Apple Kbase Doc on A/V Sync Issues: *Update* - on June 3rd 2003 Apple released QT 6.3 and iMovie 3.0.3. The Apple Kbase doc on the A/V sync issue has now been changed to note that iMovie 3.0.3 solves the A/V sync issues . (Note - past discussions here on this issue mentioned 12bit audio as the cause with a link to the above Kbase doc, but a reader said that Apple has a different kbase doc on 12bit audio sync issues that has not been revised to show iMovie 3.0.3/QT 6.3 as a fix. If anyone can report if iMovie 3.0.3 and QT 6.3 solve the 12bit audio sync, let me know.) iMovie 3.0.3 is available via OS X's Software Update or at http://www.apple.com/imovie/download/. QT 6.3 is available via software updates or at Apple's Quicktime page. (Note - although one reader said iMovie 3.0.3/QT 6.3 solved his A/V Sync issues, two readers with 12bit audio in the movie said that these updates don't fix that problem. See the Apple kbase doc for info/tips.)

(Previous info from the April 25th, 2003 www.xlr8yourmac.com news page) Several readers have noted they had an audio sync problem in iMovie3 or iDVD - one reader sent a tip:

" Apple has a KBase article addressing this (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42974). Assuming the audio was 16-bit and not 12-bit, the quickest workaround is to extract the audio from the clips in iMovie3 before exporting to iDVD3.
Alan S. "

Another reader's comments:

"Mike,
Regarding the audio synch problem in iMovie/iDVD, I've fought this for some time and I can tell you that is almost certainly revolves around folks mixing 12-bit and 16-bit audio sources in their iMovies (and probably not even realizing that they are doing it). In short, if you export an entire finished movie to a camcorder set to record audio at 16-bit, then re-import the footage, the problem goes away. Apple's technical article describes this process, but it's a problem with the Quicktime component responsible for the MPEG encoding. Hope this info helps.
Steve"

Another reader also noted:

"I have audio sync problems on all the stuff I've done once I moved to iMovie3 & iDVD3. To work around these problems instead of exporting to iDVD from iMovie, I must pick Export from File menu in iMovie, then pick from pull down "To Quicktime", next dialog from pull down pick "movie, selfcontained". I've been doing about an hour of video (per DVD) this way and have had no audio sync trouble.
Ryan S"

(Previous feedback from February 2003 follows) Notes on 10.2.4: For those that missed the main site news pages after 10.2.4 was released, there were many reports from Superdrive/MDD owners that their superdrives were not recognized after the update if they were set as a Slave drive. (If set to Cable Select, the lower bay is set to Slave automatically). For 10.2.4, you should have the Superdrive set to Master.

This page has accumulated reports from owners of iLife/iDVD3 regarding installations on systems that do not have an OEM (shipped from Apple) Superdrive. The first report was from a retail Pioneer DVR-105 (aka latest 4x "superdrive") that had no previous iDVD version installed and noted no problems. There have been some problems reported, but some tips are included in those reports. (such as copying the installer to the hard drive and also running repair permissions from disk utility is recommended after the install - may not fix all problems, but some noted it did.)
Owners of the MDD Towers with retail superdrives seem to have the most common problems. (But see tips noted in their reports, such as this one.)

NOTE: iDVD3 still requires a G4 CPU: Some G3 mac owners didn't realize this, but iDVD3 like the previous version require a G4 CPU to run. (G4 upgrades are an option for those with G3 or older CPUs.)

