Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

NHR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 14, 2016
2
2
Almost immediately after upgrading a late 2014 mac mini to el capitan (10.11.2), the superdrive lost its ability to write DVDs. It is recognized by the system and can read DVDs fine, but any attempt to burn files or an ISO image to a disk fails.

The same superdrive happily burns on the same media on other Yosemite-based macs (I checked multiple times), but it stubbornly refuses to do so on el capitan. The same mac mini was happily burning DVDs on the same media with the same superdrive on Yosemite, right before the upgrade to 10.11.2.

Now, with el capitan, attempts to burn ISO images fail with the message:
"Error burning disk image: The disc can't be burned; it might be incompatible with this disc drive. Please try a different brand of disc, or try burning at a slower speed."

Attempts to burn files fail with the message:
"The disc can’t be burned, because the device failed to calibrate the laser power level for this media."

Any ideas on how to fix this would be appreciated.

Superdrive hardware report:
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A:
Firmware Revision: 1CHQ
Interconnect: USB
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD-R
ID: CMC MAG. AM3
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x
 
Almost immediately after upgrading a late 2014 mac mini to el capitan (10.11.2), the superdrive lost its ability to write DVDs. It is recognized by the system and can read DVDs fine, but any attempt to burn files or an ISO image to a disk fails.

The same superdrive happily burns on the same media on other Yosemite-based macs (I checked multiple times), but it stubbornly refuses to do so on el capitan. The same mac mini was happily burning DVDs on the same media with the same superdrive on Yosemite, right before the upgrade to 10.11.2.

Now, with el capitan, attempts to burn ISO images fail with the message:
"Error burning disk image: The disc can't be burned; it might be incompatible with this disc drive. Please try a different brand of disc, or try burning at a slower speed."

Attempts to burn files fail with the message:
"The disc can’t be burned, because the device failed to calibrate the laser power level for this media."

Any ideas on how to fix this would be appreciated.

Superdrive hardware report:
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A:
Firmware Revision: 1CHQ
Interconnect: USB
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD-R
ID: CMC MAG. AM3
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x

Try a clean install

Camelia
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.