Unable to Format or Burn a DVD-RW

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Unable to Format or Burn a DVD-RW

I just got a new Samsung Slim External DVD Writer, which according to the box is Mac compatible. But after inserting a blank DVD-RW, I tried to format it by creating a partition with Disk Utility and got a "Partition failed: insufficient privileges" error, even though I was in my admin account, the DVD drive was plugged in correctly and the DVD said "DVD-RW" on it.

BurnAgain FS wasn't detecting the DVD, so I believed I needed to format it first, as I've had to do after erasing with Disk Utility a CD-RW burning session that committed an error. So I selected the DVD drive in the left column, 1 Partition under Volume Scheme, gave it a name, format and size, then clicked on Partition twice.

After getting an error, I then tried to create a disk image and got an "Unable to create 'disk1.dmg.' not recognized."

Is it true I don't have to format the DVD first before writing files to it?

If not, how do I format it?

And how do I write files to it?

Here's the disk info shown on the bottom of **:

Disk Description: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-S084C Media
Connection Bus : USB
Connection Type : External
USB Serial Number : SATASLIM0000105fb96
Total Capacity : 0 Bytes
Write Ability : Read Only (DVD-RW)
Capabilities : CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Partition Scheme: Unformatted

Here's the disk info in the pop-up panel:

Name : TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-S084C Media
Type : Disk
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-S084C Media
Media Type : DVDROM
Connection Bus : USB
Connection Type : External
USB Serial Number : SATASLIM0000105fb96
Locked : Yes
Writable : No
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No
DVDROM : Yes
Optical Media Type : Unknown
Location : External
Total Capacity : 0 Bytes
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0

Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 7:12 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,773 points

Jul 20, 2010 7:51 PM in response to digr

Hi digr, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Is it true I don't have to format the DVD first before writing files to it?

Yes, once you Format it you cannot write to it again... it's Formatted as the data is written.

Write Ability : Read Only (DVD-RW)

Hmmm, that must be referring to the Disc that's in it, or OSX doesn't know it's capabilities???

Here's mine, but in 10.5 right now...

PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-127D:

Firmware Revision: B912
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2000 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

Might try PatchBurn...

patchburn.de/"> http://www.patchburn.de

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Answer 2

digr Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2010 5:17 PM in response to BDAqua

Well, after installing the patch the drive now shows up in BurnAgain FS. But I'm still getting the same errors (burning with both BA FS and **).

Thanks anyway for the link. Any other ideas?

Message was edited by: digr

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,773 points

Jul 23, 2010 5:09 PM in response to digr

Great to hear, thanks! 🙂

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Answer 4

digr Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2010 5:15 PM in response to BDAqua

Sorry. I posted that too soon. Please see my edited previous reply. (Yes, it shows up in BA FS now, thanks to the patch, but no dice with the burning. Any other options would be greatly appreciated.)

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

250,773 points

Jul 23, 2010 5:21 PM in response to digr

Hmmm, how are you trying to burn them exactly?

Might try the free trial of Dragon Burn...

http://www.ntidragonburn.com/en/us/product/dragon_burn.asp

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Answer 6

digr Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2010 1:10 PM in response to BDAqua

Just as I described in my first post. After installing the patch, I tried again to create a disk image in ** and again got an "Unable to create 'disk1.dmg.' not recognized" error. And with BA FS, it just hung.

Do you know what could be causing that error in **, and if it's possible to fix it without buying software?

Thank you for that link, very much, if I get the program and it does the trick. Having invested in BA FS, I'm reluctant to invest in yet another program, but if there's no way around the ** error, I guess I'll have to and hope it works.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

250,773 points

Jul 26, 2010 2:08 PM in response to digr

Did you try Dragon Burn to see if you get the same error?

In **, what are you trying to create a dmg of exactly? You wouldn't create a dmg on the DVD, but you would highlight a dmg & "Restore" that to a DVD/CD.

