"Just bought a Pioneer 205BK (Firmware v1.03) and installed it in my Mac Pro (2009). I'm seeing the sleepy drive problem. Doesn't seem to be related to the Energy Saver "drive sleep" settings, nor to a clash with the existing SuperDrive.
The drive worked fine for a while, then ejecting a disk in the drive failed; it had fallen asleep. The Eject menubar widget hung when pressed. A Terminal command: "drutil tray eject 2", eventually unhung the system but the drive stayed missing in System Profiler, even after a restart.
Next, I tried disconnecting the stock drive and leaving just the Pioneer connected. It appeared and worked for a time, but eventually fell off too.
Now, they're both back connected. While the machine seems OK and both drives eject and function appropriately, I expect the Pioneer to eventually become unresponsive. After last time this happened, a shut down and restart brought them both back. I can live with an occasional restart when I need to use Blu-Ray, so it's probably not going to be returned, at least for now. It's much faster at ripping DVDs than the stock drive.

Happy to do tests to help out. Might try switching the two drives in the chain as a quick test, but the cable is short and I'd have to physically swap the drives. :)
Finally, if it helps narrow anything down, I've seen very similar problems with a Samsung hard drive installed. The drive would fall asleep and not wake up, locking the system. Returned that for a WD and all is good. At least this drive doesn't kill the system when it sleeps.
Cheers, Iain"

The old FAQ item on this issue (going back many years) had some other old tips (including a 'no sleep' script and some have used "drive tickler" type scripts that are used to periodically access drives to prevent them from sleeping). Personally I'd prefer to have a drive that doesn't have this issue of course.
(FYI See Monday's news for Lain's follow-up including an applescript he used to periodically access the drive to prevent it from going to sleep.)

And we have finally have stock again on most 7447 and 7448 NewerTech Processor Upgrades, as well as PowerLogix models for the Cube. All models AOK for up to Apple OS 10.5.8. (Apple dropped PPC support with 10.6 and nothing to get around that.) We have 1 left of the Apple MacBook Pro 17in Deals in stock at $2949, $200 off AppleÃs normal:

And one left of the Apple factory configured/latest model (new/open box) MacBook Pro 17" 2.8GHz, 500GB 7200RPM HD/8GB RAM/SuperDrive. No sales tax outside of Illinois.

Free shipping on all orders from OWC of $150.00 or more. Pretty much the entire continental USA still gets delivered ground by Christmas Eve if the order is placed/shipped today. Have special air discounted rates that will help last minuters come next week. And don't forget, order $100 ore more and add Xlr8YourMac T-shirt free. Need Gift ideas? 190+ Holiday Specials listed here from $3.75 and up to 75% off normal. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

"I know that the SuperDrive firmware came out around the 8th, but I thought it was noted just for Matsushita drives.
(Apple didn't note what specific drive model(s) it was for, I think he was just referring to my post/FYI.)
I just got the update (today) for my Macbook pro (Unibody, late 2008)... mine is a HL-DT-ST DVDRW Model GS21N. Now updated to SA18.
-Ed S."

I asked if he remembered what the firmware version was before the update. (And assume it stopped the drive clicking/noise after waking from sleep. Update doc also noted boot noise fix, but as most have noted, there's still some (low-volume) noise at boot. Perhaps normal drive seek/check for media.)

"I wanted to share with you a discovery that makes it easy to power down accessory devices such as monitors, printers, sound system components etc. when you either shut down or put your computer to sleep.

The Craftsman Auto Switch senses when your computer is in a low or no-power mode and shuts off power to anything plugged into the two additional outlets. $20 at Sears.
-Larry K."