Tips for MDD System (or other) Install Problems w/retail drives:
I wish I knew why some Mirror Drive Door system owners with retail drives were able to install iDVD3 with a retail 'superdrive' and not others. For instance there's two reader reports below with similar MDD 867's - both had retail DVR-105 drives - one was able to install the iDVD3 pkg file from the hard drive while the other not. Both had the drive as the lower (slave) drive which I would have thought the upper (master) position would have been preferred, but why it worked for some and not others is strange. Copying the iDVD pkg file to the hard drive is first thing to try however - as it has worked for some owners that had the 'not an apple superdrive' error. (Do a 'show original' from the Finder menu on the "install" icon at the root of the iLife DVD - the individual installer/pkg files are in the "packages" folder that reveals.) Here are quick-links to MDD/Retail DVR-105 owner reports that noted success - here and here. Most, but not all of other system reports noted they were able to install it/run it with a retail drive. I'd think having the superdrive as the master (top/end of cable drive in MDD macs) would be preferred. The other option for these problem installs would be to edit the installer to remove a configuration check (that was done with some past installers, but no reports of that yet on iDVD3).

iDVD3 "already exists" Error:
My iLife order just arrived, and on a MDD G4 dual 1GHz w/Apple shipped DVR-104 drive (A227 apple firmware) when I tried to install only the iDVD pkg separately (since I had already installed iMovie3.01 and iPhoto2.0 from Software Update) - I get the same error message as another MDD owner reported below but he had a retail superdrive. (I didn't get this error running the iDVD.pkg file on another mac in 10.1.5.) This has to be some sort of installer bug. Here's the dialog error message:

"a newer version of "iDVD3" (version 0.0.0.2.232) already exists on volume "(diskname)" "

There is no iDVD3 installed on the drive of course (only iMovie3.01 and iPhoto2 from software updates) anywhere on the system/drive. I then copied the iDVD package file to the hard drive and tried again - same error message. Then I tried again, this time just running the root level CD installer. That resulted in iDVD3 installing. (I then rebooted and ran disk utility's repair permissions.) (Note: On reader "Chris" that reported this error below, later wrote that he "deleted a couple of iDVD 2 files in my Library->Prefs" and that solved the problem. I didn't need to do that on this MDD system however which had iDVD2.1 installed.)
On the MDD system that had iDVD2.1's icon in the doc, it did not update the doc's icon, I had to drag off the iDVD(2.1) icon and drag iDVD3's icon there. I've not burned with iDVD3 yet, but it runs. (I've not yet tried it on other systems - just posting this as a note for those that saw the 'iDVD3 exists' error when trying to install only the iDVD3 package on some systems.)
Note: I didn't have any problem installing the iDVD.pkg file from the hard drive of another Mac running OS X 10.1.5. (The installer DVD disc was not in a retail Superdrive at the time of running the pkg installer file off the hard drive, if that matters.) Not sure why this problem happened on the MDD model.
Also as a FYI - when I tried installing the DVD (iDVD3) CD version with a Firewire DVR-104 drive, I received the expected error/note that it required an apple superdrive. (For those that were lucky enough to get the "external drive enabler" OWC shipped for a very short time last summer, iDVD3 seems to run fine with that enabler in 10.1.5.)

Reader Reports on iDVD3: (most recent first)

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hi Mike,
Just wanted to let you know that iDVD 3 worked just fine for me on install and run with a Pioneer DVR-105 in my B&W G3 450 that has a Powerlogix G4 550mhz processor upgrade in it. No problems at all.

Thanks to the wonderful info on your site, about two weeks ago I took my Ôol B&W workhorse and retrofitted it with the Powerlogix processor, the Pioneer DVR-105 Drive, an SIIG ATA 133 Raid using two Western Digital 120GB Special Edition Drives, and an ATI Radeon 7000. It is like a new machine for using Jaguar and Final Cut Pro! This machine will probably last me another two years now at least before I have to buy a new PowerMac!

I couldnÕt have done it without your amazing site. IÕm just going to ride these upgrades for another week or so to ensure that there are no problems, and then IÕll gladly add my reports to your databases.

