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First, the reader icon does not show up anywhere.
Second, when I restart or do any of the suggested fixes, the reader whirls and goes through the eject cycle.
There is complete resistance when attempting to insert a DVD or CD.
If there is no fix, is there a plug-n-play external reader that will work with this mid-2011 iMac (High Sierra)?
TIA for any solution.
iMac 27″, macOS 10.12
Since my iMac no longer recognizes its internal OR, might not be a problem.
The internal optical drive is on its own data bus. An external optical disk reader uses the USB ports, which are a different bus. If other USB devices work today, an external USB drive should also.
An external optical drive should not require any extra software. Disk burning on a 2011 model should be supported through the OS without extra apps.
Since my iMac no longer recognizes its internal OR, might not be a problem.
The internal optical drive is on its own data bus. An external optical disk reader uses the USB ports, which are a different bus. If other USB devices work today, an external USB drive should also.
An external optical drive should not require any extra software. Disk burning on a 2011 model should be supported through the OS without extra apps.
The SuperDrive may have either failed or needs cleaning. Go to your local office supply store and buy a CD/DVD cleaning kit and see if you can clean the lasers on the SuperDrive. If that does not work, then the drive is likely gone and you can use an external USB drive. If replacement is the only option I would recommend visiting www.macsales.com, they many different options all are guaranteed to work and you can find one that suits your budget and needs.
There were some optical drives used in iMacs orf the vintage that had a "safety fence" that deployed across the optical drive slot when the drive failed. The idea was to prevent disks from being forever lost in a dead drive. Can you look in the slot with a light and tell us if you see anything blocking the slot? If so, the drive is truly dead.
I always use the cleaning disk option first because it has amazed me how many "dead" drives suddenly return to full function after a cleaning. I've used my disk to resurrect drives in three older MacBook Pros whose Superdrives were pronounced dead and gone by a certified Apple tech. However, if the safety fence has deployed, your drive is really dead.
+1 on the OWC external drives.
Optical reader is dead. If I obtain an external drive, will there be a problem with my iMac recognizing it? Have found readers on OWC that can be used on those that did come with a reader installed. Since my iMac no longer recognizes its internal OR, might not be a problem.
But will I need new software to use an external OR?
2011 iMac will not load disk in optical reader
