Level 1

0 points

Super Drive won't read blank media, will read others just fine...

Hi there -

My HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4165B superdrive on my Power Mac G5 has suddenly stopped reading blank media. When I put it any blank DVD-R or CD-R - of any brand - I get the alert that says "You inserted a blank DVD. Choose an action...etc.". If I choose "open in finder", I then get an alert that "This disc cannot be used because it is not recognized." If I try to ignore the "choose an action" alert, and burn something from the Disk Utility, I'm told "The disk is reserved for exclusive use by another application."

I'm able to run existing DVDs and CDs just fine.

Everything was working fine just last week. The only thing I've done of any significance since then is create a disk image from a DVD, using Disk Utility. But I've done that before without any problems at all.

I've reset PRAM, restored permissions of my boot drive in Disk Utility, and the Super Drive is showing up fine in the System Profiler.

Any ideas???? Any advice or assistance is hugely appreciated!

PowerMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Jan 21, 2007 6:31 PM

66 replies

kenjgood

Level 1

0 points

Mar 19, 2007 3:38 PM in response to Keith Cooley

Keith....

You saved me hours and hours of frustration...

I was prepared to bring my Desktop into an Apple Store for a SuperDrive replacement as nobody at AppleCare could determine what was going on.

I called again, just to see if somebody could point me in another direction.

A really patient, persistent, competent individual at AppleCare found this thread and it was the ticket.

Appreciate you posting the fix.

paulooin

Level 1

0 points

Mar 26, 2007 7:48 PM in response to Keith Cooley

Great detective work Keith. I too have a Western Digital MyBook Pro II and was getting the disc burning issue.

Did what you suggested and it fixed my problem.

Thanks again.

Apr 2, 2007 9:25 AM in response to Keith Cooley

Keith,

Thanks for this fix.
I can concur it does seem to be MyBook related.
Removed the file you suggested, rebooted, and I was able to see blank media again.

kenjgood

Level 1

0 points

Apr 2, 2007 9:50 AM in response to ifwhat@mac.com

I emailed Western Digital highlighting this thread and the need to inform folks via their knowledge base what the potential issue is.

I also made a request to provide me a timeline/fix/update from Western Digital.

NO RESPONSE. Not even a "Got your email...we are processing your request...." Nada, nothing.

For a drive that is specifically touted as a MAC storage solution, I find this unacceptable.

I will personally make this my last WD purchase.

For me, the product specification/capabilities is certainly a consideration, but what happens after you purchase a product and then run it a obstacle, and how that company takes care of it's customers after the sale, speaks volumes.

I almost returned the WD based on this type of "care", but at this point it is not worth the extra consternation.

Apr 3, 2007 3:23 AM in response to Keith Cooley

Your solution was perfect for getting my blank media recognized.

Now, I assume there is no way to use MyBook Raid software on my G5??

RFry

Level 1

0 points

Apr 22, 2007 8:58 PM in response to Keith Cooley

I have been fighting with this problem for months. I went out and bought a new external Sony dual layer DVD burner thinking that it must be a hardware problem. Same problem. I just found your message, deleted the one file and I am back in business.

THANK YOU!

I will have to think twice before buying Western Digital again.

Randy

JKOGrady

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2007 12:09 PM in response to Keith Cooley

Bingo, and HALLelujah. Worked like a charm for me. After banging my head against the wall like everyone else here, your bloodhounding on this is much appreciated.

Don T

Level 1

31 points

May 6, 2007 10:31 AM in response to JKOGrady

Keith,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Boy, am I glad there is an Apple Discussion Forum. This isn't the first mystery that defied analysis, where the answer has appeared here.
I am about to buy a Mac Pro and was going to RAID from 2 to 4 Western Digital Drives. I'm seriously reconsidering, although I understand there's still a problem with Seagate 7200.10.
Interestingly, I sent my WD Terabyte My Book back about a month ago, as it sounded like an F 16 on the runway and wouldn't boot from that drive. I have inserted several blank CD/DVDs, working just fine until today. Deleting that file did the trick.

Jun 13, 2007 8:24 AM in response to Keith Cooley

Keith,

My multiple thanks for your excellent troubleshooting! It worked like a charm. Western Digital ought to be ashamed!

Jun 19, 2007 1:39 PM in response to Keith Cooley

major thanks, Keith.

i found that in the /library/LaunchDaemons folder, deleting com.WD.WDDriveServices.plist worked!

iMac 2.16 GHz intel core duo, 2G ram Mac OS X (10.4.9)

ddtvideo

Level 1

0 points

Jul 10, 2007 7:21 PM in response to Keith Cooley

I too notice right after installing a WD My Book Pro II 1TB software that finder would not recognize blank disc media, but would read any disc media.

I deleted the file that your posting said to delete and it fixed the problem. Thanks for figuring out this problem and posting it, you said me a lot of grief!!!

Jul 26, 2007 9:59 PM in response to Keith Cooley

Thanks, Keith! Another satisfied customer.

Dan

Aug 2, 2007 10:18 AM in response to Keith Cooley

Keith's solution may not be sufficient for all. This works for my Panther (10.3.9) and Tiger (10.4.*) system. The situation I had was no *.plist file as mentioned.

Symptom: Unable to burn DVD or CD.
Cause: /usr/bin/WDDriveService is running. When booting the mac and the WD is already attached, this program grabs the CD/DVD drive and prevents other programs from using it. If you attach the WD after booting, then you can burn DVD and CD.

The solution is to
a. kill the process /usr/bin/WDDriveService
b. Remove the WDDriveService direcotry from /Library/StartupItems so it is not automatically started at reboot.

If you just do a., then you must reboot (or use SystemStarter ;-))

You should note that I boot my Tiger from the WD as the internal imac hard drive has failed. So, that process doesn't seem to be doing anything I need.

Good Luck,

John

Message was edited by: jmerritt5

Message was edited by: jmerritt5

Message was edited by: jmerritt5

Noshdog

Level 1

25 points

Aug 15, 2007 1:38 PM in response to xt4

Exact same burning problem after installing WD My Book Pro Edition II 1TB.

Kudos to Keith!

Removing that WD file in /library/LaunchDaemons/ com.WD.WDDriveServices.plist does allow burning on my Dual G5!

Question now what does it do to the functionality of the WD drive?

Aug 16, 2007 9:15 AM in response to Noshdog

A buddy of mine purchased a WD My Book for his G4 and had nothing but problems with the "backup software" it installs onto your hard drive (i.e. places huge files in the trash, but you are not able to delete them; also causes the finder to hang and you can't force quit without rebooting; etc.). We eventually reformatted the drive in Disk Utility and used it as a regular hard drive -- so far so good. I think the only thing it affects is the fancy blue light on front as to how full the drive is -- a small tradeoff for having something reliable and not causing problems all of the time.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Super Drive won't read blank media, will read others just fine...