

Modding MacBook Air SuperDrive to Work with Other PCs - timr
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/macbook-air-superdrive-for-all/

======
jws
It would be interesting if tnkgrl would measure the current on the power lines
during a burn. That device is spec'd at about twice the USB power limit.
(5.25w v. 2.5w).

So it may work for you, but it also may not depending on your USB host
hardware and how serious it is about protecting itself from overcurrent loads.

Wandering further from topic, I noticed the new USB micro combined A/B
connectors have higher current limits. Perhaps the standards group is
considering a USB "higher power" variant. With the increasing use of USB as
battery charger it could help.

~~~
jws
There are people claiming the drive only draws 500mA based on the fact that it
shows up when plugged into mortal computers and claims 500mA. I think this is
poor reasoning. There is no way for it to legally ask for more than 500mA in
the USB protocol, so it asks for all it can and then uses some secondary
mechanism to decide if it can really run.

------
pmjordan
Very nice hack. I didn't realise the external MacBook Air drive was
incompatible with other devices, it strikes me as another one of those
unnecessary "shame on you, Apple" decisions that keep me on the fence about
their products.