Incidentally, I ordered all but one component through OWC to support the site, but I was surprised to see that you had no PayPal link on your site. I am sure that many readers (myself included) would be glad to make contributions in this way. IÕm sure you are familiar with the rush of satisfaction a Mac-head feels when theyÕve just successfully upgraded some components in their older Mac; why not add a PayPal link on your site so that a person can deposit their thanks in the basket on their way back to the xlr8yourmac forums or drive databases? ... Thanks again for the wonderful site-
Joe S. "

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hey I just got iDVD 3 installed on my G4 400, works fine except that it crashes whenever I try to burn my DVD-RW disc. Did Apple remove support for this? Has anybody else had problems with this?
-Richard "

I asked what model/drive firmware he had and if he had DVD-R disc to try to see if it's the media/brand that is causing the problem (or if it happens with DVD-R discs also). Two other reports here noted using DVD-RW discs with iDVD3, but there's also been some reports in general about DVR-105 drives having problems in general with some brands of DVD recordable media (1.21 firmware update didn't seem to solve that for all brands of low-cost media based on a Dec. 2002 news page report from a reader.)

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hello,
I have a beige g3 upgraded with a g4/533 ZIF, 768MB ram, with a CenDyne-branded pioneer 105. The drive is functioning in every other app. I'm just having problems with iDVD. My install mirrored everybody else (copying installer to harddrive), but even after repairing permissions, I still experience iDVD acting like in previous reports on 2/3/2002 where iDVD loads, displays the menu bar, but does not display a new project window or the tutorial. Any ideas?
Matt "

I asked if he was running QT 6.1 (not a requirement listed on the iDVD3 page, but just curious if it would matter). In the past I think some noted repairing permissions helped (it corrects a lot of iphoto2/imovie3 files), but not sure if it's a solution for matt.

(added 2/6/2003)
" G4 400mhz 1.12 GB's Ram System 10.2.3 I Installed an internal Pioneer A05U. Tried friends iDVD 2.1 and worked fine. Ordered iLife and installed all programs from the DVD. These programs are complete, not updates. iDVD 3 went in perfect and I have burned 2 DVD-RW's and played them in a Sony DVD player and they work perfect.
Kory "

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hopefully this will be a beacon of hope-
I have the worst luck with computers, but I managed to install a DVR-105 and iDVD3into a G4/Dual 450 with no issues at all. I was running 10.1.5, with a regular DVD-ROM in the bay. I had no previous version of iDVD, this may have helped. Did a test burn with a DVD-RW, and it worked perfectly! Using the directions I found on this site, I did the following in this order-
-Upgraded to Jaguar
-Installed the DVR-105
-Installed iLife
and iDVD worked like a charm, the first time. I had no issues whatsoever, other than after installing both pieces of software (iLife and Jaguar), I had to restart during the restart.
G4 Gigabit Ethernet, Dual 450MHz G4s
10.2.3, 384 MB, 150GB
DVR-105 with 1.0 firmware.
Dylan M. "

(added 2/6/2003)
" System: B&W G3 with G4/400 ZIF upgrade, 768MB Ram, OS X 10.2.3, DVR-104 DVD-RW drive replaced original DVD-ROM drive. (ATI video card has hardware MPEG decoder in case anyone cares)

I was short on HD space, so I deleted iDVD 2 before installing.
Install went smoothly and I burned a DVD from an existing iDVD 2 project. The only glitch was that the buttons and titles on some of the menus were incorrectly placed and or sized.

The pre-burn rendering seemed to take an inordinately long time, though. After about 2 hours, it was still in "step 2" and the progress bar was at about 50%. When I woke up in the morning, though, the DVD was burned and worked in my Sony DVD player.
I hope to get time to play with the chaptering this weekend!
Thanks for hosting the best Mac info site on the web!!!
Eric S. "

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hi, installed iLife on my old G4 450 AGP , no problems at all. Even iMovie seems to behave now.
Just one little point thou, I cant ever remember iDVD 1/2 being able to write to DVD-RW, because 3.0 does.
Did anybody else try this ?
Gordon M.
The drive is a retail DVR-103 firmware 2.0 "

I've never bought any DVD-RW discs to try personally, but there's another report above (Dylan's) that noted using DVD-RWs.

