Blu-ray Optical Drive Doesn't Work With Mojave

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Level 1

13 points

Blu-ray Optical Drive Doesn't Work With Mojave

I have a Late 2010 Mac Pro which I have upgraded to work with the latest Mac operating systems (NVIDIA Quadra K5000 Video Board). I've had an LG WH16NS40 installed in the 2nd optical drive bay for a number of years and it was working perfectly until a recent update of MacOS. I'm running Mojave 10.14.6 and the drive tray opens and closes, but the system no longer recognizes any discs in that drive. The firmware installed in the drive shows as 1.0. But I see on the LG website that there are several updates to that firmware, the latest being 1.05. Not sure how to install that firmware since it appears to be Windows compatible. Also has anyone gotten the drive to work after installing the drive's firmware updates?

Mac Pro

Posted on Feb 18, 2021 12:17 PM

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Answer 1

amstel78

Level 1

108 points

Feb 22, 2021 1:16 PM in response to aov

I have a SuperDrive as well as an LG BD-RE drive in my 2010 MP5,1. Works just fine with 10.14.6. If the drive has power but not detected, first check the cable to both the drive and the backplane (motherboard). If all there is fine, perform an SMC reset to see if that helps. If that still doesn't get the drive to be recognized in profiler, reset your NVRAM (wait for the third chime). Worst case scenario, the drive itself may have died.

P.S. in the MP5,1 I had to move the LG BD-RE drive to the top bay as it was physically longer than the SuperDrive. The SATA cable which runs from the backplane has the 'A' connector shorter than the 'B' connector. Having the longer LG drive at the bottom causes cable strain when pushed up against the PSU. Just FYI.

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Answer 2

Feb 22, 2021 12:23 PM in response to aov

Only LG can advise you on whether the newer firmware for this device is compatible with Mojave, or not, and then, the device hardware may remain undetected by the operating system. Some firmware must be installed from a Windows box.

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Answer 3

aov Author

Level 1

13 points

Feb 22, 2021 1:29 PM in response to amstel78

Good info! I did install the drive in an OWC Mercury Enclosure and I get the same results with my MacBook Air via USB. The System Profiler is recognizing the drive as you show. But the system won't recognize a mounted disc. It may be that the drive is kaput, but I'm still wondering about the firmware. The 1.0 version still may be the culprit. Will see if LG can help, per VikingOSX suggestion. I can use Windows with Parallels, but can't seem to get the firmware installer to recognize the drive either. Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted.

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Answer 4

amstel78

Level 1

108 points

Feb 22, 2021 1:40 PM in response to aov

Out of curiosity, what update did you install that after, you noticed no discs were mounting? I'm on 10.14.6 (18G8022) with the latest SU2021-002 update and all works fine (except App Store). I just tested with a commercial BD disc, and it mounted correctly.

Since it's in an OWC enclosure, do you have a Windows box that you can plug it into? That ought to tell you right away if it's a software or hardware issue.

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Answer 5

aov Author

Level 1

13 points

Feb 22, 2021 3:44 PM in response to amstel78

Well I wish I knew! I hadn’t been using the optical drives for a while so don’t know at what OS update the blu-ray drive stopped working. BTW the top drive is the Apple original, and the bottom is the LG. I will check the connection at the other end but the fact that Profiler sees it leads me to believe connections are good.

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Answer 6

aov Author

Level 1

13 points

Feb 22, 2021 10:52 PM in response to amstel78

You may have nailed it! The noise inside I think is the head seeking and not the disc spinning. The disc seems to be in the same rotational position when I take it out as when I put it in! If I put the same disc in one of my other optical drives, it always comes out in a different rotational position than when I put it in! The motor may be kaput! Tomorrow I'll try to contact LG support as one last resort to ask about the firmware. Thanks much for the help. I do have a Pioneer BDR-209DBK mounted in an old OWC external housing that works fine for Blu-Ray/DVD/CD via USB, so I'm not out of commission yet. But disappointed in the LG! It was very reliable on the record; not as many record error problems over the years as the built-in SuperDrive.

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Answer 7

amstel78

Level 1

108 points

Feb 22, 2021 4:32 PM in response to aov

If profiler sees it and the tray opens and closes, then you've got power and a data connection. Do you hear the drive motor spin up when you insert a disc?

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Answer 8

a brody

Level 10

83,949 points

Feb 22, 2021 10:38 AM in response to aov

Macs don't have built-in Bluray support. Roxio Toast does support Bluray on Macs, and here's more info on the other options you may need:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2881

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Blu-ray Optical Drive Doesn't Work With Mojave

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