DVDs won't burn

[Thomas S. England]

I've just begun a two week photo assignment and I need to supply the client with DVDs of the images. I expect that I'll need to burn about 30 DVDs.
Trying to make my first one last night I kept getting these results:


I'm using my Powerbook G4 running 10.4.6. The burner is a MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-845E, which has never failed me before, but it's been a few weeks since I used it.

That's because I've used my Intel iMac at home, but now I'm in a hotel.

I'm using Verbatim Printable DVD-R. This morning I will try to find another brand, but the mention of hardware errors makes me think I may need to buy an external writer.

I've done permissions repair & a restart. Tried Toast (6.1) and a finder burn.

Each time the burn begins, but fails about 1/4th of the way through. Plenty of HD space available.

Really open to ideas here....

[kbeartx]

Thomas -

Is this the same brand of DVD blanks you've used successfully before?

If they are, I donno what to tell you, DVD burning is not among my skills.

If they're not, I suggest you get the exact same brand you've used before.

[pendragon]

Thomas,

I don't know if it's a media issue or not, but for sure I would not rule that out. So when getting your new media, ensure it is compatible with your OS/burner. Or, buy the Apple branded DVDs from an Apple store/VAR (CompUSA?). The Apple branded DVDs will be a bit costlier, but at this point it hardly seems an issue worthy of consideration. And, it may help "prove" your burner is defective, should that be the case.

Also, upgrading to Toast 7.0.2 is probably wise (IMNHO).

Sorry my help is so lacking in specifics.

P. S.
1. Do you have Norton Auto Protect running? If so, disable it as it may preclude the DVD from burning.
2. You might try creating a new User and then seeing if you can burn from there.
3. If no joy is to be found with TS, MacFixIt's CD, CD-RW, DVD Forum may be worth a visit.

[fireprizm]

A friend of mine had a similar problem, and suggests to try that:

Restart your computer, when computer chimes during restart, press and HOLD these keys: "Apple + Option + P + R". Continue to hold all four keys and wait for the computer to chime three more times, there is a small interval between each chime as it is resetting the video memory and something else.

After the 3rd chime, you can release the keys and start up as normal, test your DVD burner again and see if it's working.

So try that, and good luck.

[Thomas S. England]

Well, that panicky feeling is gone:  Purchased some printable DVD-R's made by Maxell this morning & they burn nicely.

Verbatim is now verboten on my machine.

Thanks for the quick responses & suggestions.

[Gary S]

Thomas,

I purchased some Verbatum 16X-DVDs that didn't want to work on my G4 burner also. I may be that they are incompatable with my G4 or something.