[spookymulder]

Hi Guys,

I've just encountered a problem that I've never come across before.

I have a G4 dual 450 with a built on Hitachi DVDRom/CDRom and recently purchased a Pioneer 106D superdrive on Ebay to replace the stock dvdrom drive. It duly arrived and I opened up my G4, removed the stock drive and then proceeded to slide my new drive into the drive carrier. This is where the bizarreness comes in. The pioneer is a clear 12-15mm longer than the old stock drive! When I slide it into the carrier, the back of the drive fits flush with the back of the carrier. However the drive juts out about 12-15mm and the 4 screw holes on the carrier don't line up with the screw holes on the drive. I took the pioneer out and placed it on top of the old drive to see the difference and the pioneer is clearly longer! This is not just the fascia as the old drive has the full fascia as well and the new drive is longer by about 3 times the width of the fascia.
I connected it up nonetheless and it all works - ASP reports it as an apple supported pioneer drive. However it has left me with 2 problems:

1) the drive still juts out so I cannot put the blue g4 fascia panels back on resulting in a really ugly look.
2) as I cannot secure it with the 4 screws it is loose and when I place a dvd in it the drive wobbles as it spins.

I am bewildered as I thought these items were all meant to be a specific size.

can anyone here advise me as to what is wrong?

thanx

spooky

BTW in all other respects the drive works fine

[tooki]

There shouldn't be anything blocking the back end of the carrier -- the drive should be able to slide right through it. There also should be screw holes that line up the front panel of the drive.

tooki

[reader50]

The back end of the optical drive bay is a slide-on cap. Slide the end cap back further, to allow for the longer drive. Take the end cap off if need be.

[spookymulder]

many thanx guys!

I didn't realise that the end bit came off at all! It was secured onto the main drive carrier by some tape. I removed the tape, slid the end back a notch and just as you suggested everything fits!

Many thanx once again!

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by spookymulder:
1) the drive still juts out so I cannot put the blue g4 fascia panels back on resulting in a really ugly look.

Don't put the front panel on, the Pioneer drives have a vent on the front to cool them down, and if it's blocked this can lead to overheating and a very short life for the burner. Iearned that the hard way, twice.