Powerbook/iBook DVD drive replacement and boot capability

[DrNo7]

Hi everybody,

Sorry for the double-posting but the search is adamant there is no topics with my keywords 

My Powerbook G4 (12") has its dvd drive showing its age struggling to grab discs and sometimes is finicky reading some.
The big question is: can I get away with any slot-in PATA laptop drive or must I track down a Matsushita hopping it aged well? And bonus question: would any drive be bootable or is there some Apple magic in the firmware of their drives that is necessary for booting off a CD/DVD?

Thanks in advance for any experience/knowledge you havr on the subject

[peeperpc]

I'm not sure but I've replaced my iBook G3's stock read-only CD drive with a COMBO drive from Toshiba (SD-R2612). IIRC, Apple never uses this drive in their products. The drive was plug & play. It booted and worked fine until it died.

So I think you're not limited to Matsushita brand.