macdan
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on this page micro 50 atapi connector |
PBs 3400/Kanga and the Wallstreet series use a chassis which is integral with the drive itself, greatly complicating any upgrade attempt. Here, as an example of an EBM that is not a good upgrade candidate, a PB3400 drive's EBM shell, notice the tray rails are attached directly to the outer shell. Apple's Wallstreet optical EBMs are similar. |
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So of course it greatly helps if the original optical drive conforms to the standard 'slim' form-factor. Here's a conforming 'slim' PB1400 12X drive with its attached EBM interface board. |
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Since the IF boards from a 6x and 8x modules don't use a standard 50 pin Micro EIDE connector, they aren't good candidates for optical upgrades. However as the physical ATA interface is identical to that of 2.5" HDs, these EBMs can be converted to a HD EBM with an L-shaped connector adapter. This prototype is a bit sloppy looking I admit, but it works. :-) |
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Here's a detail of a 1400's 12x drive and its associated IF board. As this EBM conforms to both the standard IF and drive form-factor one can use almost any modern 'slim' drive as a replacement. |
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Using a 12x EBM, I've successfully installed a Teac CD-224e as well as Matshita drives UJDA-330 CD-R/W and UJDA-730 Combo DVD/CD-R/W. The Teac is physically identical to the original, the faceplate attaching perfectly. The Apple faceplate won't directly fit the Matsushita drives, so I just used the wintel-laptop-style face with which they came. I suppose one could cobble together an attachment but to me it wasn't worth the bother. The Teac 24x CD-224e is a direct replacement for the 12x original drive and takes only minutes to swap. eBay prices range from $1 to $40 with many in the $10 - $15 range. Some CD-224e mechanisms apparently need the M/S/CS mod and others don't. There are a number of revisions of the CD-224e, the revs are named in the form ' - A43'. I don't know which is the ideal rev, sorry, however AFAIK, all will work with either no mod or a minor mod. With the UJDA-330 I tracked down the M/S/CS solder pads inside the drive and jumpered them to M with a tiny wire. What a PITA, so later drives were done the easy way by modding the IF PCB. Perusing Apple's hardware devnotes I've found no evidence Apple uses 'Cable Select' in any product of any vintage, I'd welcome any other info in agreement or otherwise. All drives I tried worked fine as readers, but don't expect a huge increase in speed, 24X is merely the _maximum_ speed, At the inside (beginning) of a CD it starts out at ~8X, only getting near 24X at the outer edges. I wasn't able to get either CD/RW drive to write. The only software which is alleged to work with an internal CDRW in a PB1400 is "B's Recorder Gold". All others I've tried have failed, including Toasts up to v5.1.4, Disk Burner, Disk Copy 6.5, iTunes 1 and 2, plus more I'm not remembering right now. Anyone out there have a source for "B's Recorder Gold"? I've not been able to locate a sales outlet (tho I haven't looked lately.) |
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MCE apparently sold two different models of Wallstreet EBMs, contemporaneously mentioned at lowendmac, and MCE's user guides (here and here) mention them. I've not seen them firsthand but assume they are standard mechanisms with a bespoke shell and interface board. Give me a holler if you can fill in any details on these (apparently) rare beasts. I'm not aware of any other CD-R/W or combo EBMs for WallStreet. |
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The drive slides right in and the interface board connects with the drive's connector. The drive is retained by 4 screws, two per side (no need to remove the two screws on the top surface.) You can usually use an PC-style OEM face though those don't look quite so spiffy as the curvy Apple faces. I've even tested PB G4 slot-load drives in such sleds as this. Every sled I've seen has identical construction, that is they all seem to have been manufactured by the same source. The only difference is the label on the outside. Almost any modern 'slim' optical mechanism should work fine in a Lombard/Pismo EBM, the only downside to using other mechanisms is the original Apple face probably won't fit. Usually the OEM face works fine, it just won't look as tidy as the Apple original. |
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An excellent option for Lombard/Pismo owners with a Matsushita DVD drive is the Matsushita UJ(DA) series of cdrw, combo dvd/cdrw and DVD-R/RW tray-load mechanisms. These mount exactly the same as the original and the Apple faceplate fits OK with a very small amount of modification. Here's some of the models with which I'm familiar: CDRW drives
combo DVD/CDRW
Slotload SuperDrives work great! No faceplate futzing needed!
Some folks report success with these drives right out of the box, others have had to jumper a pair of pins (47 to 45) on the EBM's interface PCB to correctly set the drive's status to Master. That may be a function of how the CS/M/S status was set when the drive shipped to its original OEM purchaser. I've no idea how to tell before purchase which is which. I've got a separate page detailing drive replacement and the interface PCB modification that worked for me. Here's a nice xlr8yourmac page with good pics and notes detailing a combo drive install. And here's another about the same subject. I recently picked up a Matsushita UJ-811b 2X DVD-R/RW for $169 from this eBay vendor. The only retail source of which I'm aware gets $299. Being a Matsushita drive the original Apple Lombard/Pismo face fits reasonably well! |
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Other EBMs - HD, Zip, SuperFloppy I've got a bunch of VST HD EBMs for PBs Lombard/Pismo and these can hold pretty much any 2.5" ATA mechanism. Here's a page I put up describing the drive installation procedure. I've considered using the ubiquitous and mostly otherwise useless VST Zip and SuperFloppy EBMs for something, but these mechanisms have physical interfaces not compatible with anything in which I'm interested, such as optical drives. Just too different to even bother. |
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revhist
2004.08.28 - updated replacement drives list2004.08.09 - added PB1400 optical upgrade details
2003.08.19 - original page