Ventura 13.2 no longer recognizes Pioneer BDR-XD07UHD as an optical drive

The only solution I found is to roll back macOS to Ventura 13.1 or earlier. Here’s how (DO NOT skip any steps):

1. Use Time Machine to back up your files. This does NOT back up the OS…just your software and preferences.
2. If you care about how your launchpad looks, take screenshots of each page and folder…Time Machine ignores the launchpad. Save these on a thumb drive for later.
3. Check your iCloud settings to make sure anything you care about losing is stored in the cloud. If this isn’t already done, set this up and wait several hours or a full day to ensure everything is backed up the way you want it!
4. Download Ventura 13.1 from Apple (I used a link available at MrMacintosh.com https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-ventura-13-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/
5. Launch the downloaded file and follow the prompts. This does NOT intstall the OS. It will only drop the MacOS installer in your Applications directory.
6. Copy the Ventura installer to a separate external/thumb drive (NEVER put it on your Time Machine drive).
7. Restart your machine and hold SHIFT + OPTION + COMMAND + R which will take you to a special recovery console that allows you to reinstall the OS version your Mac shipped with…but first…
8. In the RECOVERY menu, Go to Disk Utility, select VIEW, and Show All Items. Expand your main hard disk and be sure you see Macintosh HD in the tree structure. Your main HDD’s name (Apple SSD…or something similar) will have a container item just below it. Select that high level container item, and click Erase in the top of the window. Make sure its named “Macintosh HD” nothing else. Choose APFS, and GUID partition map. There should usually be a checkbox to erase any other container disks. CHECK THIS BOX. Otherwise you’ll end up with multiple HDDs in your finder. Erase the disk, and close Disk utility.
9. At the main screen , select Reinstall MacOS. This will install the original version your Mac came with.
10. When MacOS is installed, plug in your drive with Ventura 13.1 on it. Copy it to the Applications directory to prevent any disk read errors. Then launch the update.
11. When it’s done, follow whatever prompts it asks for, skip anything you don’t care about….
12. Hit Command + spacebar and type Migration Assistant. Launch the Migration assistant and use it to restore your Time Machine backup.
13. Use the screenshots you took to fix your launchpad the way you like it, and enjoy 13.1 and your working optical drives!

Managed to find out that inside my Verbatim & Dell drives was a Hitachi-LG drive. GUD1N in the Verbatim. Seems these aren’t currently compatible with Ventura 13.2(.1) in the way the pioneer drives weren’t I guess. I hope Apple know about this and are working to fix it in the next update.

The problem is when connecting directly to usb-c port on the MacBook.

Verbatim technical support confirmed this and found that you can get the drives working by connecting it first to a USB 3 type A hub that’s connected to the MacBook. So I bought a 3x USB 3.0 & 1x Ethernet Hub from Satechi and can confirm that with this hub the drive I have here is instantly recognised by the new MacBook Pro M2

Ventura 13.2.1 released today, has fixed this issue. My BDR-XD07 is now correctly recognised as an optical drive.

My Pioneer BDR-XD08UMB-S stopped working in Mac OS 13.2. However, after updating to OS 13.2.1, the problem is resolved and the drive is functioning normally.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Pioneer seem to be conscious of the issue. Their product page for my BDR-XD07TB drive (https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/bdr-xd07tb/index.php) now carries the following note:

We have confirmed that our drives are not recognized by macOS Ventura 13.2 released by Apple on January 23. We are currently investigating this symptom. We would like to ask our customers who are using our drives to refrain from updating to macOS Ventura 13.2.

So we can only hope that their investigations will involve some liaison with Apple, which is probably our best hope of a fix in the near future (whether issued by Apple or Pioneer).

Based on an initial follow up response I received from Apple support, it appears that they are also aware of the issue. I received this note from my Apple Support Tech, "I received the response we were looking for, and was hoping to catch you sooner," and the response I was looking for was that engineering was aware of an issue introduced in Ventura 13.2, but I won't be able to confirm the actual details of the follow up until Monday.

As for Feedback Assistant, it can't hurt to submit a ticket. The support tech was able to see my feedback ticket on his end. Although his and my understanding of Feedback Assistant is that it is generally used for reporting on OS updates that are still in beta. Personally, I think the more helpful thing would be to try and get a tech on the phone.

The only way to get this problem solved, whether it is through Apple or through Pioneer updating its firmware, is by reporting the problem to each company. Clearly, Pioneer is aware of the issue now according to prvincent, and Apple is aware of the issue based on the tickets some of us have submitted. If you want to scream into the void or tell us whose problem it is, fine, but that doesn't help any of us get any closer to a solution.

It’s definitely 13.2 issue. I have an M1 MacBook Pro and and a 2020 Intel MacBook Pro — the drive is recognized on the M1 but not the Intel. Both machines running 13.2.

This problem was fixed on my iMac 2020 with 13.2.1 released on Monday Feb. 14

Just did a test install of MacOS 13.3 in a separate APFS partition, and my Pioneer blu-ray drive was recognized without any issue. Updating my main installation now.

Same issue here! My Pioneer BDR-209 mounted in an OWC Mercury Pro enclosure stopped working after updating to 13.2.

Downgrading to 13.1 was the only way I could get it to work.

13.2.1 also fixes it for me!

As others have experienced, latest macOS release (13.2.1) has fixed my problem with the drive.

Quick fix from Apple.