CD/DVD Writer not recognized

[Kurt Briggs 3]

I reinstalled the BootCamp drivers from the OS X Snow Leopard install disk using Setup. From here I have a choice of three things: 1)OS X Install 2) DVD or CD Sharing 3) BootCamp Drivers. The drivers option is the one the BootCamp manual AND AppleCare told me to use. However, on close examination of this option it specifies "Use this application to access Mac-specific hardware ... while using Windows on a Mac WITHOUT an Optical drive". This could be my problem.

The question is should I run the DVD/CD sharing app or reinstall the original drivers burned in 2007 (!) for BootCamp 1.3? I'm guessing I probably have a missing driver for the optical drive at the moment with this installation. I'll call apple and ask. It also raises the question what the 3.1 and 3.2 updates actually did.

I have no warnings in device manager although I have an "1394 Net Adaptor #2" under Network Adaptors which I don't remember--could this be an XP3 revision? I have a list of the rest of the 30 or so optimizations I did in 2011, but the drive ran perfectly for over a year after these mods, so it seems unlikely that this is the culprit. If you'd like the list let me know...

As my next Mac will have no optical drive now might be the time to get an external. What do you use and what does Pyramix recommend, I know it used to be Plextor?

As to your confusion--and you're not the only one confused--the drive reads fine and I have been reloading programs and drivers from the original backup discs.

[fl]

I reinstalled the BootCamp drivers from the OS X Snow Leopard install disk using Setup. From here I have a choice of three things: 1)OS X Install 2) DVD or CD Sharing 3) BootCamp Drivers. The drivers option is the one the BootCamp manual AND AppleCare told me to use. However, on close examination of this option it specifies "Use this application to access Mac-specific hardware ... while using Windows on a Mac WITHOUT an Optical drive". This could be my problem.

While it seems likely at first blush, I think that is just something they put in there once the Mac Air came along, so they started doing all the stuff to get around its lack of an optical drive. I'm going to guess that you're still using OS 10.6.something on the Mac side - how about launching the Bootcamp Assistant there, and then choosing the option to "download the Windows Support Software for this Mac". Once you get that, I believe it will prompt you to burn a data CD which will have the installer that you run over on the Windows side to get the operating system and the machinery talking to each other. It seems to me that that would be the way to insure that you get the drivers you need for your specific hardware configuration.

The question is should I run the DVD/CD sharing app or reinstall the original drivers burned in 2007 (!) for BootCamp 1.3?

I believe that DVD/CD sharing was part of the scheme they came up with to circumnavigate the need for an optical drive when installing Bootcamp on an Air. You'd connect the Air to another Mac that has a drive and use that to do the install on the Air. I don't think it will help in your case.

Bootcamp 1.3? Wasn't that the Beta that expired in 2007 or whenever it was? Version 2 is what came with OS 10.5, and there were two revisions to that, and that is the version I have stuck with all these years, because it just works. Version 3 came with Snow Leopard, and started paving the way for Vista and later Windows 7 compatibility, with its improved 64 bit operation (yet another can of worms).

I tried Bootcamp 3 on my machine, but found that I couldn't get my DPC Latencies down to a reasonable level - certainly not what I was able to achieve using version 2, so after mucking about for a week or so, I reverted.

I'm guessing I probably have a missing driver for the optical drive at the moment with this installation. I'll call apple and ask. It also raises the question what the 3.1 and 3.2 updates actually did.

If I recall, it was just ever more up to date drivers for the various bits of hardware inside, as well as incorporating new hardware that began to be used in the 2008 to 2010 machines.

I have no warnings in device manager although I have an "1394 Net Adaptor #2" under Network Adaptors which I don't remember--could this be an XP3 revision?

Possibly. I've got the same thing. I think it might be because my machine has both FW400 and a FW800 connectors on it, even though they are hanging off the same bus internally - dunno, just a guess. It's never done me any harm having the two drivers in there, so I just leave it alone. Next time I boot up over there on the dark side, I'll make a list of the drivers I've disabled and send it to you, if that would be helpful.

I have a list of the rest of the 30 or so optimizations I did in 2011, but the drive ran perfectly for over a year after these mods, so it seems unlikely that this is the culprit.

Yes, it's the sudden disability that's weird, and brings us back around the block to suspecting a hardware fault. Try doing the Bootcamp Assistant - "download for this Mac" thing and install those drivers and see if miracles really can happen.

As my next Mac will have no optical drive now might be the time to get an external. What do you use and what does Pyramix recommend, I know it used to be Plextor?

I got lucky and found a couple of Plextors locally in like new/barely used condition, so that is what I've been using for some time. I'm finding that the demand for burned discs has gone way down - more clients are trimming costs and going with the downloadable file option, and for those who do press CDs, the plants are increasingly using FTP transfers of DDP images - so apart from one or two clients, I'm hardly burning any discs these days.

As for what new drives are preferred, there was a discussion here on the forum within the last year, so it might be worth searching here to see what people are recommending.

As to your confusion--and you're not the only one confused--the drive reads fine and I have been reloading programs and drivers from the original backup discs.

Ah, so Windows can see it as a reader/player, is iffy about it being a burner, and DiscWrite flatly refuses to have anything to do with it - is that about the size of it? No, not confusing at all...

[Graemme]

If the drive burns on the Mac side, then a hardware fault is unlikely. I have a first edition MacBook Pro 1.1 with the same CD/DVD drive as yours and it worked fine under both XP sp3 and Snow Leopard. Currently, it's working with Win7 sp1.

Try an external, USB CD/DVD Writer and see what happens...

After all of this messing around, you might want to consider taking your computer to someone that actually knows something about Windows.

Regarding new writers:

Pioneer have improved in the last couple of years: Their BluRay writers are worth checking out: BDR207MBK (bulk) and BDR2208 (retail packaging).

Plextor have a new portable that looks like it might be a good candidate (PX612U) but I have no direct experience with it (yet).

Sony OptiArc writers, my previous faves, are now no longer available.