(added 2/6/2003)
" Hi, I have a 733 MHz (2001) QuickSilver Model (M8493), 640MB, OSX 10.2.3 with a Cendyne DVR-105 (1.21). The DVR-105 was purchased from Staples at a very good price (with rebates). Note: previous versions of iDVD were never installed. Installation of iLife and burning a slide show on a DVD took about 1hr. I imported 84 30-54Mb tif files into iPhoto, arranged the order, added a sound track, clicked on the iDVD icon on the bottom, added a style and burned the DVD (Maxell DVD-R #635020). I did not fuse with it the settings and used default because I was anxious to see the quality of the images on TV. To my pleasure the quality of the DVD slide show and sound track was great. However, the preview of the slide show in iDVD was not smooth and sound track went in and out.
Joe
(I asked if he had QT 6.1 installed)
Yes, QT 6.1 Pro. "

(added 2/4/2003)
" I just wanted to submit this email about installing Apple's iLife software...
I can't remember the last time I was so frustrated! At first, I was so excited to receive my iLife software (after waiting almost 2 weeks because of Apple's delay in releasing the software). But my excitement instantly turned into disappointment, frustration, and anger when I learned that I can't even install it in my brand-new Powermac G4 (dual 867). I have the Pioneer DVR-105 superdrive (which I purchased and added myself after I bought the computer). The stupid iLife software will NOT INSTALL because it doesn't see an OEM superdrive (one that was originally part of the computer when I bought it).

Now what frustrates me is that I PAID the $49 for iLife, I HAVE a Powermac G4, and I HAVE a Pioneer superdrive. But what it boils down to is that this stupid software doesn't LIKE the fact that I didn't buy my superdrive from Apple. I searched around the internet for almost an hour to try and find a work-around to install this, and couldn't find anything. I am furious!!!!!!!

I was able to download and install the iPhoto and iMovie updates (which are a huge disappointment, by the way) but I bought iLife so I could get iDVD 3. So I just wasted $49 because the install DVD is too picky with my system, and can't even see that I *DO* have a Pioneer superdrive!!!
Sincerely,
Steve C "

I don't know how he missed the past posts here on that tip, (as far back as Friday) - but he later wrote that the original tip on copying the iDVD package file to the hard drive worked.

(added 2/4/2003)
" Hi Mike,
I bought and installed my copy of iLife last Friday. I have a Power Tower Pro w/Sonnet G4 800, 1GB RAM, and internally installed Pioneer DVR-104 (still v. 1.30 firmware) that is attached to a Sonnet Tempo ATA/100 card. I have been able to run iDVD 2.1 with this because the Sonnet card reports that the drive is an ATAPI device, enabling it to pass iDVD's hardware check.

I initially tried to install just iMovie and iPhoto from the included CD, but the CD performs a hardware check and a message popped up on my screen saying there was a superdrive detected and prompted me to insert the DVD instead. I inserted the DVD and proceeded without incident through the rest of the install without incident.

iDVD and iPhoto are great improvements and I love them. I wish I could say the same for iMovie. It is very slow. I have the same playback and audio dropout problems reported on Macfixit and Macintouch, as well as the Apple discussion boards. (Note: the first report here the day iMovie3 was released also noted that problem (first report at the bottom of the iMovie3/iPhoto2 feedback page from Jan 31st), as well as some other reports, although not all. One reader that had the sync problem later sent a tip that solved the problem he said.-Mike)
Until yesterday I thought it was probably just my system but apparently it is a widespread problem. I reinstalled iMovie 2 from my Jaguar CD and will continue with the project I had put on hold when iLife was announced. Hopefully, Apple will fix iMovie soon and I can use to export my project to iDVD.
Marcus
Power Tower Pro 225
Sonnet G4 800 1MB L3
Sonnet Tempo ATA/100 IDE card
1GB RAM
MacOS X 10.2.3 (Jaguar) "

Note that some makes/models of IDE cards do not have good support for ATAPI (CD/CDRW/DVD-R, etc.) drives.

