Disc recording log; Finder: Write (10), block: 4294967146, count: 32 - 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error, Burn failed

Question

Hello All Apple Heads (Brit. short for headmaster or headmistress.)!
My MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846
(Firmware Revision: FQ3T, ATAPI, Burn Support: Yes [Apple Shipping Drive], Cache: 2048 KB, Reads DVD: Yes, CD-Write: -R, -RW, DVD Write:-R, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW, Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO), optical super drive is unable to burn on any CD or DVD.
The Disc Recording log list below writes: "Finder: Write (10), block: 4294967146, count: 32 -> 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error, Burn failed".
DiscRecording.log:
  Description:          Disc recording log
  Size:          2 KB
  Last Modified:          11-09-15 4:50 PM
  Location: /Users/-/Library/Logs/DiscRecording.log
  Recent Contents:          Finder: Burn started, Thu Sep 15 16:40:47 2011
Finder: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-846 FQ3T via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was max, actual burn speed is 24x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Finder: Write (10), block: 4294967146, count: 32 -> 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error
Finder: Burn failed, Thu Sep 15 16:41:57 2011
Finder: Burn sense: 3/73/03 Medium Error, Power calibration area error
Finder: Burn error: 0x8002006D 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.
Finder: Burn started, Thu Sep 15 16:43:37 2011
Finder: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-846 FQ3T via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 8x, actual burn speed is 8x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Finder: Burn finished, Thu Sep 15 16:49:31 2011
Finder: Verify started, Thu Sep 15 16:49:31 2011
Finder: Verify failed, Thu Sep 15 16:50:20 2011
Finder: Verify sense: 3/02/00 Medium Error, No seek complete
Finder: Verify error: 0x80020063 Verifying the burned data failed.
Can this issue be solved by means of firmware/updates, terminal command lines, or through other open source OS?
Is this issue related to lense cleanliness?
Much thanks!
Sam
Message was edited by: saltislandsam

Answer 1

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!