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User profile for user: DeathDweller
DeathDweller Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Sony/NEC Optiarc AD-7170A Problems

I just purchased a Mac Pro with dual superdrives. Both drives are the Optiarc AD-7170A. This drive has problems reading some commercial media such as Dr No. The same media this machine will not read, will read fine in our other macs which have pioneer and sony drives in them. The problem isnt specific to one drive in this machine, the media cant be read on either of the drives. I am also having very disappointing burn speeds, 8x dvd-r when using 16x media. This same media burns on our other machines at 13-16x depending on the machine and drive. I am very disappointed in these drives, can anyone else give me their feedback on their drives like this one and if they have any issues? Can anyone give me any insight on how to solve this problem without buying new drives as these are brand new already. I have placed a call to apple and they are talking to the engineers about it. Below is the information for both of my drives.
---------
ATA Bus:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
Revision: 1.N8
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
Revision: 1.N8
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No
---------
Disc Burning:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Firmware Revision: 1.N8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -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

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Firmware Revision: 1.N8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -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

Mac Pro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.9) Dual Superdrive, Radeon x1900xt, 3 gig ram

Posted on Apr 17, 2007 7:27 PM

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15 replies
User profile for user: Andy Yau
Andy Yau
User level: Level 1
13 points

Apr 20, 2007 1:08 PM in response to DeathDweller

I have similar reading problem for 7170A as well.

After adding Pioneer DVR-112D as second superdrive together with 7170A. Once CD/DVD is inserted to 7170A during system start up, an error message of "disk is not readable" will be displayed at around 25% of chance.

But disconnecting any one of them cause no problem!! Any one of them can work perfectly but cannot be installed together.

And finally, I use two Pioneer drives (112 and 108) with both disks inserted during startup. No error after testing for the whole night!

So, it is obvious that 7170A has reading problem.

I am going to buy another 112 and will remove 7170A from the system.
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User profile for user: DeathDweller
DeathDweller Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 21, 2007 3:30 PM in response to DeathDweller

It seems that my reading of those dvd's is intermittent. I checked my drives and for some reason they were set to master/slave. I fixed that and put them both to cable select and rebooted back into osx. It read one of the disks that it wouldnt read before, then the next day it wouldnt read it again. Everyone that has problems with these drives, please list them here and I will contact apple and let them know and point them to this discussion. Hopefully they will either fix the problem or replace our drives with something reliable.
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User profile for user: Andy Yau
Andy Yau
User level: Level 1
13 points

Apr 22, 2007 9:15 AM in response to DeathDweller

I did so many tests with different superdrive and have comment below:

1. OSX Tiger does not well support two superdrives. If you have two superdrives with both CD/DVD inserted, one of them will occasionally be reported as not readable after system startup. What you need is to eject it and insert it again.

2. Try inserting two DVD movies to both superdrives, one of them will not be mounted after system startup. But the system profiler can see them (the movie discs)

3. Using CS (cable select) or master/slave settings have NO difference.

4. DVD player always designs to work with ONE DVD drive. So there is no way to select if you have two DVD drives. And this may also be the problem of Tiger as Tiger does not consider there can be two DVD drives in the system.
(correct me if I am wrong). There are conflicts in the system so that reading cause problem.

So I give up using two and replace 7170A with only one DVR-112.
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User profile for user: DeathDweller
DeathDweller Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 22, 2007 9:30 AM in response to Andy Yau

Changing the drive to cable select solved alot of my problem, but i dont know why. As for dvd movies, i can do whatever with both super drives as long as the machine had no problem reading the dvd before. I can reboot etc without issue. I can also select multiple dvd's from dvd player using the open dvd media menu option. I havent had a problem with osx using multiple optical drives until these 2 optiarc drives honestly.
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User profile for user: Martin Crane
Martin Crane
User level: Level 1
0 points

Apr 24, 2007 7:18 AM in response to Martin Crane

Just to follow up:

Apple Support were a little confused at first, saying that the drive doesn't support writing to DVD-R but only reading. I soon corrected them on that. Then they told me that the media I was using (Verbatim DVD-R 16X) was known to be unreliable - I pointed out that I'd used the same discs for years with my old Pioneer drive without problem and read out the link to the list of recommended media at the OptiArc site, which lists Verbatim. Then they told me to reset the PRAM - made no difference, obviously. Then they wanted me to reinstall the OS. I point blank refused, since it was very obviously a hardware fault with the drive. Then they wanted me to take the whole Mac Pro to my nearest repair centre at which point I told them to stop wasting my time and send me a new drive. After a lot of waiting, while the operator spoke to his supervisor, they agreed. I requested that a Pioneer drive be sent instead of an OptiArc - they couldn't guarantee it but said they'll try. The replacement should be here in a few days and I'll report back.

Mac Pro 8 Core Mac OS X (10.4.9)
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User profile for user: TerryR
TerryR
User level: Level 1
65 points

Apr 28, 2007 5:18 AM in response to DeathDweller

Don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but this fits in here better than a new thread:
The Optiarc in my 2-week-old Mac Pro seems to be screwing up my Memorex DVD-RWs, which used to work perfectly in my Pioneer 111, using the following procedure: I chose "Quick Erase" in Toast 8, it erased quickly and allowed me to rewrite, done. Now, the Optiarc will "Quick Erase", but what I end up with is an unreadable, unwriteable disk; Toast will not burn anything to it, and Disk Utility sees it as a "5.0GB CD-R Read-only" ?????????
I do realize that Memorex is not THE best, but I never had a problem with the Pioneer...of course, I can always just swap out the Optiarc for the 111, but one shouldn't have to do this with a brand-new, flagship machine. (BTW, otherwise, I am utterly enraptured with the Mac Pro!)
Any words of wisdom, hints, tips or commiseration are always appreciated.
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User profile for user: TerryR
TerryR
User level: Level 1
65 points

May 3, 2007 11:34 AM in response to TerryR

To follow up on my own question: since there were no recommendations as to the hardiness of the Optiarc (to me it even sounded cheap, let alone it not letting me use my DVD-RWs), I went with my time-tested and proven Pioneer DVR-111D; it reads and burns everything I throw at it, sounds robust when opening, closing and even spinning, and I will relegate the Optiarc to duty in the G4 Sawtooth...unless someone wants to make an offer on it..... ;))
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User profile for user: Rob Frei
Rob Frei
User level: Level 1
105 points

May 7, 2007 9:45 PM in response to TerryR

I have a new 8 core Mac Pro with two super drives (both Optiarc DVD RW AD-7170A). I've only had this machine for two weeks, but I've been transferring and backing up a lot of data from my old G4 using the new Mac Pro.

Both drives seem to work great with CD's and 16x DVD-R media.

However, I have some larger files that I have to back up with DVD+R DL. I puchased 25 Fujifilm DVD+R DL disks for about $45. So far, half of my burns have failed (2 of 4).

Needless to say, this isn't what I expected from my new high-end system. I think I've had a total of (2) DVD's fail during writing in the last 6 years.

Will keep testing, and report findings here.
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User profile for user: Rob Frei
Rob Frei
User level: Level 1
105 points

May 8, 2007 8:00 PM in response to mix109

No problem mix ...

ATA Bus:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
Revision: 1.N8
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Model: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
Revision: 1.N8
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No



OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Firmware Revision: 1.N8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 0 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RAM, -RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Firmware Revision: 1.N8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -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

Eight-Core Mac Pro (3 GHz 2x Quad-Core Intel Xeon) Mac OS X (10.4.9) 5GB 667 MHz DDR2 RAM, 500GB SATA HD, 1.5TB RAID 0, 2x Superdrives
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User profile for user: Angelo Lazaridis
Angelo Lazaridis
User level: Level 1
24 points

Jun 7, 2007 5:31 AM in response to DeathDweller

I have a new macpro with this burner and I have the same problems.

I'm NOT HAPPY AT ALL


OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A:

Firmware Revision: 1.N8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -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

angelo
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Sony/NEC Optiarc AD-7170A Problems

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