This report has some tips for Final Cut Pro exports.

(added 2/4/2003)
" I have been playing with iDVD 3 alot since I got it....and I finally figured out how to get chapter markers into iDVD directly from Final Cut Pro.
Though it doesn't say it is supported, you can export from Final Cut Pro with both compression and Chapter markers. You export as a Final cut pro movie and make sure the bottom choice bar called "markers" is set to "all". This is of course if you've gone through and inserted markers already by hitting "m" twice in the timeline and labeling appropiately and hitting "chapter marker" in the pop up menu...you then simply drag the final cut pro movie into the iDVD window and it AUTOMATICALLY creates a "scene selection" folder which retains all of the CHAPTER NAMES from Final Cut Pro! IT IS AWESOME! I cannot tell you how much time this saves me.....Authoring in DVD studio Pro is no walk in the park and very time-intensive...so the be able to just drag into iDVD3 to do a quick and dirty chapter indented DVD is FANTASTIC!!!!!
I hope this helps any readers out there...
BTW iMOVIE3 wouldn't accept my 82 minute edited movie with chapters....hence why I had to do it in Final Cut Pro....is there a file size limit on that simple program??
Thanks
Travis "

I think it may have a 2GB limit, I could not import a large DV file into iMovie2 in the past (I think it was over 2GB).

(added 2/4/2003)
" Mike,
Here's my experience:

• Yikes G4 with a 550 MHz ZIF
• ATI Radeon
• Acard ATA/133
• Pioneer DR-105 Superdrive on internal IDE bus

I ordered iLife, but while I waited for it to arrive, I downloaded and installed the iMovie 3 and iPhoto 3 updates. I also installed a copy of iDVD 2.1, based on reports that it was necessary to have an earlier version on the hard drive before I could install the 3.0 version.

Well, iLife arrived today, and version 3.0 of iDVD installed without a hitch, no questions asked (except the standard ones). It runs fine, and it opened an existing iDVD project without complaint. I haven't burned a DVD yet, but I don't see why that shouldn't work. Everything looks fine.

Also, I'll add a drive report to the database on the addition of my Superdrive and the placement of my old Combo drive in an external firewire case (both were installed without a hitch, thanks to AccelerateYourMac.com).
Thanks for the invaluable site,
Steve "

I wish I knew why some MDD mac models with retail superdrives seem to get the "not an apple superdrive" installer error... (reports like Chris's below - retail DVR-105 drive in MDD mac - but see the next report that notes a lower bay/slave drive setup worked. Update - Chris later reported he was able to get the iDVD.pkg file to run from the HD, after he deleted some old iDVD2 related files. Not sure why that was required though.)

(added 2/4/2003)
" I have a dual 867 MDD with a Pioneer DVR-105 installed in the lower bay. The system profiler states it's revision number is 1.00. Just recently purchased it. My DVR-105 is set to cable select I believe. (if it was set to cable select and in the lower bay, then it would be set to "slave".-Mike)

I too had the same problems, tried copying the iDVD install package to my hard drive, after trashing iDVD2, installer started, but said previous version of iDVD3 already existed.

I re-installed iTunes 3 from the CD, which required a system restart. When it rebooted, I tried the the iDVD package on my hard drive once again, and it installed fine. It also opened fine. Haven't tried burning anything yet though.

The key seems to be copying the iDVD package to your hard drive and restarting your machine. Not sure why it worked, but it seems to have.
Jeremy P. "

I suggested this to Chris (MDD mac w/105 drive, but I suspect his may be set to Master/Top CD bay). He said that rebooting and running the pkg file from the hard drive didn't help. I asked if he could try the drive in the lower bay/CS mode (which makes the 2nd drive a slave). Update - Chris later reported he was able to get the iDVD.pkg file to run from the HD, after he deleted some old iDVD2 related files. Not sure why that was required though.

