SuperDrive Media Disc(s) .. Assist ...

Question

07.11.2005
Dear Apple Mac Mini User forum participants
b Macmini SuperDrive : Matsushita DVD-R UJ-845C
How do we confirm the correct read/writable disc(s) media for our Mac mini ?
We have searched widely .. specifically .. and generally .. online.
And we come away with no new definitive knowledge. Others
have trialled and erred .. and learned .. and reported. But still
we are ill-informed about which particular media we should
be restricting ourselves to use in our Mac mini.
Are you able to assist by sharing your garnered information(s)
about the correct media(s) for the Mac Mini Superdrive.
We seek your illumination by kind response, if you will.
Point us to the worthy online repositories or share your personally
accrued gems of optical SuperDrive media disc management.
And finally, for now, we would like to hear your formula for establishing
the minimum specification to share your media disc(s) among your Mac
computers in use and even with an XP machine, from time to time.
Establishing the upper performances and the lower compatibilities would
provide a practicable strategy to managing machine restricted and machine
to machine informations sharing by optical drive media disc(s).
Positively thanked will you be.
very much obliged,
Stuart .

Answer 1

09.12.2005
Dear Apple Mac mini user discussions participants
Thank you to everyone who has constructively added to
the body of useful knowledge now available in this
humble thread. Your contributions are genuinely prized.
Gems.
We have read and re-read your entries, acting where
able, to discover more about the true capabilities of
the Mac mini SuperDrive mentioned. Along the way, we
have discovered a few many other related and relevant
aspects to the personal industry of media disc burning.
Here is the Apple Mac mini ..
About This Mac ..
More Info ..
Disc Burning ..
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C:
Firmware Revision: DPP9
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No
One of the informations we seek is the speeds capacities
of the SuperDrive mentioned. More frequently now .. in
the stores .. you find speed rated disc media for
burning. What are the rated speeds of the Mac mini
SuperDrive and media ?
What does CD-TAO mean ? TAO : TrackAtOnce
What does CD-SAO mean ? SAO : SessionAtOnce
What does DVD-DAO mean ? DAO : DiscAtOnce
What does .. Media: No .. mean ?
From here we begin to discover compatible media ..
the original mission.
Online .. here and elsewhere .. we are educated by the
many who have trialed and erred before us. Most demanded
manufacturer of disc burning media is 'Taiyo Yuden(s)'.
Made in Japan. Taiyo Yuden Company Limited is mentioned
by www.cdfeaks.com WIKI as the most preferred media too.
Most recommended brand name of disc burning media is
Verbatim.
We searched for Taiyo Yuden(s) media in our geographical
locale. Rare as hens teeth. Sold out before arrival.
Premium price no deterrent to those in the business of
quality disc burning. We settled for a couple of
Verbatim DVD+RW media discs. Made in Taiwan. Every disc
we could locate in retail was either made in Taiwan or
made in Singapore.
We began our media disc burning adventure by applying
the native OS X Tiger 10.4.2 disc burning applications.
Finder and Disk Utility. We bothered not with itunes,
iphoto, since our mission is data. Problems emerged
early. From the log file automatically kept by Disk
Utility (top right hand corner of the DU window) you are
able to read for yourselves the two error messages
reported as operations failed. Error messages ...
Finishing burn
Verifying burn...
Verifying
Burn failed
Verification of the burn failed.
Unable to burn “backup xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xx.xxx.dmg” -
Verification of the burn failed..
Burning Image “backup xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xx.xxx.dmg”
Preparing data for burn
Opening session
Finishing burn
Burn failed
The device failed to calibrate the laser power level
for this media. Unable to burn “backup xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xx.xx.xxx.dmg” - The device failed to calibrate the
laser power level for this media..
Finder media disc burn error message ...
This disc did not verify correctly and is unreliable.
Because the disc is unreliable, discard it and try again
using a new, blank disc. (Error code: 0x80020063)
Success message - without verification ...
