CD/DVD won't burn .. medium write error

I'm trying to do as a good-Mac user should; back up my files (in this case iPhoto). So far, it's rejected 2 Memorex CD-R's and one CD-RW. I know sometimes you have to repeat this process several times before a burn can be successful, but what's throwing me is the 'medium write error'. Could this mean I'm trying to put too much data on the CD?
Having tried to use a CD-RW, it now won't allow me to erase the thing .. Pretty frustrating!!
Suggestions?

Welcome to Apple Discussions
The rated speed of the CD may be too high for the iBook's combo drive. What is the rated speed? eg you may have problems with 52x.
It's possible too you may have a mechanical problem with the drive. Are you able to import CD's into iTunes?

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DVD-R burn error "medium write error"

Just received a refurbished iMac today. Doing a basic Disc Copy from Disk Utility and burn one disc OK. The second disc ejects half way through burn and "medium write error" pops up. All the disc I pull out are blazing hot as well. I don't know if this has anything to do with it.
I am trying another burn now. Has anybody seen this error or had DVD-R burning issues?
Thanks,
Adam

I saw this using Toast 9 -- turned out I had turned on the DVD-DL support by accident and I didn't have a DL DVD drive.

Medium write error when burning a DVD. Uh?

So I mounted my DVD and burnt 2 x copies successfully. When it came to number three the message "Medium write error" came up and the disk was rejected unburnt! I got the new iMac cos the old one's DVD burner failed. What can I do to get things working again? iMac is about a month old.

is there a list of media that works in a mac?
or is it safe to say that the more expensive the dvds the highr the chance that it will work

I can't burn CD or DVD. I get a "medium write error." I bought an external CD drive, and get the same message.

I can't burn CDs or DVDs. I get a "medium write error." Bought a new external CD drive, and get the same message.

What are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to burn to disk via the iPhoto Share ➙ Burn menu? That produces a mini library on the disk that can be used only by a Mac running iPhoto.
If you want to burn just some image files to a data CD/DVD disk then follow Larry's recommended workflow.
What disk type and manufacturer are your using? What system and iPhoto version are you running? Have you run the OS X Mountain Lion: Use Apple Hardware Test? When did the burning proiblem begin? If you can't burn a disk from the Finder then it's a hardware or system problem and not an iPhoto one.
OT

"Medium Write Error" when trying to burn DVD

i have recently been receiving the message "medium write error" every time I try to burn a DVD in my mac book pro 13 inch It doesn't matter which program I use to burn, they all give me the same (or similar) message. I also tried booting into Windows and burning from there using ImgBrn it and it was
succeed
the program went from "preparing disk" to writing to "finishing", ejected the disk and made the usual error and it looks like it don't start writing as when i put the dvd back the dvd is still empty
I used to burn these disks perfectly well with no problems, before i install lion i don't know if this is lion problem or what
i also tried to attempt to reset the PRAM. by holding down CMD+Option+P+R while booting MBP and waiting until it chimes a second time to let go of those keys.i haven't changed anything so don't understand why the error occurs. I've bought a lens cleaner disk and ran that for 2-3 minutes and repaired permissions on the HD but that didn't work either. The drive works flawlessly reading DVDs and CDs with no problem no problems.
any one can help please ????

mortiis Empire wrote:
I also tried booting into Windows and burning from there using ImgBrn it and it was succeed the program went from "preparing disk" to writing to "finishing", ejected the disk and made the usual error and it looks like it don't start writing as when i put the dvd back the dvd is still empty
Sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand this.
It doesn't matter which program I use to burn, they all give me the same (or similar) message.
The problem is that it's not relevant if the programmes use the same burn engine (eg, iTunes and Finder). You need to test apps which do not use Apple's burn engine, eg, cdrdao, cdrecord, Burn, LiquidCD, Disco, Roxio Toast, NTI DragonBurn, etc. But, FWIW, my bet is not on a software issue.

My Macbook keeps saying 'The burn to the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-898 drive failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error.' everytime I try to burn a cd with data on it, it has only just started doing it after 2 years of use, how do I fix it?

My Macbook keeps saying 'The burn to the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-898 drive failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error.' everytime I try to burn a cd with data on it, it has only just started doing it after 2 years of use, how do I fix it?

