Superdrive refuses to write Dual Layer Media

Add me to the list.

first problem was not being able to mount commercial cd's. now i can't burn DVD-DL.
such an idiosyncratic problem makes me think its firmware. problem persists when booting off another system.

i have an appointment with the genius tonight. will report back.

I have a new macbook pro (my first mac). I am unable to burn a R+ DVD with my superdrive. I successfully burned an audio CD via iTunes. I successfully burned a R+ DVD to an external burner. Both DVD burn attempts were via the disk utility and used the same disk image created in iDVD and saved to my desktop. I checked software and firmware versions and all appears up to date.

The truly annoying side effect was that my first attempt to burn a dvd partially wrote the image to disk but died with Error code 0x80020022. I was running late for work and let the machine sleep. When I returned I could not eject the disk. It was not mounted. Shutting down the machine did not work. I had to use the power button. After restarting the machine I ran disk utility and it hung gathering information. I had to do a forced shutdown. The only way I could eject the disk was to power on while holding down the the left trackpad corner and the CMD key. As I am new to a mac this took some searching to figure out.

Anyway, tomorrow I will try to contact Apple support. Unless there is a firware update somewhere I believe the drive is bad. Below is the system profiler info.

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:

Firmware Revision: KA14
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 have spent the last 2 weeks with emails back or forth with Tech support having the same problem, they say it "Must" be the discs as the process starts then fails, which is of course just rubbish.
Eventually I asked them if that was the case then tell me what discs DO work, That was 5 days ago and I have not heard from them since.
Tomorrow i have an appointment with an Apple "Genius" so lets see if he is genius enough to work out where the problem is.
I'll let you know.

OK, firstly I swallow a little bit of humble pie before I start, and say that there may indeed be more to the “Its the discs” argument. However I suggest that the Matshita UJ-868 (KA14) really should not be so fussy, and that a firmware update to improve DVD compatibility really is needed.
Anyway after carrying out, fairly extensive tests (in as far as any individual should reasonably be expected to) I have come to a conclusion..... Use Ritek Dye Discs.
The results of the tests I carried out are below.

Brand Dye Comment
Sumvision 4X RITEK S04-66 Good
Verbatim RICOHJPN D01-67 FAILED
Ridisc Extreme 2X RITEK D01-01 Good
Rivision Blue CMC Mag D01-00 FAILED
Bulkpaq Blue CMC Mag D01-00 FAILED
Aone RICOHJPN D01-67 FAILED
Zero Defex RICOHJPN D01-02 FAILED
Bulkpaq Orange CMC MAG D03-64 FAILED

Fairly conclusive I think?
As a footnote, the worst of the lot were the Verbatim & The Aone
and the best ones can be found here http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?productid=24766&category_id=870&manufacturerid=0

Hope this helps anyone.

I contacted Apple yesterday. I discussed the issue with a representative who then spoke with someone in a technical group. Based on the fact that the same media works in two other (non-mac) laptops and my external burner via my mac, she said that the pattern follows an issue that sometimes shows up with that drive (but did not elaborate on the issue). She gave me a case number and referred me to a local authorized service provider to have the drive replaced. The drive should arrive at the shop today and then I will take in my MBP for the replacement.

I have a new MBP as well and have had the same problems with the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868 drive. I can burn CDs from iTunes and even DVDs but DVD DL results are completely flaky. I tried RIDATA -R DL and no success at all. In Toast 10 it says DVD ROM no writable. I tried RIDATA +R DL and was able to burn part way through a DL disk and it craps out all the time. I tried Memorex +R DL and was able to burn a couple of DL disks and they don't seem to be good copies and they also failed most of the time.
Toast 10 seems to find the drive at least, but it seems like this drive might be a stinker. I was glad to see this forum because it was frustrating at first when there was not much information out yet.
I will be calling Apple to get the drive replaced.

Would anyone that gets the drive replaced be kind enough to post results here, i.e. what drive/firmware was used as replacement and is the burning of DL discs any better on the same discs you were using.

Thanks

Would anyone that gets the drive replaced be kind enough to post results i.e what drive/firmware was used as repalcement and are the results any better when attempting to write to the same DL discs.

Thanks

Sorry for the double post

Just now I burn 2 double layer Verbatim (printable) DVDs with no problem. 2 of 2 are completely readable after check. But... I burn it from Windows with Nero.
MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz, MB470.

Greetings,

Bummer, I got my MBP for Christmas, and it burns Dual Layers just fine, I've probably burned a couple of dozen by now, using different brands. I bought my 2 ea, 2 Gig modules from Apple, and they work fine.

If you got your ram from Apple, and that's the best place to do this sort of thing, not some out there memory provider, then take it back to the Genius bar and they will make it right.

Cheers,
M.
******

I have had the late 2008 MBP since they first came out, running MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware KA14 and have the same problem burning to Memorex DVD+R DL. Toast throws error

"The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = HARDWARE ERROR
Sense Code = 0x09, 0x01
TRACKING SERVO ERROR"

Does CD/DVD SL fine.

Sounds like a visit to the genius bar, sigh.

Please let list know if anyone gets useful solution.

Thanks

I did get my drive replaced this past week. The system profiler lists the new drive and firware revision as the same as before. I do not have any DL disks. My problem was with -R. I now have no problems burning the same -R media that would not burn before. I will aquire some DL disks and see what happens.


MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:

Firmware Revision: KA14
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

Have been able to burn DVD+R DL Memorex routinely in the past. Now it just will not work. Didn't notice anything in the last security update pertinent. Would appreciate hearing from anyone in similar position that managed to resolve.


HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N:

Firmware Revision: AP09
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, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

I have a one week old unibody MBP with a matshita uj-868 dvd.

Clearly these puppies do not like Dual Layer. I have dozens of DL discs burned on my old MBP (2007) and the new MBP will not read a single one of them. Won't mount, just grinds away and eventually spits them out.

My trusty iBook mounts every one, as did my old MBP which burned them.

Was able to successfully burn a couple of DL's (Verbatims) on the unibody as an experiment (using Toast), and they even mount and work fine on my iBook. But I do not trust this drive at all.

I was at the Genius Bar last week and was sort of promised a new drive (I took a couple DL with me so the Genius could see they didn't mount). He said he would 'do some research' and then 'probably' order me a new drive.

Now that I've discovered this thread I can direct him to it if I have to!

I'll try to post once I've (hopefully) gotten a new drive (praying for something besides a Matshita....!)

OTHERWISE, this unibody MBP totally rocks...

MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz 4GB Ram

I'm having problems too.

Could this have something to do with disc speed rating. I have Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL discs, and my MacBook Pro cannot read or write them. If I burn a disc on my Mac Pro the MacBook Pro cannot read the discs, and if I put a blank disc into the MacBook Pro it doesn't recognise it. The tech specifications for the late 2008 MacBook Pro says it can read up to 6x DL discs, and write to 4x DL discs. Could it be that discs greater than 6x will not work at all? I had always assumed that speed ratings of the discs were only applicable when writing to the disc - I thought that all drives should be able to read them?