PB Combo Drive Help

Hey guys. I have a 12" PB with a Combo drive with 10.3.8. What happens is whenever I tried to burn in finder or iTunes I get this error message. (The burns also fail in Toaster):


iTunes: Burn started, Wed Mar 2 15:11:22 2005
iTunes: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-816 DXJ3 via ATAPI.
iTunes: Requested CD burn speed was 12x, actual burn speed is 12x.
iTunes: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
iTunes: Write (10), block: -150, count: 27 -> 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error
iTunes: Burn failed, Wed Mar 2 15:11:32 2005
iTunes: Burn sense: 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error
iTunes: Burn error: 0x80020022 The device failed to respond properly, unable to recover or retry.

Anyways I called Apple and they suspected it was a media problem. Before I had called Apple I had tried Sony Imation, Maxell, and some el cheapo media. Apple suggested tried Apple branded media or Verbatim, and dropping the burn speed to 12x because that is the first thing the techie would do if I sent in my PB. So I dropped my speed then tried to burn the media with a Maxell before I went off and bought new media. It worked. I was happy for awhile until now. The problem is back, but this time using the Verbatim media it still won't work. Besides getting a new Combo Drive anybody got any other bright ideas, or different brands of media to try.

Also, how much does a new Combo Drive cost to install, I pressed the tech for a quote, but she said you would have to go through the whole process of signing up to get the answer. I don't have applecare btw. Can I still get applecare after the fact?

emw said:

I recently purchased a new optical drive from Other World Computing for a couple hundred bucks and installed it myself. It took about 45 minutes to do, and wasn't a hassle. The instructions were very clear, and it works like a charm.

I think you can only get Apple Care after the fact if it's within the 1 year initial warranty period.

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I saw some instruction on a different website, they looked kind of long, but 45 minutes isn't bad at all. I could upgrade my HD while I am in there.

ChrisFromCanada said:

Just to be sure it is a hardware thing and not a software thing, do you have a friend with an external burner that you could try to burn with?

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No, but I just ordered one.