Author Topic: iBook G3 Snow optical drive issue  (Read 2165 times)

Offline solderwire

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  • Mac mini G4 and iBook G3 (Dual USB)
iBook G3 Snow optical drive issue
« on: May 17, 2018, 09:49:41 AM »
I have an iBook G3 Snow (Dual USB). Its CD-ROM drive is not working very well: All of my OS install CDs will mount under OS 9 and OS X, but most of them could not boot the system. I've tried to use the multi-boot menu, the Startup Disk control panel, and OF commands. They does not work. I'm sure that the aging optical drive is not working properly.
I have installed an IDE combo drive from a 2007 Lenovo laptop (made by Sony-NEC-Optiarc) on my iBook. All of my OS install CDs are now bootable, and the reading speed is much more faster. With the new optical drive, OS 9 will freezes after a few minutes. The Apple System Profiler says the OS recognized this drive, and the CD burning support is present. After I took the stock drive back to the iBook, the problem is solved. OS X does not have this problem. That's strange.
There is a hardware switch that selects Master/Slave/Cable-select on the stock drive, the default setting is Slave. And the Optiarc drive does not have this switch, and I'm sure that it was set to Cable-select.
Mac mini G4 and iBook G3 (Dual USB)