BTW - with my Safari settings that link didn't work (repeatedly redirecting) but did work in FF (where I have cookies, etc enabled - but set to clear on exit). There's 10 reviews of the product there (with the usual mix of good and bad experiences).
FYI - I might use one of these on something like a TV (to power off DVD player, receiver, etc. when TV in standby), but there's some devices used with computers that I would not want connected to those outlets - such as ext drives I have mounted (my ministack already sleeps and wakes its HD when I sleep/wake the iMac it's connected to) and my printer - which goes though a long/noisy initialization at powerup. As often as I sleep/wake the main work machine, I'd never want my printer going through that every time I wake the mac (dozens of times a day). And I've seen the mac wake from sleep if some connected devices (especially USB) are power cycled when in sleep. I asked Larry about that and he later replied:

"Hi Mike, I first started to use this to power-off my dual monitors since the switches were hard to reach. I have one on my wife's computer because she so often forgets to power-off the printer.
You're right though, when I tried using it to power down a Seagate usb hard drive when sleeping the computer the computer cycled back on. (That's what I thought may happen and again I'd not want to connect my ext HDs nor my printer to one of these.-Mike)
My sound system is switched off when I sleep the machine.
But it depends how the each device's internal switch works. The monitors once switched on stayed switched on, but the sound system once de-powered has to be switched back on manually after system sleep.
-Larry"

I prefer a manual method (for years using switched outlet strips) and back in the 90's bought one of those bases (for CRT displays back then) that has a row of power switches to power on/off various devices (main, computer, printer, etc.). And I mentioned earlier this year had I bought a Belkin Conserve that has 2 always on outlets and either 6 or 8 (depending on model) outlets that can be switched on/off with an included remote control. (Mine is the 8 outlet model, bought at local store as "last one" for $29.xx IIRC.) As I mentioned in that earlier post, some had reported the remote had failed after some use, although mine is still working (and is a different PN remote than original models IIRC - not sure if they changed the design/improved it).
Although I also have a DVD player, Receiver, etc. on the switched outlets, one of the main reasons I bought mine was for the Apple TV, which has no off switch and (based on a post on the Apple TV page when they first shipped) draws 25 to 28 Watts in 'standby' mode. Some may feel that's not a good thing to switch off power to the AppleTV, but I'd been doing that since day 1 (years now). YMMV.

• Promise VTrak: Configuring for optimal performance
• Mac mini: Power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information
• Xsan 2: Switching a controller's metadata Ethernet interface
• iPhone and iPod touch: Songs or other audio content are skipped during playback
• iMovie '08 or later: Cannot see or control camera
• iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS: Troubleshooting MMS
• How to back up MobileMe data
• Managed Client: How to flush cached settings
• OS X Server v10.6: Disable slapd fullsync mode to decrease import time for Open Directory
• OS X Server v10.6: Microsoft Outlook clients may not be able to send mail
• OS X Server v10.6: Configuring the Mail service so Mailman can support virtual domains
• Troubleshooting iPhone and iPod touch accessories
• OS X v10.6: Mac 101 - The Dock, Dock Exposé, and Stacks
• Mac 101: Customize the Dock
• Mac 101: File sharing
• OS X v10.6: Mac 101 - Finder and the desktop
• Mac 101: iSync
• OS X v10.6: Mac 101 - Printing
• OS X 10.4, 10.5: How to change the behavior of function keys
• Using Network Diagnostics to troubleshoot iTunes store connection issues (for windows)

• 10 Things You Need to Know About Arrandale (Intel's newest mobile processors, likely to be used in the next MacBook Pro)
• Intel Unveils 32-NM Chips - A total of 17 CPUs, along with three new chipsets and seven microprocessors providing Wi-Fi and WiMax support will be available early next year
• 8 Cool iPod Cases
• Psystar Slowly Being Erased from History cloner's site is gone, taking Rebel EFI down with it (site was later back up. And this article says Psystar denies shutting down for good)
  
  Misc. Software/App Updates: (some I missed yesterday)
• Adobe Lightroom 2.6
• Google Chrome 4.0.249.43 (beta)
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1.51.66 (beta)
• Your top 10 free games of 2009
• Coladia Chrismas offer: Buy 2 games - Get 1 Free
  
  iPhone/Touch Apps/Game Updates/Sales
• Global Delight releases Camera Plus Pro, a feature-rich camera app for the iPhone ($1.99)
• Stanza v2.0: The iPhone's Best E-Reader Just Got Better
• Woo-hoo! Simpsons Arcade game coming to iPhone
• Freeverse Flexes its Muscles with Thor, Coming Soon to the Apple App Store
  
  Other/Misc:
• 3D Blu-Ray Specs Finalized, But What About Your Gear?
• Left 4 Dead Update Released
• Deja vu: Hands-on with 'Dante's Inferno' demo