Mac Pro early 2008 replacement dvd burner

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Level 1

35 points

Mac Pro early 2008 replacement dvd burner

Hi,

I need to replace the internal burner inside an early 2008 mac pro. But i'm having trouble getting the exact information as to the requirements of the drive.

Go to a computer shop and you can get an internal SATA DVD burner for £20, but I've a feeling i can't use one of these drives.

I was told by a mac parts store that the early 2008 mac pro uses an IDE / PATA interface for the internal DVD burner (and they're quoting me £95+), not the SATA interface that is commonly available.

The drive i'm replacing is a PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112D.

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/archive/DVR-112D/index.html

Which states the interface is:

ATA/ATAPI-7, SFF-8090

Which, to me, looks like it isn't SATA, but it doesn't tell me it's IDE / PATA either. I just need to know, what exactly are the requirements for this replacement drive i need to purchase? Can anyone suggest a good model that's currently available? Or am i looking at buying from ebay / mac parts store for old / discontinued / refurbished stock?

Many thanks in advance,

K

Posted on May 19, 2011 3:59 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

sam1974

Level 1

45 points

May 19, 2011 6:32 AM in response to Col Kav

The terms "integrated drive electronics" (IDE), "enhanced IDE" and "EIDE" have come to be used interchangeably with ATA (now Parallel ATA, or PATA).

ATAPI/ATA are the same as PATA and IDE.

Therefore when purchasing a replacement drive you just need to make sure it says IDE/PATA/ATA/ATAPI somewhere in the description and it should be simply plug and play installation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA

scroll down to Current Technology session for more geek.

Hope that helps

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Answer 2

sam1974

Level 1

45 points

May 19, 2011 6:34 AM in response to Col Kav

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/blu-ray-dvd-drives/lightscribe- labelflash-dual-layer-pata/dual-layer-ide

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Answer 3

Col Kav Author

Level 1

35 points

May 19, 2011 6:37 AM in response to sam1974

Thanks Sam, very helpful!

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Answer 4

Nov 25, 2013 3:50 AM in response to Col Kav

You might find that the tray sits too low in most drives to line up wth the slot in the front of your Mac. I too am struggling here. It's a real downside of Macs that Apple very obviously want you to buy a new one every 3 years at the very least!

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