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TOPIC
What types of CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives are supported by the PowerBook G3 Series computer?
DISCUSSION
- CD-ROM discs can be used in DVD-ROM Drives.
- DVD-ROM discs cannot be used in CD-ROM Drives.
- DVD-ROM drives will read CD-ROM discs at the approximate speed of a 12x CD-ROM Drive.
- All DVD discs are formatted with the UDF format, similar to ISO 9660, HFS, or FAT.
- UDF formatted discs are readable because of the UDF Volume Access extension.
- CD and DVD-ROM Drives will only fit in the right expansion bay.
- not closing the door firmly
- seating discs improperly on the spindle
- unbalanced discs which can cause read errors and noise
- scratches and expansion damage cause read errors
The PowerBook G3 Series (M4753) computer has two different drives available for the right expansion bay, a 20x speed CD-ROM and a 1.5x speed DVD-ROM.
| Drive Type | Speed |
| CD-ROM | 20 x |
| DVD-ROM | 1.5 x |
DVD Facts:
The CD and DVD ROM drives are installed by insertion into the bay until an audible click is heard which denotes that the device is safely in place. The software needed is pre-installed by the system software. There is only one driver needed to use the CD and DVD devices which is a unified driver available only for the PowerBook G3. There are the usual assortment of Foreign File Access modules as well as a new file, UDF Access extension, which allows the new format of DVD discs to be mounted.
All of the following files are installed in the Extensions folder and, as mentioned above, are installed by the system software. If you need to reinstall the drivers, you must perform a custom install of the Mac OS (selecting install the CD and DVD software). There is no single, separate installer for just these files.
Figure 1 , Necessary CD/DVD drivers
If the drivers are unusable or missing, you will notice that the discs (CD or DVD act the same) will not mount on the desktop.
If the DVD Drive is installed and you cannot mount a DVD disc, make sure that the UDF Volume Access extension is present and not disabled or missing.
If you cannot mount a DVD disc, but can mount a CD-ROM disc, make sure that you have a DVD-ROM drive installed (eject the drive and look at the top label of the drive for the name), then make sure that the correct software is installed.
DVD-VIDEO discs can be mounted on the desktop. However, the movie files on the discs cannot be played without the combination of an MPEG-2 video decoder and an AC-3 audio decoder.
DVD-ROM drives can be affected by issues that affect CD-ROM drives. These include:
Note: Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series computers should not be confused with Macintosh PowerBook G3 computers. Though the names are similar, there are significant differences. For more information differentiating between the computers, read article 24604: " PowerBook G3, G3 Series: Identifying Different Versions "