IDVD ejects disc before completion???

Question

I have read that in the past years this is a reoccurring problem . . . but I just don't know how to fix it. The last time I burned a DVD was 2-3 months ago and it worked fine. I've burnt many dvd's before using iDVD and they've all worked well --- except this time. I did everything as normal. Nothing has changed. I have tried 3 different DVD's for the same project (memorex DVD+R, imation DVD+RW, and a no-brand one). In the past I have used the "no-brand" dvd's and also "memorex DVD+R LightScribe" dvd's and they worked fine. So now I'm beginning to think it's either the program or my computer. What happens is at the burn section the blue bar goes all the way and says "done" (before it's even finished multiplexing and burning) with about 8-10 minutes remaining. The laptop then ejects the dvd. The 3 dvd's I tried were blank since their ejection. It's like nothing happened after those hours of burning.
I not only tried 3 different dvd's, but I also tried different projects (to see if the one I was trying to burn was corrupt). One of the projects I already burned a few years ago (but needed a second copy now) didn't work either. The laptop ejected it at the same interval as the other projct did. If it's not the dvd, and it's not the project, then what is it? There has to be something wrong . . . but what?

Answer 1

It had been less than an hour. Deep breath.
Make sure your boot drive (Usually the Macintosh HD) has enough free space to make your DVD. I would suggest you have at least 2x the amount of space that your disk takes up. So a 4.7 GB disk = 10 GB free space needed. A 8.5 GB disk = 18 GB free space needed.
Ensure all your software is up to date (Apple Menu > Software Update).
Remove the following to the trash and restart the computer and try again:
Home > Library > Caches (I remove the whole folder. It will be re-generated upon restart.)
Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iDVD (There may be more than one. Remove them all.)
Ensure your iDVD project and iDVD itself are ok.
__File > Save As Disk Image. If the disk image fails to create, there may be an issue with this project or with the application. If the Disk Image is created, then your project and iDVD are probobly just fine.
Make sure your DVD Burner is ok. Just pop in a blank DVD disk and add something to it (picture, document, whatever), double-click on the disk and click "burn".
__If the disk fails to burn then either the media you are using is not compatible / is bad or the drive has issues.
__Try reseting the PRAM and the SMC just in case the drive is having issues.
Other things to try:
1.) Make sure the DVD disks you are using are compatible with your computer's optical drive. If you use a disk that is not supported by your computer's SuperDrive you may get inconsistent burn results or the drive may reject the disk. You can find out what types and speeds of disks your computer supports by going here and looking for the "SuperDrive" section under your model of computer: http://support.apple.com/specs/
2.) Older drives / players may not be able to read newer types of burnable media. Use DVD-R disks that list a lower speed. Burnable media comes with numbering on the original packaging that indicates the speed of the disk (Usually 1x,2x,3x, etc.). The lower the number the more compatible the disk will be with more DVD players.
3.) Try different brands of media. I personally try to stick with media made by companies with a long history of making recordable media.
4.) Lower the burn speed in iDVD:
iDVD > Preferences > Advanced > Preferred DVD Burning Speed
The lower the number you choose the more compatible the resulting disk will be with more DVD players. It will also increase the amount of time it takes to burn the disk.
Hope that helps