Cannot burn DVD+R DL disks.

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Level 1

8 points

Cannot burn DVD+R DL disks.

The problem seemed to start around when I installed Leopard, maybe that's just a coincidence. At first some of the DVD DLs burned, but most would skip or not verify or have some small problem, and some of them would just fail. Now it's impossible to burn any at all without it failing. Since the problem gradually seemed to have gotten worse it may also be dust. I bought compressed air and blew inside, didn't work. Opened up the Mac Pro and took out the DVD drive, thoroughly blew inside, it didn't work. Maybe a laser cleaning disk from Walmart might help or something, but I'm still not sure that's the problem.

I have tried Memorex brand AND Verbatim 2.4x brands, both fail. Both these brands worked in the past, I used Verbatim often. I usually burn with Toast. I had Toast 8 and I upgraded to 9, still got the same errors. The Toast error is the following:

The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = MEDIUM ERROR
Sense Code = 0x0c
WRITE ERROR

then:

The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = ILLEGAL REQUEST
Sense Code = 0x72, 0x03
SESSION FIXATION ERROR - INCOMPLETELY TRACK IN SESSION

After Toast clearly didn't work I tried Disk Utility, which has given me the following error twice:

"Unable to burn '<disk title>'. (The burn failed because of a medium write error.)"

And also an error about being unable to calibrate the laser heat or something.

The last time I burned a CD or DVD they were fine, DVD+R DLs are the only problem. From what I see this may be a common problem among a few people? Are there any solutions? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Message was edited by: stevetobias

Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.5), OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A

Posted on Oct 18, 2008 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

83,035 points

Oct 20, 2008 6:42 AM in response to stevetobias

It sounds like dust has built on the lense. Have someone examine the optical drive for damage.

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Answer 2

stevetobias Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2008 10:37 AM in response to a brody

Do you think that is likely? The drive still reads dvds fine and as far as I know can burn cds and dvds. Is there some special lens for writing DVD DLs? If I buy one of those optical drive cleaners from best buy or something will that work?

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Answer 3

direwolf8

Level 4

1,280 points

Oct 20, 2008 11:12 AM in response to stevetobias

The laser for burning CD's is usually separate from the laser used for burning DVD's so one might work when the other has failed. The emission level and focus of the laser changes when burning dual-layer media, so likewise, it's possible that it will burn standard DVD's but not dual layer. The commercial lens cleaner disks aren't very effective, but hand-cleaning the lens can be tricky and might void your warranty. I usually use a lintless swab and 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean the DVD burner lenses.

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Answer 4

stevetobias Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2008 4:44 PM in response to direwolf8

Thanks for the reply. I just took the whole thing apart and when I looked I saw that there was only one lens, and that it had no dust at all on it. So I just blew it with compressed air in case, I didn't use alcohol and a swab, and put it back together. So I doubt dust is the problem.

My current guess is that either Verbatim and all these companies switched to a different type of DVD+R DL all of a sudden, or that there's something wrong between OS 10.5 and the Superdrive (which is Sony, April 2007). Or the Superdrive is just screwed up hardware-wise. In any case I can't see how this can't be solved by a quick firmware update by Apple or something similar. It seems a few people have the same problem.

Any more suggestions are appreciated.

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Answer 5

Oct 21, 2008 5:27 AM in response to stevetobias

Anyway its got nothing to do with brand of DVD, cos i tried Philips memorex and verbatim. My drive is working normal for all other purposes, exept burning DVD+R DL.
I guess its a firmware thing.

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Answer 6

stevetobias Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 22, 2008 9:51 AM in response to stevetobias

Just burned a few cds and also single layer DVD+Rs, they work fine. When will I be able to burn DVD+R DLs again? Is there any new info out there? Thanks.

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Answer 7

Nov 23, 2008 1:24 PM in response to stevetobias

Is it a Sony drive (earlier post) ? or an Optiarc effort ? Unfortunately, for me, I have 2 of the Optiarcs, I would consider replacing one or both with Pioneer drives at some point. I find the Optiarcs flimsy at best.

I'm not sure about the use of Memorex, they really are poor quality, but you should have had no problems at all with Verbatim. I use Philips, but I never burn above 4x on DVD+DL so never had a failure. DVD-R and CD get burned at 8x or more with no issue.

How many DVD+DL discs or the spindle ? and when did you unwrap them ? I wonder if they have become contaminated. It's just you described them as 2.4x, which would indicate that they are fairly old stock, current brands advertise 8x as minimum.

