Pioneer 106D: Ditch it, Use it, Upgrade it?

[cillian19]

Hello Forum. I've been trying to find an answer to this in others' questions but to no avail. I have an old iMac PowerPCG4 from 2004. I am desperately trying to back up my music and data before the computer has a crash or problem. The computer has a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-106D. If I'm not mistaken, this drive should be able to burn DVD's, but I am hard pressed to find a Blank DVD with a speed that is read. I've tried using the Finder to burn, and Roxio Toast 6. The drive has no problem burning CDs, which I'm afraid I'll have to resort to to make hard copies of my information. I've read on here that Taiyo Yuden disks are the best- but before I go looking for them, can anyone answer if there is:

1. Anything I can do immediately to update my drive? I've been reading about Firmware. The Firmware on my drive is A612/MMC-3. I'm pretty sure this drive is desperately out of date.
2. Should I be using DVD-R or DVD+R discs? I almost had some luck with the Sony DVD+R discs that say they work with 1x-16x - and I set my burn speed to 1x. Toast was "writing" the disc, but at the end Toast gave a Server Key Error and noted it could not burn.
3. What speed discs should I be using? I can't seem to find any 4x or below blank DVDs online that look to be good quality.
4. Or does anyone suggest getting a ton of CDs and just burning my information onto those?

I would appreciate any help you have to give me. I'm sorry for the length of this.

[bjkg]

@ cillian19,

Welcome to the Forum.

A612/MMC-3 Firmware? That doesn’t look like any type of Firmware I have seen for Pioneer DVD Burners.

The most recent up to date Pioneer DVR-106D Firmware is version 1.08 dated 9 June 2004 ->

http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/cgi-bin/www1/download/file_get_e2.pl?file=DVRA06_FW108.EXE

The Pioneer DVR-106D DVD Burner only supports writing of DVD-R (4x speed) and DVD-RW (2.4x speed) Media.

Now days it is going to be very difficult to find supported DVD-R 4x speed Media for your Pioneer DVR-106D DVD Burner.

It is probably wise to consider purchasing a new modern up to date DVD Burner to replace your almost 5-year-old Pioneer DVR-106D Burner that will be able to write to the new modern 16x speed DVD-R/DVD+R Media. Now days new modern DVD Burners can be purchased for approximately 30 USofA bucks.

Regards,
bjkg

[cillian19]

Dear bjkg,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I really appreciate your help. I now understand that a modern burner will be necessary to write any new 16x media! I appreciate the link to the update as well. I have been indeed having a lot of trouble finding any DVD-R 4x media- it really seems like it has been pulled completely from every store and website out there.

I am thinking of getting a new computer very soon, which is why I’m trying to make a full backup of my hard drive. Would you know if the Taiyo Yuden CD-R 52X will run successfully on my drive? Or is there a limitation on this drive as well for CD recording speeds?

Again THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! YOU ARE AMAZING!

[negritude]

[QUOTE=bjkg;2147095]A612/MMC-3 Firmware? That doesn’t look like any type of Firmware I have seen for Pioneer DVD Burners.

The most recent up to date Pioneer DVR-106D Firmware is version 1.08 dated 9 June 2004 ->

http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/cgi-bin/www1/download/file_get_e2.pl?file=DVRA06_FW108.EXE

The Pioneer DVR-106D DVD Burner only supports writing of DVD-R (4x speed) and DVD-RW (2.4x speed) Media.

Now days it is going to be very difficult to find supported DVD-R 4x speed Media for your Pioneer DVR-106D DVD Burner.[/QUOTE]

1. Apple supplies customized firmware with the drives that are included in Macs. The numbering scheme does not correspond in any way to Pioneer firmware numbering. More importantly, the Apple supplied firmware is horrible, and the best thing anyone can do with an Apple Superdrive is to cross-flash it into a genuine Pioneer drive.

2. When cross-flashed from an Apple Superdrive into a genuine Pioneer drive, the DVR-106D will be able to burn 8x and 16x DVD-R media at 4x. I still own a Pioneer DVR-104D that was cross-flashed from an Apple Superdrive, and I can burn any 4x, 8x, or 16x DVD-R media at 2x (and with decent results, too). You don’t need to buy 4x media for the 106D.

3. In order to convert the Apple Superdrive you have into an actual Pioneer DVR-106D, you need to to use a program called DVRFlash:

http://dvrflash.rpc1.org

4. In order to cross-flash from a superdrive to an OEM drive, you need two things, a firmware file, which was listed above, and something called a kernel. I believe that the following package includes both the firmware and the kernel for the DVR-106:

http://dvrflash.rpc1.org/DVRFlashX_Apple_106.zip

5. The only caveat to keep in mind when changing an Apple Superdrive into an OEM Pioneer drive is that it may affect the operation of the power management of your Mac, such that the machine may no longer be able to go into deep sleep mode, so that function may need to be turned off. This only applies to older PPC Macs and not the newer Intel models.