can a mba superdrive be hacked /work with mbpro?

[mediasorcerer]

i got given a mba superdrive,and am considering the optibay mod,is there any way i can hack the mba superdrive to work with mbpro 15?,ive already seen the hardware method of replacing the circuit board at the back,but would rather just do a software hack,anyone know of this,ive heard of some kext edit or something,but cant find it on the web,any suggestions ?cheers.

 

[calderone]

Not unless you get the old model. They changed it some time ago and the IDE to USB bridge is integrated heavily.

If you get the old one, you can modify it to work with an $8 part.

http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/macbook-air-superdrive-for-all/

 

[mediasorcerer]

thanx for the reply calderone,ive seen the hardware hack you mentioned,so there is no software option to edit some files or something?,it is a new one too,pity,would have made the optibay mod more appealing ,i wonder if my 15 superdrive would fit in it?ie swapout?suppose id still have to get an adapter or something.i heard there was a kext file u could edit,but,
i wonder if i bought a cheap external slimline usb drive,if i could swap out the guts? i like the form factor,what a pity apple is like this,stupid,imagine how many they would sell if it worked with any usb port

 

[johnnj]

I would just get a USB external optical drive. I use the LG one which I think was like $60. Works fine and no prying apart and soldering stuff necessary.

I think it's funny that Apple still calls the optical drives they use "Superdrives". When they came out it was pretty awesome that a drive could do CDR and DVDR, but these days that's the de facto standard. I won't even bring up the whole Bluray thing.

 

[Awjvail]

I don't understand WHY Apple has locked these things down so hard?

Why do they care whether or not people are using an external CD drive? Why not leave them unlocked, rather than driving all the sales to their competitors?