USB C remote DVD player/burner Ventura compataible?

hempomatic · Jul 19, 2023

Can anyone recommend a remote dvd player that is compatible with Ventura? Everywhere I look, it seems no one has found one that can run with Ventura as the OS. Even the Apple super drive (which is USB 2 seems to have its share of issues. I had a nice little LG unit that I purchased when the internal drive on my 2012 machine went kaput. worked fine until Catalina, and I haven't had a dvd/CD player for a few years. Obviously my 2020 machine has no internal drive.

MacInWin · Jul 19, 2023

Just about ANY player should connect and work. You may need to get a USB-c to USB-A adapter.

But what do you mean "run?" Are you trying to watch DVDs on the Mac, or use it for storage, or what? I find that I need a player to play DVD movies. The player I use is from Samsung and I just tested it with a DVD and it played well with Apple's "DVD Player" app that I got from an older Mac. It also played well in VLC.

I don't use DVD for storage, so I don't know if it will write to a blank drive. There is no reason for it not to.

The Samsung player is Model SE-S084, but it's pretty old and may not be available now. But as I said, it's a standard DVD drive, nothing special at all.

I'm running Ventura 13.4.1 (c) on the MBP in my profile.

hempomatic · Jul 19, 2023

Thanks Jake. I was concerned because there were hundreds of 1 star reviews on Amazon. Normally, I disregard those because of reviews like "I really like this, but they said it was colored rose, and it's more of a taupe", or "I have no idea if this product is any good, but it's smaller than I expected"

In THIS case however, nearly every complaint on every DVD player was that it wouldn't play with Ventura. I found that odd and decided to investigate a little further, and the problem is you have to put in a CD or DVD for Ventura to recognize the hardware.

Thanks Dude.

MacInWin · Jul 19, 2023

hempomatic said:
In THIS case however, nearly every complaint on every DVD player was that it wouldn't play with Ventura. I found that odd and decided to investigate a little further, and the problem is you have to put in a CD or DVD for Ventura to recognize the hardware.

That is not new with Ventura. It's been there since at least Snow Leopard that I know of. What the system sees is the drive to mount, which is NOT the drive itself, but the disk inside. So, no CD/DVD, nothing to mount and nothing to see in Finder or Disk Utility.

Rod · Jul 19, 2023

I concur with Jake, you have yo have something in the unit for the mac to "see" something. this has fooled lots of people believe me.
As for compatibility with Ventura, I have a 6 year old Sony DRX - S70U -W DVD/CD Rewritable Drive which worked back then and still does today with a USB to USB - C/Firewire adaptor.
No special drivers required, it just works.
There is probably a newer model available, I believe the VAIO model is the same.
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sony-drx-s70u-review/

hempomatic · Jul 21, 2023

MacInWin said:
That is not new with Ventura. It's been there since at least Snow Leopard that I know of. What the system sees is the drive to mount, which is NOT the drive itself, but the disk inside. So, no CD/DVD, nothing to mount and nothing to see in Finder or Disk Utility.

It was only at Catalina that my 2 LG DVD players ceased functioning. Open the CD drawer, insert CD, close CD drawer and nothing. Then again, was that not when iTunes became Music? Previously, all I ever did was insert the CD, close the drawer and it opened iTunes and started play the music. I just found it unlikely that 2 CD players would fail at the same time.

krs · Jul 21, 2023

hempomatic said:
It was only at Catalina that my 2 LG DVD players ceased functioning. Open the CD drawer, insert CD, close CD drawer and nothing.

Can you not hear the CD spin up after you insert it?
If not, that seems to indicate the player may not get enough power.

MacInWin · Jul 21, 2023

hempomatic said:
It was only at Catalina that my 2 LG DVD players ceased functioning. Open the CD drawer, insert CD, close CD drawer and nothing. Then again, was that not when iTunes became Music? Previously, all I ever did was insert the CD, close the drawer and it opened iTunes and started play the music. I just found it unlikely that 2 CD players would fail at the same time.

