LG DVD drive in Pismo

Question

LG DVD drive in Pismo

Hi everyone, me again.

Good news this time. My 'Book's kernel panic has been resolved and I have since bought a rather nice (well, to me) broken 500MHz Pismo to upgrade mine. I've transplanted the 500MHz processor, 512MB RAM and 20GB hard drive to up the specs of my machine, and even managed to get the broken machine to boot with a full power manager reset.
The broken 'Book is broken as it has a smashed screen, so I need a new one for that - no question. The thing is, my Pismo has a Matshita SR-8171 DVD-ROM drive that has served it very well. However, recently, the front bezel has broken and come very loose - it's only held on by one screw out of three. With this in mind, I tried to swap it for the DVD module in the broken one, only to find it's an LG 8080B model, which as I've heard, is appauling for reliability. True to the fact, I tried a DVD in it and it wasn't recognised. It also wouldn't boot from my Pismo's OS9 software install disc.
I'm assuming this means the drives useless? Or can something be done about it? Failing the DVD drive, I have a laptop CD-RW drive that I'd like to make internal in the Pismo. It's another Matshita drive, of which I can't remember the model, but is posing as a Freecom FS-1 USB2.0 CD burner. Is it possible to transplant the bezel onto this drive? I know I can swap the actual drive into the sled, but the facia would make it match the 'Book. I cant't see any screws on it to get it off. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Rob Johnson

Pismo 500MHz, 512MB RAM, 20GB Hard Drive, DVD-ROM, iPod 4G 20GB, QuickTake 200, Mac OS X (10.4.8), Windows Rig: Pentium 4 2.8 HT, 512MB, 80GB, LG DVD+/-RW, Radeon 9550, WinXP SP2

Posted on Nov 23, 2006 2:09 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 27, 2006 8:56 PM in response to mypublicselfdestruction

I bought a panasonic superdrive to replace the read-only cd/dvd drive that was originally in my pismo. The bezel is different and sticks out a bit. I could not figure out a way to swap the bezels...and I tried alot! I don't think it can be done without disecting them both. Risky business.

So the old drive is sitting here in my office somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered and perhaps given to a poor soul or sold on ebay. Should I look harder for it?
Sarah

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Answer 2

Dec 3, 2006 4:35 AM in response to mypublicselfdestruction

Hi again Sarah,

Turns out you were absolutely correct - the fascia from my Matshita and LG drives are completely different. The 'Eject' and 'Manual Release' buttons are swapped around on the LG and won't fit the Matshita drives. ****.
So, in the mean time, with my ThinkPad out of service, I've swapped in the gool ol' Matshita UJDA720 DVD/CD-RW combo drive instead of the DVD-only Matshita drive. Bootable, writable and Finder-compatible - definitely recommend this drive to upgrade a Pismo or Lombard. DVD works great as well.

Thanks,
Rob

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