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Answer 8

macnoel

Level 4

2,624 points

Dec 8, 2008 9:22 AM in response to Simon Teale

Hello Steve,
My own info only adds to the list of problems: I too find the OPTIARC drive in my Mac Pro will not read (blank) dual layer DVDs (in my case: DVD-R DL, Verbatim). These Verbatim disks are "old" - at least a year - but were never unwrapped until I attempted to use them. They appear "pristine" to me.

In addition: I am frustrated that there's no way I could find to use the Lightscribe® labeling software with the OPTIARC "Super Drives" and other posts on OPTIARC drives in Mac Pros indicate that even when they do burn a dual layer DVD - there are problems with things like playback of videos.

Regards, macnoel

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Answer 9

Dec 8, 2008 1:12 PM in response to macnoel

Well the Optiarc has all the quality of a $15 drive, so do you really expect Lightscribe support ?

DL discs kept under wraps until required should have no issues at all, I suppose they should also be kept out of sunlight and stored vertically to prevent warping.

I guess I've just been lucky with my drives, I've only had failed reads of older DVDs which was not an issue, MDD net to the MP and a PBG4 next to that which read them no problem.

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Answer 10

macnoel

Level 4

2,624 points

Dec 8, 2008 1:31 PM in response to Simon Teale

Thanks for the response, Simon.
I agree with your evaluation of the OPTIARC drive. But I expected more when I shelled out the money for a Mac Pro. And... as noted, I didn't get around to trying those Verbatim DL disks until this week when I decided to do some "serious archiving" of videos and such.

Anyway - as I just posted on another thread: I've found what appears to be the ideal replacement for me: Samsung Super Writemaster. This (at macsales.com) is priced at $27.99. Tax & shipping added $5. This has Lightscribe software bundled and appears to be a quality unit. I checked with macsales tech support to be sure it's "rated" for the Mac Pro.

But - Had to designate dely. for next Friday, so I won't know how it works until sometime during the weekend. Will report back once I've tried it.
Regards,
macnoel

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Answer 11

Jan 5, 2009 7:30 AM in response to macnoel

Hi all,

I just discovered my SuperDrive (OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A) in the Mac Pro (Early 2008) didn't want to play ball with my Verbatim 8x DVD + R DL either, put I popped it into my second drive (LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H*) which worked fine.

Unless you're using that space for an extra hard-drive I really recommend pushing in another good drive for $30 in there to get faster burn times, burn two discs at the same time and get LightScribe support 🙂

Best,
Jonas

*Full Spec LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H:

Firmware Revision: LL0C
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Generic Drive Support)
Profile Path: None
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

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Answer 12

Jan 5, 2009 1:04 PM in response to JonasLondon

See, I've just has a session catching up with burning all my backups (stored on 500GB disk) to DVD. Verbatim 16x DVD-R. 48 discs, all at 16x, all burned and verified, no issues.

I've always been wary of DVD+R, shouldn't make a difference, but seems to. Unfortunately my DVD DL are +R and I never burn them at more than 4x - it hurts if one of them fails, they're about 8x the price of DVD-R.
And 8x DVD+R (non DL) media, sounds like old stock, it's all been 16x for about 2 years as I remember.

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Answer 13

Jan 16, 2009 12:58 PM in response to Simon Teale

I have found that the "magic" fix for most of these disk burning errors has to do with certain "preference" files. You can test this by moving all non-apple preference files outside of their folder and try and burn. Or, set up an new, account with a fresh install of the OS. If burning begins to function correctly, it is a preference file that is stopping correct burning. I have seen that certain 3rd party apps' preference files may corrupt burning abilities.

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Answer 14

Terra303

Level 1

5 points

Feb 1, 2009 2:36 PM in response to doug in albq

Doug, you are a lifesaver... I bought a Dual Quad Mac Pro last year, and I had not been able to burn dual layer DVD+R discs (Memorex, by the way)... I used Toast 9 as well as the built in burning program. I could burn regular single layer DVDs and CD-Rs, but no dual layer discs. I kept backing up using the burner on my old Dual G5, but was getting about a 60% success rate. I tried what you said, starting a new account with no 3rd party apps, and guess what? I've had no problems whatsoever... I think I've burned about 10 discs so far with no coasters... Thanks again!

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Answer 15

TheDude

Level 1

5 points

Mar 20, 2009 7:43 PM in response to Terra303

so... what were the offending pref files? anyone ever figure it out.

I get to 44% and bomb out every time.

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