USB SuperDrive not Working as a Secondary Drive for MacBook Pro with Internal SuperDrive

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Level 1

10 points

USB SuperDrive not Working as a Secondary Drive for MacBook Pro with Internal SuperDrive

I've just purchased a 13" MacBook Pro (not Retina) with an internal SuperDrive. I wanted to use a second SuperDrive so purchased an Apple USB SuperDrive but my MacBook cannot find it. I have also tested this on my friends MacBook Pro and on another 2008 MacBook and on all three MacBooks the USB SuperDrive cannot be found.

I then tested it on a friends driveless iMac, and the USB SuperDrive is picked up fine, even when another is connected. This leads me to believe you can not run an addiotnal SuperDrive on MacBooks with an internal SuperDrive but is there anyway around this?

Posted on Jan 4, 2013 9:55 AM

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Answer 1

Hemslow Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 4, 2013 10:01 AM in response to Hemslow

Incidently, I can run a third party USB drive fine alongside my internal SuperDrive.

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Answer 2

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jan 4, 2013 10:04 AM in response to Hemslow

The Apple USB SuperDrive is restricted to be used only with the Mac mini without SuperDrive, the Late 2012 iMac, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Retina display, all of them without the built-in SuperDrive. Unfortunately, there isn't a solution because it looks like the firmware restricts this

However, you can use a third-party external optical drive without any problem on your computer

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