Q: Power Mac G5 Superdrive won't read DL DVDs
Hey all,
I have recently inherited a 2003/2004 Power Mac Dual Processor G5 1.8GHz, and I'm having some issues with the Superdrive.
It won't read any burned dual layer(DL) DVDs or CD+Rs. Either the disc will sit in the Mac without any drive activity, and without appearing in the Finder, or the Mac will spit it back out. I've tried using a cleaning disc with several brushes, but it didn't seem to have any effect.
I have pulled the drive and installed another one just to ensure that it wasn't the computer itself, and sure enough, the other disc drive played and read any disc quite easily.
The drive in question is a Pioneer 106PB. Is there a firmware upgrade for this disc drive, or is it simply worn down after many years of faithful service? Would opening the drive and cleaning the laser lens with rubbing alcohol help? The Mac is currently running 10.5 with all the latest updates. |
Posted on Nov 8, 2013 5:28 AM
The Pioneer DVR-106 (DVR-A06U) doesn't read/write DL disks. The supported media types are: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW. The inability to read/write CD-Rs could be related to the speed of the blank media. Back when drive speeds kept increasing, firmware updates for older drives were sometimes necessary for compatibility with newer, faster media. The drive has separate DVD and CD lasers, which operate at different frequencies. If the CD laser lens is malfunctioning or misaligned from wear, a lens cleaning disk won't solve the problem. Considering the relatively low price for a newer (if not new) DVD±RW drive, I'd replace it. Unfortunately, Pioneer's optical drives are now manufactured by Asus and I don't think the quality is the same as it was in years past. Not all third-party optical drives will be bootable, and ordinarily you'd be recommended to check out Other World Computing's selection of suitable replacements, but their website has this notice: "Currently there are no internal IDE/ATAPI Optical Drive Options available for this model (Power Mac G5)."
Posted on Nov 8, 2013 10:19 PM