Apple G4 Powerbook Titanium 1Ghz DVD Drive replacement

[spiceyokooko]

Heya

The DVD drive on my Titanium laptop has started playing up and ejecting discs. It's running Classic OS 9.2.2 and I've checked all the correct extensions are in the Extensions folder. I've tested it with a known working DVD and CD and it whirrs a few times as if it's reading the disc and about to mount it but then just spits it out. It's seen on the ATA bus in profiler.

I've pulled it from the laptop and checked the connections and opened it up and had a look inside to see if anything was amiss, but to be honest DVD drives are a bit beyond my capabilities. I couldn't see if anything was obviously wrong. If anyone has any ideas of what else to look at please feel free.

However, I've pretty much decided to replace it and wondered what the difference was between the Apple branded Matsushita drives for this model UJ-815-C and the non-branded Apple Matsushita UJ-815-C DVD drives used in generic PC notebooks. Are there any disadvantages for not using the Apple branded ones? Also likewise for replacing it with a drive from a higher model but with the same ATA bus connections?

Any thoughts? Love to hear them.

Cheers!

 

[CC_333]

Hi,

I think that as long as it fits in the same mounting hardware, and the interface is the same, pretty much any drive (from later models of PowerBook and early MacBooks/MacBook Pros with ATA optical drives, for example) should work without problems.

As for Apple-branded versus not, that's up to you. As far as I know, there's basically no difference aside from a bit of code in the drive's firmware that identifies it as an Apple OEM drive, which isn't present in non-Apple versions. You can use a non-Apple drive, though in certain cases (and I have yet to encounter any) some software might complain that the drive is non-Apple and therefore won't work (I think this is more likely in OS 9 and early versions of X; later versions of X, such as Tiger, have generic support for pretty much any drive, Apple or not, which makes this point moot).

I hope this helps...

c

 

[spiceyokooko]

Hey ccc

Thanks for your input.

The drive is for my G4 Titanium which I use primarily as a Classic OS 9 machine so compatibility with Classic OS would be important. I have a faint recollection that when using non-Apple OEM optical drives missing that firmware information means you can't boot from CD or DVD whilst holding the C key down. From what you've said, that would make sense.

Also, when talking about Apple OEM drives, they're basically exactly the same model number etc and still made by Panasonic/Matsushita, they just have an Apple logo on the yellow panel, whereas generic drives wouldn't.

The reason I ask the question, is because, as I'm sure an awful lot of other people are now finding, anything with an Apple logo on it now almost doubles the price of the item. Of all the UJ-815-C drives being sold or on offer, those with an Apple logo on them are far more expensive than the generic UJ-815-C drives used in PC laptops.

Nevertheless I was lucky enough to find an Apple branded UJ-815-C, tested as working for a reasonable $18 inc shipping. Many of the others selling Apple branded UJ-815-C want $50-60! Which is just nonsensical in my opinion. I'll report back once I've got it fitted.

 

[techknight]

what happens, is the optical pickup goes faulty in them, and thats the end of it. mainly the laser diode.