Mac Pro internal DVD drives not reading burned data DVD's

Question

Level 1

8 points

Mac Pro internal DVD drives not reading burned data DVD's

I recently did a photography job and burned the photo folder onto a DVD, it appeared as normal on my desktop and worked fine. Then, I ejected the disc and reinserted it, only to get the 'You inserted a blank DVD' message, and the desktop DVD icon is named 'Untitled'. I have since burned 12 more identical discs from both internal DVD drives and neither will read the disc. I tried an older burned DVD and it had the same effect - couldn't read it.

When I tried the disc in my old PC and PS3 it worked, but I'm left unable to open discs in my Mac (my main workstation) and don't know if it's a burning or reading problem. I purchased an air-spray to de-dust the drives, no effect. I'm worried my clients won't be able to open the disc either. Please help!

Additional info:

When I click 'quick look' on the DVD icon it says 'no items, 6kb'.

When I click 'get info' it says '6,148 bytes (8 KB on disk) for 1 item'

Yosemite 10.10.4

Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

2 x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon

16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC

DVD drives shipped with the machine and are both HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH61N

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 15, 2015 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Jul 15, 2015 11:18 AM in response to drooch

Since you said "When I tried the disc in my old PC and PS3 it worked" sounds like the DVD reading portion of your drive bit the dust. Different lasers are used for burning and readings.

Try resetting the SMC and NVRAM/PRAM

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

About NVRAM and PRAM

Do you have an external/USB DVD drive you can test with? That will help determine if them Mac is the problem )vice a failed DVD drive)

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Answer 2

drooch Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 15, 2015 4:26 PM in response to lllaass

Many thanks for your reply.

SMC and NVRAM resets didn't work, and I tried a PRAM reset yesterday which also failed.

I might be able to get hold of another drive to test but that fact that both of my drives have failed simultaneously suggests it's a Mac or, I'm guessing, OS problem...

Any other suggestions welcome!

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Answer 3

notcloudy

Level 4

1,252 points

Jul 15, 2015 4:32 PM in response to drooch

You may not have taken care of the problem of dust if you used canned air -- instead get a cleaner disk -- it has little brushes on it and sweeps any dust off of the heads.

Works on DVD players - mine was having problems and works fine after running the cleaner multiple times.

Anyway computer DVD heads no different - so get a cleaner desk for computer dvd device.

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Answer 4

drooch Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 15, 2015 4:47 PM in response to notcloudy

Thanks, I've just ordered a cleaning disc.

I should have mentioned these DVD's I'm burning are DVD +R if that's at all relevant.

Fingers crossed...

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