Is it cheaper to buy an external burner or fix the internal one

If this is an external Apple superdrive, then it won't work with any Apple laptops with an internal drive as the firmware detects the internal drive and will not run the external Apple device

Mac do not waste space, I recommend you to use an external hard drive. Try to find one with twice capacity that your computer's hard drive.I mean, if your computer hard drive is 500Gb, then find an external drive with 1Tb

ran into the same issue but with a mac book no "drivers" avail for the mac to let it communicate to burn. i did get around it by using a few free burning programs i just wish i could remember the name

Suchisart,
If you want a stand alone backup solution, you can download a free program called "Carbon Copy Cloner" and purchase a USB 2.0 external hard drive. You can use the CCC software to backup the entire contents of your Powerbook's hard drive or just selected files to the external USB hard drive.

If your Powerbook is unable to boot into OS X and you need to recover the files that are on the internal hard drive, you can boot the Powerbook into "Target Disk Mode" and transfer the files via firewire cable to another Mac. To do this do the following.

1. With both Macs off connect them with a firewire cable.
2. Turn on the Powerbook and hold down the "T" during startup.
3. Once the large icon shows up on screen your in "TDM".
4. Turn on the other Mac and login to your account.
5. The Powerbook's hard drive should mount on your desktop.
6. You'll be able to transfer your files from the Powerbook's hard drive just like you would an external hard drive, thumb drive, etc.

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Scott Computer Services http://www.scottcomputerservices.com

Try different DVDs and then try different CDs. If it spits out all of them, then its time for a new optical drive.

It is a DVD ROM drive which stands for DVD Read Only Memory. In other words, this drive is meant to only PLAY DVDs and CDs but NOT save data to them.

To burn CDs you need a CD burner. Burners are of 3 types:

CD writer only burns and reads CDs.

Combo drive reads CDs and DVDs but only burns CDs.

Super drive burns and reads from CDs and DVDs.

As you go higher in functionality, the price also increases. Check your needs before you plan to buy one. Also compare prices of all the drives. Note: burn-able media costs are separate.

You don't need a "restore" cd.

You can just use any copy of Tiger.

Borrow one!

Hi, I'll need more info to help you...
What is the MacOS X version ?
Model of PowerBook, speed, Ram HD Size, DVD?
When was the last time it worked properly ?
What would you say happened to make it lock up like that ?
Did you change anything ?
Are you talking about the internal drive or an external drive... ?
Please advise...

PowerBook G4 is at least a five-year-old machine at this point. A DVD drive can **** in lots of dust in five years. Try hooking up to an external DVD drive. If it plays the same discs with no problem, you need a cleaning or replacement. Frankly, an external DVD drive is cheaper than replacing your internal drive.

Read on your optical drive. If it burns CD's it reads CD-RW. In order to burn DVD's it needs ro read DVD-RW. If it reads DVD-ROM it will only read DVD's not burn them.

A good external burner is Plextor. You can get one at Walmart, or you can check Ebay and find an internal to replace the one in your machine. They are fairly easy to replace, and you won't have a bulky external to carry around.