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DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Rick Churchill
I have been using my LG Slim Portable DVD Writer optical drive with the 2015 MacBook Pro since I bought both together as Apple dropped an enclosed optical drive that year. I use the drive infrequently but not since the last upgrade to Monterey 12.6.1.

In the last 2 or 3 years it has become more difficult for the Mac to recognise that the drive is connected. Sometimes I try a different USB port, sometimes I swear at the Mac and try again another day and usually eventually it is recognised. Now it will not mount at all, although the drive, as always, fires up and spins for a while when a CD or DVD is on-board and does not show up in Finder or in Disc Utility (if indeed it is supposed to shows up here). According to LG the drive is supposed not to require a driver for the Mac and continues to mount on my PC without a problem else I would think it a hardware fault. Unfortunately videos written from my PC are stuttering on playback for some reason.

Any thoughts would be welcome. A friend wishes for one of my videos on DVD to give as a Christmas present and I am on a deadline to get it fixed otherwise it means using a USB flash drive which means the video can be recopied. What are the chances of buying another portable drive and it working?

Re: DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Richard I
I have a similar set up and had problems with Music failing to rip CDs The cure was to use the shortest USB cable I could find -in my case about 20cm. It’s a longshot but it might work!
Of course the other thing to do is to reboot the Mac!
Fortunately you can buy a portable DVD writer for about £25 on Amazon, although I appreciate it would be irritating to say the least if the new one didn’t work either

Re: DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Rick Churchill
Yes, tried rebooting and already have the shortest cable possible. Tried a different, much longer cable and now it is working again. Perhaps I was fooled by the fact that the original cable works with the PC and this cable worked last time (I think).
Oh well I'll see how it fairs.

Thanks for pointing me at the cable

Re: DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Douglas Cheney
I have an Apple DVD drive connected to my iMac it never shows on the desktop until I put a DVD in it does yours work the same way

Re: DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Rick Churchill
Sorry Douglas, I thought I posted a reply yesterday but must have not pressed the right reply button. It's very confusing having two!

Yes the device is hidden unless it contains media. Incidentally a blank DVD seems to show up under favourites but is available to be written to.

After all this trouble the friend has come back and says the intended recipient doesn't have a DVD player! Can I supply the video on a USB stick.

Re: DVD Writer Connection Problem

Avatar Tony Still
On a vaguely-related topic: An Apple Genius told me that the standalone Apple Superdrive (CD/DVD player/writer) will not work with the "new" Apple Silicon iMacs. This was in an Apple Store when my sister-in-law was buying a new iMac.

I was skeptical but it appears that Apple's drive uses an obscure extension to the USB protocol that Apple has neglected to provide in the latest iMacs. I haven't had opportunity to try it. My elderly Superdrive does read fine (haven't tried burning a disk) when connected to my M1 Max MacBook Pro so this could be just an M1 issue or it may simply have been fixed.

If you need an optical drive with a new iMac, I suggest a careful investigation; it's possible that other, newer, drives will work correctly.
 
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