Internal to external optical drive?

[desti_99]

Is there a way to make a 2008 mackbook internal optical drive recognized by a 2014 macbook air using an enclosure w/usb? (I'm getting power to the drive and hearing it spin w/a disc in but it is not being recognized even in disk utility)

 

[harryb2448]

Think your problem is the slot loading optical drive has passed its use by date. Slot loaders have a very high failure rate compared to trayloaders in older desktops. If it is original, you have had an extremely good run. With my iMac purchased a cheap Samsung SE-208 which is USB powered via dual port connectors.

The day of the optical drive is behind us alas.

 

[RadDave]

Is there a way to make a 2008 mackbook internal optical drive recognized by a 2014 macbook air using an enclosure w/usb? (I'm getting power to the drive and hearing it spin w/a disc in but it is not being recognized even in disk utility)

Hello and welcome to the forum! As Harry states, the days of optical drives in computers are coming to an end, so you might want to tell us 'why' you feel the need for one?

I have an early 2013 MBPro which came w/o an optical drive (as you obviously know) - I bought an Apple USB SuperDrive mainly to burn purchased MP3 music to a CD-R for playing and backup purposes; but, I don't do much else w/ it.

If you indeed need an optical device, I would suggest a new one and consider obtaining a blu-ray option, e.g. to play BD movies and also for a MUCH larger capacity if you plan to use it for backup storage? Dave

 

[pm-r]

desti_99, if you just need the use of an optical drive does the MBAir not support dvd or cd sharing?

I'd be surprised if Apple dropped that feature as well, and is normally available to setup via the Sharing Pref Pane, and check Apple's page:
Use the CD or DVD drive from another computer with your Mac - Apple Support

Or probably better yet, check here:
Using CDs and DVDs with a MacBook Air | Macworld
and
CD & DVD Sharing With Remote Disc - The Instructional