Black Cd's

The optical drives in many Macs are picky about the type of media you use. They generally won't work with cheap media. Can you get a blank disc by another manufacturer from a friend and see if the computer will read it correctly?

~Lyssa

CDs may read on PCs, but the longevity of such CDs regardless of model if they aren't of high quality may be such they may only last for a few weeks to a few months. Only buy:

1. Media that comes in jewelcases.
2. Media that has no label on the label side (use inserts in jewelcases).
3. Media that meets these requirements:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2446?viewlocale=en_US

4. Media by Verbatim, Kodak, Imation, and Sony.

Do not burn media at the maximum speed of the drive for better reliability.

If the manufacturer is not in the list I gave you, its quality is suspect, and the Mac just happens to be a better "canary in the coal mine" detector of bad quality discs. Burn the music on quality discs, and avoid the quagmire of not being able to read the discs.

Message was edited by: a brody

Regardless of the amount spent, wouldn't you rather know your discs are not going to last a long time? I think it is more disappointing you aren't taking my warning message seriously. If your discs wear out in a few weeks or months, you can't say you haven't been warned. Burn on higher quality discs, and your Mac will be able to read them. Macs have difficulty reading bad discs. non-Mac machines are more lenient of the quality of the discs, but then again, you won't have an idea that those discs are of poor quality if you just used them on drives that are more leniant. Be glad your Mac gave you a warning sign.

Different models of drives, as was said before, work better with some brands of disks than others. Try a different brand of disk; if another brand of the same type (CD-R, CD-RW, etc.) works, then the problem would be with the disks or the match between the disk and the drive. Just use a different brand of disk. If problems arise with more than one brand of disk of the same type, then there may be a problem with the drive and you may need to take your system in for service, though I'd start with a cleaning; there may be dust on the drive's laser lens.

For what it's worth, I've had a far higher incidence of problems with Memorex disks than with all the other brands of disks I've used combined. If you search the web for "memorex black CD-R", you'll find other reports of problems with those disks.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

It's basically just for music WHICH IS WHAT I WANT TO USE IT FOR.

You've been pulled in with what is strictly marketing hype. They got you to pay more for "music" disks than you needed to.

Disks we burn in our computers are all digital data. A black disk isn't going to store ones and zeros any better than a silver disk. Given that black doesn't reflect light anywhere near as well, I would bet anything they're worse. Which would be why some drives have problems reading and writing to them.

The only thing that matters between one burnable disk and another is the quality of the disk itself. Try to look for objective reviews on which are better and buy a small number of those to try them out. Forget about any of this bunk about black disks, or "greening" the edge of a CD. Neither of those do one iota of good to change how well anything on them sounds. Either that drive can read the data on the disk, or it can't. Period.

You've received good advice - listen to it. To recap:

1) Not all discs are created equal. Cheap discs are exactly that...cheap
2) So called music discs are no different than other discs - except they look like old style vinyl disks
3) the low power drives used in notebook computers tend to be more finicky that their desktop cousins

All CD's have a layer on them that is meant to reflect the laser beam. When the laser "burns" a disc, it changes that layer such that the laser beam is reflected back or passed through. This is how a 1 or 0 is perceived. Usually that layer provides the coloring on the data side of the disc. Black looks cool but may not be ideal for reflecting the beam... I'm just speculating here, but perhaps that is why the MacBook has trouble with those black discs. The optical drive in the mac is undoubtedly picky.

I have the same problem with my black Macbook.
It does not read any black bottom discs. CDRs, pre-burned CDRs or bought CDs.

Black bottom CDs, which are commercially produced, e.g. The entire PSOne catalog as pressed by Sony, have the same problem. You cannot seriously argue that it is the quality of the discs that is the problem. This argument falls down immediately.

Also to suggest that the Macbook has a superior optical drive because it is not capable of reading all readable discs is similarly confused. A "robust" drive by definition would read any disc, rather than fail.

I expect this problem could be solved with a firmware update to the drive. Could we get one please?

The aesthetics of these discs are the reason they exist (they look just too cool), to suggest to use another disc is missing the point.

I am always amazed at the condescension of people giving advice on the internet when they do not know what they are talking about.

Welcome to Apple Discussions SignificantBread!
Are you trying to suggest a robust drive should read discs that are poor quality? That only encourages people to buy discs that last 2 months and are bad, without any warning sign for why they are bad. Aesthetics != quality.
And in case you wondered, even Verbatim makes CD-Rs that have vinyl tops:

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2006/11/vinylcdrs_fromverbatim.html
If you look at their undersides, they use the same high quality wax substrate as the rest of their discs.

If you have Sony CDs that won't work on your drive, you have other problems. I've never had such issues.
I suggest starting a new topic thread here:

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1172&start=0

Where you can get a wider audience and won't confuse the original poster with issues that don't pertain to them.

It does not read any black bottom discs. CDRs, pre-burned CDRs or bought CDs.

Not at all surprising.

You cannot seriously argue that it is the quality of the discs that is the problem. This argument falls down immediately.

The quality from Sony is normally not in question. That they would bother to sell a black disk is.

The aesthetics of these discs are the reason they exist (they look just too cool), to suggest to use another disc is missing the point.

And if that's what you believe, you are exactly the type of person these disks are marketed to. They are being sold for "looks", not usability.

The very simple fact is that black does not reflect worth a darn. That's why all other disks have a silver or gold reflecting layer. The laser sends out a weaker beam in read mode. In order for the drive to see the dots and dashes on the disk that represent ones and zeros, it must be able to see that reflected laser light in the sensor. Does it surprise you that black doesn't work well? By it's very nature and simple physics, black is the absence of light. Meaning it absorbs all light and reflects none. So why would you think a black optical disk wouldn't cause problems? Black disks are going to fail by their very design. You couldn't give them to me.

I am always amazed at the condescension of people giving advice on the internet when they do not know what they are talking about.

Sorry to hear that you do not understand the basic physics of light.