external DVD drive on iMAC not reading

[GIZBUG]

2015 iMac.
macOS 12.5.1

Plugged in a new Asus Zendrive into the back of the monitor's USB ports.
Open up finder, and don't see any drive. It turns on and spins up with disc in. I check Finder/Preferances, and i do have CD drive checked to be shown.

Any ideas how to use an external drive on my machine?

 

[Fishrrman]

Just wondering, do you have a powered USB hub around?
What happens if you plug the drive into the hub?

Some drives "pull more power" than a single USB port provides.
You can still get the drive to run, but it might require a USB "Y-cable".
The single plug goes to the drive, the Y-end of the cable goes to TWO ports on the Mac.

Does the drive show up in system information (utilities folder)?

OS 12 Monterey seems to cause problems for some folks with USB-related connections.

 

[Slartibart]

In the box the drive came are two cables: USB-C with micro B and dual USB-A with micro B. Use the dual cable to connect to your Mac.

If you use a powered hub as @Fishrrman already suggested, then the USB-C cable will probably work too.

 

[jasnw]

Just tried attaching one of these drives to a Mini M2Pro with mixed results. First tried USB-C connection directly to the Mini - nothing. Connect USB-C to a Totu non-powered hub - disk spun up, but the system didn't see it. Finally, connec the two USB-A to the Totu hub - everything worked. The USB-C port on the Mini is fine - I had been using an external SSD on that port until yesterday. Go figure. I've got two free USB-A ports on my monitor (Benq) which I may try when I have time.