Burn completed successfully
Image “backup xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xx.xxx.dmg” burned
successfully.
Operations failure .. we quickly discovered .. does not
mean media disc burn total failure.
All media disc burn operations were 'successful'. And,
as soon as we unticked Verify data at end of disc burn
(DU), we were regularly greeted with successful media
disc burn dialogue affirmation. Encouraging .. and
further confirmed as we examined the data burned and
satisfied ourselves of the totality of the writing
event. Otherwise .. DU had zero challenges media disc
burning and reading burned media and copying data files
back onto the originating apple mac mini hard disk
drive. Remember that DU is limited to media disc burning
in apple format only and multi-sessioning where on
screen you will be greeted with individual icons
representing each session burned on the same media disc
burned.
However, things went south far to soon and without very
apparent reason. The DVD+RW was suddenly and perpetually
rejected by the SuperDrive. No doubt .. the more
informed among you are smiling and nodding knowingly ..
at our novice and amateur opening efforts. Useless disc.
You may be able to pinpoint the moment of coaster
creation from the supplied error messages logged.
We imagine that the lack of verification availability ..
always displayed with an unsuccessful burn message,
every time .. points directly to media disc quality.
Unusable disc an eventual certainty. Perhaps.
Every disc burned delivered an unsuccessful burn message
whenever Verify data burned was ticked. Finder media
disc burning does not provide apparent opportunity to
switch off verification. Read-on .. if you are
interested to discover our further media disc burning
experiences and experimentations.
We re-examined the apple computer help system from DU
and learned that DVD+RW is the favoured alternate re-
writeable format disc for DVD re-writing intended to
replace the capabilities of DVD-RW and DVD-RAM and
provide higher compatibility with set-top players ..
though some DVD drives or applications may not support
recording to this disc format. At the store .. we re-
read the retail store chart by Verbatim on DVD options
and learned of media designation purpose distinctions.
Still .. we appear to have chosen within the SuperDrive
capabilities. Another disc we should like to sample is
the DVD-RAM disc .. which is not specifically mentioned
as compatible media .. are you able to clarify whether
Mac mini users with the mentioned SuperDrive
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C are able to use this designation
? And the reason for the question is that we have
discovered a DVD-RAM disc available from a Japanese
manufacturer. Premium price at the retailer .. assuming
premium quality too. Appears, however that we are unable
to use DVD-RAM media burn disc(s).
After media disc burning the DVD+RW disc we then fed the
written disc (and at that time, readable - by the
originating Mac mini machine) to the iMac DV SE
(graphite) running OS X 10.4.3 Tiger to confirm
compatibility. Nightmare on Apple street. Barely able to
read the media disc burned .. we eventually had to force
the iMac cough the DVD+RW disc back out by manually
restarting the iMac machine (side button) and holding
the mouse button down on start-up. Disc retrieved ..
safely. First time ever in five years of ownership ..
since new. Bummer. To eliminate speculation of poor iMac
DV SE drive performance we set about throwing other CD
and DVD discs at the machine. Perfect. From the iMac ATA
Device Tree - ATA Bus ... (no media disc burning capability)
MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184:
Model: MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184
Revision: AA32
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal
Disk Utility and Finder are limited media disc burning
applications. DU creates multi-session disc by burning
separate instances that manifest as separate disc icons
on the desktop. Operationally limiting and eventually
problematical. iMac DV SE showed only the first media
disc burn of a multi-session disc burned. DU is limited
to media disc burning in Mac OS format only too.
We returned the DVD+RW discs to the retailer .. one
opened and used and fully rejected and the other
unopened. Instead we chose to step down to Verbatim
CD-RW discs .. made in Taiwan. We continue with our
experimentations. Finder help reveals more about disc
burning and under; "I got an 'unknown error' message
while burning a CD or DVD disc" we find two links ..
Apple Service & Support article: Problems burning discs
[http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25480] reads ...
