Superdrive upgrade gone wrong

I replaced the non-functioning superdrive (DVD-RW) in my wife's powerbook ti 12" earlier this year. I replaced it with an 8x model with dual layer DVD +/- R support. It still works at 1x and only burns -R (not +R).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

have you tried a couple different media's of +R's? You could have picked up from a batch that was bad or very cheap brand that isn't read as well as some others.


What brand of media did you buy?

You say the old one was an RW model but don't say the new one is RW or not. Are you trying to burn +RW in a non RW burner?

 

Actually, all I own are -R and +R discs. I have tried multiple brands without success. When I put a +R disc in, it asks for blank media.

 

Try searching for a firmware update. Maybe there was issues with it not accepting many +R's. Does it work with -R's fine?

 

yes, it works with -R, but only at 1x

 

I was on the windows side only when that laptop came out. Does it's bus speed prohibit it from going faster? I don't know what speed drives o how fast systems were when that computer was released.

 

I was and still am on the Windows side. I have no idea whether this is bus speed limited, but I suspect not.

I got this thing because my wife wanted it (turns out she isn't crazy about it either). I want to keep it running because of the money I invested in it.

 

I don't think the 8x Superdrive is compatible with the 12" Titanium Powerbook. I'm surprised that it even works at 1x, though honestly I'm not completely sure.

 

Maybe it's my PC background, but the "Superdrive" is was merely a name that apple attached to a 3rd party DVD burner. There was nothing magical about it and there was nothing limiting the speed except the current technology of notebook DVD burners at the time. When I pulled it out, I saw 1st hand hat it was no different than the drives that have been in PCs for years.

I am not familiar enough with the workings of Mac OS X to know if there is a setting to change. In a PC, this would have been a plug and play upgrade.

 

I don't really know. What is the model of your 8x Superdrive?

I think that Apple has an agreement (contract) with the 3rd party manufacturer of the drive. Consequently, you won't find the same Superdrive available for a PC. Also, there are no OS X drivers/firmware to support the 8x Superdrive in the Titanium Powerbook.

EDIT: MCE TECH claims otherwise. You should contact the company that sold you the drive or maybe Apple.