heyjude104

Q: El Capitan suddenly not recognizing optical drive

I have a MacBook Air running El Capitan, purchased 3/2016. I purchased the optical drive at the same time I purchased the computer. I have been using the external drive to burn DVD's and CD's. All worked well until I plugged the optical drive in yesterday. I opened iTunes, plugged in the drive, inserted a cd, and the window showing I had inserted the cd never popped up. The finder doesn't show the drive, even though I have checked in preferences for it to show. The only way I could safely eject the cd was by going to disk utility where I could see the drive and the cd, and eject it.

 

I checked to make sure that the drive still operates by inserting both a DVD or CD on the optical drive. Both will play properly, but still have to return to the disk utility in order to eject them since the drive doesn't show up anywhere else.

 

With iTunes running, and the drive plugged in with a blank CD inserted, the "Burn playlist to disk" is grayed out, since the computer isn't recognizing the drive.

 

What can I do to get the computer/El Capitan to recognize the drive again?

MBA, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Aug 8, 2016 5:54 AM

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Q: El Capitan suddenly not recognizing optical drive

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  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 3:08 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 3:08 AM in response to heyjude104

    Can you burn a cd/dvd from Disk Utility?

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 7:36 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 7:36 AM in response to Loner T

    I haven't found any instructions on how I can burn a disc directly from the disc utility, but I can successfully burn a disc using a "burn folder" on the desk top.  I believe that is how it's done in El Capitan?

  • by Loner T,Helpful

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 9:48 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 9:48 AM in response to heyjude104

    If burning a disk works from Finder, then your issue is related to iTunes. If you insert a CD/DVD and use System Preferences -> CD/DVDs to allow iTunes to be used for this event, and to burn, can you burn a CD?

     

    What is the version of iTunes? Do you have CD/DVD sharing enabled?

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 8:07 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 8:07 AM in response to Loner T

    Wasn't able to burn a CD using System Preferences set to open iTunes when inserting disc.

     

    iTunes version 12.4.3.1

     

    CD/DVD is set to sharing enabled. I tried it with it set that way, and then also unchecked it and tried it without it set to share neither worked.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 8:17 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 8:17 AM in response to heyjude104

    Can you run the following two procedures

     

    Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

    How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    Also check the etreCheck output, if it reports any iTunes issues.

     

    There is a generic checklist to try and diagnose issue at iTunes 12 for Mac: If you have trouble burning a disc .

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 9:23 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 9:23 AM in response to Loner T

    I ran both resets again, went to iTunes - and it BURNS!!!!!!!

    Burned 2 different CD's, both were successful.

     

    I didn't run the EtreCheck again since it looks like the problem is solved.

     

    Something worked.

     

    Really appreciate all your help.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 9:30 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 9:30 AM in response to heyjude104

    heyjude104 wrote:

     

    I ran both resets again, went to iTunes - and it BURNS!!!!!!!

    Burned 2 different CD's, both were successful.

    As long as I can prevent a Burn Trauma Center (aka an Apple Store Genius Bar), that is excellent.

     

     

    I didn't run the EtreCheck again since it looks like the problem is solved.

    You can post it at your convenience, for the sake of completeness.

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Loner T

    Appreciate that a lot, I live 250 miles from the nearest Apple Store Genius'.

     

    Should I run the EtreCheck with  "no problem, just checking" choice?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 9:37 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 9:37 AM in response to heyjude104

    heyjude104 wrote:

     

    Should I run the EtreCheck with  "no problem, just checking" choice?

     

    Yes. It will help future readers.

  • by Courcoul,

    Courcoul Aug 12, 2016 9:53 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 6 (14,193 points)
    Aug 12, 2016 9:53 AM in response to heyjude104

    Another tool you may want to deploy is MalwareByte's Anti-Malware for Mac. Developed and maintained by another longstanding ASC contributor, Thomas Reed, it helps against all the adware and other bits of nasty code that EtreCheck may miss.