Mac OS X: "Unknown Error -2147352480" when burning CD-R,
CD-RW, or DVD-R media Learn how to troubleshoot burn
underrun protection issues ("Unknown Error -2147352480"
alert) when burning a disc. This document applies to Mac
OS X 10.2 or later.
Try these tips:
* Specify a burn speed that is less than the maximum
speed rating for the optical drive.
* Quit open applications you are not using. Open
applications are marked with a triangle in the Dock.
* Once a burn session has started, do not move, bump,
or vibrate the computer.
* Do not put labels on blank discs before burning them.
* Use blank discs that are rated for the burn speeds of
your drive, or consider using a different brand of media.
* See "Macintosh: Factors That Affect Writing to or
Reading From Optical Media".
Your computer may also benefit from installing additional
memory (RAM) or a higher-bandwidth system interface for a
burning device (such as SCSI).
You might also consider having the optical media device
tested by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
Additional information
The Console utility or log may report:
"-2147352480 = 0x80020060 = kDRBurnUnderrunErr = Device
drained buffer without burn underrun protection"
Low disk space or RAM availability issues can lead to this.
These are some clues that this might be the case:<
* The issue more often occurs during the burn process.
* The failed burn more often leaves data partially
written to the disc, and he disc can't be reused.
Physical source of these issues can lead to burn failures
and can sometimes be identified when:
* The issue more often occurs at the start of the burn
process.
* The failed burn session more often leaves the media
untouched and ready to be burned. (It is still blank.)
* The burn starts, but an external incident interrupts
the session.
... and the one link on that page ...
"Macintosh: Factors That Affect Writing to or Reading From Optical Media" ...
Factors that affect writing to or reading from optical media
This document discusses things can affect your computer's
ability to write CD and DVD discs, and what can potentially
affect their being read by other computers and consumer
electronics equipment.
Several things can affect the mastering of recordable media
and the ability to read them by other devices. These factors
equally apply to CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW media.
To consistently achieve successful burns, be aware of these
factors
The source for the media
Third-party discs that conform to the specifications of the
drive should operate as expected. However, since Apple has
not physically tested these discs, you should contact the
manufacturer if full compatibility cannot be achieved.
Apple-brand discs are tested and qualified for use with
Apple-installed optical drives and are fully compatible.
The optical drive used to master the media
Earlier drives may not work with some later, high speed
media. Use discs recommended by your drive's manufacturer.
Make sure you have installed any firmware updates available
for the drive. Some updates may address media compatibility
issues, or update the function of the drive in other ways.
The software used to master the media
Make sure the application software you use to master the
discs is up to date. Make sure the options you choose in
the application, such as the burn speed, work with the
drive and the media you are using. Varying the burn speed
may affect the compatibility of the media in the playback
device. This may make a difference in the accuracy of the
mastering of an audio CD or DVD. Burning applications often
perform a verification after the burning process is complete.
This ensures that the final disc is ready for playback.
If the verification fails, try choosing a slower burn speed.
The connection method for your optical drive
If your burner is connected via USB, you may not be able to
burn at the highest speed the drive is capable of using.
Trying to burn at too high of a speed may lead to a failed
burn because there is not enough bandwidth on the bus.
If you have a SCSI burner, make sure the SCSI cabling is
configured correctly, and that the SCSI chain is properly
terminated. Issues may result from improper termination.
Also, make sure you use properly-shielded cables to connect
the burner to the computer.
To successfully use your burned media, be aware of these factors
The source of the media
In general, if you are able to successfully burn discs in a
drive, that drive should be able to read the same discs without
an issue.
Note: Apple optical drives work with standard 650 MB-capacity
discs, but not all drives work with 700 MB-capacity (80 or 90
minute) discs.
The optical drive used to read the media
Earlier optical drives may have issues reading modern media.
