DVD in a Quadra?

[Quadraman]

Is it possible to install a DVD ROM or DVD RAM drive in a Quadra?

 

[LCGuy]

Running OS 8.1, with the Apple CD/DVD Driver, a DVD-ROM drive certainly can be used for data storage. Obviously, on a machine so old, you can forget about watching DVD-Video discs, hell even early G3s have trouble decoding DVDs.

As for DVD-RAM, I'm fairly sure there's a solution to allow 68ks to run DVD-RAM drives, can't remember the name though. Either way, good luck finding a SCSI DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM drive.

 

[Osgeld]

scsi dvd roms are out there and fairly plentiful, just expensive!

 

[Unknown_K]

You can use an IDE DVD ROM and a IDE to SCSI converter.

 

[Bunsen]

Quadraman's already conquered (conquested?) a SCSI DVD-RAM. He's asking how to use it with a Quadra.

Now I may be entirely wrong about this, but my impression was that if you format it as HFS (or HFS+ for MacOS 8.1) on a newer Mac, it will show up on a 68k as a hard drive, if it is in the drive, and the drive is on when the Mac boots. I would love to hear your results if you try this.

 

[trag]

hell even early G3s have trouble decoding DVDs.

Add a Wired4DVD card and even a PPC601 or PPC604 can play DVDs well. It's a PCI card though, so no help for NuBus PowerMacs and certainly not for Quadras.

As for DVD-RAM, I'm fairly sure there's a solution to allow 68ks to run DVD-RAM drives, can't remember the name though. Either way, good luck finding a SCSI DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM drive.

A DVD-RAM drive will probably work fine with an IDE to SCSI adapter like the Acard 7220U. (or is it 7720U, I always get that confused, even back when I was selling them).

Wired was selling the Wired4DVD card for $19 with free shipping as recently as 2007 but they don't appear to have it on their website any longer. Might be worth an email if one is interested.

 

[Quadraman]

scsi dvd roms are out there and fairly plentiful, just expensive!

I just bought an external Fantom Drive for $20 + $10 shipping on ebay. 8-o

So it seems like I can probably read from it once it's hooked up but will I be able to write to it?

 

[Dog Cow]

Fellow 68kmla'er wthww gave me a SCSI DVD-RAM drive last July, but I've never done anything with it. If someone figures out what drivers are needed, I too would be interested.

 

[Bunsen]

hell even early G3s have trouble decoding DVDs.

Add a Wired4DVD card and even a PPC601 or PPC604 can play DVDs well. It's a PCI card though

Or indeed a Rage 128 with the DVD decoder module, or a faster ATI card.

 

[Quadraman]

Heh, I got one of those, too. Won't work in a Quadra but should work in any PCI Mac. ;D

 

[Blessed Cheesemaker]

I just saw this thread. I have an external DVD-RAM hooked up to my SuperMac S900...I know I thought about hooking it up to my Quadra 700, and I can't rememebr if I did (or didn't), and if it worked (or didn't).

I'm on the road, and I also can't remember the name of the software that I had to DL from a certain Hotline server, back in the day. Something about needing a specific older version to run on System 7.6 or System 8, or something.

I'm writing this to help serve as a memory placeholder to come back to in a couple of days. Face it, after age 40, your memory starts getting pretty dicey...

 

[TylerEss]

You can certainly use DVD-RAM with old 68k Macs... I was doing it for years as a backup medium for my SE/30.

You need "DVD-RAM Tune-Up" which is abandonware (and very hard to find). Later versions of CDROM Toolkit support DVD-RAM also, but it didn't work for me years ago when I first tried it.

 

[yuhong]

For the record, the first Mac to use ATAPI optical drives was the LPX-40/Tanzania motherboard design used in the 4400 and Mac clones.

 

[zuiko21]

By the way... will the Apple CD/DVD Driver from 8.1 support a non-Apple SCSI DVD-ROM drive? For instance, Toshiba M1401, which seems to be easily found and rather unexpensive.