macdan MCE Wallstreet optical takeapart These are rare, and I finally got my hands on one. In fact, I ended up with the top-of-the-line model, the CDRW/DVD combo model. And the first thing I did was take it apart.

The significant thing about these is that they are the only aftermarket optical drives ever made for the Wallstreet series PowerBooks. Apple's original Expansion Bay optical drives cannot be upgraded with modern optical mechanisms, so the MCE drives are the only way to install into a Wallstreet expansion bay such modern devices as CDRW drives. The key to the MCE drive is its interface PCB, connecting the PowerBook's EBM connector to the connector on the back of the optical mechanism.

Hacking possibilities . . . I've long known the Wallstreet shares its EB interface with PBs 5300, 3400 and Kanga, so first thing I did was rip the interface board out of the MCE EBM and cobble it together with a Matshita CW-8121 slotloader, and stuff it into a 3400's EB. Wingo-zingo, booted right up. Modding the MCE EBM design to fit both 3400/3500 and Wallstreet would be quite easy, with the only difference between 3400/3500 and WS being the outer bezel. In both formfactors a slim optical just fits widthwise into the EB, so there can be no sides on the EBM. The MCE EBM has the top stuck to the mechanism with double-sided tape. The bottom is attached only at the right side, right under the 'wing'.

More to come . . .

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2005.03.26 - new page