Optical drive doesn't disks from a particular brand

I am trying to burn some video files to 10 DVD's, but my optical drive doesn't recognize 4 of the DVD's I use (which are all of the same brand and freshly bought) - and had a very difficult time with the other 6. DVD's of other brands he reads and burns fine as well as my rewritable CD which I've used a million and one times and is scratched all over.
The 10 DVD's work fine in the Windows PC and Laptop I have, just not in my MacBook...
Is there any way I can get the drive to be able to burn the other DVD's?
Below the stats of the optical drive with one of the 6 burned DVD's in it:
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857E:
Firmware Revision: ZF1E
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: DVD-RW
ID: INFOMEDIA
Blank: No
Erasable: Yes
Overwritable: Yes
Appendable: No
Write Speeds: 1x, 2x

Other than trying to burn at a lower speed I suspect that there is little you can do. You could try a third-party disc burning application like Toast but that would be a lot more expensive that just trying several different types of media.
If you have an Apple Store nearby then you could probably take your disc to the store and try them in another MacBook at the store (it looks like you are using RW media, so you could rewrite them after these tests).
Of course, if after trying a few different brands you still find that you are having problems then you may just have a hardware problem with your MacBook's Superdrive. I suppose that you could also have a software conflict. Have you tried creating a new user account to see if the disc can be burned there (as a test)?

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HT4718 optical drive doesn't work, hd is earesed and i need to install os x on my macbook pro

Hi there,
my questions are:
1.optical drive doesn't work, hd is earesed and i need to install os x on my macbook pro.
how to do it on internet?
2.already tried connected via lan cable, but folder with question mark appeared.What could be problem(DHCP was enabled)
3.Is it possible to do it in target disk mode through my even older powerbook G4
4. Is it possible to do it with flash memory , and how to download the stuff on?
thanks in advance
Allterro

If your Macbook Pro (MBP) came preinstalled with OS X Lion (10.7), you can use Internet Recovery to reinstall it.
You will need an Internet connection.
Restart your Mac using Command+Option+R until you see a spinning globe. This will boot into Apple's server and load their Recovery HD.
From the OS X Utilities menu, select Reinstall OS X. You should see a Lion logo to the left of this option.
If your MBP came preinstalled with OS X Snow Leopard you will need the DVD and an external CD/DVD drive to use to install it.
You may also be able to put your MBP into Target Mode with another Mac running a version of OS X that is compatible with your MBP. From that other Mac download OS X from the App Store and point to your MBP (Target Mode) to install to. I've never tried this but it sounds like it might work.

Optical drive doesn't work all the time

My optical drive doesn't mount movies i bought on dvds. IT'S like it has a mind of its own, it only plays movies when it feels like it and forget any install dvds like Snow Leopard, printers etc...! What's the problem with it? I cleaned it and all my dvds are like brand new, no scratches or any thing.

Hello marinfo
Welcome to Apple Discussions
It is normal for all the fans to be running all the time.
If your iMac is making noise, then there is something wrong and you need to take it in for service.
Dennis

What do i do when external optical drive doesn't show up in finder? how can i import software, music, etc. when the drive isn't recognized/mounted/whatever?

the internal optical drive on my early 2006 20"imac has mechanical problems ejecting discs. i've gone thru all the recommended steps to eject discs, and have luckily been able to eject the last 3 discs but only after spending 30-60 minutes going thru all of the steps over and over, and today just trying "eject disc" in itunes since i had itunes open. i don't want to put another disc in - the drive clearly has problems with the mechanical eject mechanism, and from what i've read that's not unique to my computer.
i bought an external optical drive: lite on, clamshell design to avoid problems with the eject mechanism; i contacted the mfr who said it's mac compatible.
the drive plays dvds, which is all i've tried so far, but doesn't show up in finder. so i don't know how to use it to load software, or music, or anything besides watch dvds.
is there something i can do to get the drive recognized/mounted/whatever? i would prefer to not spend the $220 which was quoted to me by an authorized mac repair company, even tho i think that's probably a reasonable cost given the delicacy of the operation as shown on ifixit.com.
thanks!

I have an external LaCie burner and it will not show up on my Mac unless I insert a CD or DVD - in that case, the media will show up (I have these settings in the Pref Pane):
If you want to burn files or music to blank media, you can use Finder or Disk Utility for files, but should use an iTunes playlist/iTunes for music and a movie burn app for videos/movies (such as iDVD, Roxio Toast, Burn, etc).
If you simply want to drag files over as a backup, an external hard drive is a much better solution than a burner.

