Hello,
I also have a new M3 max Powerbook running on Sonoma Version 14.2.1 and have to use CDs for my radio show. I need to be able to read CDs and also burn CDs. I had 2 CD drives that worked great on my older Powerbook(they still do). I have been able to get both of them to work, but they are really flaky. I think the problem is poor software support from Apple. Sometimes when burning CDs it fails while showing an error in the Activity window while burning CDs in Music. The error message "Disc Burner or Software not found". I am seeing folks with Windows also getting the same message which makes me think it is the Music software that is the problem!
My work around is to
Make sure that System Settings/CDs & DVDs/ is set to open Music when you put in a blank CD.
Connect your CD Drive and wait about a minute
Put in a blank CD and wait another minute
Choose Burn Playlist to disc in Music
Then I open the Activity window and look to see if it is burning the songs to the disk
Sometimes I can get it to do another afterwards and other times I have to disconnect the CD Drive and start over at step 2.
If I choose to burn the CD then put the CD in the drive, sometimes I get a message asking which CD drive to use. It is asking about the company that manufactured the CD drive mechanism... not the company that made the case, but the mechanism is inside the case.
I have a Roofull model ECD829-Y, it has builtin USB-C/USB-A Y cable, with a case.
https://www.amazon.com/ROOFULL-External-Portable-Protective-Carrying/dp/B081H3F2J7?th=1
I also have another CD drive that looks like a generic Superdrive.
I did some searching trying to find a drive that works better and got a OWC Slim Optical Drive. It does not come with USB-C connections, but comes with a USB-A Y cable. I tried using two Apple USB-A to USB-C adapters but it would not work.
If anyone has a drive that works better on an M3 Max MacBook Pro I would like to know about it.
Sometimes the I hope this helps someone else.
Thanks
Guy