" my PM G5 Dual2 came with a Sony DWU21A a relabled Liteon. (Overview of LiteOn/Sony DVD-Writers)
With a help of a PC I flashed it to a LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1653S Firmware CS0P.
Now the drive supports double layer DVD up to 4x +DL.
http://www.liteonit.com/global/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=26&Itemid=67
I haven't tested 4x +DL dvd yet - only 2.4x +DL.
In 10.4.6 the Liteon works flawlessly in Finder and Disk Utility. No need to use Pachburn. (unlike previous OS's, Tiger has basic iApps burn support for most any drive w/o needing a patchburn profile-Mike)
iDVD5.01 needs a patch to enable DL support. (same patch linked in the FAQ's DVD section in spring 2005 - iDVD 6 reportedly supports most DL drives without any patches, unlike iDVD 5.0x which only showed the 8GB Project option for "Apple Supported" drives unless patched)
I'm using the Liteon drive for 6 months without any problems.
happy computing JF "

" This is a great site and has helped me on more than one occasion. I recently bought a bare (no drive) IOGear BOSS (Broadband Office Storage System) from Computer Geeks and stuck an 80GB Seagate drive in it.
The BOSS is a combination router (10/100) and hard drive case that you can configure as a network storage device. The documentation states that it works with Windows 98SE, ME and XP. It also says that it will work with OS X (10.2 or greater) and can be set up for "Unix-like Platforms". It's configured by using Explorer 6.0 for the Windows people and Explorer 5.2 for OS X for Mac.

What I've found out is that it will work with OS 9 (yes I still use it occasionally) and Explorer 5.1. In fact that's how I configured it using the built in software on the BOSS.

It supports up to a 200GB drive and has a bunch of nice features. Check out IOGear's web-site BOSS product page for more information.
-Michael J. "

I wonder why it's limited to a 200GB Drive. (If the drive interface didn't have 48bit addressing it would be limited to 137GB drives. Unless it's a power supply limitation, but then the difference in power usage between some 200GB and 300GB or more drives may be small - but I've not checked the specs lately.)
Update - a reader replied to this post with a note/question on networked drive performance:

" Hi Mike, Recent comments about this product (the BOSS) from "Michael J." and my experience with one owned by a friend, prompted me to ask if "Michael J." found its network speed acceptable?
The one I used via a 100Mbps connection into several PCs and a 2HGz G5 was slow as smoke, not much faster than a 3Mbps DSL connection. My friend didn't have any utilities that would allow checking the IOGear BOSS's speed, so I can only give you the 3Mbps DSL analogy.
What is the real world speed of this networked drive via 100Mbps connections? IOGear's web site didn't state any performance numbers.
-Rod
(Retired, founder and president of the ASTEC Company, Inc.)"

I wrote Michael to ask about that and he replied:

" Yes, I'd have to say it's a tad slow (1.380952 MB/s). That's just a rough calculation based on transferring 1.16GB in approximately 14 minutes. (Info taken from finder transfer dialog box.)
Then again I'm using it on a small home network consisting of 4 desktop computers and occasionally my PB3400. Speed isn't really an issue for me. I'm more of a hobbyist than a power user.
-Michael J. "

• Apple iPod (video) U2 edition
• Mac Mini in DeLorean
• Tiger Cache Cleaner 3.1.5
• Remote Buddy 1.0 Preview (for Macs that ship with Apple's Remote (iMac Core Duo, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini (Intel version), iMac G5 iSight)
• Toshiba Unveils 200GB Laptop Drive (due to ship in August)
• College Students, buy a new Mac, get a free (2GB) iPod Nano (after rebate)
• Samsung rolls 7-inch display using single-chip technology (EETimes)
• I just bought your hard drive (MSNBC)
• COMPUTEX: BenQ Readies Blu-ray Disc Burner
• COMPUTEX: Intel to Launch Chip Offensive (new dual cores for desktops, notebooks and servers)
• Sony's Obsession with Proprietary Formats (slashdot)

DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• IDE Sony DWU21A (flashed with liteon firmware for DL support) in G5 Tower (OS X 10.4)
  (see copy of report in news above)
  
  DVD-ROM Drives:
• IDE Matsushita SR-8174 in (clamshell) iBook (OS X 10.3)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. you can send me a report for adding to the database.