Sony Spressa USB with OSX 10.2

[chrixxa]

try as i might, i can't get my SONY SPRESSA USB CDRW burner to work with OSX 10.2.
it worked fine in OS 9.2 with toast, but no dice with 10.2. After searching the internet for weeks on a solution (sony offers virtually no info on OSX and the Spressa line CDRW's).
I had the same problem about 6mos ago, but figured either Sony or Apple would catch the ball and there would be a fix, but so far my search has hit a brick wall.
one online post mentioned a class action lawsuit against Sony.
has my faithful old burner finally become a 4X paperweight?
if anyone has any info or a workaround lemme know, my hard drive needs to be cleaned off badly, and i want to back up to CD badly....
thanks
chrixxa

 

[Sun Baked]

Look at the xlr8yourmac drive compatibility database, you'll probably find scant support for USB.

Which may mean a FW case or taking the drive out of the USB case and putting the drive into your machine.

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Beyond that it's hard to tell you what to do when you don't give info on the computer you're using or the drive model number.

 

[chrixxa]

Mac G4 400mhz Sawtooth
640mb RAM
OSX 10.2.6

Sony Spressa USB 100e/x2

sadly, xlr8yourmac site posters who reported on the drive had the same crappy results i did: it worked fine in OS9, was recognized in early versions of osx, and now isn't even recognized in the apple profiler on OSX 10.2 when it's connected and powered up. swapping cables provides no remedy, and NO cd burning app sees it either.............
thanks SONY

 

[Sun Baked]

You can try taking the drive out of the case and replacing the drive in the computer, or looking through the database for a compatible IDE drive (See if you can find the drive under an IDE connection, but the drive inside the case could be made by someone else).

They should be real cheap, if you want to give up and try one that others have gotten to work right out of the box...

Look at Apple Zip Drive Replacement for instructions on accessing the Optical Drive Tray.

If it was an iMac it would be a PIA, but the Tower isn't too bad.

 

[chrixxa]

switched drives for temporary fix

well, i got fed up with looking for some software fix, and took the drive out of the spressa case and replaced my dvd-rom drive so i could finally burn all the stored files that have been clogging up my hard drive for the past 7-8 months since i have been unable to use my burner thanks to sony and it's lack of support on the Spressa USB's.
so it indeed worked like a charm, and the burner was recognized the first time i fired up toast after it was installed.
now i want to switch the zip drive with the cd burner so i can have both burning capabilites and my dvd rom drive in the same case, but the frame inside leaves too small a space in the zip drive compartment.
without cutting the case, does anyone know of any spare parts so that i can have two optical drives in one G4 sawtooth case?