How To Upgrade/Add Optical Disc Drives In A Power Mac/Mac Pro

Upgrading Or Adding Optical Disc Drives To A Power Macintosh/Mac Pro

• List of computers that can be upgraded with rating for how easy it is to upgrade
• Step by step instructions for upgrading your optical disc drive
• 5.25" optical disc drives

Computers That Can Be Upgraded

Easy Upgrades

• All later Power Macintosh G4 "Mirrored Door" models Apple's Customer-installable parts (CIP) instructions / Apple's optical drive CIP instructions
NOTE: "Mirrored Door" models can take 2 PATA optical disc drives.
• All Power Macintosh G5 models Apple's DIY instructions page / Apple's optical drive DIY instructions
NOTE: All Power Macintosh G5 models can take 1 PATA optical disc drive.
• Early Mac Pro silver models (2006-2008 - MacPro1,1 / MacPro2,1 / MacPro3,1) Apple's DIY instructions
NOTE: Early Mac Pro silver models can take 2 PATA optical disc drive.
• Later Mac Pro silver models (2009 onwards - MacPro4,1 or higher) Apple's DIY instructions
NOTE: Later Mac Pro silver models can take 2 SATA optical disc drives.

Hard Upgrades

• All Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) models Apple's optical drive upgrade instructions
NOTE: All Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) models can take 1 PATA optical disc drive.
• All early Power Macintosh G4 models Apple's optical drive upgrade instructions
NOTE: All G4 models that are not "Mirrored Door" models can take 1 PATA optical disc drive.

Very Hard Upgrades

• n/a

• Power Macintosh G4
• Mac Pro (Silver):
• If you are running Mac OS X 10.4.x/10.5.x/10.6.x go to Apple menu > About This Mac > click the "More Info…" button (the System Profiler application will open).
• If you are running Mac OS X 10.7.x go to Apple menu > About This Mac > click the "More Info…" button > (the System Information application will open) click "Overview" in the top left then click the "System Report" button.
1. Select "Hardware" (on the left)
2. On the right under the "Hardware Overview" heading check what it says for 'Model Identifier'

Step By Step Instructions For Upgrading Your Optical Disc Drive

1. Make sure you have plenty of time and space to perform the upgrade - use a clean, flat surface (a towel can be useful to prevent scratching/movement)
NOTE: A good tip is to use an ice cube tray for tracking screws that you may have to remove.
2. Prepare your tools and unpack your new optical drive
NOTE: It is recommended that you remove the front bezel of the optical drive(s) before installation - see this video. NOTE: If you are adding a second PATA optical drive to your computer be sure to set the jumpers on the drive to "slave". You do not need to do this for SATA drives.
3. Upgrade the optical drive in your computer as per the individual instructions for the computer that you have

5.25" Optical Disc Drives

Internal PATA 5.25" optical drives

for all PowerMacintosh G4 models
or for early Mac Pro silver models (2006-2008 - MacPro1,1 / MacPro2,1 / MacPro3,1)

• Liteon IHAP322 (part code = IHAP322)
• Liteon IHAP122 (part code = IHAP122-19) Buy it now at
• Samsung SH-S222A (part code = SH-S222A/BEBE) Buy it now at
• Pioneer DVR-118LBK (part code = DVR-118LBK)

Internal SATA 5.25" optical drives

for later Mac Pro silver models (2009 onwards - MacPro4,1 or higher)

• Pioneer DVR-S19MBK (part code = DVR-S19MBK)
• Pioneer DVR-S19LBK (part code = DVR-S19LBK) Buy it now at

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