With my former MacBook Air my LG GP57ES40 worked well but on my current MacBook Air it doesn't. I got an USB-C to USB-B Mini cable and still it won't work. So I need a replacement which will work on my USB-C ports. I'm considering to get the Verbatim External Slimline Bluray Writer 43888. Does anyone has any experience with those drives?
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Optical drive for MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
- Thread starter tehabe
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I will take a GUESS that the reason the drive won't work might be because the new MacBook Air isn't providing enough USB "bus power" through only only USB port.
Does the MacBook Air have only a single USBc port, or... does it have two?
Reason why I'm asking:
It might be possible to get a USB "Y-cable" and use that. With the Y-cable, the "single end" goes to the DVD/CD drive, and the two on the double end both get plugged into USB ports. This way, additional bus power is provided to get the drive running.
Did the DVD/CD drive come with a "power port" on the back?
If so, another solution might be to buy a power supply block and use it for power.
Make sure you research and get the right voltage, etc.
Final thought:
You could buy an external drive that IS NOT "a slimline" -- that is, it comes in a full-sized 5.25 case with it's own power supply.
Yes, it's "bigger"...
... But it should work without problems.
Does the MacBook Air have only a single USBc port, or... does it have two?
Reason why I'm asking:
It might be possible to get a USB "Y-cable" and use that. With the Y-cable, the "single end" goes to the DVD/CD drive, and the two on the double end both get plugged into USB ports. This way, additional bus power is provided to get the drive running.
Did the DVD/CD drive come with a "power port" on the back?
If so, another solution might be to buy a power supply block and use it for power.
Make sure you research and get the right voltage, etc.
Final thought:
You could buy an external drive that IS NOT "a slimline" -- that is, it comes in a full-sized 5.25 case with it's own power supply.
Yes, it's "bigger"...
... But it should work without problems.
That's what I did. I just repurposed an PC Optical drive into a external Case with it's own power supply. Because I'm old and still buy CD's to burn into my collection. lol. It's from OWC. It's pretty nice looking too. So it kinda matches Apple's aesthetic.
It is just odd that it needs so much more power than a 2.5" spinning disk or a flatbed scanner. I only noticed that it shows up twice in the USB device tree. Also it is hard to find out how much power those USB/Thunderbolt ports on the MacBook Air deliver and how much power the LG drive needs.
I found a hopefully nice housing for an internal optical drive. And my brother's internal DVD drive is available soonish, so I also have a drive. I will see how this thing is performing.
Edit: I canceled the idea, because the market for internal drives is more awful than i thought. I'll have to finde another solution.
Edit: I canceled the idea, because the market for internal drives is more awful than i thought. I'll have to finde another solution.
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