Level 3

823 points

Apple Superdrive firmware update

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16884

I just installed this- it's not popping up in Software Update but it did install on my UJ-835 drive. I haven't had the opportunity to see at what speed it will burn yet (I do have some 4x media that only burns at 2x most times though), but the fact that it installed has me a bit hopeful!

Anyone else gone for it and have anything to report?

PowerBook G4/ 1.67 / 1GB / 100GB, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on May 31, 2006 3:59 PM

46 replies

Jun 21, 2006 2:06 AM in response to Berkhoff

What is listed in "System Profiler" at burning regarding your optical drive?

Berkhoff

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2006 2:08 PM in response to Kay Marczoch

Hi Kay,
is "Colonia..." Köln???

In my SysProfiler at Hardware/DiskBurning i get these info:

"MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E:

Firmware Revision: GAND
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No"

Is there any solution to get the Drive work???
THX, berkhoff

PowerBook G4 17" (1.67 GHz) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Jun 22, 2006 9:43 PM in response to Berkhoff

Hi Berkhoff,

yupp - CCAA that's Köln 🙂 (and Tremonia is "Dortmund")

Regarding your drive - According to SysPro the firmware update went well (GAND) and your drive is recognized.

No idea why it does not work anymore - Try to burn a branded blank that is supposed to work hassle-free like Verbatim DVD -R 8x or 16x.

Also do - if none done yet - fix permissions & reset PRAM (the usual suspects)

Berkhoff

Level 1

0 points

Jun 23, 2006 8:14 AM in response to Kay Marczoch

Ok,
I try to fix the permissions (I think I zapped the PRAM already...)

I tried it with three non brandded disks ( CD and DVD) and I tried Verbatim, Fujifilm, Maxwell...

(Ich habe nur deswegen gefragt, weil mein englisch nicht gerade das Wahre ist (ich bin Schweizer), aber mir ist bewusst geworden, dass ich hier weiterhin englisch posten sollte, da dies ja ein englisches Forum ist)

THX, berkhoff

PowerBook G4 17" (1.67 GHz) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Jun 23, 2006 11:04 AM in response to Berkhoff

Nee, nee - jede andere Sprache tut's auch. Es kann dann aber etwas dauern, bis 'ne Antwort kommt. Deutsch geht aber ganz gut, obwohl ich im Ruhrgebiet groß geworden bin.
Nebenbei - bei Dir bemerke ich aber auch keinen Akzent 🙂
Nebenbei II - Maxwell ist keine so gute Wahl, Verbatim lag lange den Macs bei und ich persönlich schwöre darauf.

Hoffentlich ist es bei Dir nur so eine verflixte Kleinigkeit und kein Fall für den Service. Dürfte es aber m.E. nicht sein: Das Laufwerk wird erkannt & die neue Firmware ist auch angekommen.

Du kannst mich aber auch anmailen - kaymarczoch@mac.com
Ich habe jetzt 6 Wochen Sommerferien 🙂

Gruß
-kay

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 25, 2006 6:36 PM in response to billypea

well now I'm getting Hardware Errors and such in Toast with the same media I reported as burning earlier in this thread.

iDVD burns but none of the resulting DVD's play past around 5 minutes.

The media is Ridata. I'm going to get some Apple media just for a control test tomorrow but does anyone have any other thoughts on why now I'm getting errors?

thx!

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 25, 2006 7:49 PM in response to J MAZ

ok well i just burned a 3.86GB DVD (the ridatas) via Finder and it worked fine. I then burned the same exact data using toast, and it burned but verification failed. Yet, the disk seems to be working.

So maybe it's Toast... more tests later...

Jun 26, 2006 2:23 AM in response to J MAZ

What release of Toast do you use?

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 26, 2006 6:09 AM in response to Kay Marczoch

What release of Toast do you use?

7.0.2- the most current AFAIK. Trying another burn right now at 1x.

Jun 26, 2006 6:34 AM in response to J MAZ

7.0.2 is working well for me - Those issues might be related to the brand of blanks you're using: Try Verbatim or Sony DVD -R 1x-8x/16x

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 26, 2006 6:57 AM in response to Kay Marczoch

7.0.2 is working well for me - Those issues might be
related to the brand of blanks you're using: Try
Verbatim or Sony DVD -R 1x-8x/16x

Might be- I just burned a DVD video on the Ridata via Toast but I forced 1x instead of best or 2x. It worked fine. I have been burning this DVD all week with errors.

Bummer- these Ridatas have been great so far but I'm going to try some others.

Jun 26, 2006 7:04 AM in response to J MAZ

The new firmware of your drive contains new/different descriptions/parameters for blank media - might be a good idea to switch.

Jun 26, 2006 7:10 AM in response to J MAZ

One other detail that many of us have expierianced.
Do not run any other applications when burning. That includes surfing the web or checking mail, DO NOT DO ANYTHING, other than burn. That includes having any other application even open.
For several reasons most people that I am familiar with have there best luck and the most consistant results just burning.
You shouldn't be having these issues at all.
Don

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 26, 2006 7:26 AM in response to Donald Morgan

One other detail that many of us have expierianced.
Do not run any other applications when burning. That
includes surfing the web or checking mail, DO NOT DO
ANYTHING, other than burn. That includes having any
other application even open.
For several reasons most people that I am familiar
with have there best luck and the most consistant
results just burning.
You shouldn't be having these issues at all.
Don

Don, that's decent advice for sure, but I have had great luck multitasking while burning... I have burned countless CD's / DVD's while doing moderate other activities. In fact, I've had my PB for over a year, and until this firmware, I've never burned a single coaster and I regularly use Safari or email at the least. This is when burning with Toast or Finder. I leave iDVD alone.

So I'd agree that if you're burning a mission critical disc it's not a bad idea, but I think that everything is advanced enough to do other things while burning now. I never could do it in OS9 or with slower computers though.

Thanks!

J MAZ Author

Level 3

823 points

Jun 26, 2006 7:23 AM in response to Kay Marczoch

The new firmware of your drive contains new/different
descriptions/parameters for blank media - might be a
good idea to switch.

Kay- that's what I'm thinking too! I had actually bought the Ridatas on advice I read here (I think) in one of the many UJ-835 threads! But it seems I need to switch now!

Thanks!

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Apple Superdrive firmware update