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MacBook Air SuperDrive Accessory Needs High-Power USB Port
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yeah, i pitty the fool (me, if only i could count to one!). I was hopeful that i could get away with hubbing the superdrive as i was only wanting to playback and not burn.
to be continued...
Whoa!!! is this better than the macbook??
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa!!
This small sexy light lil thing has a built in optical drive dudes and dudettes
http://computer.onlinestore.sg/product_info.php?products_id=505
This 12.1 incher is 0.98 kg only and has a built in optical drive..hehe
The price quoted here is in singapore dollars though...but hey...it still runs on windows..if it runs on MAC...POOF ....It will be mine...if only..if only..
the Air has the optical drive built in...
C'mon Mac ..you can do it..!!! Mac has impressed us with tonnes of stuff..surrely they can squeeze in an optical drive...ehehhee
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa!!
This small sexy light lil thing has a built in optical drive dudes and dudettes
http://computer.onlinestore.sg/product_info.php?products_id=505
This 12.1 incher is 0.98 kg only and has a built in optical drive..hehe
The price quoted here is in singapore dollars though...but hey...it still runs on windows..if it runs on MAC...POOF ....It will be mine...if only..if only..
the Air has the optical drive built in...
C'mon Mac ..you can do it..!!! Mac has impressed us with tonnes of stuff..surrely they can squeeze in an optical drive...ehehhee
I'm impressed!
^ That should be at least second page news. MBA Superdrive is artificially crippled from usage on other hardware not because of power requirements as apple have stated.... Whilst I'm not shocked it's certainly very interesting.
Very well done on working this out.
Very well done on working this out.
Most other, cheaper, tray loading, mobile DVDRW drives go for $129. Apple is selling this sleek one for only $99 which is probably a loss for them. So they only make them available for MBA users who already paid a huge premium for the computer.
<<But if you connected a powered-hub to your port and then plugged it into that, wouldn't it be able to draw enough power to run and be used, of course it wouldn't be convenient, but would it work ?>>
No it wouldn't, unfortunately. I read somewhere that the Superdrive needs a direct connection to the Air and couldn't be used through a powered hub. But I had to try it for myself and I can report that it definitely doesn't work. It's a good thing that the drive is only for occasional use or it would be a major problem because of the Air's single USB port.
No it wouldn't, unfortunately. I read somewhere that the Superdrive needs a direct connection to the Air and couldn't be used through a powered hub. But I had to try it for myself and I can report that it definitely doesn't work. It's a good thing that the drive is only for occasional use or it would be a major problem because of the Air's single USB port.
@Mixalis, actually, my hacked SuperDrive works fine when connected to a powered hub
Well, my unhacked* Superdrive definitely didn't. But, encouraged by your comments, I will try again and report back for the record if I can get it to work.
* Presumably this is hacked to work with any Mac rather than just the Air? I would have tried a two-plug USB cable if the Superdrive USB cable hadn't been hard-wired into the device. Maybe it will work if I get a USB adaptor with two plugs to get the extra power from the hub.
Amazing
Wow. This is the best thing since.... well, I can't think of anything right now, but is definitely a cool mod and works great. Kudos!!!
I want to buy my own drive just so I can mod it!
Wow. This is the best thing since.... well, I can't think of anything right now, but is definitely a cool mod and works great. Kudos!!!
I want to buy my own drive just so I can mod it!
Wait, that means, if you're using the Superdrive, there's no way to use a second USB device, even if you're carrying around a hub?
Hack it for use with other computers
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/macbook-air-superdrive-for-all/
Oops I see it's posted it above.
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/macbook-air-superdrive-for-all/
Oops I see it's posted it above.
I'm impressed!
As am I... saw it on Engadget and its some sweet work. And great perseverance too! (never thought I'd be quoting a Tosser though
)I am shocked (colour me naive) that Apple have done this... surely if the Superdrive worked with other computers then sales would by far outweight any negativity?
