Member Avatar for syeo98

I have a Powerbook G3 (WallStreet version) running OS 9.2 and am trying to burn some Photoshop files to CD. I have Toast Lite installed and a Lacie d2 CD-RW Drive. Whenver I connect my laptop to the CD-RW Drive and Launch Toast Lite I get that annoying little revolving black and white wheel (you know the little icon thingy that spins while your hard drive is thinking about what to do...) and the word in red at the bottom saying "scanning..." which I presume means trying to find the CD-RW. Unfortunately, this is all it does - it goes on until I can stand no more (usually 10-15 mins).
I've tried reinstalling Toast but that seems fine, changing the USB cables (they plug into a Belkin USB Bus Port mobile and I've even changed that) but still no luck.
Would be incredibily grateful for some wise words...
Thank you, thank you, thank you

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Dani AI

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Two likely causes stand out: the PowerBook is not enumerating the external recorder on its USB bus, or Toast/OS 9 lacks the right driver/recorder entry to talk to that particular external unit. is correct that older SCSI gear is not hot-swappable, but USB and FireWire devices normally are — the symptom of Toast sitting at "scanning..." usually means it never finds a usable recorder to present in the Recorder/Device menu.

Practical checks (in order):

  1. Verify the drive is fully powered and, if it has its own power supply, powered on before connecting.
  2. Bypass any hub: connect the drive directly to the PowerBook USB port (hubs can fail to pass through device descriptors).
  3. Confirm the PowerBook actually sees the device via Apple System Profiler (Hardware -> USB). If the recorder does not appear in the USB tree, the OS is not enumerating it.
  4. Try another simple USB device on the same PowerBook port (mouse/flash) to confirm the port works.
  5. Run Extensions Manager with a minimal set (no third-party USB/SCSI/serial extensions) and reboot; some old extensions block USB device drivers.
  6. Check Toast's Recorder menu and preferences for alternative recorder listings and make sure the Toast version is compatible with Mac OS 9 and external burners.

Notes and cautions: external optical drives sometimes offer both FireWire and USB — FireWire often behaves better on classic Macs, so prefer FireWire if available. If System Profiler shows a generic "unknown USB device" the vendor/product strings give a clue — that points to a driver/compatibility problem rather than a bad cable or drive. Do not hot-swap SCSI devices, and back up before changing system extensions or updating system software.

If the iMac already recognizes the drive, the hardware is probably fine; the fix will be on the PowerBook side (USB enumeration, driver/extension conflict, or Toast/recorder compatibility).

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

Has this configuration worked for you in the past, or is this a brand new installation?

This is also SCSI... wondering if you are powering the laptop off properly before hooking all the cables up. SCSI is not hot-swap like USB/Firewire.

Christian

Member Avatar for syeo98

Hello,

Has this configuration worked for you in the past, or is this a brand new installation?

This is also SCSI... wondering if you are powering the laptop off properly before hooking all the cables up. SCSI is not hot-swap like USB/Firewire.

Christian

Thanks for getting back. No this is an entirely new configuration...to explain: I have my own desktop imac OSX which connects beautifully with the very same CD-RW. The laptop described earlier was bought second hand off ebay 2 years ago and works a treat. However, this is the first time I've tried to hook it up to a CD-RW, Printer or any other peripheral. Could you explain about SCSI? I can connect a SCSI to the laptop as well but the CD-RW is only USB based (I think - it's at home, I'm at work)

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