I just tested with my system and it worked just as it always has. Connect drive, Insert CD, music plays. I did have to open Music Settings and select that as the action when a disk was inserted, but it worked. I have the default to ask to import the tracks, not play, but when I changed the option, it played just as you described. It's been that way since SL, too. I don't know how to explain your failure, but it could have been the cable or port failed, too, not just the drive.

hempomatic · Jul 22, 2023

MacInWin said:
I just tested with my system and it worked just as it always has. Connect drive, Insert CD, music plays. I did have to open Music Settings and select that as the action when a disk was inserted, but it worked. I have the default to ask to import the tracks, not play, but when I changed the option, it played just as you described. It's been that way since SL, too. I don't know how to explain your failure, but it could have been the cable or port failed, too, not just the drive.

Sometimes Jake, there is no reason, S#&T happens. I tried multiple times, 2 separate DVD drives, multiple cables, multiple ports. I've had cables in the past that have worked on some devices, not others. The new drive should be here in a day or two, and I'll let you know how that works out.

Lifeisabeach · Jul 22, 2023

I don’t know what you mean by “remote” DVD player, but for a USB-C player, Pioneer has a couple that work with Ventura just fine. I use one myself.

Computer Drives

Looking for the best Blu-ray, DVD and CD burner? Pioneer makes high quality Blu-ray, DVD and CD burners, both internal and USB. Choose an internal SATA drive if you need 15x performance, or a slim USB drive if you need portability.

www.pioneerelectronics.com

The models you’ll want to consider are the XDO8 series and the XSO7 series.

EDIT: make sure Ventura is up to date also. There was a bug affecting Pioneer optical drives in particular, now resolved.

macOS 13.2 Breaks Compatibility With Pioneer's CD/DVD Drives [Updated]

The latest version of macOS Ventura breaks compatibility with Pioneer's lineup of USB-connected CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives for the Mac. Apple...

www.macrumors.com

hempomatic · Jul 22, 2023

New player works perfectly.

Lifeisabeach said:
I don’t know what you mean by “remote” DVD player, but for a USB-C player, Pioneer has a couple that work with Ventura just fine. I use one myself.

Computer Drives

Looking for the best Blu-ray, DVD and CD burner? Pioneer makes high quality Blu-ray, DVD and CD burners, both internal and USB. Choose an internal SATA drive if you need 15x performance, or a slim USB drive if you need portability.

www.pioneerelectronics.com

The models you’ll want to consider are the XDO8 series and the XSO7 series.

EDIT: make sure Ventura is up to date also. There was a bug affecting Pioneer optical drives in particular, now resolved.

macOS 13.2 Breaks Compatibility With Pioneer's CD/DVD Drives [Updated]

The latest version of macOS Ventura breaks compatibility with Pioneer's lineup of USB-connected CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives for the Mac. Apple...

www.macrumors.com

Well ... by remote, external, I simply meant one that was not internal.

hempomatic · Jul 22, 2023

Found the new ASUS Zen Drive V1M on my porch. Runs like a champ.

And here I thought it was Ventura because of all the complaints and 1 star ratings. So, either my 2 LG players were defective (unlikely) or simply not compatible because of their age or some other issue (more likely). This one is USB C, so plugging it right in without any adapters is handy as well. I'm not a fan of adapters when they can be avoided, just one more thing in the signal path to fail.

Thanks for the help.

Lifeisabeach · Jul 22, 2023

hempomatic said:
Found the new ASUS Zen Drive V1M on my porch. Runs like a champ. And here I thought it was Ventura because of all the complaints and 1 star ratings. So, either my 2 LG players were defective (unlikely) or simply not compatible because of their age or some other issue (more likely). This one is USB C, so plugging it right in without any adapters is handy as well. I'm not a fan of adapters when they can be avoided, just one more thing in the signal path to fail.

Thanks for the help.

Nice. I didn’t know ASUS had external optical drives. As for the LG drives you have that didn’t work… I still have an LG drive that has a mini-USB port (yes, mini, not micro). I’ve had it for,… 10 years or so perhaps? Works fine on Ventura.