calebtr
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: external superdrive only works on older OS

Our house has two Macbook Pro 13" Retina displays, circa 2014 or so, and one external USB superdrive shared between them.

 

One Macbook is running 10.8.5 and can use the superdrive for playing CDs, playing DVDs, and copying music into iTunes.

 

The other Macbook is running 10.10.5 and can't do any of those things. It *used* to be able to do those things before the update to the OS. I am unsure if it worked on 10.9.

 

In iTunes with an audio CD, here is what happens:

 

Insert CD - Disc shows up in Finder on Desktop

Open iTunes - disc shows up

Click the button to import - I get the message "error occurred while converting the file "[name of song]". The required disk cannot be found.

 

Some seconds later, the disc shows up in iTunes again, and the whole process repeats. It is as if the system is ejecting and then mounting the disc repeatedly, and is not recognizing that it is the same disc.

 

Similarly, DVD player will start to spin up a disk, but never leave the black screen. If I click 'play', I get the message, "supported disk not available". Then it spins down, and spins up, then spins down, then spins up, until finally an error shows, "DVD player encountered a system error: -70015".

 

I don't think that any of the official troubleshooting suggestions related to the drive being upside down, or the disc being dirty, or what have you are related here, because these same discs and this same drive work fine on the computer running 10.8.5. I went through all of those steps anyway with not luck.

 

For the 10.10.5 machine:

 

I tried restarting with the drive attached.

 

I tried the firmware update at https://support.apple.com/kb/DL892?locale=en_US  no firmware update is needed - I think because this is for an internal drive, not the external one we have.

 

I tried setting iTunes to use AAC format and double-checked that the current user has read/write permissions on the iTunes media library folder.

 

I tried resetting the SMC and the PRAM (why not?)

 

I tried the instructions at for editing /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist at http://www.hardturm.ch/luz/2011/10/how-to-make-the-macbook-air-superdrive-work-w ith-any-mac/ and restarting.

 

I've restarted quite a bit!

 

I've searched these forums and have not found an actual answer. My hope here is that by providing a little more information that someone may be able to help with our specific situation.

 

At this point, running 10.8.5 is starting to be a liability, but I don't want to upgrade until I am sure I can continue to play DVDs and CDs. I'd also like to be able to play CDs and DVDs on both computers.

 

Thanks for your additional suggestions.

OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), Superdrive

Posted on Sep 8, 2016 11:13 PM

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calebtr

Q: external superdrive only works on older OS

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 9, 2016 9:26 AM in response to calebtr
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 9, 2016 9:26 AM in response to calebtr

    Try a restart.

     

    Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

     

    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferenes, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

     

    Isolating an issue by using another user account

     

    If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

     

    Safe Mode - About

     

    Safe Mode - Yosemite

     

     

     

    If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor.  Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.
      

    Etrecheck – System Information

  • by calebtr,

    calebtr calebtr Sep 9, 2016 11:36 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 9, 2016 11:36 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks for these steps.

     

    The new admin user had the same problem as I described.

     

    In safe mode, the computer does not recognize the disc at all - the icon never appears in the finder, and it isn't available in iTunes. I checked that the entry for 'Boot mode' said 'safe' in the system report.

     

    After booting back to normal mode, the same problems occur.

     

    Do you mean that I should begin uninstalling applications at this point, or only if it worked in Safe Mode?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 10, 2016 8:55 AM in response to calebtr
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 10, 2016 8:55 AM in response to calebtr

    Since it didn't work in a new account or in the Safe Mode, I don't think uninstalling applications will help. Try running Etrecheck and post per the above instructions.