M4 iMac not reading discs from external CD/DVD drive

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M4 iMac not reading discs from external CD/DVD drive

I cannot connect a new LIZOAK external CD/DVD drive model XD013 to an M4 iMac on Tahoe 26.6.1. The option to connect these external drives has been removed from Tahoe. I connected the drive directly to my iMac via its USB input but it cannot read the disc but it shows as a drive in STORAGE in System Information but it cannot run. VLC also recognises the drive and shows the name of the loaded DVD but cannot run it.

My new external drive has twin C Type and regular USB cables and when I connected with the C Type and then also a regular and separate USB lead from a USB socket on the external drive, the DVD showed in the sidebar and I was able to read all the files it carries but 2 minutes later the drive disappeared and despite repeating the same sequence many times and restarting the iMac I cannot bring the DVD back. Though it still appears in STORAGE with or without the additional DVD cable..

This proves that it is possible to read from an external drive despite the many searches on the Internet that claims it is no longer possible, it must be. But how? I cannot understand why Apple would dream of removing the ability to run an external DVD player, they are still widely in use.

iMac 24″, macOS 26.6

Posted on Aug 12, 2026 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 12, 2026 7:14 AM in response to Calperon

Calperon wrote:

I cannot connect a new LIZOAK external CD/DVD drive model XD013 to an M4 iMac on Tahoe 26.6.1. The option to connect these external drives has been removed from Tahoe.

This is incorrect. Tahoe is perfectly capable of accessing and CDs and DVDs from external drives.

I connected the drive directly to my iMac via its USB input but it cannot read the disc but it shows as a drive in STORAGE in System Information but it cannot run. VLC also recognises the drive and shows the name of the loaded DVD but cannot run it.

If the drive is showing up that means Tahoe is detecting it correctly an mounting it on the system.

My new external drive has twin C Type and regular USB cables and when I connected with the C Type and then also a regular and separate USB lead from a USB socket on the external drive, the DVD showed in the sidebar and I was able to read all the files it carries but 2 minutes later the drive disappeared and despite repeating the same sequence many times and restarting the iMac I cannot bring the DVD back. Though it still appears in STORAGE with or without the additional DVD cable..

You should only be using one cable not both. If using both, you may have caused an issue with the drive. It's strange either appears under Storage, as most external drives appear under CD Burning usually, not Storage, unless the the drive has additonal features like an SD card reader or space for a SSD type drive.

This proves that it is possible to read from an external drive despite the many searches on the Internet that claims it is no longer possible, it must be. But how? I cannot understand why Apple would dream of removing the ability to run an external DVD player, they are still widely in use.

Apple has not removed any CD reading capability, you are jumping to conclusions baselessly. Since it worked two minutes prior it clear Apple has not removed anything in the following 2 minutes from your Mac.

The question remains, what kind of content is in the CD or DVD you are trying to read?

Have you tried restarting the Mac?

Have you tried a different CD / DVD disc?

I can read CDs and DVDs fine on my M4 Mac running Tahoe.

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