mean, supports playing Hollywood Blu-ray movies, right?

Seeing as it supports doing EVERYTHING else from burning data BD-Rs and -REs to authoring HD video disks for playback in standalone Blu-ray players.
Click to expand...

Yes I mean playing Bluray movie disks, so I can watch Iron Man in high def off my Mac drive as opposed to in Bootcamp.
 
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