imac g3 Early 2001 - Indigo cd drive replace

cd drives are pretty standard. Most that fit into your machine should work.

If you do not want to take the machine apart, consider buying an external firewire cd/dvd drive. I'd buy one from OWC. I recommend getting a bootable firewire exgternal. Get dvd. You will not be able to play dvd videos. You will be able to read dvd data discs. You have firewire 400. You have the slower usb 1.1.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/

give these folks a call. Ask about booting if you need it.

Robert

The OWC link above may be helpful.

Other companies may still know where to get a replacement internal drive

perhaps even this one http://www.welovemacs.com/imflsepa.html

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

There are few AU companies with Apple or Mac anything, plus

a few resellers in regions that may or may not have any deal-

ings with older hardware and obsolete models.

There is a listing online for applebits:

http://www.applebits.net/catalog/index.php

And a forum of various older Mac users:

http://68kmla.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=13

So you may have to consider contacting OWC in the US,

or some other parts suppliers of compatible optical drives

that have correct specs for a slot-load drive, be it Combo

or just CD. Depends on the kinds of media you use and

whatever the machine could support.

An external USB optical drive probably won't work due

to the slow USB1 speed. If the computer had FW ports

then it would be a candidate for a FW400 combo drive.

More costly & harder to find; and tray-load iMac G3 may

not be supported.

A newer machine may be the answer, if anyone there

restores them at an affordable price. The shipping + tax

is part of the big problem across the Pond to Oz. I see

a few in places who refurbish Macs in the US.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

A 2001 G3 iMac has the slot-loading drive and I recall it being something of a different breed of cat. There is not room i teh case for full-size tray-loading drives as used in mini-tower computers. Here is an image from an iMac DV 2000 service manual; the 2001 uses the same drive form factor:

here is the connector side of that same drive:

The same manual shows three Apple part numbers for optical drives in the 2000 model:

I agree this could end up exceeding the cost of a couple of used G3 iMacs. A 2001 model does have FW400 ports, which gives a little more choice in externals. I have an older Sony external DVD-RW that has Firewire and has booted our iMac 2000 400DV.

Here is the proper Apple part at a reasonable price but it is a USA vendor:

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/iMac-G3-24x-CD-ROM-Drive-p-25121.html

Before spending money on a used (forget the superfluous term "refurbished") internal optical drive, you should be aware that these drives are prone to slip failure, wherein the disk stalls on insertion or ejection. This is caused by aging, horizontally-oriented rubber rollers that grip the disk to move it in and out. Over time, rubber loses its natural soft grip, and in spite of previous recommendations in this Forum to try products that chemically soften the rubber to create a sticky surface (a bad idea), this problem can range from a slight annoyance to a big headache. If you buy a used optical drive, it's going to be just as old as your drive and you can never be sure how much trouble-free operation you can expect to have from it. Further compounding the problem of investing too much money in a 13 year-old iMac is the problem with the failure rate of the P-A-V board in old/high mileage units. I'd opt for an external FireWire-connected DVD±RW drive, so that it can be used with another computer, if and when your iMac stops working. I have an iMac DV-400 and wouldn't waste the money replacing the internal optical drive at this point. Back in 2005, it would have been a different story. Believe it or not, there is a company in the U. S. that carries a new internal DVD±RW slot-loading drive for those iMacs. The $149 (USD) price tag makes it well beyond the realm of sanity to purchase, but I assume that they occasionally find some takers. If you'd still prefer to replace the internal drive, there are three original Apple slot-loading drives from which to choose: CD-ROM, CD-RW, and DVD-ROM. You might be able to find a good deal on a pulled one at ebay.

To get a dvd drive for my iMac 600, I bought a standard Sony dvd/cd drive. I took apart a Firewire 400 harddrive enclosure. I attached the Sony to the enclosure. Plugged everything up. Works. The sony had ata connection needs to match the enclosure connections. When done, put the hd back.

Robert