(added 2/3/2003)
" I have a G4 400mhz Yikes! system with 640 megs of ram and a cendyne 105 DVD-R/RW internal drive.
I installed iLife off the DVD with no problem, however upon burning a DVD it would hang with "about one minute" left.
So, I defragged my HD, turned off any and all drive sleeping (old superdrive tip here-Mike) and now it burns DVDs without a problem.
Thanks,
Chris B "

(added 2/3/2003)
" Retail drive install success!
I have a B+W G3 (upgraded with a G4 450) running OS X 10.2.3 with an internal retail Pioneer DVR-104, and I installed iDVD 3 (and the rest of the applications) from the iLife install DVD without a problem.

I had iDVD 2 previously installed. I just ran the installation from the DVD as normal, and it worked. I haven't repaired permissions or anything else special. I just had to restart after the 15 minute install (for all 4 applications together), and iDVD launched and loaded an existing iDVD project.

Positioning of some of my menu buttons was a bit messed up, but moved them back into position and saved the project without a problem. I haven't got to burn a project to DVD yet, but so far so good. Also worth mentioning, both iDVD 3 and iMovie 3 are quite slow on my system, noticeably slower then the previous versions. But I can live with that.

Just a note in case it's important: I'm in Ireland, so my system software, and I assume iLife, is the International English version. I got the DVR-104 from OWC, so it came from the US.
Full specifications:
B+W G3 upgraded with 450 MHz G4
OS X 10.2.3
Retail Pioneer DVR-104 (replacing the original DVD drive), upgraded with Pioneer's firmware version 1.33
Memory: 512 MB
System Disk: Maxtor 40GB
Regards,
Peter C.
Dublin "

Another report w/similar tip as earlier reports from Friday here for those with problems:

(added 2/3/2003)
" I installed iLife on my Dual 867MDD. It has a second optical drive (DVR-105) build-in.

When trying to run the installer from the installer DVD it quit with an error message that no Apple Superdrive was found and suggested to continue installation from the other installer CD that came with the package but does not contain of iDVD3.

I looked at the invisible files on the DVD (Tinker-Tool) (actually you don't need any utility - just do a 'show original' on the root DVD's 'install' icon/alias from the Finder's file menu, then look in the "Packages" folder. -Mike) and finally found separate installer pkgs for all four iApps. I installed all of them one by one without any problem. After installation of iDVD3 (which I installed last) I tried to run it but failed with a 'hardware not supported' type of error. Then, I repaired the disk permissions and re-booted the system. Since the re-start, iDVD3 is up and running and does recognize my DVD burner.
Good luck
Tom "

(added 2/3/2003)
" sawtooth g4 with pl 1ghz single proc upgrade ati 8500
put a DVR -104 with latest firmware 1.33 (updated booting into 9)
idvd 2 worked fine (eval copy from a friend)
ilife 3 dvd updater worked without a hitch.
Michael V. "

(added 2/3/2003)
" Just wanted to report success installing iLife (including iDVD 3.0) with a retail Pioneer (CenDyne box).

G4/400Mhz (AGP Graphite)
OSX 10.2 & OS 9.2.2 (separate partitions)
1GB RAM
CenDyne boxed Pioneer)
DVR-104 Drive (Revision 1.3)
Previous iDVD installation (version 1.0)

One little quirk: after doing the install (with 104 installed on the internal IDE chain) and then restarting; iDVD 3.0 wouldn't start because "it lacked necessary hardware." Tried several times, same result, powered down and walked away disappointed. Came back after six hours and restarted program, and lo and behold, iDVD recognized the DVR-104 drive and seems to run. Haven't tried burning with iDVD 3.0, but can't wait. iDVD 1.0 burns went fine before on same setup.
Keep up good work.
Alfonse "

(added 2/3/2003)
" I have a G4 400 with a DVR - 104 and have burned 2 DVD's with no problems... the IDVD program is really slow though.
BTW my computer would crash bad with iDVD 3 until I repaired permissions.
Stewart V. "

