PowerBook DVD burning problem

[rjphoto]

My G4 12" PowerBook will not burn DVDs with the newer 8x or faster DVDs.

It has the 2x burner in it and I have't been able to burn DVDs since I ran out of 2x disk some time ago. (I can't find any 2x disk around here any more.)

It's a Matshita DVD-R UJ-815.

Any suggestions?

 

[acearchie]

My G4 12" PowerBook will not burn DVDs with the newer 8x or faster DVDs.

It has the 2x burner in it and I have't been able to burn DVDs since I ran out of 2x disk some time ago. (I can't find any 2x disk around here any more.)

It's a Matshita DVD-R UJ-815.

Any suggestions?

You might want to try ebay or something like that! have you tried both DVD R+ ad R- dvds? I found I had different results with both!

 

[hondak24]

You won't find 2X media anymore. 4X is rare and will most likely work on your burner. If all you can find is 8X or 16X media, try Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden blank media.

 

[rjphoto]

Verbatim is what i have now, but no luck.

I've got a Pioneer (108 I think) in my old G4-400 Tower that bit the dust a month or so ago. I haven't had time to take it apart and try it in a box yet. That's my next hope to at least have something portable to burn DVDs on with out spending any money. (I've already got the box but it has a hard drive in it and it's in use on a project.)

Any way, thanks for the input.

 

[hondak24]

looks like you're out of luck, or find 4X media:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302565

 

[rjphoto]

looks like you're out of luck, or find 4X media:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302565

Thanks. Some how I missed that is all of the searching I did on Apple.

I found 3 2x DVDs today. The girl I got the PB from had bought them and stored them away since she never really used the PB anyway. (That's how I got it. She never used it and didn't want to learn how to use a Mac...bought another PC...gave the PB to me.)

I'm going to try to back up some iTunes tonight just to make sure the burner still works.

Thanks everyone.

 

[RedTomato]

I have this problem too.

I had to back up a bunch of different ibooks today, and my PB 1.5ghz was the only one with a superdrive, so I picked up a bunch of verbatim 16x DVD-Rs.

First time I've done any burning for a while, but I used to do a lot so I expected it to go well.

Fail, fail, fail. Huh?

I noticed that some DVDs had greasy / sticky marks covering about 1 cm^2 on one side of the hub, which weren't there when I put them in. Possibly a faulty transport mechanism.

I kept on putting some in and taking them out till the grease marks vanished. Success with a couple, but still fail every now and then.

I have some verbatim 16x DVD+Rs which I was going to try later.

Now I see your post here.

I'm puzzled. What on earth is the difference between an 16x write DVD-R and an 8x or 4x write DVD-R?

Can someone explain?

 

[matticus008]

I'm puzzled. What on earth is the difference between an 16x write DVD-R and an 8x or 4x write DVD-R?

Can someone explain?

Lots. Because the plastics, substrates, and dyes used by different manufacturers over a period of years can change frequently, optical drives require periodic firmware updates in order to be able to burn to certain media reliably. They need to account for different densities, reflectiveness, and focal lengths. For the most part, differences are minor and most people will go several years without problems.

I have an NEC ND2510a (one of the first "low cost" [~$90] 8x dual layer DVD burners) that I've had to update twice since purchasing in 2004 (once in late '04 and once again in early '06). It will start refusing to recognize media as valid or burn a series of coasters which will tip me off that something's changed. Macs use standard drives, but all the firmware update utilities are for Windows (or make x86-compatible boot floppies), so PPC Mac users are out of luck, especially with notebooks. Apple does update firmware sometimes, but once a computer is discontinued more than one generation, firmware updates are unlikely.

You'll have to experiment or find someone with the same computer to determine which media works reliably with the drive. Compatibility problems increase with age, but chances are that there is media out there that will work. If you've switched brands, switch back and see if that helps.

 

[RedTomato]

Thanks Matticus for such a clear explanation.

I'm rather annoyed (probably rjphoto is too) as my PB was top of the range less than 3 years ago. It still looks lovely, does everything I want quickly, but the DVD burner seems obsolete already

And I don't mean obsolete in the sense of working less quickly, I mean obsolete in the sense of no longer working with readily available cheap DVD media.



I'm on 10.3.9, maybe upping to 10.4 or even 10.5 might contain a firmware update. Is that possible / has that been known to happen?

 

[matticus008]

I'm on 10.3.9, maybe upping to 10.4 or even 10.5 might contain a firmware update. Is that possible / has that been known to happen?

There have been firmware updates, but not strictly bundled with OSes. With the lubricant spots you've mentioned though, it's more likely that your problem is mechanical.

Have you installed this?

 

[rjphoto]

There have been firmware updates, but not strictly bundled with OSes. With the lubricant spots you've mentioned though, it's more likely that your problem is mechanical.

Have you installed this?

Mine is the UJ-815. The link refers to UJ-835 that was in the second PB12".

Thanks, Hondak24 found this one for us. Pretty much puts the fire out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hondak24
looks like you're out of luck, or find 4X media:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302565

 

[rjphoto]

Thanks Matticus for such a clear explanation.

I'm rather annoyed (probably rjphoto is too) as my PB was top of the range less than 3 years ago. It still looks lovely, does everything I want quickly, but the DVD burner seems obsolete already

And I don't mean obsolete in the sense of working less quickly, I mean obsolete in the sense of no longer working with readily available cheap DVD media.



I'm on 10.3.9, maybe upping to 10.4 or even 10.5 might contain a firmware update. Is that possible / has that been known to happen?

you are right, I'm more disappointed at this point.
It's not my main burning machine, but it would be nice to be able to burn something while out of the office or at home.
The main thing is my HD is getting so full and I wanted to back up to DVD but still be able to carry the files in my bag in case I need them for a meeting or something.

I guess I need to go ahead and break the burner (and the 120Gb) out of the tower and take it home.

I'll give 10.5 a chance but I'm not hoping for much.

Since the PB & the eMac were donations to my department I can't complain much... (come to think about it so were the G4 Tower and TiBook...ok I got the TiBook when a Director was (hhmmm) ask to resign...)

I'm using a 20" Intel imac right now at one of our sub-departments and I'm seriously thinking about replacing my work IBM with one these...