Apple Superdrive

[uninformed]

I have just gone from a HP laptop to a new iMac. The new iMacs have to have a separate disc drive as they no longer come with one built it. The Superdrive is not so super. 3 music cds, 2 known bands, 1 compilation. Major record lables and in very good, near new condition, will not up load. Im only half way through up loading my music to iTunes. This is not a one off, these cds will play in other CD/DVD players and will load on older macbook, iMac and HP computers. Another superdrive has been tested with the exact same results....

Any idea of good forums for this stuff (unbiased)? Ill be ringing apple care tomorrow, but doubt there will be much other than a hand ball.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

I'd be taking a handful of non-complient CDs plus SuperDrive to an apple store and getting one of their "Genius" to set it out.

I've never had this problem cos my 2010 iMac has a drive in it. 2013 MacBook doesn't though.

From experience these people are actually very good and know there stuff.

R
J

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[uninformed]

still unresolved. Open case with Apple care. Genius could not sort and hinted at known problems. Some net snooping also alludes to some problems that Apple will not admit to.

I have uploaded over 300 cds. I now have 5 that wont load. Yet they load onto my older Mac book that I was given recently. I am also finding sound quality issues during playback of some of the music that has uploaded. Import settings are set to "Apple Lossless" so should be close to original.

If you are into music and want high quality digital recordings, I would steer clear of Apples latest products until they resolve the super drive.

very pee'd off as I have spent a lot of time up loading which now may seem to have been a waste.....

[Petetheprinta]

I have just gone from a HP laptop to a new iMac. The new iMacs have to have a separate disc drive as they no longer come with one built it. The Superdrive is not so super. 3 music cds, 2 known bands, 1 compilation. Major record lables and in very good, near new condition, will not up load. Im only half way through up loading my music to iTunes. This is not a one off, these cds will play in other CD/DVD players and will load on older macbook, iMac and HP computers. Another superdrive has been tested with the exact same results....

Any idea of good forums for this stuff (unbiased)? Ill be ringing apple care tomorrow, but doubt there will be much other than a hand ball.

I have a new iMac and have put in over 1500 cd's a variety of new, burnt and bootleg, 25Gb of various mp3's mp4's, never had a problem.

[uninformed]

I have a new iMac and have put in over 1500 cd's a variety of new, burnt and bootleg, 25Gb of various mp3's mp4's, never had a problem.

Glad to hear, If you were closer I would bring my cds and try them on yours to get another test done. Be that as it may, it still doesnt resolve the fact more than one superdrive is doing this, and it is only the superdrive that is doing this, ie, the problem cds are only a problem with the superdrive.

Have you listened to all your music to see if there are any audio errors?

[Petetheprinta]

Glad to hear, If you were closer I would bring my cds and try them on yours to get another test done. Be that as it may, it still doesnt resolve the fact more than one superdrive is doing this, and it is only the superdrive that is doing this, ie, the problem cds are only a problem with the superdrive.

Have you listened to all your music to see if there are any audio errors?

Not all of it, but have transferred selected playlists consisting of about 50% of total to USB sticks which I listen to in my vehicle. No problems so far. (Touch wood).
As time goes by I change playlists, it would probably take me 12 months to listen to it all.

[Petetheprinta]

You have probably seen this, but just in case.

"Check the disc's surface for scratches and dirt, since these things can prevent the disc from appearing on the desktop.
The MacBook Air SuperDrive is designed to be used with MacBook Air and Mac mini computers that do not have a built-in optical drive. For best results, connect the MacBook Air SuperDrive directly to the computer's USB port instead a USB hub.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC).
Ensure your drive can read the specific type of disc being used. The System Profiler or System Information may provide additional information regarding what media your computer supports.
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or earlier: Open Apple System Profiler by choosing "About this Mac" from the Apple () menu. Then, click More Info.
OS X 10.7 Lion or later: Open System Information by choosing "About this Mac" from the Apple () menu. Then, click System Report.
If the disc continues to not be recognized, contact Apple, an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or make an appointment with an Apple Retail Store for additional troubleshooting, evaluation, or service."

[Petetheprinta]

You can also try another make of DVD drive, it doesn't have to be an Apple drive, any USB drive should work (Mac compatible of course LaCie for example).

[simonmelb]

GDay,

I've used Macs since the Macintosh Plus and have only had 1 bad DVD drive - in a ~2008 iMac which had to be replaced.

As a fall back if you have access to another Mac, you can create a direct image of the disc which is tested/verified as you create the copy.

On the older Mac, go Utilities > Disc Utility, Insert the CD, then choose Create Image from Disc. This will copy the disc to the Macs HDD. It will then verify the the disc image you've created is an exact copy.

You can then copy this disc image eg via a USB to your iMac, double click to mount it, then import the songs into iTunes.

I also use Apple Lossless and its very good with no errors I've found.

Good luck!
Simon

[uninformed]

Thanks for the help guys.

Simon, what you say is true, and there are a few options to get these cds onto my iMac via other computers first. However, I have audio quality issues randomly through my 4000+ songs. IMO it is unaceptable to have to take 17 steps and 4 times as long to upload a cd. Apple need to pull their socks up. I can tell you coming from a 7 year old HP with windows 7, that the latest iMac and its OS is not the wonderkind that it is made out to be, and many people to believe. I am even getting little mermers from long time Apple owners that the latest OS has changes that seem to be a backward step.