2007 Mac mini refuses to burn DVDs after OS upgrade

I recently upgraded my mid 2007 Mac mini to OSX 7 Lion, as it is not compatible with Mountain Lion.

The superdrive now refuses to burn DVDs.

It plays and reads DVDs just fine, but when I try to burn one I get an error message saying it cannot communicate with the superdrive.

There does not appear to be a firmware update for my model, if thats an issue. Can I try one for the next model or will that screw it up?

What else can I do to correct the issue without taking it in for repair?

Boot ROM Version: MM21.009A.B00

SMC Version (system): 1.19f2

Serial Number (system): YM******YL2

Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0016CBACBD2F

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