Blank CDs and DVDs not recognized by iMac

Hi Dave

I'm only testing a theory here, but try opening Disk Utility > select the Disk in the Drive and then click the Mount button on the Disk Utility Tool Bar.

I recently have also been having an issue getting both blank and purchased DVD's & CD's to mount, I thought that it might be my Superdrive after all it wouldn't be surprising, it will be 5 years old this next January. Here's the thing, after going to Disk Utility and selecting the DVD or CD in the Drive, everyone has mounted and became usable.

I can't put my finger on, 10.6.4, iTunes 9.2.1 or the latest security updates, but for some reason certain media for some reason has started to fail to mount without a little kick from Disk Utility.

Dennis

Thanks for the tip. I have seen a whole discussion thread on this with no resolution. Mounting from the Disk Utility works. I can't believe this problem has been going on for many years and Apple hasn't fixed it, or even responded to the threads.

Hi Will

I'm not sure which thread you are referring to and besides Apple doesn't participate here, this is a user to user forum.

As Dave stated "It was working up until recently" and the same is true for myself. So for us this problem has just started sometime in the last month or so and seems to be related to one of the recent updates...

The best thing that you can do is to send Feedback to Apple @

http://www.apple.com/feedback/imac.html if you think the iMac is the problem.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html if you think that OS X is the problem.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html if you think that iTunes is the problem.

It would sound like the "automount" command is not working properly. Whether it is because how your operating system is installed, or if you have run any system optimization programs that clean system caches which can create such issues as certain system preferences not telling the system what to do when it needs to do it.

{quote:}It would sound like the "automount" command is not working properly.{quote}

That's the strange part it's just so random, some do some don't and up until recently everything mounted perfectly and opened the proper application, iTunes, iPhoto and DVD player respectfully.

Quick example: the other day I had 3 new music CD's that I wanted to import into iTunes, the first and third mounted and opened iTunes import prompt no problem. The second went into the drive normally but then just sat there doing nothing, hum.. This is not the first time in the last couple of months sense the 10.6.4, iTunes and Security updates that a little kick from Disk Utility had to be used.

{quote:}Whether it is because how your operating system is installed,{quote}

Snow Leopard was installed over Leopard back when if first came out and Leopard was installed over Tiger way way back. In all of those years the operating system has never had an issue or needed to be reinstalled, only one time 2 years ago Leopard was copied back from a clone when the Hard Drive was upgraded.

{quote:}or if you have run any system optimization programs that clean system caches which can create such issues as certain system preferences not telling the system what to do when it needs to do it.{quote}

Hey now there's an Idea, maybe I should run OnyX with all of the boxes checked... 😉

I used OnyX heavily in both Tiger, Leopard and yes even in Snow Leopard .0 .1 and .2, but backed off and haven't ran it or anything else except for Repair Permission in the last 6 months.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with any of the recent updates, just trying to fit all the pieces together. The thing that gets me is when I notice folks with new systems having the same problem, no one should have to open DU to get media to mount.

I also have to consider that my MATSHITA UJ-846 is nearly 5 years old and could just be nodding off or going blind.

I have some time this weekend and plan to do some more testing, so any other advise is welcome!

Hey there's an Idea, maybe I should run OnyX with all of the boxes checked...

No! In fact it is the people who do, who are most likely to create this issue in the first place.

Snow Leopard was installed over Leopard back when if first came out and Leopard was installed over Tiger way way back. In all of those years the operating system has never had an issue or needed to be reinstalled, only one time 2 years ago Leopard was copied back from a clone when the Hard Drive was upgraded.

And was that 10.4 data in any shape or form originally on a PowerPC? If you used the Migration Assistant you may have brought over the PowerPC automount command which may confuse the Intel hardware from time to time. This is why Kappy and I wrote this tip to avoid that issue:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350&tstart=0

The only way to overcome it for sure is to clone twice, wipe out, and only bring back in the essential data as indicated by the tip.

{quote:}No! In fact it is the people who do, who are most likely to create this issue in the first place.{quote}

I hope you knew that I was just jesting to get an arousal....

{quote:}And was that 10.4 data in any shape or form originally on a PowerPC? If you used the Migration Assistant you may have brought over the PowerPC automount command which may confuse the Intel hardware from time to time.{quote}

Nope, started with the Tiger 10.4.4 that came installed on the Early Core Duo.

{quote:}This is why Kappy and I wrote this tip to avoid that issue:{quote}

Great article, I've shared it numerous times with folks here in the forum

I hope you knew that I was just jesting to get an arousal....

I had a suspicion, but never can be certain.

I run a pretty vanilla OS X and to be honest with the exception of an easily fixed secure trash problem earlier this year with the 10.6.3 update, everything runs perfect, fast, not even a single glitch, so I'm reluctant to do or change anything there.

I think I can safely eliminate iTunes as it has was once again updated, 10.6.4 and the last Security update are still only slightly suspicious, but hard proved.

I just ran the first battery of test on the Super Drive with a mix of both Music CD's and Movie DVD's.

3 out of 5 CD's mounted and moved on to iTunes for import, the 1 mounted the second time it was inserted and one just sat there until prompted to mount by Disk Utility?

2 out o 5 DVD's mounted and opened the DVD player, one mounted the second time inserted, but 2 just sat there until prompted to mount by Disk Utility?

Now for the second battery, the same CDs and DVDs in a different order to see if the same ones fail to mount.

I'll be back.....

We haven't forgotten about you, we just got side tracked..

Select the Disk in the Drive right below the Drive and then see if the mount button will work, if not then try another brand to see if it works.

Also see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1152

If nothing works, then it's time to take the iMac into service and have the Optical Drive tested and replaced if found to be bad.

I am not so sure you have a hardware issue. I am having the same problem with the internal drive not recognizing some discs and but recognizing others. I recently purchased a new matshita BD-MLT UJ240AS external optical drive and it also have the same problem. Both drives read some disc formats but not others. Certainly, they do not recognize all that they should. Further, blank discs are less likely to be recognized than those with media.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
As you can see drives can be extremely flakey in terms of media. Several solutions are on this thread. If none address your needs, please start a new topic.

Message was edited by: a brody

I've also just started having issues with unrecognized blank DVDs. I don't think it's a media issue (I'm in the middle of a 100 DVD spindle and the first half worked fine). No problem with DVDs already containing content. When I place a blank DVD into the drive, I get a normal "What would you like to do?" dialog, but when I right-click on files in the Finder and select "Burn XXX Items to Disc..." I get a message that I need to insert a blank DVD, when there's already a blank DVD in the drive. "Mount" is unavailable in the Disk Utility. This only started happening in the last week or two. Normally I'd say this is a hardware issue, but this problem seems to be going around.