MacOS 26 having problems with my external Blu-ray drives

[dandeco]

For the past four years I have been using an MthsTec external USB-C Blu-ray burner, hooked up to my CalDigit TS3 Plus dock connected to my M1 MacBook Air. But since I upgraded to MacOS 26 Tahoe, it's starting to have problems. Half the time I pop a disc in, be it a DVD or Blu-ray, the drive just acts neutral and then ejects the disc after a minute or two. I tried this with my older LG external Blu-ray drive, and I get the same problem. I tried gently cleaning the laser on the MthsTec Blu-ray burner with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab, and I still have this issue. If I try playing the same DVDs on one of my older MacBook Pros with a built-in DVD drive, then it works. So therefore it has to be a compatibility issue my external Blu-ray drives have with MacOS 26. Anyone else have similar experiences or advice?

 

[EugW]

For the past four years I have been using an MthsTec external USB-C Blu-ray burner, hooked up to my CalDigit TS3 Plus dock connected to my M1 MacBook Air. But since I upgraded to MacOS 26 Tahoe, it's starting to have problems. Half the time I pop a disc in, be it a DVD or Blu-ray, the drive just acts neutral and then ejects the disc after a minute or two. I tried this with my older LG external Blu-ray drive, and I get the same problem. I tried gently cleaning the laser on the MthsTec Blu-ray burner with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab, and I still have this issue. If I try playing the same DVDs on one of my older MacBook Pros with a built-in DVD drive, then it works. So therefore it has to be a compatibility issue my external Blu-ray drives have with MacOS 26. Anyone else have similar experiences or advice?

I just tried this. CD, DVD, and Blu-ray all load fine. My Tom Cochrane CD and Chungking Express DVD play normally. I have no software to play my Blu-ray of The Party, but the I can see the directory. M4 Mac mini with USB 2.0 enclosure. Drive model is listed in the System Report screen grab.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You said the Bluray drive is connected via a hub, is this right?

Have you tried a direct connection to the Mac (no hub)?
Does that change anything?

 

[dandeco]

OP:

You said the Bluray drive is connected via a hub, is this right?

Have you tried a direct connection to the Mac (no hub)?
Does that change anything?

It didn't.
I also tried it with a couple other Macs, and I got the same results. So I concluded it's an issue with the Blu-ray drive, and ordered a new model from a different manufacturer, one that apparently performs better.

 

[EugW]

I also tried it with a couple other Macs, and I got the same results. So I concluded it's an issue with the Blu-ray drive, and ordered a new model from a different manufacturer, one that apparently performs better.

Are these recordable discs or commercial stamped discs? Because recordable discs do have a finite shelf life.

 

[VaZ]

It didn't.
I also tried it with a couple other Macs, and I got the same results. So I concluded it's an issue with the Blu-ray drive, and ordered a new model from a different manufacturer, one that apparently performs better.

Your lens is dirty and just needs cleaning

 

[dandeco]

Your lens is dirty and just needs cleaning

I tried wiping the lens clean with a cotton swab dipped in the isopropyl alcohol, but it didn't make much of a difference. Is there another method I should try?

Also, these are stamped mass-produced discs.

 

[VaZ]

That's exactly the same method i used to bring back a glitchy PS3.
That sucks that didn't fix it :/

 

[r_atkins]

You can try, but this probably wont work, keeping it unplugged and powered down for a while, possibly running it on another machine to test if its not software related, or I dont know, it could be defective, broken, or something could be jammed or rattled in it. Do you have a video you can put on YouTube? You can always get another one delivered within 30 minutes from DoorDash+Best Buy, or next day from Amazon Prime

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Reading your first post, something was unclear.
Did you try this BD drive on another Mac? Or even a PC?
And it worked ok, or...?

Might be time for a new drive...

 

[dandeco]

OP:

Reading your first post, something was unclear.
Did you try this BD drive on another Mac? Or even a PC?
And it worked ok, or...?

Might be time for a new drive...

Yeah, I tried the Blu-ray drive on a couple other Macs and I had the same problems, so I ordered a new drive.

 

[dandeco]

My new drive came, made by Matshita and Aelrosch, and all the discs are working properly! Therefore, my MthsTec and LG drives I mentioned in the original post are just wearing out.

 

[Staygrade]

For the past four years I have been using an MthsTec external USB-C Blu-ray burner, hooked up to my CalDigit TS3 Plus dock connected to my M1 MacBook Air. But since I upgraded to MacOS 26 Tahoe, it's starting to have problems. Half the time I pop a disc in, be it a DVD or Blu-ray, the drive just acts neutral and then ejects the disc after a minute or two. I tried this with my older LG external Blu-ray drive, and I get the same problem. I tried gently cleaning the laser on the MthsTec Blu-ray burner with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab, and I still have this issue. If I try playing the same DVDs on one of my older MacBook Pros with a built-in DVD drive, then it works. So therefore it has to be a compatibility issue my external Blu-ray drives have with MacOS 26. Anyone else have similar experiences or advice?

When I plug in my external DVD-Writer to MacOS26 Tahoe it too is not visible in Disk Utility or on the desktop or Finder but it does open in whichever player app assigned to it from System Settings. To get hold of the .vob file though I do it via running VMWare VMFusion Windows where the DVD drive mounts with no problems and the TS-Folder is visible in Explorer so I just drag the folder across into MacOS from Windows. Silicon Macs are so fast now that this is not really a block to my workflow and quicker that the rabbit hole hunt for direct in-Mac native solutions.