Early DVD-ROM drives, for example, may not read burned DVD-R
or DVD-RW discs. Some may read DVD-R, but not DVD-RW. This is
true for consumer audio CD players, car audio players, and
DVD-Video players, too. Depending on when the drive was
manufactured, it may or may not be compatible with certain
burned media. Check the documentation that came with the player,
or check with the manufacturer for more information. A firmware
update may be available that improves compatibility. Even if it
is considered "compatible" with certain media, you may encounter
issues with some brands of media, or issues with media burned at
certain speeds.
The software used to read the media
You may find that software designed to copy data to discs cannot
successfully copy video or audio to discs. Make sure you are
using a current version of the application, and that the software
can copy the kind of data you are working with.
For best success in reading media, use the latest version of
the Mac OS. Also, make sure that you burn the disc in a format
that can be used by the operating system that will read the disc.
For example, a CD burned in Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) format
may not work with a Microsoft Windows-based computer.
If a disc's format is not normally recognized by the computer's
operating system, you may need to install software that allows
the computer to recognize it.
Additional information
60849: "Mac OS: How to Determine a CD or DVD Drive's Mechanism
and Firmware Version"
120029: "Power Macintosh G4 CD-RW Firmware Update: Information
and Download"
86130: "SuperDrive: Important Information About Using With
High-Speed Media"
... 60849: "Mac OS: How to Determine a CD or DVD Drive's Mechanism
and Firmware Version" ...
... blah about Apple system profiler .. where we started .. just
one possibly useful link ...
For the latest information about compatible CD-RW drives, visit
the iTunes website.
So .. we did .. and found nothing of specific use ..
86130: "SuperDrive: Important Information About Using With
High-Speed Media" ...
... blah about older mac computers and SuperDrive .. inapplicable.
Apple Service & Support article: Hardware specifications
[ http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.html ]
... interesting .. and could have been useful .. maybe
.. if the mac mini were itemised at all .. not to be ..
yet the hypertext link is in the mac mini help .. anyone
see the mac mini here ? ...
... Moving along ..
Finder help also explains about burning blank CD or DVD
disc(s) and states that it will create burned disc(s)in
'hybrid' format that can be read by most computers,
including Windows computers. The (burned) disc contains
these filesystem: HFS+, ISO-9660 with Rock Ridge, and
Joliet with Rock Ridge. However .. "The names of files,
folders, and the disc can't be changed after the CD is
burned." So, a CD-R or DVD-R would seem the appropriate
media disc(s) to use as they cannot be (erased and) re-
written .. on any machine. [ but they can be written
until full with other softwares and on other operating
systems .. e.g. XP ]
We used CD-RW to experiment with this capability .. by
media disc burning data files to find out what we could
do after the first Finder burn. Initially recognized as
a CDR media disc. As you, dear reader, are by now, well
aware, media burn automatic verification failed.
Automatic ejection occurred after the burn and at the
(usual) verification failure message from Finder.
Re-insertion (after a delayed period) showed the CD-RW
disc to be CD-RW Untitled CD .. even though we had
titled the disc at dialogue box burn time. One folder
and zero nested folder or data files content were shown
as recorded in the Finder window. We know something is
on the disc because the usage amount is shown as 353.6MB
on the desktop icon. Second attempt to burn gave
message: Insert a blank disc to begin. So CD-R is better
value (read: cheaper) media than CD-RW for Finder burns.
You can use use DU to erase the CD-RW. DU agrees with
the media burned disc volume usage.
Finder is doubly confusing because of two apparently
colliding help entry explanations.
Under: Disc burning options are dimmed or unavailable ..
is the explanation: If the entry contains "-R", your
computer can write to a CD-R or DVD-R disc only once. If
the entry contains "-RW", your computer can erase a CD-R
or DV-R disc and write to it again.
However ..
Under : I can't burn files on my recordable CD or DVD
disc .. is the explanation: If the entry contains "-R",
your computer can write to a CD-R or DVD-R disc only
once. If the entry contains "-RW", your computer can
erase a CD-RW or DVD-RW disc and write to it again.
