Plug a genetic DVD burner

I just got my Macbook, I bought the one with just the combo drive not the superdrive, becasuse I have a couple of DVDs burners around, I was wondering if I can just buy a IDE to USB adapter and be able to use it to burn DVDs on my Mac mini or Macbook.
Will I need drivers (it's a Sony), will it work?

I don't know if all generic DVD burners will work, but I have a Sony DRU120 that I thew into an ADS firewire desktop enclosure. It works like a charm with Apple's Disk Utility able to burn ISOs to with, no problems.
When I look at the About This Mac info, it says the drive is non-Apple. Apparently there was a policy change with Apple as of OSX 10.4 that they'll support generic drives. I suppose you could find a generic drive that's too weird for OSX to support, but apparently anything reasonably mainstream will be OK.
I have a feeling the change of heart was to ease Apple shopping around to different drive mechanism suppliers without needing to pay a small incremental cost to have the drives' ROM IDs customized to Apple-specific parts. Both Apple and we users win with the decision.
Bill

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New FireWire DVD Burner Plugged In - DVD Player Wants To Change Region?!

I have just bought an external Freecom FW/USB 2.0 DVD Burner.
As part of my testing, I inserted a DVD-R video I had made and attempted to view it via DVD Player.
However, I got a warning window saying that as this was the first time I had played a DVD I would have to set the region.
This DVD is a home-movie and as such has no region.
Needless to say, the DVD plays perfectly when using the Superdrive.
If I did set the region would it only apply to the Freecom or would it be one of the 5 changes you are able to make to the Superdrive?
Is every DVD burner allowed 5 changes of region?
I have not attempted to change the region as normally I will not be using the Freecom to play DVDs . . . . . just burning and copying.
What exactly does changing the region affect? The DVD Burner, my iMac, DVD Player or what?

Hi Ian,
most if not all computer DVD drives allow up to 5 changes of the region code with the 5th being the last and permanent one.
The region code itself is saved inside the drive itself and each drive is 'for it's own'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVDregioncode
As for your home video DVD you might wanna have a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVDregioncode#Circumvention
Regards
Stefan
Message was edited by: Fortuny

ITunes Seem to Have Suddenly Stopped Communicating With the CD/DVD Burner

Hello, I wonder if anybody can help - my itunes application seems to have suddenly stopped communicating with my laptop's cd/dvd burner
(Generic Name (E: H - T-S D D A S - 20N ATA Device)).
About 2 years ago, I have experienced a similar problem, but was able to resolve it by downloading 64-bit compatible GEAR drivers to my system. However, the problem has re-appeared when I have updated to iTunes Version 10.1. Funny enough, the cd/dvd burner started getting recognized again when I updated to iTunes Version 10.2, but halfway through me burning a large playlist to multiple cds has suddenly stopped recognizing the cd/dvd burner again, and has never "resolved itself" ever since.
I have tried multiple approaches to solving this issue, including completely re-installing itunes software and completely re-installing GEAR drivers, but nothing works. I have even tried uninstalling GEAR drivers completely, as I read that it worked for someone on one of the similar forums, but that didn't work either.
My itunes diagnostics runs all the points of the cd/dvd drive check successfully, except for the last point (Can Not Read Audio CD). Here's what the diagnostics summary looks like:
Microsoft Windows Vista x64 x64 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 6002)
Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion dv9700 Notebook PC
iTunes 10.2.1.1
QuickTime 7.6.9
FairPlay 1.11.16
Apple Application Support 1.5
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 3.4.0.25
Apple Mobile Device Driver not found.
Bonjour 2.0.4.0 (214.3)
Gracenote SDK 1.8.2.457
Gracenote MusicID 1.8.2.89
Gracenote Submit 1.8.2.123
Gracenote DSP 1.8.2.34
iTunes Serial Number 0016AB580A7B0C28
Current user is not an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2011-04-14 17:52:25.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.
WebKit accelerated compositing is enabled.
HDCP is not supported.
Core Media is supported.
Video Display Information
NVIDIA, NVIDIA GeForce 7150M / nForce 630M
** External Plug-ins Information **
No external plug-ins installed.
The drive F: Motorola MB810 Rev 0001 is a USB 2 device.
iPodService 10.2.1.1 (x64) is currently running.
iTunesHelper 10.2.1.1 is currently running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.3.0.0 is currently running.
** CD/DVD Drive Tests **
No drivers in LowerFilters.
UpperFilters: GEARAspiWDM (2.2.0.1),
E: H-T-S DDA
S_-20N, Rev W_05
Audio CD in drive.
Found 1 songs on CD, playing time 255:08 on Audio CD.
Track 1, start time 00:02:00
Audio CD reading failed. Error Code: 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 0 0 0 0.
iTunes cannot play or import music from a CD in this drive. The drive may need a firmware update. Check with the manufacturer.
Get drive speed succeeded.
The drive CDR speeds are: 3 9 16 24.
The drive CDRW speeds are: 3.
The drive DVDR speeds are: 3.
The drive DVDRW speeds are: 3.
Error Correction is turned on for importing audio CDs.
I have noticed that the diagnostics summary containes a suggestion to update firmware of my laptop's cd/dvd drive, but currently there are no such firmware updates available.
Another frustrating issue that I ran into was trying to convey this issue to Apple Technical Support via e-mail using the Express Lane for the troubleshooting issues. I really fail to understand why I am being asked for the "hardware serial number" when I'm clearly choosing the categories for "iTunes/CD-DVD Import Issues" which are software, not hardware, categories! This prevents me from being able to simply send the description of my problem to the correct Apple Support department, and does not let me do that even when I enter my itunes' Serial Number, which can be found in the diagnostics summary provided above.
Much Thanks to anyone who can provide any kind of helpful advice, even if it's just on how to be able to convey this problem to Apple Support via e-mail!