[solved] My Optical Drive doesn't work.

Hello, first i should thank the community for the awesome job they've made on arch linux and everything around it.
Secondly, i installed arch linux two days ago, it was my first attempt and it seems to work flawlessly with gnome, compiz, etc. i even managed to master pacman and yaourt.
But i have a little issue my optical doesn't work in gnome, i can't even see it on the devices. (It worked great on the installation). Any ideas?
Last edited by 1lj4z1 (2011-03-25 17:36:20)

OK, so start with creating a mount point, like
sudo mkdir -p /media/dvd
-- and then feed your drive with a disk, and see what happens. (I suppose it will mount it automatically, but lets see...)
Edit: Just in case your system needs a cdrom directory, you can create a symlink to your /media/dvd, like this:
sudo ln -s /media/dvd /media/cdrom
Last edited by bohoomil (2011-03-25 14:27:53)

Optical Drive doesn't read DVD's

Hi, I own an HP Pavillion dv7 1279wm entertainment laptop. It came installed with Vista, but I installed a free upgrade to Windows 7 that I got from HP. I had a problem where the drive would not read anything; the disc would spin, but eventually the tray would automatically open and tell me to insert a disc. After using Microsoft FixIt, I was able to read CDs, but encountered the same problem when trying to load a DVD. Previous to using Microsoft FixIt, I did use device manager to uninstall the drive and then reboot so Windows 7 would automatically update the driver. I'm thinking that means that it's not a software problem, but if you can think of anything else I can do (short of swapping out drives because I don't have access to another drive) to rule out it being a software problem please let me know. I realize that combo drives typically use different lasers to read CDs and DVDs, so my guess is that the laser that reads DVDs has failed. If that is the case, where can I find the correct replacement part and how do I install it?
Thanks,
Kevin

Hi Kevin,
If you eject the optical drive tray, you should see just one laser situated towards the centre of the tray - different voltages are applied to this depending on whether it's reading a CD or DVD.
First of all, use a soft, non abrasive material such as cotton or a cotton bud and gently clean the lens.
Check if this has made any difference.
If it still doesn't read DVDs, try following the procedure under the sub-heading 'Let me fix it myself' on the link below to remove the Upper and Lower filters, restart the notebook and see if this helps the issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116
If it still doesn't read DVDs, the following procedure will test if your notebook can start from a bootable disc in the optical drive - the advantage of trying this is that it will rule out any possible Windows driver error as the CD/DVD drive is under the control of the Bios when starting the notebook. So if you find that the notebook will not boot from the DVD, then it's almost certainly a Hardware fault in the optical drive itself and it will need to be replaced.
Using another PC to create a Windows 7 Rescue DVD. Download the relevant ISO from the link below.
Windows 7 32bit
Windows 7 64bit
You need use an application such as ImgBurn to correctly burn the ISO to a DVD - a guide on using ImgBurn to write an ISO to a disc is Here. Once created, insert the DVD and then restart the notebook and see if it boots from this disc - if it does, let the first screen come up ( this will show repair options etc ) then just remove the DVD and restart the notebook. If the notebook will not boot from the DVD, it may just load straight into Windows.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

IMac internal optical drive reads and plays cd's but DVD's spin for a few moments then eject. Then any drive utility access results in the spinning wheel of doom. Then the optical drive doesn't show up anywhere until a restart. OSX 10.6.8 - Intel Core 2

iMac internal drive locks up after trying to play a DVD. CD's work properly. All preference settings are correct. I have tried several different DVD's that work in other drives. Drive is : HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N. After spinning wheel of doom goes away, so does the optical drive in Disk Utility and System Profiler and no disks work because the drive isn't there until a restsrt. Any ideas? Thanks.

The battery alone is a $5 to $15 part. Hard drives vary in cost, and depending on the iMac, they may or may not be able to install a third party hard drive, or one resold through Apple. The resold through Apple drives tend to cost more. This article discusses the varying successes of third party drives on iMacs:
http://blog.macsales.com/10146-apple-further-restricts-upgrade-options-on-new-im acs
The labor costs depend on the store as well as the time to get the parts in stock. Call around.

Optical drive doesn't...exist..?