     

    As for the mystery of The Little Drive That Couldn't [and Suddenly Could], I can only hazard that its firmware had gotten set in some inappropriate state and the moving around and plugging onto different Macs somehow caused an adequate reset. It is good that you were spared the trip.

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Loner T

    EtreCheck version: 3.0 (300)

    Report generated 2016-08-12 10:41:01

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 1:53

    Performance: Excellent

     

    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Problem: No problem - just checking

     

    Hardware Information:

        MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)

        [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

        MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir7,2

        1 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

        4 GB RAM Not upgradeable

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

        Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 39

     

    Video Information:

        Intel HD Graphics 6000

            Color LCD 1440 x 900

     

    System Software:

        OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G31) - Time since boot: about one hour

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE SSD SM0256G disk0 : (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 249.78 GB (43.99 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB Online

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Anywhere

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    153 Apple tasks

        [running]    78 Apple tasks

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    43 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    154 Apple tasks

        [running]    93 Apple tasks

     

    Launch Agents:

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-11)

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2015-12-20)

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-06-28)

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-07-11)

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2015-12-20)

     

    User Login Items:

        iTunesHelper    Application  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        Google Chrome    Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

        TimehopSync    Application  (/Applications/TimehopSync.app)

        1Password Helper URL    SMLoginItem  (/Applications/1Password.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebi ts.onepassword-osx-helper.app)

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-15) [Support]

        Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-01)

        NP_2020Player_WEB: 5.0.94.0 - SDK 10.6 (2011-10-26) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 (2014-12-02) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-13) [Support]

        Silverlight: 5.1.41105.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-01-02) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-08-01)

        Flash Player: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-13) [Support]

        googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]

        NP_2020Player_IKEA: 5.0.94.1 - SDK 10.6 (2012-09-28) [Support]

        AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 (2014-12-02) [Support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-07-24) Check version

     

    User internet Plug-ins:

        CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]

     

    Safari Extensions:

        1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2016-07-22)

        Ebates Cash Back - Ebates Performance Marketing, Inc. - http://ebates.com/ (2016-01-30)

        iMedia Converter Deluxe   - iSkysoft Studio - http://www.iskysoft.com (2016-06-14)

        Pin It Button - Pinterest, Inc. - http://www.pinterest.com/ (2016-04-20)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        Flash Player (2016-06-28) [Support]

        Java (2016-07-24) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: ON

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.78 GB Disk used: 205.79 GB

        Destinations:

            Data [Network]

            Total size: 2.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 142

            Oldest backup: 4/22/14, 2:57 PM

            Last backup: 8/12/16, 10:07 AM

            Size of backup disk: Excellent

                Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 249.78 GB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

             4%    WindowServer

             4%    kernel_task

             1%    fontd

             0%    Dropbox

             0%    loginwindow

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        561 MB    kernel_task

        115 MB    mdworker(7)

        57 MB    Dropbox

        57 MB    Finder

        37 MB    mds_stores

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        1.54 GB    Free RAM

        2.45 GB    Used RAM (752 MB Cached)

        38 MB    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        Aug 12, 2016, 09:55:33 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTunes_2016-08-12-095533_[redacted].cpu_resourc e.diag [Details]

            /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes

        Aug 12, 2016, 09:37:08 AM    Self test - passed

        Aug 10, 2016, 08:32:26 AM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_2016-08-10-083226_ [redacted].crash

            /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.We bKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Courcoul
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Courcoul

    Thanks, I'll check into that.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 10:01 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 10:01 AM in response to heyjude104

    I am now curious if the drutil commands will show something different. Can you please try the drutil commands you used earlier in this thread and post the output?

  • by heyjude104,

    heyjude104 heyjude104 Aug 12, 2016 11:31 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 11:31 AM in response to Loner T

    Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.29.50 PM.png

     

    Was able to eject the disc with the drutil eject.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 12, 2016 11:58 AM in response to heyjude104
    Level 7 (23,833 points)
    Safari
    Aug 12, 2016 11:58 AM in response to heyjude104

    Thanks for confirmation and posting the output.

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