questions about upgrading my mac pro dvd and hdd

[yogibear00]

Hello,
I have a 2.66 2006 mac pro. I want to change my dvd drive and hdd. This is what I was thinking of getting. Seagate Barracuda 500 GB SATA 3.5 Inch 7200 RPM Version 12 Desktop Internal Hard Drive ST3500418AS and for the dvd drive Pioneer DVR-118L-BK Internal [Black Bezel] 'SuperDrive' up to 22X DVD+/-R, up to 8X DVD+/-RW, Up to 12X Dual Layer +/-R DL, up to 40X CDR/RW Burner, DVD-RAM. New, 1yr Pioneer Warranty. -See More Info for Apple Software Compatibility-- (PIODVR118LBK). The drive is IDE. Will these two work good for my system? I want to just swap out my hdd so i want to know if all i have to do is remove my old hdd from the tray and put this one in format it and then it will just work. Also for the dvd drive is all i need to do is open up my mac pro get to the dvd drive remove ribbion and screws and install the new one and it will run just like my superdrive (with no need for new cables ) is now with now software patch at full speed running on os x 10.6. My old dvd drive also a pionner works but when i insert a dvd from verbatim or other makers i have to take it out and put it back in many times to get it to read the correct speed. Like it will just show up as 4x untill i take it out and keep re doing it until the correct 16x speed shows up. I have burned at least a 1000 disks maybe more so I am guessing the lens is going bad. It did this on os x 10.5 also maybe 10.4 cannot remember. Also does it with toast and disk utility. if anyone could help me with the questions it would be a big help. Thank you very much

 

[Mackilroy]

You might want to use paragraphs.

Any old SATA drive (more or less) will work - but why go for only 500 GB? Even 1 TB is pretty cheap nowadays - even 1.5 TB.

Can't help you with the optical drive, though.

 

[Tesselator]

Hello,
I have a 2.66 2006 mac pro. I want to change my dvd drive and hdd. This is what I was thinking of getting.

• Seagate Barracuda 500 GB SATA 3.5 Inch 7200 RPM Version 12 Desktop Internal Hard Drive ST3500418AS
• Pioneer DVR-118L-BK Internal [Black Bezel] 'SuperDrive' up to 22X DVD+/-R, up to 8X DVD+/-RW, Up to 12X Dual Layer +/-R DL, up to 40X CDR/RW Burner, DVD-RAM. New, 1yr Pioneer Warranty. -See More Info for Apple Software Compatibility-- (PIODVR118LBK).

The drive is IDE. Will these two work good for my system?

Yes. I have the DVR-A16J - essentially the same (but newer) drive and it works great.

Your system has two IDE (ATAPI) connectors available in the optical drive bay so that part is correct as well.

I want to just swap out my hdd so i want to know if all i have to do is remove my old hdd from the tray and put this one in format it and then it will just work.

Yes. In fact you don't even need to format it. Just set up the partitions and write the tables.

Also for the dvd drive is all i need to do is open up my mac pro get to the dvd drive remove ribbion and screws and install the new one and it will run just like my superdrive (with no need for new cables ) is now with now [no] software patch at full speed running on os x 10.6.

Yep. It will all just work after changing the drives.

My old dvd drive also a pionner works but when i insert a dvd from verbatim or other makers i have to take it out and put it back in many times to get it to read the correct speed. Like it will just show up as 4x untill i take it out and keep re doing it until the correct 16x speed shows up. I have burned at least a 1000 disks maybe more so I am guessing the lens is going bad. It did this on os x 10.5 also maybe 10.4 cannot remember. Also does it with toast and disk utility.

Might be the media? <shrug> Do you smoke? Anyway, another option is to ADD the new drive as a second ODD. That way you can use the old one for ripping and playback till it dies completely thus saving a little wear and tear on the new one.

Also I agree with Mackilroy; 500 GB is too small and lacks the advantages of the newer 500 GB/per platter 1TB, 1.5TB, and 2TB drives that are now available from between $90 and $200. I have the Samsung HD154UI 1.5TB (500 GB per platter) and like them a lot. They're green drives so they aren't the fastest available but they're only $100 and they're faster than any 500 GB drives at 7200 RPM SS.

Good luck.

 

[yogibear00]

Hi,

Thank you Mackilroy and Tesselator for all your help.

I do agree a bigger drive would be better but I am trying to save money right now so a few bucks saved is better for me even though bigger better drives are only a little more. I also mostly use external drives for big files and then burn them to dvd-r when I get a chance.

The disk speed problem I am having could be due to media you are right. I have been using verbatim and memorex and they both give these problems ( used other media but not for awhile ). Every few times I burn a dvd it shows up at 4x unless i pop it in and out until the correct speed pops up. Keeping the old drive and putting in a new one is also a good idea.

I do smoke and use compressed air to clean my mac pro. I am not good enough to take it all apart to get to every spot.

 

[gugucom]

Smoking can fog the lens of your ODD.

 

[yogibear00]

gugucom,

Thanks I never knew that.

Everyone has been very helpful here really enjoying the forums!

 

[Tesselator]

Yup, most data centers or even SOHOs serious about their equipment will not allow smoking anywhere near printers, tape drives, hard drives, or removable media of any kind.

You might even be surprised to find out how much brown gunk gets inside of some HDDs - the others I suppose are obvious. Connectors too become gunky over time so if you plug and unplug stuff (like USB, FW, video, audio, etc.) don't be surprised if the connections fail intermittently or seem to be less than "secure". I guess you know this already tho if you've ever cleaned your monitor screen with a white cloth or tissue.

If you can't help yourself smokeless ashtrays with charcoal filtering and room exhaust fans can both be tremendous helps in slowing or reducing the affects!

 

[akadmon]

Not to mention it voids your Apple warrranty.

 

[gugucom]

I don't think that is has been established that smoking voids your warranty. There have been isolated cases of Apple stores and AASPs refusing diagnosing and repairing smoker equipment. Apple seems to support this policies. So I guess effectively you may be reducing your chances of getting repairs locally. You can always find a smoker AASP who will take your stuff and incur the higher expenses to ship the stuff there.

 

[yogibear00]

Thanks,

Yeah when I open my mac pro you can see how bad smoking affects a machine. Its really bad where power supply is behind my dvd drive. Due to where it is located there is no way to get inside and clean it myself. I really need to take it in to a local shop and have it taken apart fully and cleaned everywhere as much as it can be at this point.

 

[davidlv]

IDE DVD work in a 2009 Quad?

Tesselator said "Yes. I have the DVR-A16J - essentially the same (but newer) drive and it works great." but that was in a 2006 machine, wasn't it (correct me if that is wrong)? I have a friend who wants to install a second DVD drive in his 2009 Quad and as the standard interface is SATA only rather expensive drives are available. If the cheaper IDE Pioneer will work (parallel ATA cables present?) please let me know.

 

[Tesselator]

Tesselator said "Yes. I have the DVR-A16J - essentially the same (but newer) drive and it works great." but that was in a 2006 machine, wasn't it (correct me if that is wrong)? I have a friend who wants to install a second DVD drive in his 2009 Quad and as the standard interface is SATA only rather expensive drives are available. If the cheaper IDE Pioneer will work (parallel ATA cables present?) please let me know.

Yes. You'e correct. I guess there's an SATA version of the drive <shrug> tho there may be some others differences besides just the interface. I dunno.