Right, I use my iBook G4's optical drive probably on a more than daily basis, and until this morning it just stopped working. I inserted an audio cd into the drive, and it did all the normal things it does...whirring, making reading sounds and whatever.
However, when the sounds stopped, there was no disc icon on the desktop, on the finder, or on iTunes. I tried to eject the disk, but it simpily refused. Out of desperation, I restarted the computer, and tried the Command-Option-O-F command and then entered eject CD, which gave me an error message. I then proceeded to type Mac-Boot, and when I logged in, there was still no sign of the disk, and it still wouldnt eject.
So, I restart the iBook again, this time, holding down the trackpad button, and voila, the disc ejects! I thought it might have been a one off, so I tried another disc. Still no luck, it began doing the same things as before, and I still can't eject. However, when I went to my system profiler, it informs me that I have no Optical Disc reader on this machine...which is funny, its clearly trying to read discs when I insert one...but it fails...and the only way I can seem to eject a CD is by holding the trackpad button down during startup...and yes, i've even tried resetting the PMU....
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

That not exactly reply. I have same problem. After updating to 10.4.8 my superdrive is gone. When I check with system information, he said "no superdrive". Before thi update he work fine.

I need to install osx I have the snow leopard disc but my optical drive doesn't work.

I made the rushed decision to completely scrub my Mac and reinstall the software again. I bought the computer about 4 years ago from a student at my university who was leaving. When I got it lion was installed already. Now I can use the install disc as my optical drive is broken and I can't recover from the internet as it wants the apple I'd from the original person. I can't find an uncorrupted file to USB boot my machine . has anyone got any ideas before I bite the bullet and get my CD drive repaired .

Purchase an external CD/DVD optical drive.
There are cheap ones (under$50) that'll last anywhere from a year to three years or more expensive(over $50 and higher) that will last much longer.
Not all optical drives are Mac compatible.
Most Mac compatible drives you will only find to be purchased online.
Here are two on Amazon.com that are cheap and Mac compatible
http://www.amazon.com/LG-GP10NB20-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B004K2Z4MS/ref=sr_1 _3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398883289&sr=8-3&keywords=Mac+compatible+external+LG+optical+dr i ve
http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP40NB40/dp/B009DS6OFU/re f=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398883289&sr=8-7&keywords=Mac+compatible+external+LG+opti c al+drive
Here's another source for Mac compatible optical drives. These are also tray loading drives
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/VLU2SD24XS/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3F82SD24S/
Good Luck!

Optical drive rejecting most disks

As of late, my optical drive has been increasingly hit-or-miss with accepting disks (DVD or CD). Often times, when I insert a disk, the drive attempts to read it, unsuccessfully, for about 10 seconds, spinning up and then stopping multiple times, before finally rejecting and ejecting the disk. At first, this only happened with a single DVD that was very scratched up anyway, so I didn't think it a major problem. However, my drive has over time started rejecting more and more disks until now, when my drive won't even accept blank CDs, and I'm lucky if I can get an audio CD to read properly, regardless of how much it has or has not been used. There are even some disks that will go in one day but might be rejected another, but seeing as some disks that my computer accepts are more scratched up than others which it rejects, I really don't know what to think anymore.
Help?

They sell optical drive cleaners, it's a cd with small brushes that clean the lens of the laser inside the actual optical disc drive. I'd start by trying to clean it with one of these.

Optical Drive Bay Hard Disk Drive Caddy

Hi,
I have an old Compaq Presario v2036AP Notebook PC.
I would like to replace it's optical drive with new Hard Disk. I have tried to find a compatible caddy for the same but was not able to find any
Is there any way I can add another HDD to my laptop?
I do not want to use any external disk.
Also, if possible could anyone help me in identifying that what type of caddy drive I may require (SATA to SATA or PATA to SATA, etc.)
Thanks for your help
Regards,
Ashish Sharma

Definitely upgrade memory to at least 16 GB. Consider upgrading the video card to a 650M. For the rest it looks good, if you can live with a super glossy screen.

Optical drive doesn't work after installing itunes 11.0.5.5

After updating to iTunes 11.0.5.5 my optical drive does not work. I have put the same CD in another PC and it works fine. When I right click on the optical disc drive in 'Computer' I get the error message "Windows cannot access the specified device, or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item." If a CD is in the drive, the drive will either keep popping open or not open at all on its own. The CD will not open in any other player such as Windows Media Player either.

I read this article:
http://www.gearsoftware.com/wiki/index.php/CD/DVD_drives_disappear_after_install ing_iTunes
I did not have any AFS drivers.
This is what I did and my optical drive is now working:
1. Backed up iTunes
2. Unistalled iTunes
3. Tried to install iTunes 10.7 for Windows 64
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes
4. When iTunes tried to launch I received the message "iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes"
5. My computer would not recongize the optical drive at all now
6. I re-installed iTunes 11.0.5 for Windows 64
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes
7. All my iTunes data is there and my optical drive works now
Note: I should clarify that before uninstalling iTunes 11.0.5 my optical drive worked sometimes. It would play maybe one song, both in iTunes and Windows Media Player and then stop working. The drive would also pop open on its own whether there was a disc in there or not. Also sometimes I had to manually open the drive with a paper clip.

