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Anthony8720

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 4, 2005
180
2
USA
I keep trying to burn a CD-R, and every time itunes stops burning halfway through and i get this error message, "Attemp to burn a disc failed. Burn failed due to a medium write error." I am using memorex CD-R's and have tried with 4 times with different CD's. Is this a software or hardware problem? Any info would be awesome.
 

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
1. Brand name of all the discs
2. Which Mac?
3. Which model drive? (/Applications/System Profiler and then under ATA > ATA Bus)
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
I find my Mac always gives an error when using 24x write speed. If I drop it down to the 4x write speed, works fine without any errors.

I've wasted a few CD's along the way of writing at full speed.
 

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
1. Memorex
2. Macbook Pro C2D 15"
3. MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D
I have the wonderful spindle of solid color Memorex CD-R's. iTunes did give me some grief when trying to burn an Audio CD as well. It doesn't seem to happen anymore for me though. I suggest trying a different brand of media.

I don't see any need to get Apple branded discs. Try burning a data disc as well.
 

Anthony8720

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 4, 2005
180
2
USA
Just an update. I did manage to fix the problem, and didn't have to get a different brand of cd-r. Basically, the cd-r's that i had could write at a max speed of 52x. iTunes has several options for write speed. I had always had it set at "maximum possible". I think this may have caused a problem since the max possible with the memorex cd-r's is really high. So I just bumped it down to write at 16x, and it worked flawlessly. Next time im going to try at 24x, and then everything will be back to normal if it works. Also, I guess i could put the setting back to "maximu possible" and just purchase 24x cd-r's. Ah well, problem solved. I hope this may help others with similar issues.
 

arsenalroc

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2006
15
0
hi,
i dont think the speed has anything to do with it
i have never had a problem burning anything from itunes
i have a c2d macbook.
the medium write error only came up when i tried to move my MB when it was burning and i could hear it rubbing against teh case.
But if i leave it on the desk i have no problems-
i burn 10-15 cds a day for work purposes
 

e12a

macrumors 68000
Oct 28, 2006
1,881
0
speed is one of the factors related to this problem. I've had this before trying to burn some Ubuntu CD images onto CDs...very frustrating. It shouldnt matter what speed rating the CDs are either. as long as you're not burning over the rated speed it should be fine (burning faster than rated with a good quality drive works too). 24x is the drive's maximum speed, but the setting "Maximum possible" probably assesses the quality of the CD before burning and adjusts accordingly hence problem messages like failure to calibrate laser, etc.

Even though the media is rated for 52x, you should be able to burn at 24x with no problems. Its the drive's problem.

try to burn 4x for best burning quality, and then verify the data afterwards.

but in all seriousness, MBP drives (LG and Panasonic) are crap to begin with...probably because of such a thin design.
 

kittyslave

macrumors newbie
Feb 11, 2008
9
0
Medium write error... at any speed!

I have a Sawtooth (June, 2000 orig. 500mhz), upgraded to 1 gb dual, running Leopard. I can't burn a disc with iTunes or finder or disc utility. DVDs work fine, but not CDs. HELP! I did max speed, 24, 16, 12, and even 4. My DVD burner is fairly new, Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-112D.
Thanks.
 

sannie

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2008
2
0
medium Write ERROR

i have the same problem
it burns the first two or three songs then quits
i dont understand how to slow down the speed...
who should the brand of cds matter

????
 

bethblackapple

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2008
1
0
Medium Write Error

I've been using the same big spindle of Memorex 52x CD-Rs for over a year and never had a problem burning audio CDs from iTunes on my MacBook. Now suddenly today I keep getting "medium write errors." I followed the advice on this thread and set the burn speed to 24x. That worked--once. Then I tried burning another audio CD at 24x (same settings, same everything), and got another "medium write error." The only way I was able to burn that second CD was as a data CD. What's the deal?
 

taz4240

macrumors newbie
Sep 8, 2008
2
0
This Method Works!

I find my Mac always gives an error when using 24x write speed. If I drop it down to the 4x write speed, works fine without any errors.

I've wasted a few CD's along the way of writing at full speed.

I just want to second this user: I was having trouble with different CD brands, even Apple customer service wasn't sure what was wrong. But when I took this advice and went to Preferences in iTunes, then Advanced>Burning, and dropped the write speed down to around 4x, the CD burned perfectly. Granted, it's a lot slower, but it works.

Thanks so much for the help! :)
 

FLAVAH

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2008
48
0
i second, third, fourth, and fifth the motion of dropping down the burn speed! I currently wasted 5 cd's in the past 20 minutes trying to burn a cd until I came across this thread! Thanks guys!
 

simpletwist

macrumors newbie
Nov 6, 2008
1
0
I just wanted to third fourth and fifth the thanks for this advice. Saved me a trip to TekServ, and now i won't get condescended to!
 

danny.merrill

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2008
1
0
This is late, but I thought I'd post this here in hopes that it helps someone else...

I had been getting the dreaded medium write error for some time. I tried an external drive (an old one, not entirely reliable) and got the same thing. I thought for some reason it might be software related, so I restored my computer (a bit extreme, and an unlikely solution but I needed to do it anyways, so why not?). That didn't fix it. I did the PRAM reset (which would have no bearing on this anyways, but again why not?). I was about to give up and chalk it up to a faulty drive and bring it to apple to fix under my apple care.

