So I got an old external SCSI Sun CD-ROM drive for my NeXTstation Color to install developer software on it, but I can't seem to figure out how to load the disk. When I push the eject button, nothing comes out and when I pushed open the drive flap, it didn't seem to have any hardware that could be ejected. Do I just put the CD in there and it ejects, or is my system broken in some way. It looks sort of like a big floppy drive but it clearly says on the case that it's a CD drive, and has a headphone jack too. Any help?
Many older CD-ROM drives expected an external caddy.
see
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/842/retro-scan-of-the-week-cd-rom-caddyWhen my kids where young and loved to abuse disks, these helped protect the media. Later units had a built in tray (or coffee cup holder!).
Okay, so that's what that meant on the ebay page. They said it came with one but when I got it it did not. I called them but they were closed today. I read the article and I am a little worried. Will burned CD-R's not work on these drives? I am planning to buy the iso images from Black Hole Inc. and I'm worried it might not work with them. If not, any recommendations?
You can find the caddies on ebay really cheap too. (CD caddy) Just burn the ISO as you you would any other.
If you have a web or ftp server and your NeXT is networked on your lan you could mount the iso and copy the dev files to the server, so you can then easily download them to the NeXT station. Using CDs is retro but not that cool...