OS X Catalina: DVD player "not supported" for external DVD Drive

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OS X Catalina: DVD player "not supported" for external DVD Drive

I tried an LG external DVD-RW drive. It saw the DVD disc ("Scrubs" TV show, Season 5 disc 3) in the Finder, launched DVD player. which showed the error message "Not Supported," then the player crashed. I restarted, and got the same result. Being in a very customer friendly store, I opened an Apple USB SuperDrive and tried that. Same result. Have used the LG drive with High Sierra flawlessly. Have tried other DVD discs. I think it's a Catalina problem.

Posted on Dec 2, 2019 6:36 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Elliot Fleming Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 4, 2019 9:48 AM in response to Elliot Fleming

The drive must be plugged in when you start the computer or log in to your account. If you connect the drive after logging in, you will get the "Not Permitted" error. This drops the behavior from a bug to an inconvenience.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 9

77,830 points

Dec 3, 2019 9:02 AM in response to Elliot Fleming

Hmm.... both my external LG DVD drives (an old desktop and newer portable) work fine with Catalina's DVD Player.

If they didn't, I would > Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support and test,

then > Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Dec 3, 2019 11:28 AM in response to Elliot Fleming

Someone the other day couldn't get Apple's DVD Player to work with the "DVD" they inserted into their Apple Superdrive. Then they realized that they had inserted a Blu-ray disc, and not an ordinary DVD. Bump.

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Answer 4

Dec 3, 2019 12:53 PM in response to Allan Jones

The SuperDrive I connected to the USB3 port on my iMac. I used a USB-C to USB adapter on a MacBook Pro. It was on my iMac I confirmed that VLC Player would play the DVD. (I've now switched to using the Starship Troopers DVD for testing.)

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Answer 5

Dec 3, 2019 7:25 AM in response to Elliot Fleming

More of an edit than a reply: the message was "Not Permitted." And using VLC Player 3.08, rather than Catalina's DVD Player v.6, did let me view the DVD with the USB SuperDrive.

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Answer 6

Allan Jones

Level 9

69,326 points

Dec 3, 2019 10:02 AM in response to Elliot Fleming

Are you connecting the drive directly to the computer's ports or to a hub?

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Answer 7

Dec 3, 2019 12:50 PM in response to den.thed

Resetiing the NVRAM didn't solve the problem. Still "Not Permitted." Safe mode would not load the drivers for the LG drive, so it didn't show in the Finder.

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Answer 8

Dec 3, 2019 12:56 PM in response to VikingOSX

Amusing, but No.

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OS X Catalina: DVD player "not supported" for external DVD Drive

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