I'm trying to use an HP CD-Writer+ 8250i with my G4, running MacOS 9.0.4. It's unreliable at best, and deadly at worst. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for using PC IDE CD-Writers with G4s. Here's the deal:

I still have my old CD-ROM installed too, because the writer won't do DAE. So, if Apple CD/DVD Extension scans the writer first, it hangs. I tried using FBW CD-ROM toolkit instead, but it hangs no matter what the configuration is. So anyway, I had it "working" with the CD-ROM and the Hard drive on IDE bus 0 (labeled IDE on the motherboard) and the writer on IDE bus 1 (labeled ATA). Sorta. It's 4x CD-R and I can only burn at 2x, and it'll eat toast occasionally. Weirdly, disabling the Apple CD/DVD extension and even unplugging the CD-ROM have no effect on the performance of the writer. Feh!

Are there other drivers I should try? If anyone has had etter luck with this than I, please tell me!

Thanks in advance!
Samuel

I have that exact CD-R in my Beige G3, and it took a bit to get it running.

First off, the newest Toast is the best for that drive (for me).

Secondly, the cable kept coming loose, and that would cause crashes (prob user error )

Of course my system has different IDE support than yours, but i can get get 4x write speed with no crashes (after all was fixed and upgraded).

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"No Brian! Those chicken wings are really spicy, don't eat those!

I never seen a man eat so many chicken wings..."

Not to be a smartass, but are you making sure that the CD-R is the master on IDE bus 1, and that the CD and the Drive are Master and Slave or vice versa. The kinds of problems you are decribiing sound like the problems associated with IDE/EIDE/ATA when the Master/Slave identifications are not set.

The downside to these settings. Master is the primary on the bus. That means getting priority for the I/O. That means you CD/DVD is going to act like it is swimming in a tub of molasses on a cold February morning in Maine.

I would strongly recommend either another IDE/EIDE bus controller (does one exist for the Mac?) or switching to USB or SCSI.

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Thanks, Crazy. I've tried every concievible configuration of master/slave on both buses, with varying luck. *sigh* I think my best solution right now is to alternate connecting the CD-ROM and the CD-R... not perfect, but hopefully I'll be able to write at 4x.