Solution to a Dead Internal Optical Drive

I believe the easiest and cheapest solution to the problem of a dead A1181 Macbook internal optical drive is the purchase of a new external optical drive. Various issues arise from this choice.

They include:

 1. While A1181 Macbook usb ports supply sufficient current to power external reading of discs, they do not supply sufficient current to power external burning of discs in a usb powered drive. The work around is given below.

 2. Apple’s DVD Player software requires the presence of an internal Apple optical drive to work. If the internal drive has been removed, or if the internal drive has failed in a such way that the MacBook system fails to recognize the presence of the drive, you cannot use “DVD Player” to play DVD movies from an external drive without additional software. The work around is given below.

3. Where independence from a wall socket is not important, a mains powered, full size external optical drive, firewire or usb or both, is the best option. In my opinion, they last longer, their internals can replaced cheaply and they are more robust than slim line usb powered drives.

 4. Purchasing both types of external optical drive might be wise if you burn a lot of discs and need portable reading of discs. The units can be surprisingly cheap.

 5. Apple’s imposition of “Supported Drives” which renders various direct burning functions useless unless you have a valid, “supported” drive. The work around is given below.

 Work Arounds

Burning with a usb powered slim line external optical drive. If you choose to use an external usb powered slim line optical drive, and you need to burn discs with it, use a powered hub. Such hubs have power supplies that plug into a wall socket. This enables the external drive to reliably burn DVD and CD discs. If you choose the type of usb powered external drive which uses two usb leads or “two into one” leads, then when burning discs, one lead goes to the powered hub, the other goes direct to the MacBook. The powered hub in this case (and this case only) does not need to be plugged into the Macbook’s usb port. It’s just a power source, not a data source, in this setting. One model of usb powered external DVD/CD drive which uses a “Two into one” usb lead is the Samsung SE-20AB. 

Any usb or firewire full size external optical drive is worth considering where portability is not required.

What to do when Apple’s “DVD Player” software won’t load.
 Use VLC media player to watch DVD movies. It is just as good as DVD Player, and it is free here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

Buying a new or used A1181 Macbook internal optical drive and fitting it is of course possible. It is not the way I would go though. A modern external drive will allow faster burn and read speeds, and has far greater tolerance of cheap or damaged discs than the now dated original internal Apple optical drives fitted to A1181 Macbooks.

 To be clear, the A1181 MacBook has low current output usb ports. These usb ports will not supply the current needed to burn discs in an external usb powered burner. You need either a powered hub or a mains powered burner for this. The A1181 MacBook is very different to the MacBook Air in this regard. The usb powered external DVD burners sold as MacBook Air compatible will need powered hubs if used as burners with A1181 MacBooks.

 Out of Region DVDs
 Try to avoid playing out of region movie DVD discs on your computer. Only a limited number of region code changes are permitted. Apple explains it this way: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2397 Quote: “You can change the region setting up to 5 times, as indicated in the dialog box. On the fifth time, the drive is permanently set to use that region, and you cannot make any more changes. For example, imagine you have both a Region 1 and Region 2 DVD-Video disc. You insert the Region 1 disc and DVD Player is now set to play only Region 1 discs. You insert the Region 2 disc, and set the drive to play only Region 2 discs. If you continue to switch between the discs, on the fifth time the DVD drive is permanently set to use the region of that disc.” Source: Apple Support. This issue is industry wide and applies, in some form or another to all OEM computer dvd drives. If you wish to explore region free DVD conversion in the Mac environment, perhaps start here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1774850 The thread explores various issues surrounding macs, external drives and region coding.

  Opinion – “Apple Supported Drives” Macs need “Supported Drives” in order to burn from direct from programs and from the OSX burn folder. Personally I have never bothered with burning discs in this way. I have always disliked the internal drives Macs come with. I dislike slot loading drives particularly. For routine stuff, I burn to “no brand” discs I buy from Cheap as Chips. Apple drives either spit these out as half burnt coasters or reject them altogether. So I have always used an external burner. When a disc gets stuck in an Apple slot loader, you can spend hours trying to get it out. It’s a subject in itself. E.g. : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2373587?start=0&tstart=0 Poor Dave. There are two options not mentioned in the replies to his stuck disc issue. The old gravity and acceleration trick and “buy an external drive Dave.” The kit you need is simple, dead drive or not. Roxio Toast 10 or similar burning program and any half decent external drive. Roxio Toast “supports” any burner on the planet.

If your external optical drive does not show on the Mac: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4286317?start=0&tstart=0 There is no need to load any driver software when you attach an external optical drive to your Mac.

Next: Attempting to boot an apparently dead A1181 Macbook.