(added 2/3/2003)
" Hey,
I have a DVR-105 (Cendyne retail box) drive in a 867 DDR machine, and I get the following message when I try to install iDVD 3. To get to this point I had to find the invisible installer file, which worked fine, but I can't get past this point in the install process. Any ideas? I do have iDVD 2 installed on this machine.
Chris

(The Dialog screenshot he sent says:

"a newer version of "iDVD3" (version 0.0.0.2.232) already exists on volume " "

Chris later wrote)
YES!!! I finally got it. I did another Find for any iDVD file and found I had overlooked a couple of iDVD 2 files in my Library->Prefs. Trashed them, and now iDVD will install without the "previous version" message. I still don't know if it will run/burn (it's installing now) but I'm just stoked to get past that blasted message.
Chris

Update - my iLife just arrived - and on a MDD G4 dual 1GHz w/Apple shipped DVR-104 drive (A227 apple firmware) I get the same error message as above if trying to install just the iDVD.pkg, on a system that already has iPhoto2/iMovie3 installed. Running the root level CD installer worked however as I noted in the update above.

(added 2/3/2003)
" I installed iDVD3 on a G4/450 that has been upgraded to a dual 500, running 10.2.3. pioneer retail A03 with the 2.00 firmware installed.
There are no problems, it runs great.

However, iMovie3 (v 3.0.1) seems to have a problem with an Analog-to-Digital bridge box -- all imported streams have a pulsating, loud, audio embedded within them. Building a movie from sill photos does not have this problem, nor does iMovie2 with the exact same hardware/software environment....
marc t. "

A reader's follow-up to his earlier problem report trying a a normal install:

(added 2/3/2003)
" Hi Mike,
I successfully installed iLife by doing the following:

1. Use the "Install CD" to install the iTunes 3, iPhoto 2, and iMovie 3 applications.

2. Load the "Install DVD". Select the "Install" alias and choose the menu pick "File -> Show Original". This will reveal the hidden directories. Open the "Packages" folder and you'll see all the .pkg files for each iApp. Double-click the iDVD.pkg and the installer starts up without any problem.

3. Re-start. Run Disk Utility to fix permissions. It fixes quite a few.

4. One of the Read Me files says to launch each iApp in the following order: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. I did so and all seems fine. I was able to open my previously saved projects.

Note that you can probably bypass step one and go directly to step two. If you do I'd recommend that you install the pkgs in the order mentioned above: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and finally iDVD.
Cheers,
Bill
(his original mail/problem report follows:)
Hi Mike,
I have a one month old MDD 867 running 10.2.3 into which I installed a DVR-105 (in the lower bay). (Note - that makes the drive a slave - iDVD3 may look for a "master" drive.-Mike) It was recognized immediately by the system and iDVD2 has been working fine with it. I received my iLife package from Apple today. It contains a DVD with an all-four-iApps installer and a CD with just an iTunes-iMovie-iPhoto installer. However, when I try to install iLife from the DVD it says "Please use the other disc. Please use the Install CD to install this software. This DVD requires an Apple SuperDrive (DVD burning drive)." So my out-of-box experience with iLife is a failure at the moment. I spent some time scanning through the DVD using terminal looking for the installer scripts, but I couldn't immediately find the script that's checking for a SuperDrive. Anyway, I'll send my complaint to Apple, but I'll also try the "copy DVD to hard drive" trick reported by Alex. I'll let you know how it works.
Cheers,
Bill "

(added 2/3/2003)
" Hi Mike:
No Joy here! my iDVD 3 DOES NOT work, it opens OK, but will not open a project window!
I have:
G4 (sawtooth 400 mghz)
576 mg RAM
DVR-104 (firmware upgraded to 1.33)
OS X 10.2.3 (6G30)

I had iDVD 2 and it worked fine.
I have tried to install twice. Run disk first aid off install, and fixed permissions.

