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Mac Pro Second Optical Drive

dpaanlka

dpaanlka

macrumors 601
Original poster
Nov 16, 2004
4,869
34
Illinois
Are there any specifics I should know about the second drive bay? I'm planning on buying just a really fast CD-ROM drive to put in there - can I get any ole' one? I noticed that the Apple drive does not have a faceplate - does this mean I have to remove the faceplate from whatever drive I get? Are there drives available that already have no faceplate?

I never used Mac OS X with more than one optical drive - how does opening a drive work? Does the eject button open both drives? One at a time?
 
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacPro_OpticalDrive_DIY.pdf

You have to open the drive tray and remove the tray panel (see picture)

This can be done by inserting a pin or needle into the tiny hole on the front of the drive. You now simply unclip the tray panel.

Don't you mean OEM drive, why not stick in DVD rom with 16 x Dvd read and 48 x CD rom read

I believe that the drive supplied in the Mac Pro is a re-badged NEC Drive.

To open the second optical drive in OS X, press Option-Eject on the Apple Pro Keyboard.
 

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there are two different brands of superdrives currently shipping with the mac pros, as of yet i haven't heard why it is this way.

That being said, i agree that you should look into a low end dvd burner, the one that most people on this forum represent is 35 bucks i think? I can't remember the part number right now, but if you search through some old posts i asked that question and was given the part number, so that i can't be of more help.
 
Mine came with a Sony (re-badged NEC Clone)

check out this link for more information on how to flash your sony superdrive to a NEC with faster rip/burn speeds and DVD RAM support (be sure to click "next page" and read until you are at the end)
I did and can say for sure that it definitely rips DVDs MUCH MUCH faster, and also burns CDs faster too

Also, I think he is looking for a FAST CD drive, getting another superdrive would no doubt cripple the CD read speed. As there are always compromises with multi-purpose hardware.
 
product26 said:
Mine came with a Sony (re-badged NEC Clone)
...
I did and can say for sure that it definitely rips DVDs MUCH MUCH faster
...
Click to expand...
Mine came with the Pioneer superdrive and it also was super slow ripping DVDs. As soon as I put in stock Pioneer firmware, everything was OK. Go figure.
 
As you can see Sony have either bought out Nec or joined forces with them.
 

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simie said:
As you can see Sony have either bought out Nec or joined forces with them.
Click to expand...

I would be surprised to find out if SONY manufactured anything.

putting a sticker with your logo on it is much easier these days....


was I correct in my post above dpaanlka? are you looking for a fast CD ROM? (not DCD Or DVD-R)
 
I've got an old G4 AGP and tried putting the DVD-RAM drive from that into the second bay on my Mac Pro, but after booting neither of the drives worked correctly. Having a quick search told me that the DVD-RAM drive uses an EIDE (ATA-3) bus, is that compatible with the MP? I've read the MP installation pdf and checked I had the ribbon and power cables connected the right way, but still no joy, any ideas?
 
Samsung SH-S182M

I think a very good option would be a Samsung SH-S182M. Newegg sells these right now at $31.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151136

Everything I have read about these working in the Mac Pro has been very positive and this is the drive I am purchasing for my Mac Pro.

Paxx

I should add that his drive is also a lightscribe drive as well as read/writes dvd-ram as well as all the other usual formats.
 
PodHead said:
You could wait for the blu-ray drives. Not sure if this is a definate, though.
Click to expand...

I think this is what I will do. Im going to opt for the second optical bay to be empty when I order my MacPro so when Blue Ray drives comes out (at a resonable price) I can Pop one of those bad boys in there.
 
Pioneer Fastest drive available at least a few months back.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/08/25/dl.superdrive.upgrade/

I take it from your post that you just want a fast CD drive and aren't looking to spend several hundred on an HD drive (assuming it was a supported option that fit). Fast Mac sells a Pioneer dual layer that I just put in my G4 dual 1.42 and it works great - the front face plate on these come off very easily as described above; also works in Mac Pro - $79

Here's the Fast Mac link for it: http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=28

The MacNN blurb on it from Aug 25 said:

The new drive offers read and write support for DVD-RAM and 48x CD-R burning -- two times faster than Apple's top-of-the-line Mac Pro. The burner is the fastest dual-layer SuperDrive currently available for the Mac, capable of writing CDs at up to 48X and able to burn single layer as well as dual-layer DVDs at 16X. The drive writes DVD-RAM at 12X
 
Just installed a second drive today and I'm finding the boot time drastically longer. Is this the case with you folks?
 
product26 said:
Mine came with a Sony (re-badged NEC Clone)

check out this link for more information on how to flash your sony superdrive to a NEC with faster rip/burn speeds and DVD RAM support (be sure to click "next page" and read until you are at the end)
I did and can say for sure that it definitely rips DVDs MUCH MUCH faster...
Click to expand...

dusanv said:
Mine came with the Pioneer superdrive and it also was super slow ripping DVDs. As soon as I put in stock Pioneer firmware, everything was OK. Go figure.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riplock
 
From hard drives to optical drives, Apple uses whatever they get good bulk pricing on.
 
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