udev rules to use Apple SuperDrive on Linux

90-mac-superdrive.rules

#
# Apple SuperDrive initialization rule
#
# See: https://gist.github.com/yookoala/818c1ff057e3d965980b7fd3bf8f77a6

ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1500", ATTRS{idVendor}=="05ac", DRIVERS=="usb", RUN+="/usr/bin/sg_raw --cmdset=1 %r/sr%n EA 00 00 00 00 00 01"

README.md

Device Rule for Apple SuperDrive

This is for properly using an Apple SuperDrive on Linux.

Why?

Although Linux can detect a SuperDrive being plugged in, the hardware won't do anything until receiving a specific set of Command Descriptor Block (CDB) through USB. If not, you cannot put disc in or take disc out even when the drive was connected correctly.

To use SuperDrive on Linux you can use Linux's SCSI Utilities (sg3_utils) to manually send the CDBs like this:

/usr/bin/sg_raw /dev/sr0 EA 00 00 00 00 00 01

But to do this manually everytime is simply a stupid task not to automate.

What the udev rule file does?

When installed properly into /etc/udev/rules.d, the udev rule file above (90-mac-superdrive.rules) will be triggered the sending of CDBs everytime the drive is plugged. It will even detect the correct device number if multiples are plugged.

Reference:

• Beginners Guide to Udev in Linux, the Geek Dairy
• Dynamic Kernel Device Management with udev, SUSE Documentation
• Use Apple’s USB SuperDrive with Linux, techtalk – Christian Moser

Prerequsities

Need to have sg3-utils installed on your system.

For Ubuntu:

sudo apt install sg3-utils

For Fedora / RHEL:

sudo dnf install sg3_utils

Installation

To create the file, you may use this command:

cat <<- EOF | sudo tee  /etc/udev/rules.d/90-mac-superdrive.rules > /dev/null
#
# Apple SuperDrive initialization rule
#
# See: https://gist.github.com/yookoala/818c1ff057e3d965980b7fd3bf8f77a6

ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1500", ATTRS{idVendor}=="05ac", DRIVERS=="usb", RUN+="/usr/bin/sg_raw --cmdset=1 %r/sr%n EA 00 00 00 00 00 01"
EOF

After Installation

Things won't immediately work after the above setup. You'll need to reload the udev rules and replug the SuperDrive. And the simplest way to do both is to, well, reboot.

But if you want to be a cool user, then you may follow these steps without reboot:

1. Reload udev rules

   udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger
   

2. Unplug and replug the SuperDrive

Thing should now work.

Thanks you, helped a lot 👍

+1, many thanks

Thanks, this was very helpful!
quick note though, the fedora package is sg3_utils , with an underscore.

Thanks, this was very helpful! quick note though, the fedora package is sg3_utils , with an underscore.

Made correction in README.md. Thanks.

I'm stuck, and maybe this isn't the right place. When I put in the line to send the CDBs, I get NVMe Result=0x0.

@Quaker44: I'm no expert about this. Have you checked the device number of your device? It can be /dev/sr0, /dev/sr1 ... /dev/srX.

The udev rule here would detect the newly inserted device number correctly. But if you want to manually run the command, you might want to check.

It worked like a charm but only after a restart.

I can’t believe this worked and just took a few steps. Thanks!