[CountBezukhov]

One problem solved, but another reveals itself:

My built-in DVD player, which came with my 350 blue and white G3, now can not recognize any cd's at all, including the OS 9 release (which I bought prior to buying the G3). I get the "This disk is unreadable by this computer; do you want to initialize the disk" message with all cd's, including audio and the cleaning disk. I have cleaned it regularly in the past, and have used up a can of compressed air on it. The problem seemed to develop incrementally, beginning with the inability to read ISO 9660 formated disks it previously could have handled.

I sometimes get the same message when I attempt to mount from my antiquated cd burner, but usually disks mount from there okay. Any theories? Is it hardware or software? Do I just need to take the G3 apart and clean the player with a q-tip and some denatured alchohol? Any advice appreciated. Well, any GOOD advice, anyhow.

[I previously had a problem accessing my ALPS MD-5000 printer; reinstalling the driver from the CD didn't seem to help, and I didn't bother downloading from the Alps site since the driver they posted hadn't been updated since before I bought the printer (and they force you to download all Mac drivers together in a package over six megs, time-consuming on my slow phone line). When I finally did so, however, the new driver solved my printer problem, leading me to wonder if the driver wasn't installing properly from the CD due to my DVD player problem (?).]

Thanks for any assistance.

John Mayer (CountBezukhov)

[AppleScript]

You may have a corrupted device driver. Try reinstalling the operating system. If that doesn't work, it is a hardware problem.

(60)

[CountBezukhov]

Originally posted by AppleScript:
<STRONG>You may have a corrupted device driver. Try reinstalling the operating system. If that doesn't work, it is a hardware problem.

(60)</STRONG>

Thanky kindly for responding. I did, in fact, reinstall system 9.1 (thinking about going back to 9.0, but that requires a clean install; just re-entering the serial numbers on my Photoshop filters [or dragging prefs] takes forever). Anyhow, it didn't help.

One additional clue: I discovered yesterday I could mount the disk in the built-in DVD Rom drive from within Toast Titanium, using the "Copy" function. Doesn't seem to work today, though.

[Euphrates]

Bezukhov, that is the best signature I have ever seen, very clever

[CountBezukhov]

Originally posted by Euphrates:
<STRONG>Bezukhov, that is the best signature I have ever seen, very clever </STRONG>

Thank you kindly. (Please! My blushes! -Sherlock Holmes)

However, I must confess, it is not original with me and I do not know the identity of its author. I would lay claim to it, but the credit would simply redound to CountBezukhov, which is not my real name, so I may as well be honest about it. But I do try to steal my bon mots judiciously.

[Euphrates]

Doesn't matter if its yours. What matters is that it made me laugh. And know what else matters? Fixing Bezukhov's Computer. Come on people.

[neutrino23]

Can you reliably boot from the CD? In that case I would suspect the software over hardware. If you can't reliably boot the CD then it sounds like the drive is at fault.

[CountBezukhov]

Originally posted by neutrino23:
<STRONG>Can you reliably boot from the CD? In that case I would suspect the software over hardware. If you can't reliably boot the CD then it sounds like the drive is at fault.</STRONG>

Oy! Why didn't I think to experiment with that (I was just trying to find a CD that would even show up). But, no, neither the commercial release OS 9 or the G3 OS 9 that came with the computer will boot. However, today, when I boot off an external scsi drive, the built-in CD in question shows up? Firmware, maybe? Definitely over my head. Thanks for all your previous suggestions. The best thing about Macs is the people who use them.