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I have an external Blu-ray drive (Samsung SE-506BB) USB connected to a 27" iMac. what do i need to do to get it reading blurays and then what do i need for writing? and also a good authoring program to along with the samsung player

I have an external Blu-ray drive (Samsung SE-506BB) USB connected to a 27" iMac. what do i need to do to get it reading blurays and then what do i need for writing? and also a good authoring program to along with the samsung player?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), external usb bluray drive

Posted on May 16, 2013 7:09 PM

Reply
40 replies

May 19, 2013 10:37 PM in response to Riyadh4All

How new is this Blu-ray drive.

When you bought, did it say anything in a description or features that said this drive was Mac and Mac OS X compatible.

If it didn't say anything about the drive being Mac or Mac OS X compatible , chances are it isn't.


Here are some Blu-ray drives that are known to be Mac compatible.


http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/blu-ray


http://www.lacie.com/us/products/range.htm?id=10058

Jul 8, 2013 6:30 AM in response to ausernamethathasntbeenused

Hi, I've been looking to buy the Samsung SE-506BB for my mac mini as it costs as much as the Apple USB SuperDrive but supports blu ray reading and writing as well. I've looked it up in store and on the box it says it supports both Windows and Mac OS but I've read the reviews on amazon and somebody wrote that they had top buy additional software to make it work.

Would be useful to get a definite answer on this one. any suggestions?

Regards

YLC

Aug 29, 2013 2:12 PM in response to YLC76

for reading blu ray film you can purchase macgo which is able to read protected blu ray film ... vlc play can only play unprotected films.

if you wouldn't like to buy macgo you can add some aditional files to vlc player which enabels the ability to play protected blu rays ;)

best regards from germany ;)

Oct 28, 2013 3:31 PM in response to gcraig22

Yes, it does say it's compatible, but for some reason it mentions OS 10.4.6 which is outdated and was discontinued years ago. It also says it requires a Pentium Processor - not sure if your Mac has one. I'd contact the mfr and ask those questions including your hardware (processor) specs and your Mac OS.


In any case, even if it is compatible, you still need software to both read a DVD and burn one since Macs do not support Blu-ray.

Nov 24, 2013 10:30 AM in response to babowa

The drive does work on my 2013 MacBook Pro with OSX 10.9. It gets recognized as a storage device without problem. You don't need any special device driver.


If you want to play unencrypted Blurays, you can do it with VLC player. If you want to go with encrypted ones, you need some additional stuff for VLC (do a google search on the subject) or buy one of the SW players mentioned above.


You can also try makemkv for more interesting things to do with blurays. Another tool called handbrake can help you to convert bluray video / audio formats for use with standard video / audio SW.


Regards,

RV

Jan 5, 2014 11:46 AM in response to RchVrgs

I also have a Samsung SE-506BB connected to a 2013 MacBook Pro with OSX 10.9. It works as you describe except for blurays. When it comes to Blurays the system won't simply react when a disk is inserted into the driver. However the Disk Utility still recognizes that the driver is connected and keeps waiting for a recordable disk to erase.


Did you do some configuration to makemkv, vlc, mac blu-ray player to make it recognize the drive?


Thanks in advance for your reply.

als

Jan 6, 2014 11:48 AM in response to RchVrgs

For everyone having issues with reading and writing Blu-ray Discs on a Mac, you need to purchase both Blu-Ray playing software, like the Macgo Blu-Ray player or some other Mac compatible Blu-ray playing software.

For writing/authoring Blu-ray discs, the only real good solution is Roxio Toast Titanium Pro.

Mac Blu-ray players


Macgo Blu-ray player

DVD fab blu-ray player

Aurora Blu-ray player

Blu-ray authoring/writing/burning software.


Roxio Toast Titanium 11 Pro

Good Luck!

Jul 9, 2014 11:44 AM in response to gregnugget

To reiterate some of the things already mentioned. No Blu-ray drive you can purchase comes with any type of Mac software for viewing Blu-ray disks, or writing Blu-ray movies. OS X can burn a Blu-ray data disk with the built in Burn utility.


The playback software MichelPM already named are really all by the same company. Or at least, they all used the same template. The only thing that's different between them is the design of the interface itself. Just looking at each web site tells you they're all the same. They also all time out and force you to buy the overpriced software. This one is truly free. At least it was when I first got it. Your only requirement is to provide an email address to get a one-time, permanent activation code. I was pleasantly surprised this didn't lead to an onslaught of spam emails. It remains free for use with small ads for YouTube, Google+ and others stuck to the interface, which you can hide by changing the view to full screen. If you want, or need the extra goodies the paid version has, you can upgrade, but you don't have to.


Don't waste your money on the Pro version. It adds basically a bunch of useless shovelware to the mix. It says HD authoring for that, and not the standard version, but that is incorrect. The necessary Blu-ray movie plugin used to be included with the Pro version, but hasn't been for quite a while now. You have to purchase it for either, so there's no sense spending the extra money on the Pro box.


It's also silly to purchase it directly from Corel/Roxio for $80. Same box at Amazon for $38. Strangely, it's $1 more for the electronic download. Secondly, you must also purchase the $20 Blu-ray plugin in order to create Blu-ray movie disks. Like OS X, Toast will also create data disks without the plugin. But only data disks. Lastly, Toast has a never-ending $20 rebate. When one ends, they start another one. So, you buy the software from Amazon for $38. The plugin from Roxio/Corel for $20. Then you send in the rebate to get that $20 back. Total cost of $38.


Be aware that while you can author Blu-ray disks with Toast Titanium, your options are rather limited. You get a fair number of opening screen backgrounds to choose from and can enter disk and move titles of your own, but it otherwise automates most of the rest, so you don't have a whole lot of control over how the final disk looks.


The only other way is to spend much more on Adobe's Production Premium CS6 package, which is their video suite. That includes (among other things) Premiere Pro for editing your video, and Encore for authoring. Kind of a steep learning curve too if you've never used it.


<Edited by Host>

Jul 9, 2014 12:16 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Correction to the above. Roxio/Corel has changed the rebate offer. You used to be able to purchase Toast Titanium anywhere you wanted and still get the $20 rebate. It now says you have to buy Toast from them, or through Digital River (both at full price). So no rebate, but still much cheaper at a total of $58 for the two necessary items than buying both through Roxio.

I have an external Blu-ray drive (Samsung SE-506BB) USB connected to a 27" iMac. what do i need to do to get it reading blurays and then what do i need for writing? and also a good authoring program to along with the samsung player

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