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I have tried several Staples DVD-RW 4x speed, 120 min. 4.7 GB.
The Mac Mini Super Drive keeps rejecting them.
I have not used DVD's or CD's for sometime, but they have worked normally before.
I was going to transfer/burn some files onto a DVD.
1. Try cleaning it with a Lens Cleaning Disc.
example > Amazon.com: Endust Lens Cleaner 262000: Home Audio & Theater
2. Then try a different brand of DVD-RW disc's like Verbatim, Memorex, Sony or Maxell.
example > Amazon.com: dvd-rw: Electronics
If those do not help, most any USB external CD/DVD optical drive will work with your Mac.
1. Try cleaning it with a Lens Cleaning Disc.
example > Amazon.com: Endust Lens Cleaner 262000: Home Audio & Theater
2. Then try a different brand of DVD-RW disc's like Verbatim, Memorex, Sony or Maxell.
example > Amazon.com: dvd-rw: Electronics
If those do not help, most any USB external CD/DVD optical drive will work with your Mac.
It would be a whole lot easier and possible even cheaper, to just use a USB FlashDrive or a small external Hard Drive to transfer, share or save files.
In order to packet burn to CDs or DVDs, I'm pretty sure that your going to need third party software.
I had a few blank DVD'd so I thought I'd try putting a few large video files onto a DVD-RW.
We got the DVD-RW because we thought we would be able to write or re=write over files.
Now I'm not sure what the point of DVD-RW's are unless we have a 3rd party software installed,
I'm almost positive we have been able to write over previously.
The files we have are too big for a thumb drive and our EXD is already full.
Try erasing the DVD(s) using Disk Utility and then start over by putting new files onto it.
FWIW Flash Drives (thumb drives) come in all sizes. These days you can buy 8GB, 16GB and 32GB Flash Drive for less than 5 Pack of blank DVDs.
What we wanted to do was add files to a DVD-RW that already had files on it. Such as picture/video
files. We want to put our current files onto a DVD-RW and then be able to add additional files. But, as I look at DVD's on line I see that most have a capacity of 4.7 GB which is far below the 80 GB we need to start with.
But I will try your idea of erasing a DVD-RW - I'll let you know if it works.
Sounds like you really need another external hard drive or large FlashDrive to backup or store your picture and video files on.
You do realize that you will need about 20 DVDs to hold 80GB of files or 2 DVDs if you meant 8GB of files. If you still want to do it the hard way...? Try this, copy the current data on the DVD to your Mac, erase the DVD, combine a group files up to around 4GB and then burn them back onto the DVD.
You've got some great ideas - and I've tried them, but the problem is the Erease does not work for the DVD-RW, the disk shows on Disk Utility, but it is grayed out.
So, we are going to get a a few 120 GB flash drive and put all our video's & pics on them. That will free up quite a bit of the MHD.
I'm still not sure why the DVD-RW is not working properly, I am able to open the video's & pics but and copy videos & pics, not able to erase or copy over.
SteveH wrote:
You've got some great ideas - and I've tried them, but the problem is the Erase does not work for the DVD-RW, the disk shows on Disk Utility, but it is grayed out.
Did you have the same Mac, different Mac or PC to original burn those DVDs. Maybe you had and used something like an older version of Toast or iDVD when you original burned those DVDs?
So, we are going to get a a few 120 GB flash drive and put all our video's & pics on them. That will free up quite a bit of the MHD.
2 or 3 is a good idea! You should always have more than than just 1 copy saved some place. I always keep 2 or more backup copies backup of important things like photos and home movies.
I'm still not sure why the DVD-RW is not working properly, I am able to open the video's & pics but and copy videos & pics, not able to erase or copy over.
Maybe try Control (right) clicking the DVD image on your desktop and check to see if Erase is available in the pop-up menu.
Well, I'm pleased to report that Right clicked worked. I Right clicked on the DVD and one of the choices was indeed Erase. I was able to copy 3 small files onto the DVD at the same time.
However, the ability to copy additional small files to the same DVD is not working. Being that I am able to erase the entire DVD - It's very strange that I am not able to add additional files, when I drag & drop a window opens saying I have to install a DVD (which is already installed).
Yea' like I said earlier, your going to have to get together a group of files that amount to around 4GB or so and burn them to the DVD all at the same time.
Or..... better yet, make some DVD mobiles and get yourself some FlashDrives or a couple of good External Hard Drives. 😉
I blew some air into the slot - now the blanks are mounting, but it keeps telling me that the file is too large - I even tried 1 picture 2.6 MB.
I'm trying a Memorex RW 4.7GB 120 min. I am able to write one file. However, when I try to write another file over it - it wont do it. I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly though.
Superdrive rejecting/not reading DVD-RW