Personal experience proves the latter explanation to be
the more correct one. We are unable to erase a CD-R or
DVD-R disc on either Mac or XP machines. Whew.
Are we missing something here ?
Or is that the correct facts of the designations ?
Finder also provides a run-down of Types of recordable
CD and DVD media.
Types of recordable CD and DVD media
If your computer has an internal or external recordable
optical drive supported by Apple, you can "burn" or
record your favorite music, applications, documents,
digital photos and video, and other digital files to
recordable CD and DVD discs. You can create your own
music CDs and play them on a standard audio player, or
create DVDs with movies and slideshows and play them on
a DVD player.
There are several types of recordable CD and DVD media:
• DVD-R discs hold about 4.7 GB of information.
You can burn files on a DVD-R disc using the Apple
SuperDrive. DVD-R discs are not reusable; you can burn
files on them only once.
• DVD+R is an alternate DVD Recordable write-once
format. Some DVD drives or applications may not support
recording to this disc format.
• DVD-RW discs hold about 4.7 GB of information on
each side. If you have an Apple SuperDrive, you can read
information on these discs, but you can't burn files on
them using Mac OS X. DVD-RW discs are reusable: you can
burn files on them, erase them, and then burn again (if
you have an application that is compatible).
• DVD+RW is an alternate DVD ReWritable format
intended to replace the capabilities of DVD-RW and DVD-
RAM and provide higher compatibility with set-top
players. Some DVD drives or applications may not support
recording to this disc format.
• CD-RW discs come in normal and high-speed
formats. You can burn files on CD-RW discs using the
Combo drive (or another supported CD burner). CD-RW
discs are reusable: you can burn files on them, erase
them, and then burn again.
• CD-R discs come in two types. One holds 74
minutes of audio, or about 650 MB of information. The
other holds 80 minutes of audio, or about 700 MB of
information. You can burn CD-R discs using the Combo
drive (or another supported CD burner).
For recording audio CDs, it is best to use CD-R discs
because most standard audio CD players cannot read CD-RW
discs. For longer-term storage and reliability, use CD-R
discs.
You can't burn anything on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disc.
Enter Microsoft Windows XP Professional
We are .. for once .. fortunate enough to have Microsoft
Windows XP machine available to us with media disc
burning hardware installed. Just like the Mac mini .. we
do not have any other software installed for media disc
operations, only from the native XP OS supplied tools.
However .. we quickly discover that the XP machine has
an edge .. licensed Roxio software integrated into the
XP OS. And it works well. We discover that the Apple OS
X media disc burning software Disk Utility .. chooses
only to format in Apple OS. Meaning .. DU media disc
burned with Mac mini are only able to be read by Apple
OS machines. Confirmed by attempting to have the XP
machine(s) read the disc burned. Unable. But .. media
discs burned by XP machines are able to be read by the
Apple machines. Because XP machines native OS media
disc burning format appears to be an industry standard
OS independent. Couldn't tell from the available
information from the XP OS but suspect it is an ISO 9660
format variation. To be exactly confirmed .. and it will
be .. because the entire outcome of this mission is to
arrive at a total media disc burning and sharing
strategy among Apple and as a matter of operating
contingency .. XP machines too. Open source
applications in use by us are deliberately cross
platform between XP and Apple machines. Data generated
is able to be swapped or even shared among the machines
with little or mostly no user operating challenges.
Focus on productivity. The media disc(s) burned in the
XP machine reads well in the Apple machines.
The Finder media burned disc .. mentioned above earlier
.. CD-RW .. read immediately on the XP machine .. folder
and data files burned .. all there .. all on display.
99% able to be copied to the XP machine hard disk .. and
confirmed as a CD-R formatted disc since only option is
to erase the disc and not add to the existing content ..
thanks to the Apple Finder format for the re-use sharing
limitations. So Apple SuperDrive cannot read it's own
disc but XP machine can and is able to verify burn by
way of 99% trouble free copy to XP machine hard disk.
Here .. we begin to struggle with what is happening in
our limited media disc burning experience(s).