Have you tried using a different brand of optical disk? (You don't say whether you are doing CDs or DVDs.) Some are better than others.

The burn failed because of a medium write error.

iDVD won't burn to my DVD player for some reason. So, I made a disk image, and am trying to now use disc utility to burn that.
I am getting the following error. I am using Apple branded DVD-Rs (yes, I still have some, bought a large amount of them in 2007). I have also tried TDK, Maxell, Verbatim and Sony media. I have cleaned the lens in my DVD player. The DVD mechanism plays movies just fine, and mounts disks bought commercially as movies, and burned on my PC.
I can burn to CD-R, but not to DVD-R. I can burn to CD out of itunes, but I can't burn to DVD out of iDVD, or with disk utility.
I get this message:
"The attempt to burn disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error."
Here is the info on my DVD-R from System Profiler:
MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857:
Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857
Revision: HAEA
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
Power Off: Yes
And here is what is says under 'Disc Burning':
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857:
Firmware Revision: HAEA
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: DVD-R
ID: RITEKF1
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 1x, 2x, 4x
This is an original 2006 2 ghz Core Duo 15" MacBook Pro.
i've tried TDK, Pioneer, Maxell and Generic DVD-R andT DVD-RW media, but always get this same error.
The log says:
Disk Utility: Burn started, Thu May 7 09:26:15 2009
Disk Utility: Burning to DVD-R (AN32) media with DAO strategy in MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857 HAEA via ATAPI.
Disk Utility: Requested burn speed was 2x, actual burn speed is 2x.
Disk Utility: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Disk Utility: Write (10), block: 0, count: 64 -> 3/11/00 Medium Error, Unrecovered read error
Disk Utility: Burn failed, Thu May 7 09:27:37 2009
Disk Utility: Burn sense: 3/11/00 Medium Error, Unrecovered read error
Disk Utility: Burn error: 0x8002006E The burn failed because of a medium write error.

I have also tried TDK, Maxell, Verbatim and Sony media
Me too. Out of that list the only brand that has NEVER produced a coaster (on the same burner as yours) is Verbatim DVD-R and Fuji DVD-R. All the others produced a 25-50% failure rate.
Have you tried burning at a slower speed?
Using 16x DVD media is fine - in fact it is difficult to buy any other - but there is a consensus in the Apple Support Forums that a slower burn is a better burn i.e. 2x or 4x (slow burns are better burns!). I always use Toast for burning.
The term "Best" means the fastest speed that the drive told Toast it can write to a specific disc. The drive's firmware and info on the disc decide what speed burns are available. When you press the speed setting button in Toast (after inserting a disc) you'll likely see some speeds in italics and some in bold face. The ones in bold face are supported by that media on that drive. The fastest one is what Toast calls Best.
Audio CDs in particular should be burned at the lowest supported speed.
Verification is a good indicator the disc is burned okay. However, other DVD players can still have problems with the disc. Media problems with various drives is not uncommon. Slower burning may reduce the chance of those problems, and is one of the reasons why RW (read/write) media is always rated slower than DVD-R.
There are some interesting facts here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm and here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm
But many will tell you that the 'slower burn is best' theory is outdated. Who really knows? At the end of the day, if your home-made DVD was verified by Toast and will play anywhere on anybody's DVD player, then that is the result we are all after!

Im trying to burn a cd from itunes, I keep getting a message that says "the attempt to burn a CD failed because of a medium write error" any help would be appreciated

hello, I'm trying to burn a playlist from itunes to a cd, but I keep getting a message saying "the attempt to burn a CD failed because of a medium write error" can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong. I'm not so tech savvy so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I'm not familiar with this error, but check the following:
-Is your disc a CD or a DVD? You want a CD, not a DVD.
-Is the CD blank? You'll want a blank one.
-Maybe the disc is scratched and cannot be used. Try another CD.
-Maybe your disc burner is broken. If you have another, try it.

