How to find an external drive that is not showing up on mac. On the mac that doesnt have an optical drive, open a finder window. Buy products related to cd player for mac products and see what customers say about. If your intention is to buy a laptop that offers the best specifications and in addition has the cd dvd drive, here are things you will have to bear in view. It includes preloaded cyberlink media suite for easy dvdcd play and burn as well as an installation of discbased computer programs. Additionally, it is essential to make sure that the problem is with the external device itself and not the usb ports or cables. How to use cds, dvds, and blurays on a mac without an optical. Virtual cd rw mac is an easy to use virtual cd drive for mac os x 10. How to play dvds and cds on a mac that doesnt have a. Fixing select cdrom boot type when booting windows or.
Windows 10 accessing a cd without a local cd drive duration. For safetys sake check the box that says ask me before allowing others to use my cd drive. The apple cdrom driver would look for apple code in the drives firmware, otherwise it would ignore the drive and not control it. The juke mounter is a bit annoying since the default settings are to mount all cds at startup and to use a large amount of hard drive. Luckily, its possible to use discs without buying an external drive thanks to the builtin remote disc feature. Insert a disc in the optical drive of the computer thats being shared. Rails are a pair of plastic bars which attach to either side of a cd rom, for macs like the 7100 which have drives that slide in and out. Now, on the mac without the optical drive open a finder window. Aluminum external cd dvd drive, cd rom drive, type c usb 3. The mac, unlike most windows pcs, doesnt have an external eject button on its cd dvd drive.
Only slightly bigger than a cd case, the apple usb superdrive slips easily. How to install software from a cddvd to a macbook air. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. The drive came with 2 usb cables one for data and one for power, both are plugged in. Steps on how to read a macintosh cd on a pc or ibm compatible computer. Usually, when you plug the external device into your mac, it appears as an icon on the desktop or can be found on the sidebar in finder. That campaign came on the heels of apples first imac with a cdrw drive, in february 2001, with a press release saying rip, mix, burn your own custom music cds. It uses a disk image, but appears to mac os x as if you have inserted a cd, so you can read from it and burn to it. Fwb cd rom toolkit supports the pioneer cd rom changers. Click the remote disc option under devices in the sidebar and youll see any mac or windows pc sharing a disc on your network. With this cd dvd burner, you can watch dvd movies, burn files, movies toa cd dvd, install software and create backup discs etc. You should try to plug the same drive to another mac and see if it works.
Apr 12, 2017 the remote disc feature of your mac lets you use files stored on a cd or dvd hosted from another computer. You may also need to contact your hardware manufacturer for assistance with your hardware. If the cd rom drive is not in the device manager, the drive s cables may not be connected. Only slightly bigger than a cd case, the apple usb superdrive slips easily into your travel. Apple and the incredible vanishing cd drive macworld. There are various reasons why a cd or dvd drive is not detected. Having this external drive you will be able to play and burn cds as well as dvds, create backup discs and install program software.
Drive cd rw dvd rw superdrive disc duplicator compatible with mac. Macbook, macbook air, and macbook pro models with usbc ports require a usbc to usb adapter sold separately to use apple usb superdrive. How to use cds, dvds, and blurays on a mac without an. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. Virtual cd rw adaptec toast deluxe updater lightscribe host software lacie dvd update tool apple. Product title tsv usb external dvd rom combo cd rw cd rom burner drive with two cables for pc laptop average rating. Feb 27, 2018 sharing your cd or dvd drive from a pc is not any harder than sharing from a mac, but you do have to install some additional software first. How to use the cd or dvd drive from another computer on your mac.
For many older macs, an older or slower cd rom drive is adequate. How to play dvds and cds on a mac that doesnt have a built. Use the cd or dvd drive from another computer with your mac. The resolutions that are listed in this article may help solve some instances but not all instances of this problem. I have a mac pro and happened to have an extra internal cd dvd drive that i know works. Copy your favorite movies and music to disc with this lg ap70ns50 doublelayer dvdrwcdrw drive, which features an overall maximum dvd write speed of. In order to boot your mac from a disk in the cd dvd drive, youll first want to insert disk into the drive, then you can either shut down the mac, or reboot the mac. Sleds are typically plastic devices which screw underneath a drive. Be sure the disc to boot from is actually bootable, most system restore and installation discs are. Just because your mac doesnt have a builtin superdrive doesnt mean you cant add one both the apple usb superdrive and macbook air superdrive are compatible with all macs made after 2008, but theres also a wide range of nonapple cd and dvd drives out there that are typically much cheaper, and will work with most macbooks just make sure you check. May 12, 20 so as a last resort, totally fed up at this point and resigned to buying a new dvd drive macbook i remembered the first bit of advice i read. Copy dvd or cd on mac using disk utility for free duration.