I just wish I had the belief in my tinkering skills to get this up and running. Any chance you'll offer an upgrade service for those too ham-fisted to give it a go tnkgrl? Because you could count me in...
@Mixalis, hmmm... Did you even watch the video linked in my blog post? I show the drive working with a Mac mini, and an HP Mini-Note!
Why does that suck?
It is advertised as compatible *only* with Macbook Air. Says so on the packaging as well as the specs on Apple.com. Not like it's some kind of hidden secret or anything. You can't really be surprised that it doesn't work on other machines?Besides, all other portable Macs have their own built-in optical drive already so why would you even want this one?
This is not news worthy. What's tomorrow's page 2 going to have? "Newsflash! OSX 10.5 Leopard requires an 867 Mhz G4 as a minimum!!!!11!!one!!!"
Talk about a straw-man argument. Breaking a published software standard != using an existing plug type for a different purpose. Clearly you don't have a solid grasp on the concept of a standardized connector:
SGI has used DE9 (often mistakenly called DB9) "serial port" type plugs to carry USB. They only use 3 of the pins, but it's a DE9 plug as found on most older PC's as a serial port. CGA and EGA video used the same DE9 connector for video to your monitor. Atari used the DE9 for their joysticks, and IBM used it for early tokenring networks.
The RJ45 connector has been used for 10/100 Ethernet, Gig-E, Tokenring, Fiber Channel (over copper), T1 CSU/DSU, POTS, PBX's, and several other WAN protocols - none of them compatible with one another. Cisco uses the RJ45 connector as a serial port for the console on their routers.
The DB25 parallel port was used for SCSI on many Mac's, while the exact same plug was a Parallel Port on a PC.
BNC twist-lock coax connectors have been used for everything from 10base-2 ethernet, tokenring, video signals on high-end CRT monitors, proprietary military equipment, and a few WAN protocols, not to mention radio antennas for CB and Ham radio.
The SC, ST, and LC optical cable connectors have been used for Fiber Channel, 10 Gig ethernet, FICON, Myrinet, Infiniband, FDDI, and even Toslink!
Connectors are not single purpose!!!! Please have a clue about the subject at hand before you join a discussion.
I was referring to USB as a whole, not just the connector.
Apple isn't just using the connector, but also the protocol. The only thing that is out of spec is the power requirements.
This is very analogous to 'extending' HTML. In both cases a well defined spec is being altered in a way that extends the functionality for a proprietary solution at the expense of compatibility.
Obviously this isn't a big deal for you, but I really enjoy the standardization provided by USB. I don't want to go back to the days when a connector had little relation where a device should be plugged in. For example, I always hated PS/2 for mice and keyboards.
BTW - It's condescending comments like yours that lead to the generally negative attitude towards the Apple community.
Apple isn't just using the connector, but also the protocol. The only thing that is out of spec is the power requirements.
This is very analogous to 'extending' HTML. In both cases a well defined spec is being altered in a way that extends the functionality for a proprietary solution at the expense of compatibility.
Obviously this isn't a big deal for you, but I really enjoy the standardization provided by USB. I don't want to go back to the days when a connector had little relation where a device should be plugged in. For example, I always hated PS/2 for mice and keyboards.
BTW - It's condescending comments like yours that lead to the generally negative attitude towards the Apple community.
In Apple's case, they are not marketing it as a USB Superdrive. They're specifically marketing it as a "Macbook Air Superdrive". No where in any of their literature does it imply conformance with the USB spec or interoperability with notebooks other than the Macbook Air. Additionally, you can still plug *any* standards compliant USB device into the Macbook Air and it will work - the port is not crippled in any way.
Microsoft OTOH did not market their product as "Microsoft HTML" and clearly state that it's only compatible with their own product - they just threw it out there and knowingly deceived everyone while feigning standards compliance. The very nature of HTML means it *has* to be open and compatible with PC's, Mac's, Linux, etc. or it becomes proprietary and useless.
I am a condescending jackass and I don't pretend to be otherwise.