Getting medium write error on burning a disc image using Disk utility

Have a MacBrook Pro 15 inch, circa Summer 2007, using OX 10.4.11. up until recently (as in before February) have been able to burn DVD's using Toast (message Medium Writer Error). Started getting problems where the burn failed. Thought maybe it was Toast, so I tried creating an iDVD project and tried to burn the DVD using that, and it stopped in the middle as well and then spit the disk out with no error message.
, this time I tried creating a disc image, and used disk utility to burn. The process looked like it was going to work but then failed with a message that I have a medium write error.
I have no problems burning a regular data disk on my superdrive so I am thinking it's maybe a software glitch rather than hardware. . Any thoughts, as to what could be causing this problem all of a sudden. By the way, there are other users out there, who seems to be having DVD burning problems all of a sudden, but most people suggest other media. I am using the same stack of DVD-R's from before when I had no problem.

Well, I had assumed my media was ok, since I had a spindle of DVD-R's and had used many of them successfully (until now!, ha ha).
I went out this afternoon and bought another brand (Memorex) and it successfully recorded.
So hopefully this solves my problem, I had no idea it was the media since I had used several of them before.
Thanks for your help.

Please help -- weird error-- DVD won't burn.

Hi,
I have a brand new mac pro, and I'm using the most recent version of DVDSP. I get the following error when attempting to burn a Dual Layer DVD when it's in the formating stage: "The recording device reported the illegal request: Unknown device" and it gives me the option to cancel. When I hit cancel I get another error "Formating Failed: THe recording device reported the illegal request: Unknown device error. (0x21, 0x00.)"
Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be the cause of this? I have had other problems with the dvd burner, things like "medium write error" so I've tried using different types of DVDs (I have yet to try Verbatin--which apparently are the ones with the most success).
Any help would be very much appreciated. Do I need to return my mac pro?

I don't have the exact error message with me, but that sounds similar. I bought a new DVR-115 for my Mac Pro and put the existing DVR-112 in the bottom slot. The DVR-115 worked fine for a month or so, then started getting that or a similar error. I replaced it under warranty and soon got the same thing. Then I Googled the error message an found many people having the same problem, even people with PCs. Now I just burn with the DVR-112, not worth resolving. BUT, I could be remembering the error message incorrectly, so Google and see what you get.

Trying to burn CD but keep getting error message "The attempt to burn a disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error. Tried different speeds with no luck

trying to burn CD but keep getting error message "The attempt to burn a disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error. Tried different speeds with no luck

The burn failed because of a medium write error. Tried different speeds with no luck
Then try to use a different brand of DVD or at least a different batch of DVD. The disk may be defective.

How can I burn cds if I keep getting Medium Write Error?

I have tried burning several CDs, mostly Memorex and Sony. I've never really had problems before but now I do. I tried at first with maximum speed and it just tried to burn and then ejected it saying "Medium Write Error". Next I tried SEVERAL different burning speeds. Sometimes I would get the same error message, and other times it would act like it burned it but when I tried to play the songs on the CD it just skipped through all of them as if they didn't burn. PLEASE help!
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
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, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 8x, 24x

brookieb90 wrote:
I have tried burning several CDs, mostly Memorex and Sony. I've never really had problems before but now I do. I tried at first with maximum speed and it just tried to burn and then ejected it saying "Medium Write Error". Next I tried SEVERAL different burning speeds. Sometimes I would get the same error message, and other times it would act like it burned it but when I tried to play the songs on the CD it just skipped through all of them as if they didn't burn. PLEASE help!
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
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, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 8x, 24x
brookieb90 wrote:
I have tried burning several CDs, mostly Memorex and Sony. I've never really had problems before but now I do. I tried at first with maximum speed and it just tried to burn and then ejected it saying "Medium Write Error". Next I tried SEVERAL different burning speeds. Sometimes I would get the same error message, and other times it would act like it burned it but when I tried to play the songs on the CD it just skipped through all of them as if they didn't burn. PLEASE help!
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
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, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 8x, 24x
brookieb90 wrote:
I have tried burning several CDs, mostly Memorex and Sony. I've never really had problems before but now I do. I tried at first with maximum speed and it just tried to burn and then ejected it saying "Medium Write Error". Next I tried SEVERAL different burning speeds. Sometimes I would get the same error message, and other times it would act like it burned it but when I tried to play the songs on the CD it just skipped through all of them as if they didn't burn. PLEASE help!
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
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, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 8x, 24x
brookieb90 wrote:
I have tried burning several CDs, mostly Memorex and Sony. I've never really had problems before but now I do. I tried at first with maximum speed and it just tried to burn and then ejected it saying "Medium Write Error". Next I tried SEVERAL different burning speeds. Sometimes I would get the same error message, and other times it would act like it burned it but when I tried to play the songs on the CD it just skipped through all of them as if they didn't burn. PLEASE help!
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:
Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
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, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 8x, 24x
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N:
Firmware Revision: SB00
Interconnect: ATAPI
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: CD-R
Blank: Yes
Erasable: No
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: Yes
Write Speeds: 10x, 16x, 24x
Hey guys, having the same problem since the update..... QUITE! frustrating after a update, I have to admit.
Anyway so no burn button in Itunes but the option is there to "burn playlist" in file tab. Once I have started the burn at maximum speed 24x on Itunes around three times, Burn app and Toast after about a minute error would pop up saying problem *medium write error* then finished on all three apps. I tried around 3 cds on each app.
I opened my *system profiler* then *disk burning*it asked me to insert a blank disk and click refresh which is located in view tab. Once complete it showed my write speeds 10x, 16x, 24x. Now open BURN app then select which songs or files etc you would like to burn, drag them across. Click burn select burn speed ONLY SELECT 16x or 8x if 16x is not a option.
_*BURN APP*_ at slower writing speeds seems stable. After a little investigation through out my logs it looks as if certain permissions conflict from old version to new.
I hope this works for everyone!
Mateo

