MacBook Pro will not read DVD-R

exactly same problem here.. i wonder if this is a driver/firmware or hardware issue..

some question: all people having same problems, try to read your shipped Mac OS Install DVD .. this works for me ..
.. confused

I may be able to help...was very disappointed to find that Windata DVD+R's were not mounting to my macbook, tried many things until this irritatingly simple solution finally emerged.

1. Go to system preferences.
2. Go to CD's and DVD's.
3. Under "When You Insert a Blank DVD" select "Open Finder."
4. Insert your media into the drive.
5. When the finder window opens, click OK.

And hopefully you will see the disk image on your desktop.

Note, if you're burning with Itunes, make sure to select whatever the disk indicates is the maximum burn speed. It seems the Mac is not familiar with certain media - Even though it says in System Profiler that my Superdrive should be able to read and write DVD+R, I had to try about a hundred things unsuccessfully before this worked. Such a waste of my time...

Please let me know if this works ok?

I haven't been able to burn a DVD since I upgraded to 10.5.
And now finally FINALLY I just spent THREE MINUTES using a $6.00 Disk from Office Max that even says not compatible with Macs and fixed the **** thing.

And even that hasn't worked. I took my MBP to the "Genius" bar. They replaced the optical drive. That didn't work, even for their techs. They suggested I reboot from the system disks. Excellent idea. Only the DRIVE WOULDN'T READ THE DISKS! Ugh

Hi- I am having the same issues. I did burn a DVD-R on the 12th but nothing since then. I have blown in canned air and bought a CD drive cleaner (no brushes- just a disk) and still can't burn to a DVD-R. Same with CD's. I insert the disk, it whirls and spins and sometimes the image comes up on the screen but mostly not. I can eject it via the eject button on my MBP. Guess I will be calling Apple on Monday (I do have the Apple Care Plan). Not sure what's going on here but I don't like this. Will report back after talking to Apple. Judy

My MacBook Pro, only a year old, stopped reading almost all DVDs. Put one in, spin a bit, eject. Occasionally, one would mount and I could watch the movie or load the software.

A few minutes ago, thanks to the above suggestions, I went to Office Max and bought a $6 cleaning disk. Ignored instructions, put it in. It spun for a minute or two then stopped. I ejected it.

Now the movie DVD that had been rejected 3 times an hour ago loads perfectly.

thanks!

Just to confirm the same problem everyone had with my Macbook Pro 15" 2.3 Ghz (Purchased in Nov. 2006).

Here's some background info: the original optical drive stopped recording on any kind of media in February 2008, and since my machine was still under Apple Care, the Apple Store agreed to replace the optical drive at no charge (the original drive was the Matsushita, and they exchanged it with a LG). It worked flawlessly for a few months, then i had DVD-R and DVD+R DL reading issues back in December 2008 but i got it to work again by resetting PRAM and NVRAM, and deleting the Disk Utility preferences file.

Two days ago it stopped reading DVD-R, however it was still able to read DVD+R DL and CD-R. I tried to reset PRAM, NVRAM, delete Preferences with no luck. Even the compressed gas duster didn't work. Read this thread and tried to set CD/DVD System prefs by opening Finder when a DVD is inserted... it still didn't like it and spit the media out after 15-20 seconds of spinning.

I am going to get the $6 lens cleaner disk tomorrow, and will report back.

Extremely disappointed with Apple's silent stance on this one. It is clearly a widespread issue and the Company should be on top of it.

Unbelieveable on a laptop as pricey as MacBook Pro. I am getting ready for a hearing on Wed. and mine won't read any DVD-R....no apple store near me, the Curcuit City closed and left town, hope I can get something at Office Depot tomorrow, any recomendations.....

Same problem here... no longer reads blank DVD-RW's (single or double layer) - just spits them right back out.

I have tried all the cleaning tricks to no avail. Pop the same blank DVD-RW's (Verbatim) over to my wife's iMac and they read fine. This is definitely a drive issue!

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-85J:

Firmware Revision: FBZ8
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds (I would love to but you refuse to accept the blank disk).

I sure hope this is something that can be corrected by a firmware update and not a drive that is faulty.

I've got a problem reading home burnt DVD-RW on my MacBook Pro also.

I burnt the ISO of Windows 7 onto a DVD-RW using Disk Utility on my other computer, an iMac.

The DVD-RW reads fine on the iMac that created it. However it won't even recognise on the MacBook Pro.

I've read on this thread about using Canned Air, i'll have to dismantle and take a look. Do I need to dismantle for Canned Air ?

Sometimes I seriously think about switching to PC and keep only the iPod.

OK, if the problem was on a Desktop, you can have a Cleaner CD ready, but a Laptop? Should I be carrying the stupid CD everywhere I go?

Highly annoying ...

Just adding to the list of frustrated MBP owners. i haven't been able to read DVDs for months and months... thought i was the only one. my mistake.

i've tried lens cleaners, electronic grade compressed air, resetting all the (insert technical jargon here) that was suggested on various blogs, posts, etc., all with no success.

i guess it's time to buy another product. planned obsolescence, anyone?

To the person who suggested a cleaning disk: THANK YOU!!!!!

Recently, I've been having a very bad problem with my MBP's display (have to use a "weak" clothespin to keep the screen from freezing and fading to grey), and I was beside myself to also buy my first game and find that the [DVD] disc was always getting ejected. Google made me even more nervous as many people with drive problems ultimately had to replace it, and I'm glad I found this thread. I'm not sure if I'm out of the woods yet, but it is a good sign.

I forgot to add my specs:

mid-2007 MBP (model A1226) 2.2 GHz

Drive:

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N:

Capacity: 2.33 GB
Model: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N
Revision: AP09
Serial Number: K0077P41110
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk2
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes

A quick google search for matshita drives shows a worrying list of problems. Looks like Apple may just be replacing them like the magsafes.

Hey, having same issue, all media works faultlessly except for DVD-R blanks and previously written. I have done a little trial an error though following my not so helpful conversation with someone at apple. All he could offer me was the usual reset of P RAM and repair disc permissions. He then prompted me to go to my nearest apple store and have the drive replaced (at my own expense).

If all media span up and was spit back out i would have probably done that straight away, but the specific DVD-R problem just smacks too much of being a software issue, especially as this happened an update.

*My conclusion in brief of my trial and error is the colour of the Blank / Written DVD-R's is what the drive is struggling with.*

I noticed that the Purple DVD+R's that i have no problem with both before and after burning are quite a DARK purple.

A lot of the DVD-R's i have tried are quite a medium/light purple and get even lighter after being burnt. In both instances they get ejected from the drive.

I found a Blank Philips DVD-R that was considerably darker than most, upon inserting it, the DVD actually mounted, and asked what i wanted to do. So i burnt some data to the Disc, and after it had ejected i couldnt get it to remount, but the data had written as i tested it on another computer. The Philips DVD-R was DARK purple to start with and became MEDIUM/LIGHT after burning.

*Conclusion so far is the drive cant read Puple media that is very light in colour.*

I had already discovered green previously written media would spin up and spit out. But i tried a new Blank Green DVD-R, and the same as above happened, it mounted and allowed me to burn, but then i couldnt read it after burning.
*PRE BURN -> Medium/Dark Green - Light Green <- Burnt*

This is either a fluke that the discs mounted, or evidence the drive has become too sensitive to read media of certain shades. I cant see me getting anywhere with apple on the situation, im kind of hoping that installing Snow leopard when its out might throw someting new into the pot. (but that might just be clutching at straws).