You can also select a folder or file & "Burn" that to a DVD/CD

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Answer 8

Jul 26, 2010 10:17 PM in response to digr

Everything BDAqua wrote is correct. How do you format as you write? I use 'Burn',

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21992/burn

and let it create data, audio, video, or just exact copies of discs. You can copy a downloadedapplication.dmg to a disc by selecting 'Copy' and dropping it on the little window.

Data, however, are better stored by dropping them to the 'Data' window. Now you can select Mac (HFS+), PC (Joliet), DVD (UDF), Mac + PC (, or DVD-Video) formats. I always choose 'Mac + PC' if it's data to share. The DVD-Video is for burning VIDEO_TS folders: better to just use the Video window instead.

'Burn' is free, open source, and comes with detailed instructions. For MacOSX 10.3.9 and later. Other, similar applications are available.

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Answer 9

Jul 29, 2010 12:20 PM in response to Bruce Bathurst

Just thought I'd add that I've an old, very heavy, Samsung external USB/Firewire multi-drive. Mine was from LaCie (liked the weight). Needed firmware & software drivers, which LaCie supplied with an oversight application, to update them easily.

Even after all the tech stuff was set right, to get an application to recognize the drive (in its preferences), I would occasionally have to unplug the cable, then plug it in again; or not add a disc until requested by the burning program.

These kludges I got in the habit of using. The second often suffices.

PS. iMovie & iDVD are wonderful for quickly making DVDs. Free, Aqua interfaces on Linux commands allow making or copying of double- and dual-sided discs (which don't burn as fast). 'Burn' will make analog or digital (mpeg) audio, & basic. For more details about this very complicated subjects of VCDs, SVCDs, &c, see dedicated websites. Here's a safe one I can recommend:

Afterdawn (Finland)
http://www.afterdawn.com/

PS. If you have more time than discs, you might like to create a virtual disc on your hard drive, as I often do, then test it well before actually burning & verifying it. (I burn at full speed. Never a problem with Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden media.)

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Answer 10

Jul 29, 2010 12:33 PM in response to Bruce Bathurst

Sorry, don't mean to pester you, but I post for people who use the search engine.

I'm not sure everyone knows that there is a great log make by Tiger of all optical burns: ~/Library/Logs/DiscRecording.log, accessible from the 'Console'. If you ask for maximal speed burns, it will give you the speed. Last night I tested whether the PowerBook's optical drive still burned DVDs properly:

iDVD: Burning to DVD+R media with DAO strategy in MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E GAND via ATAPI.
iDVD: Requested burn speed was 2x, actual burn speed is 2.4x.
iDVD: Burn finished, Tue Jul 27 01:47:17 2010
iDVD: Verify started, Tue Jul 27 01:47:17 2010
iDVD: Verify finished, Tue Jul 27 01:47:17 2010

Bruce

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Answer 11

Lefkows

Level 2

182 points

Jul 30, 2010 1:02 PM in response to digr

I just purchased the same Samsung DVD writer. I am using Toast 9 for my burning software. The software is smart enough (depending on what your doing) to figure out what format you need. You can specify what format you want but I don't think it is necessary to pre-format DVD. Let the software do that for you. Toast is a great program for burning cd/dvds

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Answer 12

Jul 30, 2010 10:02 PM in response to Lefkows

Yes, you're right. In fact, you can't pre-format DVDs: the file system is write-once. Toast has to write the data over the format in memory, then write this stream to the disc. Toast is great if you're in a hurry!

However, being poor, I do other things as I burn discs. I use free utilities to combine the data and format into an uncompressed, unmounted, virtual disk image on the hard drive; then I use MacOSX's Finder or Disk Utility to copy this image to an un-formatted optical disc.

Bruce
http://www.afterdawn.com/

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Answer 13

Lefkows

Level 2

182 points

Jul 31, 2010 2:49 PM in response to Bruce Bathurst

I recently burned 2 DVDs with my external Samsung DVD writer but did not see any entries in the Console logs-DiscRecording. Should there be any entries there?

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