Enter Media Disc Burning Software
Additional software has become necessary to accomplish
our media compatibility and resource management
requirement(s) .. and we are surely open to your welcome
suggestions for software applications that enhance the
available Tiger OS X applications for dependable
outcomes.
Remembering for a moment that we have arrived at almost
total incompatibility between the two Apple disc media
drives mentioned after burning disc(s) in the Mac mini
using DU and Finder and attempting reading in the iMac
DV SE. We are searching for ways to achieve worthwhile
compatibility.
And one way is to use the XP machine to create data
burned media disc(s) that are instantly able to be
easily read by both Apples in our humble possession.
This fact is an earlier discovery .. when migrating
(again) from the XP realm to Apple heaven. Moving open
source application data files form the XP realm to
the Apple iMac DV SE machine was unencumbered. Easy.
How unprepared we are for the encounter with OS X media
disc burning tools limitations.
We go on-line to seek any worthwhile open source media
burning software for OS X. www.pure-mac.com lists
several possibilities. We need to burn media disc(s)
that are able to be read by a wider population of
computer systems including Apple (OS X) and PC (XP) and
be fully (re-)used to their manufactured storage
capacities. A combination of Finder and Disk Utility,
if you will.
We quickly learn that Roxio is evidently the developer
of the supreme media burning software available to Apple
users. And garner from on-line sources that Roxio is
favoured by the serious and casual user who demands
quality.
For the moment we choose to learn more by trialing less
expensive media disc burning software(s) to find out
whether our simple needs (and open source patronages)
can be met by available applications without unnecessary
bells and whistles. We may be wasting our time here ..
if Roxio or similar is favoured by so many and not
because of the bells and whistles but rather
because of media disc burning performance quality and
standards then we are likely to arrive at that same
destination too. As satisfied Roxio user.
www.pure-mac.com displayed the media disc burning software list below .. in alphabetical order ...
CD Session Burner
BurnAgain
BurnX Free
Burnz
DiscBlaze
Disc-o
Dragon Burn
FireStarter FX
ImageBurner
Jam
PatchBurn
Popcorn
Toast
YuBurner
BurnAgain is one of the programs we chose to experiment
with to create more standards compatible media disc(s)
burned. BurnAgain is developed only for the OS X.
BurnAgain automatically and only formats in ISO 9660
(Rock Ridge) .. guaranteeing Windows machine
compatibility. And it does .. so far .. we have used up
about 5 of the available 10 burns before registration
should be made with the author. We learn from the
BurnAgain help system that iTunes burns the same as
Finder.
However, BurnAgain focuses only on CD-R and CD-RW media
.. SuperDrive is capable of more. And you are
discouraged from mixing media disc burning applications
to burn the same media disc. BurnAgain prefers you to
stay the course. DU is the OS X solution to alternate
media burning (DVD) .. but apple OS format only.
However, still our iMac is troubled and challenged to
fully and properly read the BurnAgain media disc(s)
burned (CD-RW) by the Mac mini .. it couldn't .. but
eject was a formality and not a crises recovery
management procedure as before with the DVD+RW disc
burned by DU on the Mac mini.
XP machine could read the BurnAgain CD-RW Verbatim
disc(s) easily and fully .. but copying was about 99%
accurate (same as Finder). We are writing about 350
Mbytes of data files recorded on the CD-RW media disc
with nested folders up to several deep. However,
subsequent burns to disc(s) wouldn't repeat the same
data file errors .. meaning if you noted the delinquent
files then you could just BurnAgain those files and
expect eventual full disc to hard drive copy success on
the target machine (XP in our situation) of those
deliquent datafiles.
Originating Apple Mac mini machine could read the
BurnAgain CD-RW verbatim disc(s) easily and fully .. and
copying was 100% accurate back onto the originating
Apple Mac mini machine hard disk .. all 350 Mbytes of
data files .. no error messages reported. Meaning the
originating machine is performing as expected .. with
BurnAgain .. but sharing remains a challenge with other
machines. Particularly iMac DV SE. Remember that Finder
media disk burned couldn't read again on the Mac mini.
