HELP - My Superdrive aint so super...

imacfanimacfan
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hello,



I've got a rev/1 867/40Gb/640Mb/SD 12"PB. I've been very happy with it, apart from the SD needing to be replaced about 6 months ago as it scratched some CDs.

Until now, I have not needed to use the superdrive. I've have been trying to backup my music collection (which is ~13Gb on an external drive) to DVD. But it has been crapping out about halfway through burning. First time I thought I was unluckly, but second time just the same.



So, I set the computer to full processor speed, never sleep (incl display and HD), checked that no other apps were running, and tried again-still no luck. So, I went into the finder, copied 1 DVDs worth of songs into a folder on the internal drive, and then tried to burn that. If anything, it crapped out earlier than before.



So is this a hardware issue?



Thanks for any help,



David

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Sounds like the drive is a little flaky.



    Assuming you're using decent quality blank media, the drive shouldn't die on you halfway through.



    I'd replace it with a Pioneer DVR-A07, or the OEM version, DVR-107D.



    They're very reasonably priced and you'll get 8x burning to boot (assuming you're running Panther that is). It's very easy to install (just remember to remove the tray's faceplate before installing it in your machine.



    The newer DVR-108D doesn't work natively with Macs yet, so I'd avoid that for the time being...
  • Reply 2 of 7
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    restart just before trying a burn, that helps reduce my coaster ratio



    spring for some Apple-branded DVDs if you're not using those

    see if that helps to isolate your problem to either your drive, or your media
  • Reply 3 of 7
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Thanks for the help, but a clean install of Panther failed, and I only used Sony and Apple DVD-Rs. Anyhow, the drive is being replaced under warranty...



    David
  • Reply 4 of 7
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    I've got the PB back and it is NOT good news - DVD-Rs still fail half way through, and now the machine will not stay asleep, and it has 'lost' the bluetooth equipment. The Hardware test CD does not find the bluetooth, but otherwise says everything is OK. I have zapped the PRAM.



    What do I do now?
  • Reply 5 of 7
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Send it back. Apple are usually pretty good at apologising if stuff is their fault - if they returned a defective machine to you, send it right back off again and tell 'em exactly what is now wrong with it.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Back in the ASP again...



    Anyhow, as this will be the third repair in a row for the same problem, if this one fails to sort things out, they will give me a new PB instead. So either way, I should get a functioning computer in the next few weeks.



    Does anyone know if Apple would give me the repacement in the form of credit for another Mac? It's just that if I replaced it with a base G5, I should get a more reliable computer, without all the delicacies of a laptop.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    This still does not seem to be over...



    The logic board was replaced, so I had high hopes when I got the machine back, and it went to sleep properly, and bluetooth was present. I was ready to celebrate when my first DVD-R ever burned on the drive! However the next one (as part of backing up my music via iTunes) was spat out half way through.



    Now, the one that worked was an Apple 4x, and the one that was spat out was a Sony 1-4x (DMR47N2). The ones I had tried before were all the same type of Sony, apart from one Apple 4x. I then read closely the details on the sony packet, which had in very small letters "This disc is a new standard - high speed media... check if device is compatible...might dame the disc or device...." So, I nearly had a heart attack. After searching the net in a panic, I of course now realise that Apple addressed this possible issue with firmware updates, and said that as of late 2002, all shipping superdrives (incl. powerbooks) were compatible with this high-speed media. So, these Sony DVD-Rs should be working perfectly. But they aren't.



    I have also now realised that the one Apple disc which did burn is not readable by the DVD-rom in my iBook 466Mhz/SE. Now I realise that the drive is a few years old, but why shouldn't it work?



    Any ideas or support greatly appreciated - I can't believe that I have had so many problems



    David
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