Usb dvd drive with macbook air?

hi all!
i have a macbook air.
its a 13 inch core i5,4gb, 128gb ssd late 2011 model with uk specs.
i need to get a dvd drive for it and am wondering if an ordinary usb dvd drive would work with it or not?
i dont want to get the macbook superdrive for £60 if i can use a decent samsung dvd writer for £20 from ebay.
please advise!
many thanks !!

There are probably very few that won't work. However, at the very least I would check out with the model specifications that there is OS X compatibility as stated by the manufacturer of the drive.
I've tried a couple of drives that I have and both work just fine. But in my case it was a curiosity more than anything else, because I went ahead and bought a Superdrive (which by the way, I've only used a few times).
I think we are approaching a time when these optical drives are really going to be as unneeded as a floppy.

Similar Messages

  • Possibility to share PS3 optical drive with Macbook Air (2012)

    Hello guys,
    Can anyone with solid experience on connecting PS3 and MBA tell me if it is possible to use PS3 optical drive with MacBook Air (2012)?
    Thanks in advance for the help,

    if you mean can the appletv connect to an optical drive remotely then the answer is no.

  • USB dvd drive for macbook pro retina

    I have recently bought a new MacBook pro and was looking for a good USB DVD drive. The reviews of apples's own super drive have not been very good. Any suggestions of alternate brands that are compatible would be much appreciated.

    That's why I recently purchased the MacBook Pro with the built-in optical drive.
    I've had good luck with the drive below on other Macs.  I see some people in airports with DVD drives duct taped to the bottom of their computers, the drive below may be a little bit to do that but perfectly okay when not traveling.
    They also have a Blu-ray version of this drive is well.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3F82SD24S/

  • Wireless Access to iMac DVD Drive from MacBook Air

    Help please? Could access the IMac drive and DVDs from my MacBook Air until recently. Drive is no longer accessible. Have also lost ability to print remotely to printer attached to iMac (have tried re-setting permissions etc). Can also no longer access the HD on the iMac using wireless access from the MacBook Air. Also have a Mac Book (one of my offspring's) which has same problems. Tried re-pairing with Bluetooth etc. and checking sharing in sys prefs, but to no avail. Anyone got any ideas?!? Probably something dead simple, but I've been trying to get it going for so long - I give up!

    Thank you. This one has very mixed feedback, that's why i thought i will ask. Have you used or heard about Asus BW-12D1S-U External Blu-ray Writer - Black? I am tempted to buy this one
    thank you

  • Optus Huwaie USB not working with Macbook Air

    I have a Macbook Air (mid 2011) running Yosemite 10.10.1
    Using an Optus USB Modem (E3276 V2  4G) by Huwaie and it I think there is a compatibility issue. … I tried the modem on my Macbook .. no problem at all.
    After launching on the Air, the USB dongle glows Blue which represent connection - status on Optus window says ‘connected' but there is in fact no internet connection at all and no kbps activity either way. I have seen a few similar posts on various forums but haven't so far understood what they are on about. Ideas? Thanks

    You should be contacting the technical support of the Internet carrier for assistance.  It is their responsibility to be compatible with Apple.
    Ciao.

  • Gigaware USB - Ethernet adaptor with MacBook Air

    Where does one find instructions to get this device to work on a MacBook Air with Yosemite?

    I had the same problem. Apple Support said to install the Ethernet adapter while Windows was running and then run the install disk and it will find the driver. (Running in BootCamp - all updates included for XP)
    That doesn't work. It didn't for me our our IT person. Their solution was install a USNB ethernet adapter for Windows. When they installed that software on the Windows it shut down my blut tooth mouse and the track pad. I don't know what they did but they got the mouse and track pad working again but not the adapter.
    There is a fix you can Google but I am reluctant to buy it - I think a fix will show up soon - best get a wireless modem for now and if you are worried about security just unplug it when you are not using it.

  • HT5630 I am attempting to watch a DVD on my macbook air with the apple super drive but the dvd will not play.

    I am trying to watch a DVD on my Macbook Air using the Apple super drive but it will not play.  I can view CDs but not watch movies.  Can someone give me instructions on how to watch a DVD?

  • Has anyone used a 1.44 usb floppy drive with a MacBook Pro late 2011 model ? I have photos of my children i would like to recover.

    I have photos on 1.44 floppy disk and would like to copy them to DVD, has anyone used a 1.44 usb external drive with a MacBook Pro (late 2011)? The disk where made on a PC from 1990 -94 the images are in .img and .jpg. 