Okay ... checking something else:
Current user is not an administrator
Is that true? Or do you in fact have a Windows user account with full administrative rights?
(It's possible that a permission may have gone astray in your usual user account, which might be causing the burning issues.)

Mini no longer detecting Sony firewire DL dvd burner

Hello,
I picked up an external sony dvd burner for cheap and it worked fine for quite some time. My mini only has a cd burner so it was a perfect solution.
I was using Toast with it just fine.
Out of no where my mini does not pick it up at all. I know the drive works as I've plugged it in via firewire to my G4 ibook.
System profiler shows under FireWire "firewire bus" and the rest is blank. Could it be my port is gone? I dont think I ever plugged that firewire cable out untill i tried figuring out what was going on.
Any help would be great.

Hi
I had a very similar problem. My Mini G4 did not mount any externaal device, Firewire or USB, nor even the in-built CD Drive.
It is now away for repair awaiting a new motherboard (I am told).
Hope yours turns out to be a simpler remedy.
David

IMac won't recognize external CD/DVD burner

I have an iMac, Intel Core 2 Duo, OS 10.4.11. Five months ago, I purchased an external CD/DVD burner (Pioneer DVR-218L) in a multiple interface case from OtherWorldComputing. Everything worked flawlessly... I could burn iTunes CDs on that drive, using Toast I could copy DVDs from my internal drive to the external... life was good.
No longer. The computer simply doesn't recognize that there is an external burner attached.
I'm running it through with Firewire 400 cables, but I also tried Firewire 800 and USB2, with no luck. I've tried resetting the PRAM, and for one brief moment, thought I had licked the problem. I had a blank disk in the external drive and got a message saying that there was an unreadable disk, so I ejected it. Hooray! I put in a CD, which was recognized, momentarily. But when I went to copy those files to the computer, it was no longer recognized. And now I'm back where I was.
Very frustrating, because it had worked so smoothly and now it's not. I've spent much of today reading various message boards seeking an answer. Any suggestions?
David

Something sporadic like that sounds more like a problem with the drive than with the computer or interface. You've tried several interfaces (FW, USB) which means it isn't just a bad port on the computer. If it was a bad bit of software I wouldn't expect the drive to briefly reappear like that.
When the drive is plugged in, what does Apple System Profiler say about Firewire or USB devices? It could be the enclosure is working but the drive itself is bad.
Have you phoned OWC about this? They have pretty good technical support and one reason for going with them is their reputation for standing behind their goods.

File name punctuation WILL cause MP3 and DVD burn errors – workaround?

