[NTLK] Known problems with SR-8174-C model DVD drive in Apple Powerbook Pismo

[James Fraser]

Hello,

--- On Fri, 12/11/09, Jon Glass <jonglass at usa.net> wrote:
 
> The 8187 drive is actually the LG drive, and it's garbage.
> I've gone through 3 of them. The one you want is the Matshita or
> Panasonic drive. I don't think it's "perfect" but it has a much
> better track record than the 8187 drive. 

For what it's worth, I have the Matsushita drive in my Pismo and it has worked fine.  I don't know if there are, perhaps, different revisions of the same drive, but Apple System Profiler gives the Revision number of the drive I have as Revision C113.

LEM sez that "the OEM DVD-ROM drives were prone to early failure." 
 
> The Pismo has three issues IIRC. 1. that LG drive, 2. The
> Sound I/O-power board (the sound plugs come loose from the
> circuit board, and since they are surface-soldered, can't be fixed by 
> mere mortals), and 3, the pink screen. The pink screen tends to go away
> after warming up a few minutes, so it hardly counts, but it isn't pretty.

IIRC, the pink screen you refer to is a sign that your backlight is on its way out.  This seems to have been a problem with some Pismos that developed the problem while still fairly new, but if I understand correctly, it's a problem that all Pismos will develop over time as they age.

The Pismo I'm currently using (purchased used) seems to have developed this problem recently. :(  Granted, it's a decade old, and eking a decade out of an LCD doesn't strike me as doing too badly, but I don't know if that's widely considered a reasonable service life for an LCD or not. [shrugs]


Best,

James Fraser