Superdrive doesn't work with M3 Macbook Pro, but does work with 2019 MB Pro

[ricecrispies]

I have a Superdrive that works fine with the 2019 Intel MacBook Pro that I am about to sell, but doesn't work with the M3 MacBook Pro that has replaced it.

In both cases I have been connecting the Superdrive directly to the computer (i.e. not through a hub) using a third-party USB-A to USB-C adapter. I have tried it in two of the Thunderbolt ports on the M3 Mac, but it doesn't work in either.

By "doesn't work", I mean that it makes no noise and doesn't swallow a disk when I try to insert it.

Both computers have just been updated to macOS 15.5.

Is the problem with the Superdrive and the M3 MacBook a hardware limitation, or can it be fixed?

 

[Teletypewriter]

I have no problem with my Superdrive plugged into my M4 MacBook Pro. I can rip MP3’s or watch movies all day long. I do have to use an Apple original “USB-C to USB-A Adapter” $19

I first started using the Superdrive plugged into my 2018 Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 ports.

 

[Fishrrman]

Like tele suggests... it might be the USB cable.

OP: do you have a brick n mortar Apple Store anywhere near?
If so, could you take the Superdrive and the M3 MBP, and see if THEY can get it to work?
It might involve buying/using an Apple USB cable.

If you absolutely, positively can't get it working with the new MBP, I'd include it in the sale of the old Intel MBP. Then I'd buy a NON-Apple "generic" CD/DVD/Bluray player/writer and use that instead...

 

[PaulD-UK]

I suspect that because the SuperDrive needs to negotiate a higher than usual power draw from the socket it is plugged into, it needs an adapter that passes through the handshake information from drive to Mac.
Which possibly means you need to use the Apple adapter.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Which possibly means you need to use the Apple adapter.

Very likely this is the answer. Apple offers 3 options - straight USB-C to USB-A, or a couple of multi-port adapters.

 

[ricecrispies]

Than,s for all your replies.

It turns out that there was nothiing wrong with the drive or inadequate about the connector I was using. I’m not quite sure what was happening, but it could have been that I simply did not see the popups on my desktop asking for permission to connect the device. If they did appear, they quickly got buried underneath other windows and I never noticed them. I was actually dealing with a number of different problems at the same time to do with this and another DVD drive I was trying to get working, which made everything quite a bit more confusing.