Is this equiment failure or compatibility?

[MacinNW]

I am burning personal use copies of my commercial DVDs. They play fine in my Pioneer DVR-108, DVR-104 and stand alone Phillips player. The ComboDrive in my G3 PB FW, Pismo, a LG DVD-BOM FRN-808B does not like them.The LG has been in use since i bought the Pismo in March of 2001.

The ComboDrive will start to play a DVD-R then stop for about 90 seconds, then start to play for 30- 60 seconds. Commercial DVDs play with no problem.

Is this equiment failure or compatibility?

All my Macs are currently running 10.3.7. I generally burn with Toast 6.0.7.

I have used some old Apple branded Mitsubishi Chemicals( G02 type (1x speed ???), Ritek G04 4x speed and Ritek G05 8x speed. As the speed goes up the problems get worse. It also seems to be getting worse over time.

Would a new ComboDrive or SuperDrive resolve the play issues? I really don't need the burn capabilities and the Pismo is only 400 MHz, so I'd rather burn in my G4 Dual !.3. I was thinking of replacing the unit in the Pismo module.

[Frobozz]

Sounds like the drive needs a firmware update to be compatible with newer media. If a firmware update isn't available then you need to find media that will work or replace the drive. Check the drive compatibility database at xlr8yourmac.com to learn what other Mac users have to say about your drive.

[terryj]

We have a 500 mhz Walstreet that did the same thing,
and I sent it in for repairs. The stock DVD_Player
didn't have updated firmware,
and it wasn't worth the hassle to find a compatible
drive maker ( the Wallstreet also has to have
the DVD Player PCMICA Card with it), ans since the
Wallstreet doesn't have FW,
we decided to sell it off and upgrade to
15 inch Al PB.

YMMV, but if its really important, time to retire it
and move up.

[WiseWeasel]

You might also try some high end media like Taiyo Yuden, and see if compatibility improves. Also, what drive are you using to burn the DVDs, and at what speed?

[MacinNW]

You might also try some high end media like Taiyo Yuden, and see if compatibility improves. Also, what drive are you using to burn the DVDs, and at what speed?

I'm using either the DVR-108 or DVR-104 at whatever speed it selects. Like I said, they play well in all but the LG CD/DVD player.

That is why I am trying to figure out if the player is failing or if the media is incompatible. But that includes Apple branded 1x speed DVD-R, burned in the Pioneer DVR-104 that came as original equipment in my Quicksilver.

To my knowledge Apple has not offered any firmware updates for theComboDrive.

Terryj, the Pismo is for personal use, and I do not like the form factor of any of the G4 PB or the current iBooks, particularly the button and track pad.

The problem is getting worse as the media I buy is going to faster standards.

[MacinNW]

It is the LG DVD-BOM FRN-8080B failing.

I guess I was lucky to get that much use out of the LG.

I was thinking it was compatibility between technology 3-4 years apart, but it was simple hardware failure. Otherwise I would have started there.

I forgot there was a issue with it. I read thru the huge thread, 280+ posts, on the Apple Discussion list.

<http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@489.Iv2Wam2YHWa.0@.efbbdf0>