    Hello riflemanpro,
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    For more information, take a look at:
    Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1367
    Have a nice day,
    Mario

  • External 3rd party USB DVD drive will not show up on my 2008 Macbook pro

    I have a the new Macbook pro, when I connect my Liteon USB DVD drive it does not show up my Macbook pro. The only DVD drive showing up is the one on my Macbook pro. How do I make the 2nd DVD drive show up. I just need to 2nd drive to tranfers data from dvd to the external drive.

    Hi, ipodtrip1. Nothing will appear on your MBP's desktop unless there is a disc in the drive. Does a disc in the drive not appear either?
    If not, does System Profiler detect the drive as a connected device?
    If you have another USB device you can connect to your computer, disconnect the optical drive and connect the other device. Does System Profiler detect that device?
    If not, reset the System Management Controller, and see whether doing so reactivates your USB port.

  • How to create dvd/cd image using super drive in MacBook Air

    I have MacBook Air and also Apple Supper drive for the same. can u help me to find dvd/cd burrning and copy software. and also guide me "how to create dvd/cd image using super drive in MacBook Air"

    First to create a video DVD you need to use DVD authoring software like iDVD.  You can purchase it from the online Apple Store while supplies last.
    For creating a disk image use Disk Utility.
    To burn items to a CD or data DVD just insert the disc in the optical drive and drag those items onto the disc icon on the Desktop.  Then drag the disc icon to the Trash icon in the Dock which changes to a Burn icon.
    OT

  • Can I Install Tiger with an exterinal USB DVD Drive??

    Hi,
    I've accuired a couple iMacs that are currently running Mac OS 9, but are fast enough to run Tiger. The problem is they only have built in CD drives. Rather than going out to find several internal iMac DVD drives, could I buy one exterinal USB DVD drive to install Tiger?
    Thanks!

    What happens if the firmware isn't updated?
    The display may stop working, even for OS 9. It is not easy to fix.
    I just installed 10.2 on one of them and it seems to be working. Should I uninstall it and upgrade the firmware and start over?
    Check the "Boot ROM version" with System profiler. If the firmware is updated it will be 4.1.9
    It is not necessary to remove OSX to install the updates if OS 9 is still on the hard drive. If not, and the OS 9 drivers are there, OS 9 can be installed without affecting OSX.
    The update won't install if it is not needed.

  • Is it available to replace DVD driver in MacBook Pro with SSD 512GB Crucial m4 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb?

    I'v external DVD driver and I'd like to replace DVD driver with in MacBook Pro with SSD 512GB Crucial m4 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb.  Is it available? All your opinions are welcome.

    Here is a post from another thread on this problem.
    So here's the deal, don't expect SATA III devices to work on the optical port.  I just went thru this on both my 2009 and 2012 13" MBP's.   The 2009 is SATA II (3Gps) and the 2012 is SATA III (6Gps).   A SATA III SSD (OWC 6G) will only connect at 1.5 Gps on the 2009.  On the 2012, it actually connects at 6 Gps, but every drive I tried crashed (dropped drives, file errors, kernel panics), including a Samsung 830 and  Seagate Momentus XT 750.  Out of desperation, I stuck the (slow 500 Gb) Apple HD in, it connects at 3 Gps and works like a champ.   Check your System Info on SATA info.   If you have a 2009, don't waste your $$$ on high end SSDs or drives.  If you have newer, BEWARE, you're likely to have issues with high end SATA III devices.    On the bright side both Samsung and OCZ V4 work great on the main drive (450 MB/s read) and boots in 10 seconds!!      The optical drive SATA port is a major issue for everyone ( like me ) who buys MBPs because they can trip them out, this is a real nagging issue/obstacle.   This is a firmware issue that needs to be addressed by Apple. I'm hoping for a firmware update and that Apple isn't doing this intentionally.
    Posted by Halfmoonh4
    Found here.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3949727?tstart=0

  • You can use the final cut with macbook air 11 x 4GB with external hard drive

    I can install and use the final cut X, with macbook air 11", 4GB with an external hard drive, and them transfer to the mac pro

    No, not directly. You would need to transfer your data from your iPad to your Mac and then back it up to an external drive.
    Pete

