Pioneer BDR-203 in a Mac Pro

Adobe Encore DVD

Pioneer BDR-203 in a Mac Pro

Posted by Shaun Harrison on August 14, 2009 at 10:41 am

Hi,

I need to purchase a Blu-Ray burner to begin creating Blu-Ray discs on my Mac Pro.

The Pioneer BDR-203 seems like a viable option, but I can’t find any straight answers as to whether it works in the Mac Pro.

As it’s SATA, then it can connect to one of the spare ODD_SATA ports, but I’ve read stories of it not being recognised as a burner by OS X.

I have Compressor 3.5, and Encore CS3, is there any reason why I shouldn’t be able to burn Blu-Ray discs on my Mac Pro using the Pioneer drive and these applications?

If I would hit problems, are there other Blu-Ray burners people would suggest?

Thanks in advance for all your help.
Shaun Harrison
8-Core Mac Pro
Final Cut Studio 3
Adobe Creative Suite 3.

Shaun Harrison replied 16 years, 8 months ago 2 Members · 10 Replies
10 Replies

Larry Applegate
August 16, 2009 at 8:46 am

Here is a solution for an external connection. I have one and have hooked it to a Firmtek 2-drive enclosure, or I can change one of the cables to go to my older external Blu-ray burner.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MPQXES2/

If you want to install it internally, just connect a Sata cable from one of the motherboard connectors to the drive. (The newer Mac Pro’s are already shipping with the optical bays connected).

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SATA10S/

If you want to install it externally, this is a good deal:

https://www.videoguys.com/Bundle/Pioneer+BDR-203+Mega+Bundle+with+External+Enclosure/59.aspx

You can just hook it up with USB, or you can use the external connector from the mother board.

Or you can get an external 4-way external enclosure from OWC and use firewire or whatever is available on any machine. (That’s what I have for my older burner).

Get a BDR203. That is also going to be my next purchase.

Regards,

Larry Applegate
https://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com
Shaun Harrison
August 16, 2009 at 10:08 am

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your post.

Most people I’ve spoken to so far tell me to stay away from the BDR203. I’ve been told that, if connected internally via the SATA to SATA cable, Mac OS X sees it as an internal hard drive, not an optical drive, and therefore no applications can see it or write to it.

Obviously I don’t want to buy this drive if it’s not going to work for me! Have you heard better stories?

If not the Pioneer, then I would probably go for the old LG GGW-H20L, which appears to work according to James Fields article on Ken Stone almost a year ago : https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/blu-ray_fcp_fields.html. Hopefully the software/OS X hasn’t changed so much since then that this won’t work!

It would be great just to hear some success stories with either of these drives!
Larry Applegate
August 16, 2009 at 5:39 pm

Hi Shaun,

I don’t know where you have heard such nonsense. Talk to a salesman at either OWC or Videoguys, they stand behind their products and would not steer you wrong.

Larry

Regards,

Larry Applegate
https://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com
Shaun Harrison
August 16, 2009 at 7:07 pm

Hi Larry,

Well I took the plunge and purchased the BDR-203 on your confidence. I’m hoping that the guys I’ve heard from have just installed it incorrectly or something. Anyway, I guess I will find out next week.

Thanks for your help Larry.
Larry Applegate
August 16, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Hi Shaun,

Which company did you buy from and what option did you choose, internal or external? Please report back on how it goes.

I also see that you are still on CS3. Apparently quite a few BD Encore bugs were fixed with CS4, and there are still BD navigation bugs in CS4. Are you planning multiple audio and subtitle streams, or are you keeping things simple?

Regards,

Larry Applegate
https://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com
Shaun Harrison
August 16, 2009 at 9:18 pm

Hi Larry,

I’m in the UK, so I bought from Eclipse Computers.

I will just be keeping it simple, may not even need a menu, just the video.

I will upgrade to CS4 eventually, I use After Effects a lot, but currently I just can’t afford it!

Thanks for your help.
Larry Applegate
August 16, 2009 at 9:27 pm

Hi Shaun,

You should be fine, then. Though if you have trouble with BD burning, you might try Toast 9 or 10.

To install your BD203 internally, take a look at these instructions:

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/manuals/cdinstall/macpro_optical_install.pdf

Regards,

Larry Applegate
https://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com
Shaun Harrison
August 16, 2009 at 9:28 pm

Oh, and I went internal. Have bought a SATA to PATA adapter, not sure if that’s the right way to go, or if a direct SATA to SATA is best. I have 4 SATA HDs installed as a RAID, and my boot drive in the second optical bay connected to one of the ODD SATA connections… I think, I’m using the Caldigit RAID Card.

Would you suggest connecting the BDR203 to the second ODD SATA connection, or is the SATA to PATA adaptor with current IDE cable a workable option?

Thanks.
Larry Applegate
August 16, 2009 at 9:33 pm

PATA to SATA sounds horrible to me, no wonder your have heard about problems. SATA was invented partially to overcome all the legacy problems with IDE, jumpers, and all that old stuff. And it is faster.

Definitely go with the 2nd SATA connector directly to the drive.

Regards,

Larry Applegate
https://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com
Shaun Harrison
August 16, 2009 at 9:38 pm

Thanks Larry,

That was a pain installing the Caldigit card, I may try SATA to PATA first to save my sanity, but you’re probably right, that’s where I’ve heard bad things.

I’ll need to get an angled SATA to SATA cable then, if the adaptor doesn’t work.

Thanks for all your help Larry, I’ll let you know how I get on… there may be tears.

Shaun.

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