Burn failed because of "Medium Write Error."

I've got a early '08 Macbook Pro running OSX 10.5.8 and iLife '09.
I'm trying to burn a tracked podcast to a CD, and after getting through all the mixdowns and normalizing, it will burn for a short while and will "finish" the burn, eject the CD and come up with a "Burn Failed" message that says,
"The burn to the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-867 drive failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error."
This problem has just recently developed. I've done this many times in the past, but the last few CDs I've tried to burn have taken me four or five tries until I get a successful burn. I'm tired of wasting my CD-Rs!
My drive reads both CDs and DVDs without a problem, and burns through iTunes without a problem.
What's going on? Can I do anything to fix this?

UPDATE!!!
On suspicion as I am camera geek, (film maker)
I know dust can do weird things, I took the blank part of the disc container, you know, usually solid color or clear and cut it into a gun shape and wrapped it in one of my fiber fine lens cloth.
I gently inserted it to knock some dust loose, (think optical eye) be careful not to twist or shove to hard if resistance is met. did the old nintendo blow in the drive fromt the side and prayed.
Went back to FCPX and re-shared to disc and....... Voila!!
Burned several discs already.
Good luck if you have this.
I suspect the dust from my over amped fans due to SMC fan control could have blown dust or hair on the optic and prevented it, (this is where apple listens close)
Please advixe your "techs" to suggest compressed air or disc cleaners..although my disc cleaner did nothing.
-Kaz

The burn to the superdrive drive failed. the burn failed because of a medium write error.

Hello, I have an IMAC (OS X version 10.8.3)
And when I put a blank disc (dvd+R 8.5gb DL), it's not even shown in Finder!
So, well, when I try to burn any files on it, it says:
"the burn to the SuperDrive drive failed. the burn failed because of a medium write error."
Please, help to solve my problem. I'm Russian & and it's really hard to find any help on Russian apple forums.
(Hardware of the disc burning):
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N:
Firmware Revision:          JA18
Interconnect:          ATAPI
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:          x2.4, x4, x8

Or take your Mac to a Apple store and have the built in drive replaced.
Having Apple replace the built in drive is around $120.
Buying a aftermarket external DVD drive is around $30.
You make the choice.
ipopon wrote:
I think i'll try a Verbatim DVD soon...
and if it doesn't work, the only way is to buy an external drive...

What do i do if everytime i try to burn a disc it says medium write error

I can usually burn CDs without a problem but everyonce in awhile it says there is a "medium write error". Normally i just change the disk and retry it and it works, but this time i have wasted 4 CDs trying to burn a playlist. So what do i do?

Could you post your diagnostics for us please?
In iTunes, go "Help > Run Diagnostics". Uncheck the boxes other than DVD/CD tests, as per the following screenshot:
... and click "Next".
When you get through to the final screen:
... click the "Copy to Clipboard" button and paste the diagnostics into a reply here.

CD/DVD won't burn .. medium write error

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