I'm out of ideas, do you have any suggestions?
Chris G "

(added 2/3/2003)
" OK, I'm stumped (and very envious of others)
No luck with iDVD3 on my system.
The app launches but doesn't show a window in which to put together the DVD. The same happens when I launch the tutorial. I get an iDVD3 menu across the top and that's it. No problems previously with IDVD2.

G4 Dual 500
1GB RAM
OSX 10.2.3
DVR-103 with firmware 1.90

I've tried erasing all remnants of prior iDVD's. That didn't do it.
I'm thinking it might have something to do with the graphics card combo (though I'm grasping at straws at this point). I have a ATI Rage 128 Pro that came with the machine and I added another ATI 32mb. (Dual monitor setup).
Look forward to seeing additional clues on the site. Maybe somebody else with a similar combo hit the problem and found a work around.
TK
I suggested the tips noted here Friday, repair permissions, etc. and he later wrote)
Well, I'm up and running again. MY whole iLife is now functioning smoothly. Maybe it was the permissions. I'm still leaning toward a software conflict of some kind but I can't find it.
Thanks for the site. "

(Copy of the Jan. 31st, 2003 news page reports follow)
An older Dual G4/450 owner with retail Pioneer DVR-105 drive and no previous iDVD install noted his iLife/iDVD3 install went fine and is working OK. (see first report.) I've received two other reports since then, one from a DVR-103 (pulled from a FW case) that noted all OK, but a retail DVR-104 owner with MDD dual 867 noted he had problems but found a solution. (Update - later there have been more mixed reports from MDD owners with DVR-105 drives also - see above.)

" Mike,
I pulled the 103 (Pioneer DVR-103) unit out of an old Cyclone DVD Revo FireWire DVD-RW that I was not using & installed it into my G4 500MP (1.5GB RAM).
The system was 10.2.3. I ran SUCP prior to installation. It updated iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto (I think).
Before I put the 103 inside I ran the iLife DVD & got some response to the effect of "use the CD-you need a SuperDrive".
After, ran the iLife DVD and had no hitches whatsoever. I also had no copies of iDVD on my hard drives. iDVD works fine with the 103.
Just thought I'd let everybody know. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Robert C. "

Here's the only problem report so far, but he wrote back with a solution.

" I just purchased iLife, tried to install iDVD 3 with no luck. I'm using a Pioneer DVR-104 drive which was purchased separately. IDVD 2 works fine, though.
Mac OS X 10.2.3
Dual 867 (mirrored)
1.25 GB RAM
300 GB Disk Space
-Alex
(he later wrote)
The retail drive did not need the (late 2002 firmware) update.
However, I did finally get it to work. I copied the dvd to my drive, then used resorcerer 2.4 to make the install packages visible. Located the iDVD.pkg and installed with no trouble. I'm up and burnin'.... "

When my iLife copy arrives next week I'll report on my experiences with retail DVR-104 and -103 drives here. (As well as testing with a Firewire DVR-104 drive, but I don't have any hopes that iDVD3 will work with external drives, but readers asked for proof of that.)

Here's the first reader report on iLife/iDVD3 installs on a system that has a retail Pioneer DVR-105 (aka the latest "superdrive" retail model) and no previous iDVD install:

" Mike:
Picked up iLife last night for my Dual G4 450 - recently updated with a Pioneer DVR-105 drive. I had no previous version of iDVD on the unit.

The install was flawless until the required Restart at the end of the install, and then the system crashed. I restarted, and the system took an extra 2 minutes to come back up, but the software works great!
Thanks for the greatest Mac site!
John
San Diego "

So this should put the rumors of not working with other than OEM superdrives, etc. to rest. (I'm sure this is an internal drive, for those that wondered if iDVD3 works with external models - I'd never expect that it would, but will test for that when my copy arrives next week.)

If any other retail Pioneer DVR-105/104/103 drive owners try installing iLife/iDVD3 - let me know your results and system details (including drive model/firmware revision).