hameboy
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: DVD-R UJ 868 is unreliable.

I have been trying to archive family photos from iPhoto to DVD with mixed and very frustrating results. Burn fails are far too common.

MacOSX 10.5.8

MacBookPro 5.1

Intel core 2 duo

2.53 Ghz

Processors 1

Cores 2

L2 Cache 6Mb

Memory 4Gb

Bus SPeed 1.07Ghz

Boot ROM MBP5.1.007E.B05

SMC 1.33f8

 

DISC BURNING

Firmware Rev. KB19

Intercon ATAPI

Burn support YES (Apple Shipping Drive)

Cache 2048 Kb

Reads DVD YES

CD-Write -R -RW

DVD Write -R -R DL -RW +R DL +RW

Write strategies CD-TAO CD-SAO DVD-DAO

 

<Title Edited by Host>

MacBook Pro, matSHITa DVD-R UJ 868

Posted on Feb 22, 2012 8:50 AM

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hameboy

Q: DVD-R UJ 868 is unreliable.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Feb 22, 2012 8:50 AM in response to hameboy
    Level 9 (52,776 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 22, 2012 8:50 AM in response to hameboy

    Your dissatisfaction is noted.  If you would please give specifics regarding you optical drive problems, there are other users here who will try to offer solutions or advice on a gratis basis.

     

    Ciao.

  • by eww,

    eww eww Feb 22, 2012 9:06 AM in response to hameboy
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 9:06 AM in response to hameboy

    It sounds as though you may be using blank discs of marginal quality. Have you tried a variety of blank discs?

     

    Many users here who have tried a variety have reported satisfaction with Verbatim brand CD-Rs.

  • by eww,

    eww eww Feb 22, 2012 9:07 AM in response to eww
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 9:07 AM in response to eww

    Sorry, I meant to say DVD-Rs.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Feb 22, 2012 10:58 AM in response to hameboy
    Level 9 (52,776 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 22, 2012 10:58 AM in response to hameboy

    Here is a help link from Apple support and an extract from Mac help:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2543

     

    Screen shot 2012-02-22 at 1.54.13 PM.png

    Since you have an older MBP, the lens may be dusty and could use a cleaning. You might try a DVD lens cleaner.

     

    Thank you for editing your post.

     

    Ciao.

  • by hameboy,

    hameboy hameboy Feb 22, 2012 6:46 PM in response to eww
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 6:46 PM in response to eww

    Using Verbatim brand. out of 4 discs 1 failed. The ONE thing that was different was that I switched to another application but I don't see how that should be a factor. Although there have been many other times when it simply does not work. Thanks for the speedy follow-up. I am going to track this issue wrt other software running in the background, etc. and will do a follow up here.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Feb 22, 2012 8:02 PM in response to hameboy
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 8:02 PM in response to hameboy

    You really have provided only a statement (not a question) and very little information.

     

    What does, "Burn fails are far too common" mean -- the 25% you reported subsequently?

     

    What medium are you using? Not just brand -- which may not tell us much -- but type (-, +, DL). Made where? Purchased where? What info does a utility such as DVD Media Inspector report about your media?

     

    What applications are using to burn? What speed setting?

     

    On failed burns, what error(s) do you get? At what stage during the burn process? Do simulations fail as well, or are all simulations successful?

     

    Your Mac must have been purchased sometimes in 2008 or '09. You should count the average life of an optical drive as ~5 yrs. Of course, the actual figure depens on actual usage, so it may be << or >. But, even if the laser diode hasn't been used at all, after 3 years it must have some dust inside. Have you tried cleaning the lens at all?

  • by Suspekt,

    Suspekt Suspekt Apr 21, 2012 11:36 AM in response to hameboy
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 21, 2012 11:36 AM in response to hameboy

    This drive is absolute trash. I am fighting like Apple to have it swapped out. It reads and mounts fine. It gives coaster after coaster when attempting to burn using 3rd party software. I've never had a problem with any prior optical drive on my Mac.  They must have squeezed the quarter until the eagle bled when they decided to make this part of a stock pro level machine.

  • by eww,

    eww eww Apr 21, 2012 3:02 PM in response to Suspekt
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Apr 21, 2012 3:02 PM in response to Suspekt

    Does your drive burn discs OK when you don't use third-party software? Is it possible that your third-party software is trash, or that it needs an update for compatibility with the OS version you're running?

     

    My MBP and many others have the same drive in them as yours, and I for one have never had any trouble at all with mine.

  • by Suspekt,

    Suspekt Suspekt Apr 21, 2012 3:35 PM in response to eww
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 21, 2012 3:35 PM in response to eww

    Its Roxio Toast, Eww.  Pretty standard for a typical Mac user.  It does work, its just unreliable, hence the title of this thread.

     

    You're fortunate to have not experienced any trouble. As you can see from the comments above, there's a whole lot of others who had a different experience.  This is not an isolated issue and I for one am tired of Apple trying to find some way or another to blame intermittent issues as "software related" to avoid honoring the Applecare Warranty.

  • by eww,

    eww eww Apr 21, 2012 3:44 PM in response to Suspekt
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Apr 21, 2012 3:44 PM in response to Suspekt

    All I can see from the comments above is that hameboy has also had trouble, and several people have offered suggestions to him. Once more: Does your drive burn discs OK using Apple software? If it does, you have a software problem of some kind with Toast.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 22, 2012 1:54 AM in response to Suspekt
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 22, 2012 1:54 AM in response to Suspekt

    Suspekt wrote:

     

    This drive is absolute trash. I am fighting like Apple to have it swapped out. It reads and mounts fine. It gives coaster after coaster when attempting to burn using 3rd party software.

    The drive may or may not be trash; but, if it works with Apple's software and fails with 3rd party software, then, as eww said, the obvious thing to check is not the drive, but the 3rd party software—whichever that might be. Toast is not immune to bugs.