Apple today released SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0 which fixes burning speeds when writing to certain recordable DVD media.
System Requirements:
• Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or Mac OS X v10.4.6 Tiger
• One of the following products:
– PowerBook G4 (12 -inch 1.5GHz)
– PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.33GHz, 1.5GHz, or 1.67GHz)
– PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67GHz)
– iMac G5 (17-inch 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz)
– iMac G5 (20-inch 1.8GHz)
– Mac mini G4
More info and download link (7.3MB) here.
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It wont update my 20″ iMac G5 1.8.
For those debating whether to or not – updated fine here on a PowerBook 1.67 (rev. c).
yay! weird how it didn’t show up in software update
ok it didnt work on mac mini
Didn’t appear in Software Update for my 15″ PB G$ 1.67 (new June 2005).
Maybe for the late summer 2005 15″ PB model w/ higherresolution LCD?
@ qka –
I have the same model PowerBook as you and it didn’t appear in my SU either; but I downloaded and ran it manually anyway and it installed fine. Give it a try – hopefully it enables burning of DVD’s at a decent speed (i.e. the speeds advertised at the time of purchase).
It didn’t show up in my software update either. After downloading the update manually, I applied it to my 12″ PowerBook G4 (August 2005). By comparing information gathered from the system profiler before the update to information gathered directly after the update, I do indeed have a newer version of the SuperDrive firmware.
I haven’t burned any data yet. But I have put some media into the drive to see what speeds the finder will allow. Imation 8x DVD-R’s are now recognized by the finder instead of being rejected and ejected. They are listed in the finder as being burnable at 8x… FINALLY. I also have some Sony DVD+R’s that are supposed to be “1x-8x” disks. The finder will only allow 2x. It seems like this update may be a bit “hit and miss”.
Have any of you conducted tests with different brands and/or different computers?
Has anyone tried this firmware update on the g5 dual core 2.3 yet? I hate to be the guinea pig.
Andrew Hamilton
Videographers in Las Vegas
http://www.hiproductions.com
No go on my imac 1.8 GHz G5 17 inch either. I was hoping this would allow me to use 16 speed dvds. This update seems to be next to useless. Apple seems to have (unusually) missed the mark on this one. Curious indeed.
“Has anyone tried this firmware update on the g5 dual core 2.3 yet? I hate to be the guinea pig.
—> You system is not on the list for the firmware update.
^^^YOUR
not on my G5 1.8 Rev A.
I phoned around on this one and eventually got to the Australian Apple Help line. Apparently the update relates to Pioneer drives not Mashita ones. I hope this clears up any confusion. Of course if we’d been given this information in the first place we wouldn’t all be so confused.
Oh, I didn’t get charged one cent by Apple to get this advice. Ya gotta love ’em.
P.S. Has anyone had problems trying to use 16 speed TDK dvd-r discs? I can’t use them on the Superdrive or my La Cie external drive. I get bus errors using both units.
Interesting! I ran this on my G4 powerbook with a UJ-835 drive and it looks like the firmware was updated – however I haven’t had a chance to check out if it’s fixed the issues with this drive.
If you have tried this, please let me know your experiances at my site and add your experiances. I’ll also update the petition page with what info is found.
Doesn’t update my iMac G5 1.8GHz either – and I do have a Pioneer drive. (model DVR-K04F Rev I437). Looks like Apple has screwed up here.
The SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0 will only work with a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E or UJ-835F SuperDrive.
Thanks, Apple, for wasting my time with this one. A little extra info on the download page would have been nice.
Hi All: I have a PowerBook G4 running 10.3.9. Using TOAST I get the following information: MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E. Firmware: GAND / MMC-3. I tried to load the v2.0 firmware update. It gave an error: NO UPDATEABLE DEVICES FOUND
Question: Do I already have the new firmware installed? Is GAND / MMC-3 what is says after a 2.0 firmware update? The reason why I don’t know is that I purchased DVD+R DL disks and after insertion simply spins and after about 20 seconds of noise it spits it out. Also, TOAST does not seem to give any indication of a DL device.
Any advice appreciated! Thanks!