  • Bad CD with Ext USB DVD Drive

    Greetings,
    Who do I need to contact to get a replacement software CD for the External USB DVD Drive that I just bought. The drive seems to be working but when I put the CD in it sounds like its grinding gravel and it then displays a message that it is not responding. Never can access the software on the CD or even view it in file manager. I've looked around on the HP support site and all it does it run you around in circles and never anyone to email about the problem

    I have run diagnostics on the hard drive - there are no failures.
    Again to go over my problem -
     Restore to out of the box condition from the hard drive fails
    All seems to go well until starting windows for the first time has a page fault,
     the page fault screen goes away before I can read it, the computer reboots in Startup Repair
    Startup Repair informs me Windows cannot repair this computer automatically.
    No error codes found in the Diagnosis and repair details the  root cause found is Failure while setup is in progress.
    So I use the restoration DVDs and get error 1012.
    Reading up on official HP advice related to error I get advice to firmware upgrade the internal CD/DVD drive, which failed some time ago.
    There is also information about Build ID numbers. The build ID number  is 71NAv3XrA3 on the label and the same one reported by BIOS setup.
    If replacing the internal CD/DVD rom would make the restore processes work better that would be a useful piece of information.
    As it stands I have a computer that passes all dignostics, except has a bad internal DVD, that will not accept any of the Restore methods I thought I could count on working.
    Regards Tom M.

  • Problems Installing Win7 using External, USB DVD Drive

    I have a mid 2010 15" i7 MBP which I upgraded to from 4GB to 8GB RAM courtesy of OWC.  I recently upgraded the 500GB 7200RPM HD with a 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 and using an OWC Data Doubler, I replaced the DVD SuperDrive with the 500GB Hard Drive.
    I used an External USB DVD Drive to install OS X SL On the SSD without issues. Also, I got all my updates and software installed and working without any problems.
    I've been running great for about 2 weeks now, so I decided to install Windows 7 64bit Ultimate. I ran Boot Camp Assistant and partitioned the 240GB SSD in half 120/120. Everything went fine with creating the partition. I selected to Install from the Win 7 DVD media in the USB DVD drive and rebooted.  I got a grey screen.  I turned the computer off and turned it back on.  Holding down Option, I selected the Install DVD from the Boot Menu.  I then got a screen with the Apple Logo flashing intermittently with a Circle/Cross Hatch.  So I can't get the Windows Install to start to save my life.  I know the External, USB DVD works since I used it to install OS X and I have no problems using it in OS X.  I Know the media works because I tried a test install, without activation in a VMWare Fusion VM. 
    Any suggestions are appreciated?

    So here is the answer.  The Firmware on the MacBook Pro only supports installation of OS X from External Media and will not install operating systems from 3rd Parties.  I tried to install Windows XP, Win7 Ultimate  32 & 64bit, and Ubuntu 11.04 but no success.
    Supposedly, the MacBook Air does support installation of 3rd party operating systems from external media, but I have no way to confirm this.
    I ended up reinstalling the internal DVD drive installing Win 7 and Ubuntu on the SSD.  Using rEFI, I'm able to triple boot all 3 operating systems.  Then removed the drive again and reinstalled the 2nd HD. Everything seems to be working fine.
    I'm looking for someone who has experience in Mac EFI Hacking to see if there is a way to enable booting 3rd Party OSes from external media.  I'm guessing someone could examine the MBA firmware and figure out how to hack that capability into the MBP.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Getting Error While inserting a record in table PDSNR through Tcode PA30

    Hi Experts, Im doing a transaction in  TCode PA30 by entering a pernr and infty as 14 and wage type. My need is when im entering a particular wage type in PA30 with infotype 14 , for that particular wage type and infotype i need to assign a different

  • PDF Preview kicks out to Acrobat 7 and Body Pages goes blank

    Two problems, and I suspect they are related... I just purchased and installed Acrobat 7 Professional with Adobe Designer. FIRST--The PDF Preview in Designer automatically kicks the preview out to Acrobat 7 and does not preview in Designer. Why??? SE

  • Movie downloaded off of iTunes not authorized

    I downloaded o movie off of iTunes and when I go to watch it it says cannot open content because it's not authorized, what should I do?!

  • Record based file IO suggestions

    I'm working with some files that store variable length data fields. Each field is preceded by a four byte preface that holds the length value for the fields. This supports reading the variable length fields. We recently moved the system over to UTF-8

  • Re-installing Panther

    I was recently given a stripped-down G3 iBook. I tried to look at System Profiler to see what its capabilities were, only to discover that the previous owners had deleted System Profiler. Everything is gone from the apps folder - even System Preferen