As I was going to leave, I had one more idea. I went to work (I work at Best Buy) and picked up a CD laser lens cleaner disc. My MBP wouldn't load the disc, but when you put it in, the disc spins and tries to load, running the brushes over the laser.

A few times through that and my computer is working like a champ.

So before you try all that other crap, go out and spend the 10 bucks for the lens cleaner. : )
 

bethikus

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2006
1
0
i can't believe it!

had the same problem, found this on another forum and it worked like a charm. who knows why...


I cannot believe it, but this crazy fix (on a 24" Core 2 Duo iMac) worked for me:

Open System Preferences.
Click on "International"
Under "Languages": Drag any of the other languages to the top,
then drag English back to the top.
Set "Order for sorted lists" to English
Set "Word Break" to English (United States, computer)
Close System Preferences
Restart computer

Incredible! It works! This is now at the top of my list for unbelievably arcane fixes...
 

Koppology

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2008
4
0
Write speed -- thanks!

Thanks for writing about the write speed! I just wasted 4 CDs trying to burn some ISOs, and only after reducing the write speed of Disk Utility from 24x to 10x did it work. Appreciate it!
 

fredrums52

macrumors newbie
Dec 8, 2008
1
0
Medium write error?

I too is having this problem now. I used the be able to burn CD's w/ Memorex Music CD-R 40x 700mb 80 mins, about 6 months ago & now I decided to start burning more CD's and can't do it I keep getting Medium write error or it goes thru the cycle that it looks like the disc is being burned, but when I try playing it on a external player I have nothing. I put the disc back into my Imac G5 and I get you have put in a blank disc. I have read on some forums it's because of iTunes updated to iTunes 8 iTunes 7.7 was a better format is this true ?

Someone please help :confused:
 

Drauchomyn

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2008
1
0
Try this. Worked for me.

Props to danny.merrill (4 posts above this one) for the fantastic idea
of trying a lens cleaner disc.

I've browsed the web and read several forums on this topic. I avoided
this problem as much as possible because I don't burn DVDs terribly
often. I could afford to try out many things, one at a time,
over an extended period of time. I have sacrificed a couple dozen
DVDs in the process, just like many others.

My problem is similar to eveyone else's except that I can easily burn
audio CDs in iTunes, yet I am unable to burn DVDs in Disk Utility or
Toast.

These things have NOT worked for me so far:
- reducing burn speed for DVDs
- saving as images first, then burning DVDs
- deleting the com.apple.finder.plist file
- resetting PRAM and NVRAM (worked only for 1 or two DVDs)
- chaning disc brands (``no-name,'' memorex, verbatim, sony...I
thought it worked at first, but only was successful with a few DVDs from
Sony...then I ran into the same problems)
- closing all other programs except Toast/Disc Utility to
conserve memory

The ONLY thing that has worked for me thus far:
- cleaning the lens with a CD lens cleaner

Therefore, I recommend that you spend a few dollars to buy one of these
"special" CDs with a soft little brush that cleans off the lens. I
have burned several different DVDs and CDs over the past few days
successfully. :)

HTH.

Please reply to let others know if this works for you!
 

jbenesh

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2008
2
0
Completely random

I have a mac book purchased in March of '08. Same error "medium write error". Yesterday: tried it with 3 different types of cds: a memorex data and music and one Sony.

I'd encountered this before, that's when I bought the data and slowed down my speed to 16x. It was working fine for burning music from my Itunes for weeks. Then yesterday my favorite error message popped up again... sigh. I tried 2 more times with different cds and different speeds (slower), nothing. Got to work, borrowed a work cd, memorex, tried it at 2x - "error" - bumped the speed up to 24x (with the SAME EXACT CD) and it worked...

I will try the lens cleaner, that just seems wise. But wow, my problem has been so random it's almost scary.
 

joanrig

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2008
2
0
Cleaning is helpful!

Also, cleaning is helpful. Maybe clean several times.

Was going crazy burning coasters yesterday - running out of time to produce at least one copy of a movie due for a project on Tuesday. Read these forums and yes ... it's true ... cleaning helped for me. Bought a CD/DVD drive cleaner, Staples brand, for $10.95, cleaned my drive twice (i have a MacBook pro, purchased summer 2007, factory-installed SuperDrive) ... and voila. I am burning and burning and burning. Thanks for the tip!!!!!
 

irishharmon

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2009
2
0
iPhoto problem

I am now getting the same Medium write error but only in iPhoto. I can burn CD from iPhoto but not DVD. I tried all the above remedies but no luck. I can burn DVD from any other application including iTunes, iDvd and iMovie. The superdrive is not having any problems reading DVD's or CD's either. I noticed this problem came after a software update. I am going to back up all my photos and try blowing out iPhoto and reinstalling it to see if that helps. I will post my results later.

iMac G5 2GHz 20" OS10.5.6
 

captaincarrot

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2008
15
0
for your consideration

There is a similar discusion over HERE, covering much the same stuff: media quality, drive hygiene..

Just so you know!



/still stumped
 
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