If you've got a MacBook Air SuperDrive and you've been hankering to use it with other computers (Mac or PC), tnkgrl over at tnkgrl Mobile has a solution. With a $9 part and some intestinal fortitude, you too can make your MBA Superdrive universally compatible.
Using the drive with other computers has been a desire from its inception. After some experimentation, tnkgrl found that simply replacing the IDE to USB bridge within the drive did the trick. Of course, that means removing the daughter-board and relocating the 12 MHz crystal. For an experienced hardware hacker, no sweat. For the average Joe, well, it's quite obviously an at-your-own-risk situation.
Check out the post at tnkgrl Mobile for the details.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-24-2008 @ 12:52PM
Ryan Trevisol said...
I love articles like this. They invariably end with "For experienced hackers, this is no problem," or "So if you've got 10 hours and a spare ide-to-usb bridge, click on through".
Honestly, how many people are really going to do this? Why would anyone, when a Lacie USB superdrive with lightscribe is the same price as the MBA one?
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6-24-2008 @ 12:59PM
Ryan said...
Well I don't know about you but I sure as hell wouldn't put that lacie drive on my desk. Chances are it would end up in a drawer somewhere.
The Apple drive is much sexier IMHO. I will be doing this mod since my macbook shipped with a laughable 4x non dual layer drive.
LightScribe? The price of that media is enough to make me continue to use the good ol sharpie.
6-24-2008 @ 1:52PM
Ryan Trevisol said...
See, there again I don't understand. With mobile external superdrives, my idea of their use is occasional. If you're using this with anything other than an MBA, you only need it occasionally, when you're going to burn something. Otherwise, it stays in your bag or whatever. I just don't see the point of it being a sexy item. It's a dongle. There's limits to how big a role aesthetics play.
6-25-2008 @ 9:06AM
Ryan said...
The point is that my macbook spends it's free time (when I'm not at work) sitting on my desk connected to an external display.
The super drive included in my macbook is incredibly slow and yes there are alternatives out there but for my use they would sit on my desk. Just like external hard drives I don't want an eye sore.
My use would be limited to a stationary external drive at home and when on the go my internal drive is fine. I guess I just have a thing for external considering I purchased the cheapest portable mac.
6-24-2008 @ 1:47PM
hdstudio said...
Would this connect to the Apple TV and play DVDs? I would assume not, but it sure would make for a nice, compact system.
Give me a surround receiver with the same footprint and I'd could lose all of those big old clunky components!
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6-24-2008 @ 2:05PM
Michael Long said...
Not a good idea, as the Apple drive has significantly higher power requirements than that provided by a typical USB port. Especially in the DVD-burning mode.
If you look at similar third party drives, you'll notice that nearly every one REQUIRES an external power supply, or REQUIRES a Y-connector designed to sip power from two USB ports.
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6-24-2008 @ 5:55PM
Mr Lizard said...
There were some theories floating that the drive draws more than the 500ma provided by a typical USB port, but the linked article seems to dispute that.
Apparently, the only thing restricting the drive from being used with any other Mac/PC is the Apple-provided firmware on the USB/IDE controller.
Swapping that out with a general one did the trick. The fact that it works with a general usb port on any computer seems to put rest the theory that a higher powered port is required.
I guess Apple didn't want to get into a situation where they became a peripheral manufacturer, hence limiting the drive to work with the MacBook Air only.
6-24-2008 @ 6:45PM
Ben said...
I just spent ten minutes wondering when the hell Apple put disk drives in the MBAs, then I realized you meant the external accessory.
/facepalm.
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6-24-2008 @ 9:19PM
JJ said...
This could be the perfect companion for the Apple TV no?
If one were to run OSX on the ATV, this would work wouldn't it? However, I may be out to lunch here as my ATV hackery knowledge is almost nill.
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