Mid-2007 24" iMac fails to recognize SuperDrive on OS X 10.11

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Mid-2007 24" iMac fails to recognize SuperDrive on OS X 10.11

Hi,

I upgraded an old iMac7,1 / 2,8 GHz with a 240 GB SanDisk SSD Drive a few months ago and was very pleased with it's overall performance on Yosemite.

Since El Capitan (clean install) however, I noticed a much longer startup time and most importantly the internal SuperDrive not being listed in the System Information...

I first thought it had something to do with TRIM, because each time I deactivated it, either using the "trimforce" command or TrimEnabler, startup speed was good and SuperDrive showed up and worked again on the next restart. But only then, because shutting down / rebooting again makes the SuperDrive "disappear" for good and startup time is about 4 times longer than before.

I can reproduce this by booting a Linux USB Drive : SuperDrive works under Linux, I boot OS X again, startup is really fast and SuperDrive works, I reboot again, SuperDrive is gone etc...

Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be ? Thank you very much for your help !

iMac (24-inch Mid 2007), OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Dec 14, 2015 4:35 AM

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Answer 1

sterling r

Community Specialist

Dec 15, 2015 12:13 PM in response to infraroth

Hi there infraroth,

It sounds like your superdrive isn't working consistently after you installed El Capitan. I would reset the SMC on your iMac first:

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

On Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and Xserve

To reset the SMC on Intel-based Mac Pro, iMac, and Mac mini computers, as well as Xserve:

Shut down the computer.

Unplug the power cord.

Wait fifteen seconds.

Attach the power cord.

Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.

Then reset your PRAM and test the issue again:

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If that does not resolve the issue then I would boot to safe mode, then leave safe mode by restarting normally. That clears out some system level caches and preforms a disk verification and repair if needed and may help you out:

Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 2

infraroth Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2016 5:48 AM in response to sterling r

Hi sterling r,

Apologies for my late reaction. Unfortunately this had no effect on my problem... but thanks for your answer !

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Answer 3

Cmoore01

Level 2

182 points

Jan 6, 2016 7:14 AM in response to infraroth

Doesn't help you any, but on my txt/lab machine, which is a Mid-2007 20-inch iMac, when I connected my spare USB SuperDrive, I also received the "USB Device not supported" message, so you are not alone. I did attach another external CD/DVD drive (HP branded for the Windows PC I support), and it ddid open and read a DVD I placed in there. It also did read the DVD when I placed it in the internal DVD reader. Not sure what this means, but at least you know someone else does have the same "issue". SuperDrive did work on my21.5" Mid 2011 iMac with El Capitan, so it is probably something Apple did to not support the SuperDrive on certain age Macs. The "good" news is that other DVD drives do appear to work, just not the SuperDrive...I know, strange.

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