Can I even do this on a Mac?

[mrgorth]

I have a PowerMac G4 running OSX 10.2.8. It came with a combo drive. Now, like most people I like to copy CDs now and then. So, I ordered a super drive from http://www.macsolutions.com/superdrives.html. So I openned up the Mac and don't you know it had everything I needed to hook this bad boy up, which I did. Of course, now that I've done that there seems to be no easy way to copy the CD/DVD from the combo-drive to the superdrive. Why the hell would Apple be behind on this. I've done some looking on Apple.com and it seems to imply there's no easy way to do this. I double checked and both drives are set for cable select. The combo-drive does everything it's supposed to do and the Superdrive reads CDs and DVDs but when I try to burn something it says "Unable to burn this disc in finder because the disc drive is not supported." Is this just because I don't have the latest/greatest OS on there? Also, while at CompUSA recently I saw http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&cmid=topnav&No=20&N=200487&product_code=311897&Pn=MacBurn. Would this make disc copying easier? I mean, copying DVDs wasn't tops on my list of things to do but I did pay for that. Right now I'd just be happy to burn a text file on this. Thanks.

[onehandle]

1. You have to have some sort of software to copy/duplicate any CD/DVD.

This is true on a Mac or a PC. There is a basic burning (not copying...I don't think) method built into Tiger (10.4), but I'm not sure about earlier Mac OSs.

The "MacBurn" software you linked to requires 10.3 or more, as most newer software does these days.

The best software out there to copy/produce discs is Toast Titanium.
http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/overview.html

[mrgorth]

3. That looks great

and I have no problem buying the sw. I'm just a little worried about whether my SD will be supported as right now it won't burn. A buddy of mine was supposed to hook me up with Tiger but it never came. Didn't know if I should hold out 'til Leopard at this point. Appreciate your thoughts.

[PBR me]

2. check this site...

http://www.patchburn.de/

dig around this site, i used this a few years back to make an external burner an "apple supported" drive.

sorry if it does not help.

[bullimiami]

4. i agree. get a copy of toast.

[mrgorth]

5. The guy at MacSolutions

said that Tiger might slow my machine to a crawl. Is this true?

[onehandle]

6. I have Tiger on my PowerBook G4 and it runs fine.

I run Final Cut Pro and Adobe CS 2 and other power-hungry apps.