Compatible Drives
- to burn, you may need PatchBurn.
- You can expect to get perfect rips and burns. If you're getting glitchy graphics, could be your drive, lense, or disc, don't think "oh I can't expect perfection", because you can and you should.
How to tell if your drive will work
Find the *original spec sheet* for your drive. Google it, they're almost always out there somewhere in a PDF or something. Looks something like this:
Failing that, this compatability list is quite nice. And here's a BIG list. Or try TriceraSoft, GoldenHawk.
Works for Sure
- LiteOn 20X DVD/CD LH-20A1PX500C, or DVD20DLSE
- LaCie d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe
- Samsung SH-S182M/BSBN
- $60 at CompUSA
- HL-DT-ST DVD-RW. Models confirmed working are GWA-4080M and GSA-S10N: some MacBookPro's have these built in!! (check the MBPro BEFORE you buy so you know, it's rather random which drive you'll get if you just order the MBPro online)
- HP DV920105 CA 16X DVD with LightScribe
- LaCie 16X DL
- Plextor 708UF
- Yamaha CRW-F1E
- Sony DRX-510UL DVD-R Works for ripping. Burning has not been tested yet.
Some LightScribes
Please report back on compatability, I believe ALL these drives will work:
- http://tinyurl.com/56txke
- http://tinyurl.com/5g5cs8
- http://tinyurl.com/5z8mmv
- http://tinyurl.com/6ok3rq
Does NOT work for Sure
- LaCie LigtScribe DVDRW8651 will read but NOT WRITE
- Optiarc drives
- Many "Matshita" drives don't read or write (many mac laptops have them)
- Discs burned with Pioneer DVR can can be read by other computers, but not real karaoke hardware.
- Plextor 716SA, S, UF
- HPdvd1040e
We are Confused
- HP dvd1040e I know it can rip, but there's been at least one user who could not burn.
- The specs say it does NOT work, however you are somehow able to rip SOME cdg discs. Haven't tried burning. LG GSA-E60L (and why the hell do they have such arcane names??)
- Note: it does rip but a user has reported this will not burn!! A pre-certified CD+G compatible drive from MTU. I recommend the IDE Internal ($80) plus a DriveDock ($114). Yes it's more expensive but it's faster than USB2. If you don't care about blazing speed then simply the USB one ($130) is fine.
- Plextor 755UF: one person could not get it to work at all. another reports "perfect success ripping and burning"
This Just In - from Plextor
Unfortunately, the current external model does not support cd+g. The models that support reading and writing cd+g include: PX-755UF, 716UF, 712UF, 708UF, PREMIUM-U, W4824TU & W4012TU. You can check with Unity Electronics or eSsaitech for pricing and availability.
Why does the drive that does not work on Mac still work on Windows?
What? Really? Do you have such a drive? Can I see it? What is its make/model? Please contact me.
I have gone the extra mile and with help from Apple and a secret third party I have written a low level disc reader that has access to the drive in the same way that Windows has. Unfortunately I have discovered that it is still incompatible with Matshita drives. Matshita the most important drive to gain compatibility with, given that that is the drive manufacturer for the vast majority of mac laptops. However if you find a drive that says it should be CD+G compatible, but isn't, please let me know. (To see, just put in a disc and try to rip it with kJams, kJams will honestly inform you if it *should* work but doesn't, or it will inform you that it is in fact not compatible.)
Burning: There ARE drives that natively support Reading but not Writing. On those windows programs, the authors have figured out how to send raw data to the device directly, bypassing the "CD+G Write" strategy that kJams currently uses. One day i expect i'll figure out how to do that too, but for now, you're stuck having to purchase a drive with native CD+G write capability.