I have a 2006 model MacBook Pro with a faulty dvd drive. My kids use this machine to play games that require a dvd player. I do have 3-4 iBook G4s in the attic just gathering dust. Is it possible to remove the dvd drive from the iBook and put into the MacBook pro?
Has anyone tried it? Will it work?
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)
Unlikely to work. The iBooks used the (old) Ultra ATA/100 interface (buss) to communicate with the drives. All the MBPs use a SATA interface, which is much faster but not compatible with U-ATA-100 devices like the optical drive that in your old iBook.
You can get a new internal DVD drive for under $60.
Actually the 2006 model MacBook pro does use ATA IDE optical drives. The hard drives were SATA, but not the DVD drive.
The only obstacle I see is the size factor. It may be too thick to fit inside the MacBook pro.
I live in Norway, so the under 60 $ price is not possible with postage and customs fees and such. But thanks for the suggestion.
Freddy, first welcome to the discussioons. I am not positive of this but I would try to get a CD/DVD USB EXTERNAL Drive. This would make it easy to just plug it into your USB port and use instead of your internal DVD drive. I am not positive this will work on your model but a quick call to you local Apple Store can verify this and it will be under $50.00 US
Cheers
Don
Can I ask what faulty means in the MBP? Most of the time it's just a dirty lens. You can try cleaning it with a microfiber cloth wrapped around a credit card, carefully inserting it a few times. If that doesn't do it, try a DVD cleaning disk.
What I mean by faulty is that it is dead. The optical drive will not pull in any CDs at all. It seems like something is blocking the drive, so there may be a mechanical part that just is not moving.
An external drive is an option, but I just like to have stuff working.
The iBok drive seems to be thicker, si it won't fit I think. But there's always eBay...
Thanks, but due to silly customs regulations, importing this one to Norway will make it twice as expensive. Taxes, import fees and the general we-don't-want.-you-to-buy-stuff-from-abroad-attitude of the Norwegian customs makes this a no go. Has to be less than 32 US Dollars. Someone from Lowendmac just helped me find a reasonable one.
But thank you for your suggestion.
Just go down to your local computer electronics store and buy any brand external DVD drive that connects by USB port and it will work on that Mac, or any Mac.
I did. The MBP will not give the external drive enough power through USB to power up the drive enough to actually read the discs.
So that did not work so well.
Did it come with a Y USB cable to connect to 2 USB ports at the same time? Something like this?
Afraid not. However, the internal drive started working again! After a week of no sound at all it suddenly awoke with a whole lot of sound and accepted the disc I inserted. Just 8 minutes after I ordered a replacement from PowerBookmedic.com. If I could just figure out how to cancel my order now..
iBook G4 dvd drive into a MacBook Pro?
