dottirmac

Q: my shintaro external optical drive stopped working

I have a shintaro external optical drive which worked fine initially, and just

suddenly gave up. Now it just makes clicking noises. Is there anything

I can do?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Feb 24, 2016 9:29 PM

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Q: my shintaro external optical drive stopped working

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Helpful

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Feb 27, 2016 10:22 PM in response to dottirmac
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 27, 2016 10:22 PM in response to dottirmac

    Is this external drive the (smaller) type that gets power from the iMac's USB port?  Or is it larger, with its own power supply?

     

    Did you try disconnecting it from power (to completely turn it OFF)?  You should also shut down (power OFF) the iMac.  Disconnect all USB devices, except for standard USB keyboard/mouse (if used).  Power up the iMac and connect the optical drive by itself, to a direct USB port on the iMac.  If one port does not work, try another port.  If you have more than one USB cable, try another one, to rule out faulty cable.  If the optical drive case is USB 3.0, make sure the cable you try is also rated for USB 3.0 (not an older USB 2.0 cable).

  • by dottirmac,

    dottirmac dottirmac Feb 27, 2016 10:30 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 27, 2016 10:30 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    The optical drive gets power from the iMac. I had it connected via a hub, so connected it to the computer as you suggested. The cable and drive are both USB 2.0. It then worked with a) a music only CD  and b) a DVD with the code 0 ALL REGIONS. It wouldn't work with a DVD for region 4, which I think we are in Australia. However now when I connect the drive, the icon doesn't appear. I will go through the forum for anything similar to this and see what I can find. At least I know now the drive works, so will not buy a new one. Thank you very much for your help, I appreciate it.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Helpful

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Feb 28, 2016 5:53 PM in response to dottirmac
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2016 5:53 PM in response to dottirmac

    However now when I connect the drive, the icon doesn't appear.

    The icon is for the disc in the optical drive (when it is mounted), not the drive itself.  There's no icon if the optical drive is connected and it's empty.

  • by dottirmac,

    dottirmac dottirmac Feb 28, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 28, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Thank you. The drive still won't play region 4 DVDs, which is the code for this region.

    I have never changed anything, and have no idea how to revert to default, which I

    presume I have to do. I will ask the fellow at the shop where I bought everything,

    but are there any discussions on this? I have looked at the discussions on Region

    codes but they are all about how to change them.

    Thank you for your help.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Feb 28, 2016 6:08 PM in response to dottirmac
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2016 6:08 PM in response to dottirmac

    Here's a document by Apple on the topic

     

    DVD Player: About DVD-Video regions - Apple Support

     

    This is for the DVD Player app, so launch DVD Player if it does not open automatically after you insert the disc.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Feb 28, 2016 6:13 PM in response to dottirmac
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2016 6:13 PM in response to dottirmac

    Also, I just ran the DVD Player app, and in the Help for DVD Player, there is a topic with title Set your DVD drive region.