Remote disc lets you use files stored on a cd or dvd hosted from. Its portable design is great for mobile workstation. External drives are perfect tools to store information and protect from various cyber threats. If you think youll need an external drive mostly for bluray discs, most of them will also play dvds and cds but are not readablewritable. Sharing your cd or dvd drive from a pc is not any harder than sharing from a mac, but you do have to install some additional software first. Chuanganzhuo external optical drive usb dvd cd player for mac windows pc desktop computer bag. Portable external dvd disc drive usb 2 windows macbook mac apple burner player. Also, use new or different wires to check if they are not damaged. Shop for external portable cd drive online at target. I took out my tesco clubcard, wrapped it in a vision express lense cloth, jammed it about 3 cms in to the optical drive slot and wiggled it about a bit. How to use the cd or dvd drive from another computer on.
Next, take your open hand, and gently tap the outer edge of the disc inward towards the opening with your four fingers. Whether you want to digitize your dvd collection or just view a disc on your computer, an optical drive is cheap and sometimes necessary. Your cd or dvd drive is not recognized by windows or other. Once youve enable the remote disc sharing on either a mac or windows computer, you can open the finder on your mac without a disc drive. If you dont have a cd drive in your computer, thats also not a problem.
Find the best external cd drives for mac based on what customers said. Apr 05, 20 pc to mac dvdcd optical drive sharing aerial andre. Verbatim 98938 external dvd burner wmdisc for pc and mac. Jul 30, 2016 if your computer of choice includes a cd drive, youre good to go. Cant insert cddvd in imac dvd drive macrumors forums. If youve been trying to put linux or windows on mac hardware but receiving, select cd rom boot type, and then subsequently your keyboard becomes unresponsive to. The optical drive linked to by michaelpm is a very nice unit, but youre paying a lot of money for a simple dvd cd drive due to the milled aluminum housing. Whether youre at the office or on the road, you can play and burn both cds and dvds with the apple usb superdrive. While apple has been phasing out cd dvd drives since the introduction. The cd drive is a panasonic which is supposed to be compatible with mac os x. The company offers other solutions as well, including a program which can create macintosh cd rom images on your pc. Instead, apple made use of the ability of optical drives to respond to an open or close command sent over the drive s electrical interface.
Apr 04, 2017 need an optical drive for your mac or windows system so you can read audio cds, watch dvd movies or just read and write data disks. One more representative of the best cd and dvd drives is apple usb superdrive. You can also share discs from the optical drive of another mac, or from a windows computer. I bought an external cd drive in order to load snow leopard but the cd drive does not show up on the desktop. If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs. When apple announced new macs last week, one thing that was notably absent from the new models presented was an optical drive. The inclusion of the cd dvd drive is being increasingly avoided by many brands of late. Dec 19, 2019 there are various reasons why a cd or dvd drive is not detected. So you have to resort to one of the following means to get your programs installed.
Transmac enables pc users to read all apple macintosh disks on their computer. Continue tapping the disc like you are trying to tap the disc into the drive and gradually increase the force of the tap until, bingo, the disc. See our hfs and iso 9660 definitions for further information and related links computer cd rom and disc drive help and support. The disc should then be available on any mac thats connected to the same network. I tried the external drive on my brides macbook pro 15 and it works with no problem, so i know that drive works. Dec 15, 2014 check the enable dvd or cd sharing box here.
When software comes on a cd or dvd and you want to install it on a macbook air, you cant just pop open the disc drive or slide a disc into a slot, like you would on a computer with an optical drive. Now from a finder window click on the go menu and select network. The remote disc feature of your mac lets you use files stored on a cd or dvd hosted from another computer. Need an optical drive for your mac or windows system so you can read audio cds, watch dvd movies or just read and write data disks. The macbook air forgoes the optical drive to keep it thin and small. If your computer of choice includes a cd drive, youre good to go. You can buy cd drives that connect to a laptop or any other computer over usb. Its perfect when you want to watch a dvd movie, install software, create backup discs, and more. The speed of a cd rom drive is described as a multiple of the speed of an audio cd. Why isnt there a cd drive in my new apple community.
As you may know, the processor or cpu is the heart of the machine. Having this external drive you will be able to play and burn cds as well as dvds. Finally, if you still cant find external drive on mac, it indicates that. Within device manager, verify the cd rom has no exclamation marks or red xs. The juke mounter is a bit annoying since the default settings are to mount all cds at startup and to use a large amount of hard drive space for caching.
Download and install apples dvd or cd sharing software onto the pc. Place the dvd cd into the slot drive to the point where the resistance is felt. By using the open and close commands, the mac offers several options for ejecting a cd or dvd. I also bought an inexpensive external drive to use on this mac and had the exact same problem. The list on the left has one item called dvd or cd sharing. Best laptops with cddvd drive to buy in 2020 may 2020. Most cd rom drives and internal hard drives require a sled or rails which attach the drive to the mac cabinet. If listed with a yellow exclamation mark or red x, remove the cd rom by highlighting the drive and pressing the delete key. There are many options you can choose between, such as hard drive, usb flash drive and many others. If your mac doesnt have a builtin optical drive and you need to use a cd or dvd, you can connect an external drive like the apple usb superdrive. The apple cd rom driver would look for apple code in the drive s firmware, otherwise it would ignore the drive and not control it. After youve enabled dvd or cd sharing, you can use that computers optical drive at any time. The last apple mac to ship with an optical cd or dvd drive was a in.