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Agent69 · May 14, 2004, 10:35 AM

My MDD G4 already has a combo drive and I was considering adding a Pioneer DVR-107 DVD writer to it as a second optical drive since it is now natively supported under Mac OS X 10.3.3.

What I would like to know is, when you have two optical drives installed in a Mac, what happens when you hit eject? Do both drives open each time? For example, if I am listening to a music CD in the Combo drive and I need to open the DVR-107 to insert something into it, I don't want my music CD to eject as well. (I hope that I am describing this well enough to be understandable.)

Thanks.

Taipan · May 14, 2004, 12:19 PM

Hi!
Pressing Eject will only open the original drive. The second one is opened by pressing Option+Eject.

Landos Mustache · May 14, 2004, 01:06 PM

Perhaps you should just trash the combo drive and put in the Super.

Agent69 · May 14, 2004, 02:31 PM

Thanks for the reponses. The option+Eject scheme is very slick.

Landos Mustache: I have considered that but it could be useful to have two drives.

SSharon · 03:59 PM

It is nice to have two drives and don't worry about ejecting them its not a problem. Either hit option-eject for the lower drive or use the new menu thats added to the menu bar next to the time and volume. Also don't forget to remove the front panel of the drive so it fits the MDD.

fc_ · May 14, 2004, 04:39 PM

You can also include the cd eject menuling in the menu bar. Its under the keyboard section of the keyboard and mouse preference pane in panther.

tooki · May 14, 2004, 08:33 PM

Originally posted by SSharon:
It is nice to have two drives and don't worry about ejecting them its not a problem. Either hit option-eject for the lower drive or use the new menu thats added to the menu bar next to the time and volume. Also don't forget to remove the front panel of the drive so it fits the MDD.

That is to say, the end of the loading tray. Leave the bezel of the drive alone!

The end of the tray should slide up and off.

tooki

sbjordal · May 14, 2004, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by Agent69:
My MDD G4 already has a combo drive and I was considering adding a Pioneer DVR-107 DVD writer to it as a second optical drive since it is now natively supported under Mac OS X 10.3.3.

What I would like to know is, when you have two optical drives installed in a Mac, what happens when you hit eject? Do both drives open each time? For example, if I am listening to a music CD in the Combo drive and I need to open the DVR-107 to insert something into it, I don't want my music CD to eject as well. (I hope that I am describing this well enough to be understandable.)

Thanks.

The most beautiful thing about this is the fact you can burn two cds at the same time. Diskutility handles this easily if you need to burn DMGs to cds or whatever. Burn one CD in Toast and one in diskutil, at the same time. Works like a champ for me. Ofcourse, the program has to support it, so burning two cd simultaniously in Toast isn't supported.

davidflas · May 15, 2004, 04:12 AM

I just wanted to suggest that caution be used when installing a second optical drive. I bought a used MDD that came with a superdrive in the upper bay and a combo driver in the lower. The cable going to the superdrive wasn't routed correctly and over time the heatsink from the processors cut through the cable and caused a short. I don't know if this issue would only affect dual cpu machines, but be sure to route the cable so that it doesn't stick out from behind the metal shield at the rear of the optical drive cage.

Peter · May 15, 2004, 07:17 AM

there is also a hidden OS X menu called eject.menu -- it lets you specify what drive you wish to eject when you hit the eject button, its very useful

The Placid Casual · May 15, 2004, 10:56 AM

I used to run 2 drives in my Dual 867 MDD machine.

Had a superdrive in the top bay, but a fast (Lite-On 40X think) re-writer in the bottom.

Usually worked like a dream, and was an ideal solution. In fact, I really miss the second drive space on my G5...

Now and again, the machine would get confused as to which disks to eject, but overall, it was an elegant solution.

JasonBourne · May 15, 2004, 11:13 AM

Just installed mine few weeks ago. Pioneer DVR 107D. I put it on top or else it wont work.
Mac OS X 10.3.3 recognize it with no problem. I got one problem the tray wont open since the opening is not big enough. Somebody told me to invert the drive so that it would work perfectly. Too late I just shave the tray with a knife so that it will come out. My picture below. Its cheap anyway only $95.00. So far no problem it was recognized as a superdrive.

http://homepage.mac.com/jovits1/PhotoAlbum39.html

:XI: · May 15, 2004, 10:09 PM

Originally posted by Peter:
there is also a hidden OS X menu called eject.menu -- it lets you specify what drive you wish to eject when you hit the eject button, its very useful

1. It's been mentioned twice before in this thread, but it's your birthday so I'll let it go. THIS TIME!

2. It's not in the Keyboard & Mouse prefs...

3. You'll find it in "/system/library/coreservices/menu extras" just double click "eject.menu" and it will appear, as if by magic in your menu.

/me bops Peter.

Happy Birthday kid.

G-mac · May 15, 2004, 10:28 PM

Looks like everyone already told you what you need to know!

Just wanted to add that I chose an NEC 2500 burner for the top tray, moved the combo to the bottom, and it works great! OS X recognizes it perfectly and it's virtually silent when in use. It was quite a bit cheaper than the Pioneer at the time, but had the same features.

The menu bar and option-eject methods are my methods of choice. When you click on the eject menu, you'll have two choices: "open SuperDrive" and "open Combo Drive."

I had to remove and trim the plastic tray cover to get it to fit into my MDD as well. This is a breeze when carefully using a retractable blade. The minimal work is worth the effort.

Have fun!

EdipisReks · May 16, 2004, 05:26 AM

Originally posted by JasonBourne:
I got one problem the tray wont open since the opening is not big enough. Somebody told me to invert the drive so that it would work perfectly. Too late I just shave the tray with a knife so that it will come out.

as has been said, the plate on the end of the tray comes off. no need to take cutlery to your drive. i hope you never have to RMA it, as the warranty has been ruined by the cutting but, as you said, they are cheap enough now to simply replace outright.

JasonBourne · May 16, 2004, 04:54 PM

You are right. Thanks, I just found out. Its working well anyway I just leave it that way.

Originally posted by EdipisReks:
as has been said, the plate on the end of the tray comes off. no need to take cutlery to your drive. i hope you never have to RMA it, as the warranty has been ruined by the cutting but, as you said, they are cheap enough now to simply replace outright.