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Replacement DVD Optical Drive

D

dickie001x

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 13, 2008
147
98
Hi,

I have a Mac Pro (Mid 2010) MacPro5,1. The optical drive has died (won't recognise any CD or DVDs). Can anyone suggest a good replacement. I know it's a SATA connection but other than that will any make work?

Thanks
Dickie
 
In theory any drive will work, but it might be worthwhile Googling to check that no one has discovered any issues with the model that you intend to use. OWC sell 'Mac Compatible' drives, you could use their suggestion as a reference and then go shopping elsewhere...I'm not a fan of OWC.

Apple has a PDF manual on how to replace the optical drive, also worthwhile checking out.

EveryMac.com also have a great page covering most of what I've said as well as some videos going through the process.
 
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When I had the internal drive die on 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 & the cheapest & simplest fix was to buy a used one off eBayfor £10 complete with cables & mounting rails that had been pulled from a Mac Pro. I have an external Firewire/USB2 Blu-ray drive that I can use if necessary but it just seemed wrong to have a part of the Mac Pro defective when it could be fixed so cheaply.
 
dickie001x said:
Hi,

I have a Mac Pro (Mid 2010) MacPro5,1. The optical drive has died (won't recognise any CD or DVDs). Can anyone suggest a good replacement. I know it's a SATA connection but other than that will any make work?

Thanks
Dickie
Click to expand...

ASUS DRW-24B1ST

Not blu-ray, but a great, fast, robust drive that is very popular. I have a few of them including in a Mac Pro. About $21-22. They have never failed me.

Note that you will likely have to remove the front plate from the drive caddy (not the front of the drive itself) on this and most similar full-sized drives, leaving only the "slot" portion, due to how the Mac Pro's drive bays open. This is a bit of a pain, actually, but take your time and it will be fine.
 
Just an FYI. We have 5 macs in our office. Newer ones and older ones. None of the three older macs with CD Rom drives can read a disk anymore. They try to read the disk and then spit them out. All of the optical drives have failed.
 
It's not SATA if it's stock Apple drive. It's IDE.
Any cd/DVD/Blu-ray drive in full-size 5 1/4" format will do. So literally any. If you're unable to find an IDE one, get a SATA connection from one of the motherboard ports (just under the #2 hard drive bay) and route a SATA wire accordingly.
 
hwojtek said:
It's not SATA if it's stock Apple drive. It's IDE.
Click to expand...

That is incorrect. If you clicked the link I posted above, you would have seen your error.


owbp said:
AFAIK, cMP 4,1 and 5,1 have no IDE connections.
cMP1,1 and 2,1 have two in optical bays, not sure about 3,1 though.
Click to expand...

You are correct concerning there 4,1 & 5,1 cMPs. 4,1 & 5,1 cMp has 2 SATA optical drives. The 3,1 is IDE connection and those drives are just about impossible to buy now.

Lou
 
flowrider said:
That is incorrect. If you clicked the link I posted above, you would have seen your error.

You are correct concerning there 4,1 & 5,1 cMPs. 4,1 & 5,1 cMp has 2 SATA optical drives. The 3,1 is IDE connection and those drives are just about impossible to buy now.

Lou
Click to expand...

It is possible to get an IDE to SATA adapter to wire up a SATA optical drive in a 3,1 but there is some art and science involved in tucking the extra cabling out of the way.

I have been using the LG WH16NS40 in my 4,1->5,1 since 2015. The drive was recognized properly and I have read/burned all disc types on it (CD, DVD, BD, etc. etc.) with no problems.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7B08MS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
flehman said:
It is possible to get an IDE to SATA adapter to wire up a SATA optical drive in a 3,1 but there is some art and science involved in tucking the extra cabling out of the way.
Click to expand...

Indeed, I did this in a 3,1. It was a royal pain to do, but it worked fine. Should anyone go down this route, consider placing a second sata cable in while you are at it for the other drive bay.
 
Ph.D. said:
Indeed, I did this in a 3,1. It was a royal pain to do, but it worked fine. Should anyone go down this route, consider placing a second sata cable in while you are at it for the other drive bay.
Click to expand...
Far better to buy a used IDE DVD drive puled from a 3,1 & use those SATA ports for a couple of SSDs that can sit in the lower optical drive bay.
 
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