Prev: DVD Player
Next: 1Password question
From: David Empson on 19 Jul 2010 02:23
Mark Conrad <aeiou(a)mostly.invalid> wrote:

> Thanks David, for the wealth of information.

[...]

> For the bad 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro,
> I do not know much about it, other than I bought it
> directly from the Apple Store in May, 2010, for the
> modest price of $4,300

Assuming you didn't buy it from the refurbished section, that makes it
the Mid 2010 model, which was released in April 2010.

> Ran great for two months, when I decided to replace
> the 32-bit version of Windows-7 "Ultimate" on its 100 GB
> Windows partition with a 64-bit version of Windows-7,
> which would leave me with 400 GB for my OS X partition.
>
> Windows install "choked" and stalled about 5 minutes out,
> so I thought I had a bad Windows 64-bit DVD install disc.
>
> Grabbed a totally different Windows 64-bit DVD install disc,
> same "choking" occurred 5 minutes out.
>
> Whoa, figured the DVD drive inside the 17-inch Mac was
> starting to go bad.
>
> Shortly thereafter, _nothing_ would even start to boot up
> on the DVD drive, such as the 32-bit install DVDs that had been
> running fine for two months, or the TechTool Pro disk.
>
> That is when I made the mistake of going to Best Buy under the
> illusion that external DVD drives would work on either Macs or
> Windows hardware - - - Big Mistake.

Depends on the degree of standard compliance in the DVD drive's USB to
SATA/PATA bridge. If it requires special drivers to be installed on
Windows to use it at all, that is a big red flag for using it on a Mac.

If it supposed to just plug in and work, it should be Mac compatible,
but even then it might not reliably work as a boot device as there could
be other issues such as disappearing from the USB bus at the point the
OS is starting to boot and rescans all USB devices.

(This may not be Mac specific - it might not boot properly on Windows
either.)

> There was nothing in the literature for that external DVD drive that even
> hinted that it might work with a Mac.

That's common with many peripherals. If you aren't buying from a
Mac-specific vendor then buyer beware, unless that model has been
reported as OK by other Mac users.

> Neither I nor the Apple gal at Best Buy spotted that fact, namely
> that particular drive was meant for Windows computers only.
>
> The regular Best Buy sales personnel of course said it would work
> with a Mac - - - buyer beware of sales personnel in general.
>
>
> David, I will try some of your suggestions, looks like they have
> promise, assuming something is not radically wrong with parts
> inside the 17-inch MacBook Pro.
>
> FWIW, shortly before the new Mac blew up, I did a thorough
> 15 minute test of its 8 GBs of RAM, plus a scan of its 512 GB
> internal drive, plus a "SMART" test on the same drive, and all
> 3 tests passed without any indication that the Mac was on the
> verge of blowing up.
>
> Thanks again, I will report back with the results in a few days.
>
> Will shop around trying to find an external DVD drive that is
> _designed_ to work with a late model Mac, this time I will phone
> Apple technical support, asking them to suggest a model, bearing
> in mind that I can't properly load any drivers that the DVD drive
> might require - - - so unless the external DVD drive already has
> its driver in Apple firmware, nothing might work.

See above.

> I managed to lose the original grey DVDs that came with
> my brand new 17-inch MacBook Pro, which does not help.

Indeed. That model will not work with a system earlier than the special
build of 10.6.3 which was supplied with the computer, and you may also
need the Boot Camp drivers on that DVD for use with that computer. I'd
recommend contacting Apple and arranging for them to send replacements
for the DVDs as you will probably need them. There will be a fee.

You should be able to get it working using a 10.6 installed from another
DVD then updated to 10.6.4, as 10.6.4 includes all the drivers required
to support the Mid 2010 MacBook Pro and MacBook (but NOT the mid 2010
Mac Mini - that needs a special build of either 10.6.3 or 10.6.4, but
will work from a standard build of 10.6.5 whenever that is released).

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
First  |  Prev  | 
Pages: 1 2
Prev: DVD Player
Next: 1Password question