Internal DVD optical drive in MacBook Pro (mid-2012) not seen by Catalina?

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Level 1

4 points

Internal DVD optical drive in MacBook Pro (mid-2012) not seen by Catalina?

Hi, has anyone got their internal optical drive in a MacBook Pro (mid-2012) to work with Catalina? Mine does not. I set up Catalina on a separate slice (is this correct terminology?) on my internal SSD, so I can boot either Mojave or Catalina. The drive works fine in Mojave, but is not even recognized as a device in Catalina. In Mojave, when looking at "Disk Burning" in System Information, it is HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS41N: Firmware Revision: UA03. In Catalina, nothing. I still use the disk for CDs & occasional DVDs, so losing this functionality is not acceptable. Thanks, John

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 7:49 AM

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Answer 1

Eric--F

Community Specialist

Nov 12, 2021 2:38 PM in response to John-F-L

Regarding your apps functioning with macOS Catalina

To make sure we’re on the same page, you want to be sure that your apps will function in macOS Catalina before installing macOS Catalina in place of macOS Mojave. Is that right? If so, you can check the App Store for system requirements for apps that are purchased through the App Store, or connect with the developer to ensure their software is compatible:

Download apps from the App Store on your Mac

Contact a third-party vendor

Regarding the issue with your Mac not waking from sleep

Do you recall what was done previously to resolve that issue? Let’s check the following:

Your Mac might pause a few seconds before it wakes up.
Your screen brightness might be turned down.
If you're using an external display, your display might be turned off.
Your Mac might be in safe sleep. To wake from safe sleep, press the power button. What is safe sleep on Mac?
Check for a sleep indicator light, if applicable, and make sure that your Mac isn't turned off.

Regarding your user name

Send an email to the following email address to let them know you need to change your user name: communityaccounts@apple.com

Cheers!

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Answer 2

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Nov 12, 2021 10:06 AM in response to John-F-L

Hello! Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

We understand that your optical drive isn’t responding when you start up in macOS Catalina. We'd like to look into this with you to see how we can help.

Let’s try the following reset to see if they have any effect on this issue:

System Management Controller (SMC)

NVRAM and PRAM

Make it a great day!

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Answer 3

John-F-L Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 12, 2021 1:45 PM in response to jdo_apple

It is a great day! It has been so long since I've had to do an SMC reset that I didn't think of that. Thanks for the links. It was a 2-step process to success: the SMC reset made the drive show up, but it would not mount the CD I tried. So repeat Shutdown, reset NVRAM & reboot. Now can play CD & DVD in Catalina. Bravo!

Somewhat off-topic -- Now to check proper function of some oft-used apps before reinstalling Cat over Mo. (I tried Migration Assistent & it told me I didn't have enough space on disk -- wierd, I thought, since it's all shared space on this APFS disk -- but it if I remember correctly, the Mojave volume wasn't visible when I tried that, and it was when I last booted Cat.)

More off-topic -- now that SMC has been reset, I have the "Failure to wake from sleep" problem again.

I'll have to reset my sleep image settings as I've had to do for about the last 10 years .... but I get it in Catalina too, so I'll wait until I've made the transition.

Thanks for your help, John

PS - even further off-topic -- Is there any way to fix my Username here? I did not choose john&amp;amp;amp;#64;regina but apparently that's who I am .... can't do it in my preferences.

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Answer 4

John-F-L Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 12, 2021 2:59 PM in response to Eric--F

Regarding ... apps... Hi Eric, it is mostly AU plugins loaded into various audio programs (eg. Izotope Ozone, Audirvana, Soundsource). Not from AppStore. Also some photo processing workflows (eg. Affinity, ZereneStacker...). All supposed to work, but best to check first. Since I have used Migration Assistant to import the apps to Catalina, I can just reboot & gradually work through things.

re: not waking from sleep -- this is a common, years-old problem that cannot be fixed except by

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

I found that info at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-disable-os-x-from-creating-sleep-image.1685252/ among other locations.

I've been managing like this, with 'never go to sleep, especially when on battery' for years, and will not invest any more time into fixing it. You don't get the time back.

I'll contact the communityaccounts address you provided. Thanks for jumping in :-)

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Answer 5

John-F-L Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2021 8:31 AM in response to John-F-L

Progress report -- 12 days in to Catalina. Got my username here fixed -- thanks to Eric~F for direction. Apps not working in Catalina: was just a few AU plugins that I wasn't using anyway (& of course some 32-bit apps). Internal CD/DVD drive has disappeared again today. There must be a non-SMC-reset method to re-read all devices -- I'll have to grab my UNIX manual to see if there's an obvious command. Maybe the drive is just failing, only coincidentally with upgrade to Catalina. J

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Internal DVD optical drive in MacBook Pro (mid-2012) not seen by Catalina?

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