I can't burn a CD anymore...

Question

Help! I can't burn a CD anymore. I try it in finder and get a can't communicate error...in iTunes...same thing...in iPhoto, (you guessed it...same thing)
I can read my created CD's just fine with no problems (those I have created as well as those from Apple [iLife 6.0, system DVD's that came with it etc.]). I have fixed permissions, erased and reinstalled 10.4 that came with my mini, and still have this problem.
The finder acknowledges a blank CD, but won't write to it...iTunes same thing...iPhoto the same thing.
Burner need replaced, or is it an OS problem? CD's bad (have sucessfully written to 35 of the 50 in the spindle Memorex CD-R Music)?
Mac Mini 1.33 G4   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

Answer 1

The following is from the Mac Help:
I can't burn a CD or DVD
If you can't burn files on a recordable disc, see if the surface of the disc is smeared or dirty. Clean the disc with a soft, damp cloth and try again. If the disc is scratched, try another disc.
Try using a disc made for a slower recording speed, such as 2x or 4x instead of 8x.
If you still can't burn a disc, either you don't have an optical drive that can record discs, or your disc may already have files on it and can't be used again.
Check to see what type of disc you have. If your disc is CD-R or DVD-R, you can't erase files contained on it or burn more data on the disc. If the disc is rewritable, you need to erase the disc with Disk Utility before you can record on it again. For more information, open Disk Utility, (in the /Applications/Utilities folder), choose Help>Disk Utility Help, and search for "erasing discs."
To see if an optical drive can burn discs:
Open System Profiler, located in /Applications/Utilities.
Select Disc Burning in the Hardware list.
If more than disc drive is connected to your computer, select the one you want to use from the list of drives.
Look at the entries for "CD-Write" and "DVD-Write."
If the entry contains "-R," your computer can write to a CD-R or DVD-R only once. If the entry contains "-RW," your computer can erase a CD-RW or DVD-RW and write to it again.
If you are using an application such as iDVD to create a custom disc, check the application's help for more information and instructions.
If you are trying to perform multisession burning (burning data to a disc in more than one session until the disc is full), you must use Disk Utility. See Disk Utility Help for more information.
If none of the above helps, I suggest you take your Mac in for service.
Carolyn