Bill Strohm

Q: TSST SH-S222L DVD Writer Bad Behavior

Equipment:

 

PPC PowerMac 2.7 GHz dual-CPU G5, Early 2005 build. 5.5 GB RAM, two WD internal hard disks. New CPU/LCS assembly (replaced by Apple Store). Optical drive is a Samsung SH-S222L CD/DVD writer.

 

Software/Firmware:

 

Running Mac OS X v10.4.11, Samsung firmware vSB-03, PatchBurn v4.0.5.

 

Both hard drives tested with TechTool Pro v 4.1.2, Disk Warrior v4.4, and Apple Disk Utility. All tests pass. "Memorex cleaner CD" run several times.

 

Problem:

 

Random failures of computer to eject disk, to close tray, for tray to stay closed, for CD-ROM icon to appear on desktop, also unusual buzz-click sounds after disc is installed before CD-ROM spins up continuously. During video game play, requests for disc change result in strange behavior like the Mac claiming the disc is unreadable, but repeated eject/close tray cycles sometimes overcomes the problem. These problems have occurred off and on over a period of months.

 

I am unaware whether the Samsung optical driver is covered by the Mac OS I/O software or whether Samsung offers a special driver for the Mac. The CD-ROM disc supplied with the SH-S222L is exclusively PC-type, although the Mac can display the media contents, which are ".exe" files. "File Juicer" extracts some of these files which show ".dll" files internally, but I see nothing "Mac-like" on the disc at all.

 

Samsung's online info provided firmware update software for the Mac, which I have used to re-install vSB-03, but nothing on software drivers. Does anyone know of reliable 3rd-party software for testing this optical drive?

 

Thanks for reading!

Power Mac G5 (Early 2005), Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1997 Desktop G3

Posted on Dec 25, 2012 6:59 PM

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Q: TSST SH-S222L DVD Writer Bad Behavior

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Dec 25, 2012 7:10 PM in response to Bill Strohm
    Level 10 (123,765 points)
    Dec 25, 2012 7:10 PM in response to Bill Strohm

    Hi, actually sounds like my drive,, marketed unter differen't names.

     

    At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware>Disk Burning & report what it says, like ...

     

    TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S222L:

     

      Firmware Revision:          SB02

      Interconnect:          ATAPI

      Burn Support:          Yes (Unsupported)

      Profile Path:          None

      Cache:          2048 KB

      Reads DVD:          Yes

      CD-Write:          -R, -RW

      DVD-Write:          -R, -RAM, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL

      Burn Underrun Protection CD:          Yes

      Burn Underrun Protection DVD:          Yes

      Write Strategies:          CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

      Media:

      Media Type:          DVD-RW

      Blank:          Yes

      Erasable:          Yes

      Overwritable:          Yes

      Appendable:          Yes

     

    One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...

     

    PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive

     

    Reboot, test again.

     

    If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or some USB or Firewire device, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.

     

    Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.

     

    Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...

     

    /private/var/run/StartupItems

    /Library/StartupItems

    /System/Library/StartupItems

    /System/Library/LaunchDaemons

    /Library/LaunchDaemons


  • by Bill Strohm,

    Bill Strohm Bill Strohm Dec 27, 2012 8:43 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 3 (563 points)
    Mac App Store
    Dec 27, 2012 8:43 AM in response to BDAqua

    BDAqua,

     

    Tried Safe Mode, same results. Did not go looking for items in your list, because I didn't know what to do if I looked in them.

     

    After that test, found another anomaly I hadn't noticed before. I have a Kensington 64325 Expert Mouse (USB) installed and working. However, Kensington's "Trackballworks" v1.1 software claims "No Kensington device found" when I open its Preference Pane in System Preferences. I get the same result with Kensington "Mouseworks" software. Yet the trackball works fine, except I have no access to the trackball button options, since the device is not seen. I reinstalled TrackballWorks, but there was no change in optical drive behavior.

     

    FYI here is a portion of the USB listing from System Profiler:

     

    Kensington Expert Mouse:

     

      Version:          1.00

      Bus Power (mA):          100

      Speed:          Up to 1.5 Mb/sec

      Manufacturer:          Kensington

      Product ID:          0x1020

      Vendor ID:          0x047d

     

    and the "Disc Burning" list with no disc installed:

     

    TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S222L:

     

      Firmware Revision:          SB03

      Interconnect:          ATAPI

      Burn Support:          Yes (Vendor Supported)

      Profile Path:          /Library/DiscRecording/DeviceProfiles/PatchBurn-tsstcorpcddvdwshs222l.drpr ofile

      Cache:          2048 KB

      Reads DVD:          Yes

      CD-Write:          -R, -RW

      DVD-Write:          -R, -RAM, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL

      Burn Underrun Protection CD:          Yes

      Burn Underrun Protection DVD:          Yes

      Write Strategies:          CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

      Media:          No

  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Dec 27, 2012 11:07 AM in response to Bill Strohm
    Level 10 (123,765 points)
    Dec 27, 2012 11:07 AM in response to Bill Strohm

    Well, you don't need any drivers for the Optical.

     

    Not sure how much the Kensigton SW has to do with the optical problem, but I'd remove it, or at the very least...

     

    In System Preferences>Other row, right click on the Kensington pref pane(s) & choode Remove, then reboot.

  • by Bill Strohm,Solvedanswer

    Bill Strohm Bill Strohm Dec 29, 2012 4:31 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 3 (563 points)
    Mac App Store
    Dec 29, 2012 4:31 PM in response to BDAqua

    Kensington sent me v3.0 of the Mouseworks program for the expert Mouse, which solved all the problems I was having with the trackball. It also seems to have solved the optical drive problems too, although I don't understand why! If I see anything come back, I will re-post here.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Dec 29, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Bill Strohm
    Level 10 (123,765 points)
    Dec 29, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Bill Strohm

    Great to hear, but yes a bit of a mystery, thanks for the report!