MacBook Pro will not read DVD-R

I am having the same problem. I have a MacBook 10.5.8
My DVD media keeps getting rejected. I have tried both HP and Sony brand DVD -R, nothing works.
Matshita CD-RW
Firmware Revision GAOK
Interconnect ATAPI
Cache 2048 KB
Reads DVD

Apple needs to address this and us. Please post!!!!!!!!

Message was edited by: Redchair

I am just another one with that specific problem. I can read all kinds of discs (original and burnt CDs, video, data DVDs (original and burnt DVD-Rs)) but my drive does´t recognize blank DVDs-R, even the exact same ones that I burnt some time ago!

Tried a complete reinstall from scratch with SL and installed WinXP. Both Systems fail to recognize a blank DVD.

Next thing I will try is a cleaning disk and if that won´t help, I´ll never buy a macbook again! Thats for sure!

You people are all wrong assuming it is a MacBook issue!

Has nothing whatsoever to do with either your drive, or the fact you're using a Macbook. I have an Intel G5 tower at work, and a 17" iMac at home.. with 10.4 installed, reads blank discs, or "homeade" DVDs fine, with 10.6, same thing, reads AND recognizes them, NOW, with 10.5 installed, NO DICE. WILL NOT FLIPPIN READ, WILL NOT FLIPPIN RECOGNIZE JACK!!!! SO FREAKING IRRITATING APPLE CANNOT BUILD A STABLE OS AND THEN LEAVE IT THE FREAK ALONE AND STOP CHANGING IT EVERY MONTH LIKE WINDOSE DOES!

Your commonality is NOT Macbooks, it is your OS, 10.5. I dare any of you to reinstall 10.4 Tiger and pop the SAME DVDs in and see if it reads them, or update to 10.6 and see...

I've only ever had Tiger on my late 2006 17" iMac c2d with the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-85J. Got all the same problems as everyone else and it's now even stopped reading music cd's. Guess it's not just 10.5 after all

This worked like a charm (so far) for me. I don't understand why so many people have had success with the cleaning disk/compressed air solution, and yet just changing this simple System Preferences setting also works. Perhaps some people with this problem are getting dirty drives and for others it's a software issue? Anyway, thanks for the suggestion.

I have to add to this that the solution, for me at least, was as simple as a few puffs of compressed air into the optical drive slot. I really had no expectation of that actually working, but it's been repeated so many times on this thread that I figured the worst that could happen is nothing, and my drive would still be messed up.

For the record, my MacBook Pro hasn't been able to mount any DVD+R media until cleaning it. The problem was only with +R, all other media worked fine. DVD-R, CDR, professional software or movies or discs burned in the office all mounted as expected. I'm shocked that cleaning the drive with compressed air fixed such an isolated problem.

Also in the way of further explanation, when I say that it would not mount DVD+R, it would spin them and recognize them as discs, but the system treated them like they were blank, asking me what I wanted to do and putting it on the desktop as Untitled DVD. I could eject the disc, put it in another machine, and it would mount just fine, with all its data intact.

This happened to me while running Tiger, and continued after the upgrade to Snow Leopard. Resetting the PRAM never worked, I tried that about a year ago while still running Tiger.

I have had my 15 inch Macbook Pro for 2 years and having brought it to the Apple store for 2 repairs (video card and Superdrive) I too cannot burn DVDs. I’ve tried several brands of DVDs and cannot get any to work. I use Toast to burn occasional CDs/DVDs as I have external drives for backup. Any brand that anyone has had success with would help me out immensely. TIA,

I have been using apple/mac products since 1984
and have NEVER been apple to burn or read a CD/DVD without problems
no matter what media or software you are using nothing will work properly
apples OS just cant handle such tasks
thats why more and more apple products don't have mechanical drives anymore

before you damage your CD/DVD drive
install paralelles win7 and alcohol
even all the damaged rewritable media can be restored again ...

Posted in the other thread yesterday evening with the same info.

After running into the constant DVD-R ejecting after failing to be recognized, I searched this discussion group and found several threads with tons of folks having the same issue.

None of the 'software' attempts helped.
Grabbed a can of compressed air (one of those you can pick up at a office supply store, with the long plastic straw tip) and shoved the nozzle in the CD slot.
Used quick blasts of air while poking the nozzle here and there at different depths but not too far deep FIXED the problem!

First DVD-R inserted was recognized and I was able to burn a Burn Folder.
Also, configured the system to mount a blank CD on the desktop and that works as well.

Worth a shot before opting for the last resort, as my symptoms was exactly the same as countless folks posting at several threads about their optical drives ejecting disks.
Mine is one of the most frequently mentioned unit:
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N

I used a DVD lens cleaner and still still do when occasionally read or write errors occur on my Macbook Pro 15" MacBookPro3,1 - saves me a lot of grief) This problem first started 2 years ago and I used the cleaner disk just 3 times - in fact yesterday was the last time after I hadn't burnt a disk for quite some time.

Frustrating to say the least that this problem has been around for so long. I too have had and once again have this issue. Originally I thought it was the drive, so I brought it to the Genius Bar and they concurred. My drive too only reads factory DVD media and not CD/DVD -/+R discs. sigh Just wanted to add my info to this thread.

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846:
Firmware Revision: FQ3T
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO

hello

Its been 4 months i cannot write or read any dvd's and some times even cd... I am out of warranty and went to Apple service center - Well all they suggested me is to replace my dvd drive... As you apple geeks know that unless you Mac is proctected and if you are not its going to cost you a lot! any way i had no choice - than replacing!
I decided to open my mac book pro and remove the DVD drive by my self - use specific screw drivers i took to to some computer shop's to find out the what it would cost but i could hardly find this drive. So i decided to open the drive "WoW" it was so easy for me even though i am not a Pro - I did, Take your own time "its all at your risk" i used a cotton bud to clean the lens and the rest of the area - Fixed every thing back on its place and the good news was it worked - Same as before! This is what i did but guys this is all at your risk - If you have a APP then dont even try it and just to to the Apple service center they will fix it - with new one...

Same Here just another MacBook Pro Owner with the same issue, I wish we could download new Firmware update to fix this issue, there are newer firmware updates for this drive but you need to be running Windows on a PC!

Cleaning disc did not fix it, compressed air did not fix it. I disassembled the drive (about the same number of steps as replacing the hard drive, for anyone who has done that) and cleaned the lens with alcohol and swabs. It works fine now.

I am sure this is a dirt issue. Dust gets everywhere, and laptops are exposed more than many other computers I would suppose. Briefcases get grimy and dusty. And of course, some houses are dustier than others. A lot of people are careless about furnace filters, for instance.

My super drive (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868) was not reading blank DVD-R only (imation) and was ejecting it. dvds with content were playing normal. Based on the website "http://muzso.hu/2008/08/17/how-to-clean-the-lens-of-a-slot-loading-optical-dri ve-a-macbook-pros-superdrive" i just inserted a credit card wrapped with a cloth and moved it forward and reverse and pressed it slightly down while moving particularly on the left side (lens location)and cleaned the lens of the super drive. Now my super drive reads blank DVD-R and is also burning. Please see the above website where somebody has put all the details with photos of the super drive how to remove and clean the lens. it worked for me and only few seconds. Take care not to damage anything while doing it or consult with apple before doing it. Regards.