OK, I’ve seen TONS of questions about problems burning MP3 format CDs and DVD. I’ve been having this problem for quite a while and today I just got ****** off enough to do some deep research. I seek to share my finding and suggestions for work arounds.
THE PROBLEM
iTunes can burn regular CDs since the song file name is not actually put on the CD. The CD or DVD burner work for burning audio discs and with other applications. All the burn preferences are set correctly and have been validated. But when you attempt to burn an MP3 CD or DVD (for backup, transfer or for player that play MP3 discs), iTunes may do the following:
Checking media (iTunes will ask: “You have inserted a DVD. Are you sure you want to create a Data DVD? answer yes, it’s a blank DVD disc in a working DVD burner)
Checking playlist
Burning disc… initializing
"The attempt to burn a disc failed. An unknown error occurred (xxxx).”
THE CAUSE
Many times the error is due to song, album or artist names with unacceptable punctuation in them. iTunes does not tell you why and the error message and Google searches and Apple support/discussion forum details are sketchy… but in most cases its “illegal” punctuation in the song name, artist or album. I isolated at lest the apostrophe ‘ there are probably other illegal name punctuations too.
The cause my be explained by Apple following ISO or Joliet file name specifications or file name length specifications for CD or DVD discs. But since this appears to be undocumented (to the iTunes user) there is a need to understand the restrictions to allow error free disc burning.
THE CHALLENGE
Even if the playlist name does not have punctuation, if ANY playlist song name/artist/album does, the DVD burn will fail. Removing the offending songs from the playlists results in a successful burn but hey, I WANT those other songs too!
POSSIBLE WORK AROUNDS
Changing actual song file name – even if you change the name in iTunes (Get Info, Info, change name, artist, album) the actual song file names are not updated and continue to have the punctuation error resulting in a burn failure.
It appears that the actual file name needs to be changed. This can be a challenge. If you change only the file name you need to add modified file back into iTunes and the old file link is now broken. This is a bigger problem if that song file is in multiple playlists (the old ones are broken and the new one needs to be substituted). This is a REAL problem if you have 2,800 songs with an ‘ in them (like I do).
LETS WORK TOGETHER AND SHARE RESULTS
I’ve seen many, many unanswered questions about iTunes CD and DVD burning problems that will likely be solved if we can collectively develop and document a workaround. So, here is
THE QUESTION
What is the best way to rename (or retag) MP3 song files to eliminate punctuation and update iTunes and playlists so these songs can be burned to CD or DVD without violating the undocumented illegal punctuation restriction? The work around may differ for OS X vs Windows users so help on both would be appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for your help!
Windows XP Pro

been searching myself to create my own cdg for use in universal karaoke players. Kjams appears to offer the most hope for all I want to do. although there's something new now called Aria which promises to do a bunch of stuff for 79 $. Otherwise, all that I want to do as listed by the original poster, would cost me Kjams lite, plus the burn plug in is extra, plus I'd need the kjams producer as I would be building a cdg by adding the synced lyrics to something I've removed the vocal from, on Audacity program. if I go with Kjams, those 3 softwares, it will cost me 150, while I'm so jealous all those PC karaoke singers have free software for karaoke they can download.
I've been buying my cdg discs at 1.99 a pop, but they don't have special songs I want to perform. Aria for Mac might just do it all but I don't need the "scratch" sound they are pushing. that makes me steer away from the software.
experimenting with the Imac 10.6 idvd movie quicktime might work. I made a few cdg but have not tried them in the club karaoke machine yet. I added the lyrics to tuneprompter which is a free software that lets you add and sync the lyrics to the music with the spacebar. thats fun. but it's all in experimental thing so far. I know Kjams does not let you add lyrics and sync them yourself. you are supposed to import cdg to kjams that are already available and pay for them. in this case I want to find my own special tunes. good luck to you. there's one other thing but it's expensive. buying software which turns your mac into a windows platform by partiioning it and you start up in one or the other. that's also about 100-150 software.

External DVD burner not recognized

February 2014 Mac Pro
Final Cut Pro X
A DVD burner and an LG BluRay burner.
I believe the reason why I can't seem to burn either type of disc anymore is because I have plugged them into different USB ports over the many days I've been using these devices. They work fine on other computers and were working fine on this one, but Final Cut Pro uses a "Create Disc" program that I believe gets confused by which disc drive is to be used.
Final Cut Pro X completes the transcoding and goes to burn the DVD or BluRay disc (depending on which I selected in the Share menu) but nothing happens anymore.
How do I flush the hardware cache (if there is one) and restart with these external devices. The Mac Pro only has 4 USB ports but I needed more so I swap out the cables from time to time as I sync iPhones or upload memory cards to iPhoto.

Found my own problem.
I use a program from Jeppesen to download FlightCharts for my Garmin G1000 on my MacPro called JDM. It loads an app called JSUM that doesn't close or exit cleanly after using the software. This service utility interferes with the USB ports and prevents a whole host of devices from working properly. I had to use Activity Monitor to close JSUM service and then rebooted. (I also deleted the app)
All was returned to normal!

Looking to by an external dvd burner

I would like to add dvd burning capability for my imac dv. I want to use firewire than usb. Will a memorex dvd burner work my imac. I see them listed on ebay but don't want to buy one and it not work. Where can I find what will work on my imac and not cost a fortune?

