G5 superdrive

[imacron]

Is the superdrive of a G5 the same as those used in PCs ? I checked the info of my G5 and it's a pioneer dvd-r. If I need to upgrade to a faster writer, can I just buy the writers sold in PC shops ?

[Dave_D]

Yes in theory since the PMac G5s use standard optical drives (tray loading).

The only issue to this is that if you do replace it, the new drive might not be recognized by native iApps like iDVD. If this turns out to be the case once you do the swap, you will need to download a nifty utility called Patchburn in order for your Mac to fully recognize your optical drive.

[kenshinx]

If you will install a Pionner drive no need to install Patchburn. With my G4 MDD I had to remove the faceplace of the tray, I'm not sure with G5.

[imacron]

thanks. will look into it.

[empty]

Choose the replacement drive carefully, some drives are not bootable and require a flash upgrade/downgrade. Pioneer drives work well since Apple uses them a lot. You can check for specific model compatibility here: http://http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com....drivedb.lasso