My Pioneer DVR-112 isn't supported in OSX 10.3.9. How can I get it working properly?

September 12, 2007 3:01 PM

My Pioneer DVR-112 isn't supported in OSX 10.3.9. I finally succumbed and joined the DVD age. After a couple of heady days watching DVDs and backing up using Toast, I tried to burn a regular old CD using iTunes and got a shock. My new drive isn't recognised or supported.

Oddly enough it reads DVDs using DVD Player.app just fine. Also fine are iTunes IMPORTS, and so far Toast Titanium has done everything asked of it.

Problems so far:

* not mounting as a blank volume in finder in order to burn straight from desktop.
* burning a CD in ITunes "cannot find burner"
* burning from iPhoto fails


Apparently this drive is unsupported with my current system. (10.3.9)

Details:

ATA-3 Bus:

PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112:

Manufacturer: PIONEER
Model: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112
Revision: 1.21
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: Not Supported
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal

Machine Model: Power Mac G4
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.9)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 467 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 640 MB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.2.8f1


I've read elsewhere that new firmware might be available for this drive, on PC and that I could use bootcamp to run it. But with no OSX 10.4.x, and a fairly old but (fingers crossed) much loved G4 that I can't afford to replace, what are my options? Burning everything through Toast doesn't appeal, esp. since I'd lose all the playlist functionality of iTunes.

Hope you can help, and thank you for your attention.

posted by Rufus T. Firefly to Technology (6 answers total)

Return it and get another drive? Or just buy a different drive, DVD burners are cheap.
posted by mphuie at 3:13 PM on September 12, 2007

Response by poster: Stuck on Panther cos I'm poor.
I just spent £30 on this drive, so I'd rather make it work.

Thanks though.
posted by Rufus T. Firefly at 3:25 PM on September 12, 2007

Best answer: Have you tried Patchburn yet?
posted by melorama at 3:39 PM on September 12, 2007

Found this snippet from OWC

OWC NOTE: At this time, there is no native support* for this drive when using Mac OS X. Dual layer DVD burning is supported using the following software (Separate Purchase Required)

* Roxio Toast Titanium, and that software is not included with this drive. It is available as a separate purchase here.
* NTI DragonBurn 4.0 OEM or Retail - OEM available as a separate purchase here.

Patching this drive for support under Mac OS X is possible using Christian Moller's PatchBurn Software
posted by mphuie at 4:24 PM on September 12, 2007

I can confirm this drive works once you've created a device profile with PatchBurn. Only thing is, no native dual-layer support - you'll need Toast or something for that.

(Note for others: If you're planning on using it in an external USB case, that particular drive is very picky about the chipset used. Google for more info...)
posted by Pinback at 12:43 AM on September 13, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the Patchburn info. Problem solved ;)
posted by Rufus T. Firefly at 3:31 AM on September 13, 2007