Problem: Sense Key = Medium Error, Sense Code 0x73, 0x03

i just had the exact same error message

Sense Key = Medium Error, Sense Code 0x73, 0x03

and i responded to that, to tell everyone my experiences and how i trie to solve/ solved it.

couldnt try to clean the lense yet.
i still hope its just dirty... cause i need the MBP for work.

If you have applecare, Larry, take the computer in and they will probably try with a couple of brands of DL media themselves, blow it out with compressed air, and if it still fails to work they will replace the drive, regardless of the actual cause. The most likely explanation, however, is that lens is simply dirty. Burning DL discs is usually affected first by a dirty lens.

Cheers

Rod

Ive had this problem periodically about 6 months after purchasing my early 2008 MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. I think i started off with Leopard and now i have Snow Leopard. Ive tried every type of media but i have had reasonable luck with Sony Media D+R. Ive reset PRAM and all that back in the past too...

I suggest people increase the number of copies to 2 or 3 even if you only are burning one copy. That way if the first disc becomes a coaster, you can goto the second disk with waiting for compression etc.

I also suggest using a can of compressed air with the computer powered off, spray in the drive to clean the lens and surrounding area. If done this for the past yr with no ill effects.

This problem still occurs from time to time.. we have been screwed by Apple and/or Toast on this one. Ive been loyal to Apple for nearly over 12 yrs but this one issue is a let down because i am out of warranty.

I am sick and tired of this issue. As many others out there, I've been a Mac user for a long time and this issues continues to haunt all of us from time to time. The weird thing is that there have been so many good suggestions online on other technical forums but there has been no right or wrong answer/solution. I have had this issue happen to me with the same type of media one minute and the next minute it works. This one is long over due for a fix, solution or something. If anyone out there knows a real reason and solution to this issue please update. It would be greatly appreciated. I will continue doing my research and post updates if I find one. Thanks.

Guys I feel terrible because I've had the solution to this problem for ages but I never thought to go on the internet and tell someone.
It's the sudden motion sensor in the macbooks. All you have to do is disable it and everything burns fine. Just don't shake your laptop violently, lol.
The SMS disengages the hard disc and everything it's doing for a split second, disrupting the burn process and ruining a(nother) blank disc.

so, either download Cocktail to access all these handy features.
or disable it and reenable the sms from a terminal window

to check status of sudden motion sensor:
sudo pmset -g

look next to ams or sms, depending on os version. 0 = off. 1 on.

to enable/disable sudden motion sensor:
sudo pmset -a ams 1/0

this works in 10.5 but apple says for 10.4, 5, and 6 type:
sudo pmset -a sms 1/0

hardly a difference and i suspect ams works for all versions.
anyway hope this helps guys
remember to enable your sms again after burning!

Did turning off the sudden motion sensor specifically work for anyone else here in the forum? I'm just a little nervous about going "command line"....

For anyone who doesn't want to bother with the command line stuff.
Download cocktail
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10909
it has all those nifty features that you'd normally have to access through a terminal in one graphical interface.
then you can just uncheck the box when you're burning and check it again when you're done.

That is an interesting and plausible idea, Pothedd, and may well be involved in some occurrences of such problems (the sensitivity of the SMS seems to vary quite substantially on different computers, even within the same model runs) , but I've seen these errors overcome on many occasions simply through cleaning the drive or selecting appropriate media.

Cheers

Rod

Tried to reset PRAM and the other thing, also tried with the SMS...no luck here...guess I'll pony up for a DVD cleaner...hopefully cheaper than the coasters I'm stuck with here....Thanks anyways guys.

dang, that's terrible.
It fixed mine! lol.
and my gf's. and her's is the previous year's model macbook pro...
weird.
Let me know if ANYONE gets some aide from this.

I think it is an excellent idea, pothedd, and , along with cleaning and trying different media , is something I'll add to my own personal list of "things to suggest" when people, as they all too often do, run into problems with DVD burning before they go to the extreme of buying a new drive etc..

Cheers

Rod

I did get a little further, trying again with Toast and later tried to burn the disk image I had prepared with Toast, but this time using Disk Utility. I mean I got "a little further" only in the sense that the process lasted slightly longer, but in the end got other error messages:

Error Message from Toast:
Sense Key= HARDWARE ERROR
Sense Code = 0x09, 0x01
TRACKING SERVO FAILURE

Error Message from Disk Utility:
"Unable to burn "DVD_MSHK.toast". (The device failed to calibrate the laster power level for this media.)

I'm fed up.

Message was edited by: Jon in San Rafael

Hi
I have been getting the same error message with SNOW LEOPARD on my new MBP. It started today burning DVDs from a VIDEO TS file. I was successful since I bought the machine last August. Today - using toast or popcorn. So I cleaned the lens with a DVD cleaner and it worked using +R or -R.

I was about to try COCKTAIL, but burned a DVD after cleaning the LENS - so before setting PROM or trying the other suggestions, I would clean the DVD first with a DVD with little brushes on it!
Good Luck
Art

Tx Pothedd.

It did it for me. Cleaned the lens with dry air then disable the sensor with Cocktail. After days of search, I finally got to burn DVDs again. Strange things though, I could burn CDs no problem. Had problem with DVDs only...

Glad I could be of service 😀