I had a similar problem with the Apple Superdrive that came with my QS- it would read silver (pressed) DVDs and CDs, would refuse to read burned DVDs, or burn blank DVDs. It would burn and read CDs just fine, it just had trouble with DVDs. I think the lasers on the old optical drives just wear out after a while.
I replaced it with the following $25 samsung drive (SH-S222L), which I believe was used by apple in later G5 models. It works great in Leopard. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151176 -sri On Jun 30, 1:39 pm, Bruce Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > On Jun 30, 2010, at 11:17 AM, Dan wrote: > > > At 5:36 PM -0700 6/29/2010, Jeffrey Engle wrote: > >> I bought a used pioneer DVR-106PB (apple branded) on ebay last month.... I > >> tried a dvd on it when I got it and thought it was fine? but I just today > >> tried to get a cd to mount and for some reason it won't? bad drive? or > >> not..... > > > Check its entry in System Profiler - make sure it's recognized and fully > > capable of the various media types. > > > Clean the drive. > > > Clean the disc. > > > Make sure it works with a DVD. > > > Make sure your CD is of the type that is supported by the drive... > > And if all else fails, go find another drive. If you're using it in OS X, > pretty much any DVD +/- r/rw drive on the market works. See here: > <http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-GH22LP20-DO&cat=DVD> $27 for a > 20x DVD -/+ r/rw DL with lightscribe is a damned good deal, and if you're > using anything newer than 10.3 it'll work out of the box, otherwise use > Patchburn. Personally I wouldn't waste the money on a used optical drive. > > Geeks also has a Samsung drive that I know for a FACT (because it's installed > in one of my Macs) works perfectly well out of the box in 10.5 and 10.6 for a > dollar more. > > Since CD's and DVD's use different lasers inside the mechanism, it's entirely > possible for drive to read DVD's just fine and have problems with CD's (or > vice versa)...this was a common failure mode on the original LG drives > shipped with the Pismo, for instance, and I've had it happen to standalone > players, as well. > > -- > Bruce Johnson > University of Arizona > College of Pharmacy > Information Technology Group > > Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
