The dvd drive shows that it has power, opens the tray and everything. I also tried an old Buslink CDR-W drive that I had downstairs and that drive also was not recognized. I finally tried another old ...
One of the first things I did when i bought my MBP last year was to remove the DVD drive and put an OptiBay in its place. I put the drive into the free USB enclosure, and I haven't used it since.