After installing Mavericks, the optical drive doesn't work for movie DVDs, program install DVDs, or music CDs.

The disc loads but is immediately spit back out. I am fairly sure this is an OS X software issue, since blank CDs don't exhibit this behavior. As far as I know, the drive was working fine before installation of OS X 10.9 (actually the machine is at 10.9.1). The machine is a Mac Mini late 2009 with built-in optical drive. I have seen some other discussion of this or a similar issue in the Support Communities and the only suggested fix I have seen is to reset the SMC. I tried that, with no change in the behavior.
Also, the main OS X support page says that Mavericks includes 30 days of free support after install of the product, but when I try to follow any of the links on this page to find the "free" support, all I get are pages that require entering the serial number of the machine, which then tell me that the support for the machine has expired. Anybody know how to access the "free" support for Mavericks? It has definitely been less than 30 days since we installed it on this machine.

After browsing a lot of the "More Like This" links, it appears that a LOT of people are having this problem. It may be that a simple reset of the SMC fixes the issue on later (e.g., maybe >= 2010) Macs. Anybody been able to resolve this issue on a late 2009 Mac Mini?

Optical drive doesn't recognize disks since update to 10.4.8

I've got an iBook G4 that I purchased from MCE Technologies with a slot loading superdrive. Since upgrading to 10.4.8, it won't recognize any disks, whether blank or software disks or DVD movies.
Anyone else having a similar problem?

Doesn't apply any more.

Cannot see optical drive or read files from superdrive

This is my first ever posting so I apologize if I’m giving too much info.
A couple years ago I installed a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR 107D in the top bay of my G4 (mirrored doors) and put the combo drive (Philips CDD5105) in the bottom bay. Back then I was running OS 9. All worked well, and continued to after I decided to start using OS X. I continued updating all the way up to 10.4.8 (I have avoided updating to 10.4.9 since it caused issues on our IBook). About a year ago the combo drive would come and go (in the system profiler) but the super drive was still working fine. Over the past year strange things began happening. If I would insert a kids games CD it would cause a kernel panic. So I simply used our Ibook to let my daughter play reader rabbit. For about the past 6 months the combo drive has not been recognized in system profiler. But other than the kids cds the super drive seemed to be working well reading & writing both CDs & DVDs. Then it began to error out burning CDs saying they could not be verified but the CDs were turning out ok it was burning DVDs without a problem. Within the last couple weeks it stopped recognizing files correctly. If it is an image or ai document it would say the files could not be opened and it would also not open installers of any kind. I finally decided to try to get it fixed. Last weekend I ran Tech tool & optimized the hard drives and low and behold it was fixed. Combo drive was back & working, Super drive was working correctly & the kids CDs did not cause problems either. This lasted for about 4 days of very infrequent use and all the problems were back. Then yesterday after being off for a couple days I started it up and all was ok again. So I left it on over night planning to make a disk image of it today. At this point I had a theory that my set up might be causing the problem. Since I had been running OS X it was installed and running on a second hard drive I had installed connected to a slave bus while OS 9 was still on the original hard drive connected to the master bus. So I cleaned off the main hard drive and thought since it was working correctly I could transfer the system & apps to the other hard drive and save the working disk image. But of coarse in the middle of transferring files around the combo drive vanished again and the super drive won’t read files correctly. So I decided to reinstall from my OS 10.4 DVD on the main hard drive and reinstall all my apps. But I can’t get it to read or boot up from the DVD. I tried running Tech Tool again with no luck.
Could this be as simple as a bad preference or something?
Here are the machine specs
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Machine Model: PowerMac3,6
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 867 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 1.75 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.8f2
PowerPC G4 dual 867 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

The only thing that seems strange about it being the drives is that whenever the combo drive disappears from the menu the super drive will simultaneously not read files correctly and cause kernel panics etc. And when the combo drive can be seen both drives work with no problems. Would that system still point to failing hardware? It just seems that since it's either both or neither that something that effects them both would be the culprit. Since I posted I was able to reload tiger & after the restart the problem returned. Then another restart it was fine all day. To your point replacement drives are reasonably priced & easy to install so I probably should just get one & try it.
Thanks for your advise
Carl

Optical drive doesn't disks from a particular brand

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