I have a Mad Dog MegaSTOR DVD/CD burner I just bought from Costco. The model number is MD-16X3DVD9-8XE. It is USB 2.0 AND Firewire, which is why I bought it. It not only burns DVD+R and DVD-R, but also DVD-RAM and DVD+R DL. It burns CDs at 48X, DVDs at 16X and DVD+R DL at 8X. It has a two year warranty, and was $115 from Costco online with free shipping and handling. It works great with my system. It didn't ship with any Mac software, but I have Toast 5.2. I plugged the burner into the firewire port, and the iMac recognized it right from the start. Toast 5.2 works fine for both DVDs and CDs with this burner.
Hope this helps....
Mike
iMac DV SE 400 Mac OS X (10.3.7)

Buying an External DVD Burner, but system requirement says Windows

I am thinking about buying an LaCie DVD Burner, but the problem is that the system requirement calls for Windows.
However, since Macs are all plug in play, will it work by just plugging it in, and then running the copy of Toast I already own?

Have you considered getting one of their FireWire versions? I know they're pricier, but they fully support them working with OSX.
Here's a review from an Amazon.com of their USB-only desktop drive where the author claims it works fine with OSX and a Core Duo MacBook as well as a MacBook Air. It seems a bit strange since it talks about bus power when I thought it only operated off of external power.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3NEO772ZUVRRK

Thinkpad X230 could not recognize external DVD burner

Hi, I received my Thinkpad X230 two weeks ago and was planning to make backup media. However, X230 could not recognize my external DVD burner. It was not responding no matter which USB port I tried. The DVD burner works fine with my T400 and X201. Just want to know how to get X230 to work with the DVD burner so that I can make factory backup media. Thanks a lot!

Hello,
Your external USB DVD±RW disc drive may require more power than can be provided via one USB port in order to burn DVDs. Did the drive come with a "double-headed" Y-shaped USB cable to connect to two USB ports on the notebook? If so, try plugging both of the large ends into the ThinkPad's USB ports and the small end into the external drive and then see if it is now recognized by the computer.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
I am a volunteer and neither a Lenovo nor a Microsoft employee. • Dexter is a good dog • Dexter je dobrý pes
S230u (3347-4HU) • X220 (4286-CTO) • W510 (4318-CTO) • W530 (2441-4R3) • X100e (3508-CTO) • X120e (0596-CTO) • T61p (6459-CTO) • T43p (2678-H7U) • T42 (2378-R4U) • T23 (2648-LU7)
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External USB/Firewire DVD burner?

Looking for suggestions on an external DVD burner as my superdrive in my Macbook Pro seems to have died and i dont wanna risk installing a new one myself and effing something up.
Any suggestions?
-Sin

AbominusRules wrote:
Looking for suggestions on an external DVD burner as my superdrive in my Macbook Pro seems to have died and i dont wanna risk installing a new one myself and effing something up.
Any suggestions?
-Sin
How old is your MBP? I just have to ask if it is still under warranty, or if you bought an AppleCare program?
BTW, if you're out of warranty, you can replace it easily for around $100 plus two Torx screwdrivers. It really is nothing more than a few screws, removing the warranty tape, and plugging it in.
But there are dozens of DVD burners (mostly USB 2.0) that work well. My experience is that they don't work really well with iTunes or other programs on your Mac. And they cost probably 1/2 the cost of replacing your Super Drive.

Looking for an external USB CD/DVD burner

Hello all,
I just got my MacBook Air 13" and I'm in need of an external USB CD/DVD burner. I've read on Newegg and Amazon that certain drives require two USB plugs just to get sufficient power. With the MBA, however, this isn't really feasible because the USB ports are on either side of the machine.
We already broke the bank buying this laptop, so we'd like to save money on the DVD burner if possible. Those of you with Airs, let me know which DVD drives you've had success with.
Thanks!!

I'm a big fan of LaCie products so I've had this external CD/DVD drive for a while -
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10340
It's a little on the high end but it's been fantastic in the close to 3 years I've owned it. It only requires a single USB port, mainly due to the fact that it requires A/C power to run.

V570, eSATAp port, run a 5.25 (internal) DVD burner? or too much current?

