10.3: Add support for certain CD/DVD devices

Jan 15, '04 08:48:00AM

Contributed by: werkone

As some hints mentioned before, it seems that Apple changed the way CD/DVD drives are registered by the System. But if you take a closer look at the Frameworks installed by 10.3.2, you'll find our well known drprofiles. The relevant item is called DeviceSupport.drprofile and is located at /System -> Library -> Frameworks -> DiscRecording.framework -> Versions -> A -> DiscRecordingEngine.framework -> Versions -> A -> Resources -> DeviceSupport.drprofile.

Now that we know where Panther hides its drive profiles, it's easy: Just edit the file with root permissions and paste the specific personality description for your drive. It should look like this (e.g. for my NEC ND-1100A FW 1A1):


<dict>
  <key>DRDevicePersonalities</key>
  <array>
    <dict>
      <key>DRDeviceVendorName</key>
      <string>_NEC</string>
      <key>DRDeviceProductName</key>
      <string>DVD+RW ND-1100A</string>
    </dict>
  </array>
  <key>DRDeviceProfile</key>
  <dict>
    <key>DRDeviceDescription</key>
    <string>NEC ND-1100A</string>
  </dict>
  <key>DRDeviceProfileVersion</key>
  <integer>1</integer>
</dict>

My NEC is now recognized by the Finder, iTunes, and Disc Utility. All operations supported by the drive, such as read/write CD-Rs, read/write DVD+Rs, read/write/erase CD-RWs, and read/write/erase DVD+RWs now work flawlessly and reliably.

I'm not really sure. wether this hint works for other drives. Just give it a try!

[robg adds: This hint is similar to this existing hint. During an email conversation with werkone, however, he stated that the original hint failed for him, and changing the actual system file was the only way he could make this work. If you choose to try this, you should definitely back up the master file first, and be aware that future system upgrades may overwrite the work you've done. The preferred method is clearly the user-specific file discussed in the earlier hint, but if that fails, you may wish to try this one, too.]

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Mac OS X Hints
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