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MacPro 2nd DVD Drive Bay Issue

darthraige

darthraige

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 8, 2007
1,612
2
Coruscant, but Boston will do.
Has anyone else had an issue like this before?

I installed another 3rd party DVD Drive in the 2nd bay. Top one is the Master, bottom one is the Slave. First off, I make it the slave, right? Anyway, when I power down the MacPro and power it back up it recognizes it, but when I restart the computer it doesn't recognize it. Is the jumper suppose to plugged in something else on the drive? Any help would be great. Thanks. Never saw this one before.
 
cal6n said:
Spot on, mare. That's how I set mine up. Works fine except when trying to run handbrake off of both. Tends to choke a bit. Bring on SATA!
Click to expand...
That's one of the reasons why I replaced both my ATA optical drives with SATA ones.
 
On the drives label there should be some information on the different positions the jumper block can be placed. You need to pull out the jumper block and put it in the correct position for cable select.
 
Interesting. Both are on Cable Select and I have the same issue. Any other ideas?? I just noticed that Apples drive was originally on CS, should I try doing Master and Slave now? OK, I just tried doing that and I get the same issue. What the hell?
 
Well I'm not really too sure what to try now.

It seems like both optical drives are ok (as is the cable), as they work fine on their own and after a cold start. It's strange how it only doesn't work after a restart.

When the second drive isn't recognised, is it still listed in the ATA section of the System Profiler?
 
Dark Dragoon said:
Well I'm not really too sure what to try now.

It seems like both optical drives are ok (as is the cable), as they work fine on their own and after a cold start. It's strange how it only doesn't work after a restart.

When the second drive isn't recognised, is it still listed in the ATA section of the System Profiler?
Click to expand...

FIXED IT!!!! Bent PRONG on DVD Drive 2. So stupid. All good now. Thanks for everything. lol
 
Dark Dragoon said:
That's one of the reasons why I replaced both my ATA optical drives with SATA ones.
Click to expand...

Hi DD,

I'm thinking about adding a 2nd DVD burner to my MP - are there empty Sata slots already inside the MP? I won't replace the 1st burner just yet, but if there are empty slots ready to go, i'll get a sata burner.

cheers,
keebler
 
darthraige said:
Has anyone else had an issue like this before?

I installed another 3rd party DVD Drive in the 2nd bay. Top one is the Master, bottom one is the Slave. .
Click to expand...

oooo I never thought of installing a third party dvd writer.... Do "any" work? I have an external pioneer 104 that I would love to put in my pro
 
Keebler said:
Hi DD,

I'm thinking about adding a 2nd DVD burner to my MP - are there empty Sata slots already inside the MP? I won't replace the 1st burner just yet, but if there are empty slots ready to go, i'll get a sata burner.

cheers,
keebler
Click to expand...

The good news is that there are free SATA ports in the Mac Pro.

The bad news is that they are under the front fan assembly. If you want to install SATA optical drives you will need a 90 degree SATA cable a pair of needle nosed pliers and a lot of patience. Oh and a molex to SATA type power adapter if your optical drive doesn't have a molex power connector.

johny5 said:
oooo I never thought of installing a third party dvd writer.... Do "any" work? I have an external pioneer 104 that I would love to put in my pro
Click to expand...
I have a Samsung SH-203B and a Lite-on LH-20A1S installed in my Mac at the moment, though I've used a couple of old IDE Nec drives as well.

Only issues I've come accross is if I set hard disks to sleep I can't eject the disk if I leave it for a while.
 
Dark Dragoon said:
The good news is that there are free SATA ports in the Mac Pro.

The bad news is that they are under the front fan assembly. If you want to install SATA optical drives you will need a 90 degree SATA cable a pair of needle nosed pliers and a lot of patience. Oh and a molex to SATA type power adapter if your optical drive doesn't have a molex power connector.


I have a Samsung SH-203B and a Lite-on LH-20A1S installed in my Mac at the moment, though I've used a couple of old IDE Nec drives as well.
Click to expand...

thanks DD. i'll check it out.
 
So did the Cable Select method of jumpering turn out to be the right setting (in spite of the bent pin)? I've thought about getting a BluRay burner once they come down in price.
 
Dark Dragoon said:
I have a Samsung SH-203B and a Lite-on LH-20A1S installed in my Mac at the moment, though I've used a couple of old IDE Nec drives as well.

Only issues I've come accross is if I set hard disks to sleep I can't eject the disk if I leave it for a while.
Click to expand...

Great cheers :) I take it I just need to hack off the front panel of the generic DVD writer, I will have a look.
 
ok I installed the 2nd dvd drive (pioneer 104), might be a daft question......but how do you eject the tray?
are there ways to eject either tray as when i press eject only the top tray comes out.
 
oooops, tried the obvious :eek:

held down various keys until i got to the "option" key, + eject, did the trick :p
 
What would you recommend specifically for a second drive? Are there any after market models you know of that don't behave oddly in the Mac Pro, such as the door opening and closing every time Lightroom exports, etc.? Yeah that's what the Pioneer 112 I put in my G5 started doing.

I'd like to actually replace the drive that came in it because it seems to be broken or just junk. I flashed the stock Optiarc 7170-A in the machine from firmware 1.N8 to Liggy's 1.02c which I got here. and it definitely helped speed the thing up. Then again installs were DIRT SLOW with the unit straight from the factory. The drive was unusable for installing software. FCS would just come to a halt more or less during the STP Audio 1, 2,& 3 disks with estimated 30+ hours to go. Since flashing I haven't tested that particular install again, but I did install the Livetype content disk 1 (I was up late on a work night fiddling with it, haven't had a chance to look further) and the data written/ sec went from <2MB/sec to ~5MB/sec as seen in Activity Monitor - since flashing.

I'd still like to ditch the drive. This is a brand new machine and the original Pioneer 116 (which I put in the bottom of the optical sled) that came in my 2004 G5 blows away the Optiarc.

Is it even worth it to call Applecare and complain that my 1 day old Mac Pro has optical drive issues, or is that how bad the Optiarc really is? Or should I take it in to an Apple Store and see if they'll swap out the original drive for a different one? I got my MP through Mac Mall, btw. It's a $35 part.. and feel lucky the MP isn't plagued with video card issues, etc so don't really wanna roll the dice on a complete replacement. Hrmm what to do.
 
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