V570 Ideapad, which has an eSATAp jack.
I have an eSATAp (powered eSATA)cable that goes to a standard sata power+data connector which can be plugged to a stock 5.25 (internal) HD or DVD. My question is about the power demands of a DVD burner to that connection.
Thoughts? (it ran a 2.5" WD HD fine, but now that one's inside the Lenovo where the DVD was...)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290591004700?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Thanks!
IdeaPad V570-1066A9U, Built 5-22-2011, BIOS 44CN36WW(2011-08-04)
Win7 Pro x64 clean install. Sammy 840 Pro 128GB SSD. Fast! Used nice hardware manual to re-grease CPU and remove tiny bit of lint.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/internal-5-25-inch-Sony-SATA-DVD-RW-burner-drive-writer-/270725020416?pt=PCC...
An internal 5.25" DVD desktop drive requires 12 volts, if I'm not mistaken. The Esata port only puts out 5 volts, right?
The drive in the link has a picture of the back label on the drive and it says 12v.
Dave
T430u, x301, x200T, x61T, x61, x32, x41T, x40, U160, ThinkPad Tablet 1838-22R, Z500 touch, Yoga Tab 2 Windows 8.1, Yoga Tablet 3 Pro
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Pros And Cons Of Using An External USB 2.0/FW DVD Burner ?

This is not entirely an iDVD query, though iDVD is the proram that will be using the DVD burner most. (I have also posted it on the iMac forum but received no response yet and iDVD users are likely to be more knowledgeable about DVD burning).
I intend to get an iMac when the next Leopard version is introduced.
However, I am not keen on slot loading CD/DVD burners as I once had a thicker than normal CD jam temporarily. Also I feel there is more potential for scratching and a few months ago I read that the mechanism used was comparatively flimsy and only good for a couple of hundred burns. I must stress that I don't know how accurate that last statement is?
So I have been toying with the idea of getting a cheap (LaCie) USB 2.0 or FW DVD burner to save wear and tear on the internal iMac mechanism.
If anyone could answer these questions I would be grateful:-
1. The USB 2.0 and FW versions have identical performance specs and the FW model costs nearly twice as much. So has the USB 2.0 burner got any disadvantages? (I already have Toast8).
2. Would they work as quickly and efficiently as the internal iMac burner ? (I realise I would have to convert my projects to disk images first).
3. Could I use them to install/reinstall the OS - should that ever be required ?
I am keen to know of any other advantages or disadvantages that I may have overlooked.
Ian.

I am posting this info, provided by Karsten, for the benefit of anyone else who may be contemplating making their own Firewire DVD Burner :-
"Although I have done car maintenance and general household DIY I have never attempted anything with computers," was my comment.
Karsten's reply was:-
........then, this is really a no-brainer for YOU.. me too just a Tim Allan guy/Home Improvement ..
first, open the fw-case, which is usually 4-6 small Philips screws on the bottom (back?) ... the innards then 'slide out', on the back or front, depending on case; some cases split in top/bottom half...
your DVDburner has two 'connectors - a smaller one for power, a very large (60? pins) one for 'data' .. be careful with this one..
ok: connect the power-cable within the case (mostly needs a strong push).. connect the data-/ATA cable to drive.. the plug has a 'nose', so no wrong connection possible, or you push real hard = kaputt ...
that large one has to be placed 'symmetrically'.. don't bend the many pins.. just work slowly and carefully.. easy...
ahh, forgot to mention: INSIDE are two 'slides'.. use 2-4 screws to fix the drive within the case (you find the screws usually in the package.. of the case AND of the drive.. )
close case, ...
... = 10min job, in case you have to brew an Espresso meanwhile..

Plextor external DVD burner -- HELP!

We have a PowerBook G4 and are running OSX 10.4. We just bought a Plextor PX-740UF external DVD burner. We plugged it in, turned it on, inserted a DVD-+R, dragged pictures onto it and then tried to burn it. Then it acted like it was burning it but the % never changed.
Then the same thing happened with DVD-R. What am I doing wrong? Do I need Toast?
Is it possible to install an INTERNAL DVD burner in my laptop?
Thanks!

Did you check to see if the Plextor model you
purchased was compatible with a Mac?
You don't say which model PB you have.
You can go to http://www.mcetech.com/ or
http://www.macsales.com/ and see if they have any
Combo drives for your PB.
MJ
FWIW the Plextor 740-UF lists itself as MAC-OS compatible but since I had it before I got my Macbook - mac compatiblitly was not my main purchasing criteria...
It does work just great with Toast, as it does on my old slow Dell but it makes coasters when trying to burn DVD's.
This, to me t least, implies it is compatible to a large degree but I still can't use the native burn functionality.
However, since I bought a copy of Toast... the problem is largely rendered moot at this point.
Marc

Plug a genetic DVD burner

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