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Apple USB SuperDrive and iMac

The internal DVD drive on my 2007 model iMac (one of the early 20" aluminum models) is on its last legs, apparently. The Apple Store guy on the phone said (a) cleaning disks are not recommended with vertical slot drives; (b) bring it in for them to look at; (c) the new aluminum iMacs (which I think I will get later this year) do not have an internal disk drive; so (d) they will need an external DVD drive to play movies.

So I went out and bought an Apple USB SuperDrive, which plugs into the back of my iMac with a USB cable. It gets all its power through that cable. I

I cannot get it to work. Nothing. I slide the DVD into the slot until it hits a spring and doesn't go any farther. Nothing happens. I tried to open the DVD from the Open command in the DVD player, but the drive did not show up. It doesn't show up with Disk Utility, either.

How can I get the SuperDrive to work?

Also: The packaging and brief little booklet says it's compatible with an iMac. The Apple Store tech guy said my iMac has enough power for the SuperDrive. But that same brief little booklet only says this:

"Choose Software Update from the Apple menu to update your system software to the latest version. [I already am at the latest release of 10.8.2.] Attach the SuperDrive to a USB port on your computer. [Check.] Do one of the following to eject a DVD or CD. [ !!!! ]

Eject? How about Insert or Start? That's my problem.

Anyone have any advice?

Danke, mes amigos

Posted on Feb 13, 2013 8:05 PM

21 replies

jadik

Level 1

13 points

Feb 6, 2014 7:08 PM in response to Michael Brady

Modifying the boot args is the *perfect solution!* This works on all Macs I've put to the test.

Note to Apple: WHY HAVE YOU FORESAKEN US?!? It simply serves no obvious logical business strategy, nor enables your customers, to artificially cripple the functionality of an expensive peripheral like this drive. I question your decision to, *by default* prevent the use of this drive on other Mac products. *PLEASE RECONSIDER* and release compatible drivers in your future OS updates. The policy / strategy you've implemented, only lessens the value provided by Apple. It is within your power to address this issue and enable your installed base.

Sep 13, 2014 9:30 PM in response to Niel

I'm new to iMacs can you help me/walk me thru how to implement the work around using text wrangler? I tried using the Terminal but it won't let me edit

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string>mbasd=1</string>

The String line of code won't let me add mbasd=1 please help?

Dec 11, 2015 12:51 PM in response to Black_Koga

You have to enable permission to modify each folder that leads to the com.apple.boot.plist or whatever the file is, and then possibly the file itself. What I did was right click Library folder on Macintosh HD and click Get Info and then scroll down and click the lock and enter the admin password, then enabled read and write for all accounts and added my user name and also added read and write for it. Then I went to every other folder that leads to the com.Apple.boot.plist file and did the same. Once you edit the plist file, it's probably a good idea to go back and try to reset each read and write permission for each folder back to what it was. I'm guessing it keeps your system a bit more secure.

Jan 11, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Niel

My 2010 iMac's SuperDrive has effectively failed.

Yes indeed prior to El Capitan, the external superdrive I had for my MacBook Air would not work with the iMac.

However, with El Capitan, it now does, without any system modifications.

josephsm

Level 1

8 points

Sep 24, 2016 10:38 AM in response to Richard Kelly2

I tried the terminal hack above but I got an error message: Error setting variable - 'boot-args': (iokit/common) general error. I'm using macOS Sierra Version 10.12. Any help much appreciated! I'd like to get the Apple SuperDrive to work with this Late 2011 MacBook Pro with built-in broken CD drive.

Kayecker

Level 1

14 points

Apr 17, 2017 1:56 PM in response to Richard Kelly2

yes works on my El Capitan also.

Apple USB SuperDrive and iMac