Macbook Pro problems with burning dvds

I have a MacBook Pro with the same problem! It's very picky with which blank DVDs I use. It hates Memorex and Staples! Sony DVDs always work. I don't know why, that's just the way it is. My MAC is a late '09 model with El Capitan OSX. I always use Toast, however, you can't burn .avi files with Toast 11 or newer. You have to use Toast 9 or 10 for .avi files, or convert to MPEG 2 (or whatever) first. I like Kigo or Xilisoft for converting.

Does anyone recommend any DVD burning apps for Macs other than Toast and Handbrake? iDVD is free on Macs but no one seems to use it. Will it burn DVDs for playing on set-top DVD players?

Cogito Ergo Sum wrote:

the blank media brand shouldnt matter when its being loaded with the format its designed for

You'd think that but actually the slot loading optical drives are really picky about media. It is hard to say which brands are 100% reliable and which aren't since almost no brand actually makes their own media. It is almost all generic with corporations stamping their brand name on generic media. Further, media doesn't age well - this is especially true of inexpensive media - the organic dyes degrade quickly. I quickly found that 100 DVD spindles weren't such a great deal if I couldn't use them all in 12 months.

If you can burn a CD or play a DVD, then there's no problem with your computer. At least that's not the problem.

First, try a different DVD+-R. Memorex may not be able to handle all blanks equally; try using another brand. I've found that works for me. (Once I tried a package of single-layer Memorex DVDs - and none of them burned.)

Next, master at the slowest speed possible - 2x or 4x will give more reliability than insisting on the 8x speed.

Finally, rest things out with a single-layer DVD-r so you don't lose all your money on expensive DL blanks.

Oh, and leave your results here, so others can profit from your results!

I had the same problem you guys are describing and thought it was a driver problem with the OS but it ended up I had to replace the superdrive burner. about a $160.00 fix. Works fine now.

Ah, that's different with those results. You might try going to Disk Utility and do a permissions check. This often corrects problems with DVD authoring.

If not, however, you might visit your local Apple Store/Genius Bar. When you duplicate the results for them, there's a good chance that they'll be able to root out a solution.