Like most people I was unaware that the SuperDrive in the current 12'
& 15" PowerBools are, reportedly, "Dumbed down"
Apple ("dumbed down") specifications are as follows:
Burn speed:
DVD-R at 1x speed.
DVD-RW - incompatible (will not burn)
CD-R at 8x speed
CD-RW at 4x speed
original (OEM) specks for the drive however are:
DVD-R at 2x speed
DVD-RW at 1x speed
(2x?<http://superdrive.cynikal.net/img/tradeShowDetails.jpg>) (yes
will burn DVD-RW)
CD-R at 16x speed
CD-RW at 8x Speed
Mac OS X Hints <http://www.macosxhints.com/> gives this issue an
airing and a link to a hack (hardware update) that will return the
SupperDrive to original specks.
Note the update is for the drive only and not for the PowerBook logic
board (or other hardware)
User feedback has not so far found any problems, but obviously (as
this is not an Apple approved hardware update)
read all the instructions, user feedback and warnings before
proceeding and be aware there may be circumstances were this my
damage the drive (machine crashes/sleeps/runs out of battery while
running hack) that would void the warranty.
<http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030818164328868#comments>
The hack is at <http://superdrive.cynikal.net/> but read above site
before proceeding also read entire page here before installing not
heat issues with burning faster than recommended ie make sure the
PowerBook has good ventilation - I use an iStand riser and have a
large (8") CPU cooling fan (off an old Wang mainframe so think "small
desktop fan" size) that blows over the PowerBook.
As I have an external 52x CD burner the CD burn speed is not an issue
how ever being able to burn DVD-RW would be nice as I have several
times archived info off on to DVD-R and would be nice to be able to
instead be able to cycle through DVD-RW media every few months.
I'll be installing the hack tonight and will report on results by
Friday after some doing some testing.
--
~
Mark Secker [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ph#9380 1855 (ECEL)
ECEL Computer Support Officer, University of Western Australia.
CRICOS Provider No. 00126G
~
"'We are all children of $root'
or so says a wise old programer..."
Anon.
"There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and
UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
-- Jeremy S. Anderson