BurnAgain is clearly an improvement of standards based
media disc burning .. since originating Mac mini could
read it's own burn and XP machine 99% accurate too. DU
is OK if you are confining yourself to Apple machines
and they can actually read the media disk burned .. only
originating Mac Mini was able to read it's own burn 100%
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C is the most modern and capable
(Super)drive among the five disc media equipped machines
available here. For now we are confused whether that is
any advantage or disadvantage.
We are going to run through the remaining media disc
burning softwares available from the www.pure-mac.com
website to determine if our simple needs can be met
or whether we are required to plumb for the creme deluxe
(Roxio) and have greatest confidence that our media disc
burning needs are fully met. We may report back our
findings to anyone so interested at this forum. Are you?
We also chose to sample a Verbatim CD-R media disc for
burning and copying of data files among machines.
However .. the BurnAgain burn went well .. but the
copying was problematical to the XP machine hard disk ..
file copy errors .. and back on to the originating Apple
Mac mini machine hard disk too .. Error code - 36 (same
file errors as XP machine). We tried again and met error
messages from the BurnAgain application .. to the effect
that BurnAgain would not permit a further media disc
burn .. even though few hundred megabytes available on
target media CD-R disc. This outcome .. according to
Disk Utility help is because: "Mac OS Extended allows
burning the disc more than once. Formats such as ISO
allow burning the disc only once." Off to the XP machine
and burn an additional small file to the disc. Perfect.
Back to the Apple originating machine .. copy file to
the Mac mini HD. Perfect. Kept the disc for any future
file transfers between the XP to the Mac(s) until fully
used. How confusing .. and .. yes .. frustrating too.
Burnz is the only other program we choose to sample
after studying the homepages and value propositions
and our needs assessment. Thank you to www.pure-mac.com
for the compilation(s) and accessibilities. Appreciated.
Burnz developer www.thinkertons.com have other software
available too. While downloading Burnz media disc burn-
ing software for trial evaluation .. we browsed Burnerz
.. another application from thinkertons that is 100%
free. Burnerz is an informational tool .. and retrieves
whatever informations available on your system about
optical media drives fitted and attached and your
computer systems' optical media drive compatibilities.
Burnerz is a welcome assist for the knowledge starved
and delivered up useful confirmations of the MatShita
DVD-R UJ-845C optical superdrive fitted by Apple. Nice
one thinkertons.
Here is the information display from Burnerz ..
106 Supported Drives in this Version of OS-X
( that would be Tiger 10.4.3 fully updated mac mini )
AppleShipping MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C, Internal via ATAPI
Device Information
2005-12-06 15:39:56 +1300
ProfilePath: built-in
IORegistryEntryPath: IOService:/MacRISC2PE/pci@f4000000/
AppleMacRiscPCI/ata-6@D/AppleKauaiATA/ATADeviceNub@1/
IOATAPIProtocolTransport/IOSCSIPeripheralDeviceNub/
IOSCSIPeripheralDeviceType05/IODVDServices
CanWriteCDText: YES
CanWriteDVDPlusRDoubleLayer: NO
CanUnderrunProtectDVD: YES
CanWriteDVDR: YES
CanWriteDVDRAM: NO
CanWriteDVDDAO: YES
CanWriteIndexPoints: YES
CanWriteDVDRW: YES
CanWriteCDTAO: YES
CanTestWriteCD: YES
CanUnderrunProtectCD: YES
CanWriteCDSAO: YES
CanWriteCDRaw: NO
CanWriteCDRW: YES
CanWrite: YES
CanWriteCDR: YES
CanWriteCD: YES
CanWriteDVD: YES
CanWriteDVDRDualLayer: NO
CanTestWriteDVD: YES
CanWriteDVDPlusRW: YES
CanWriteDVDPlusR: YES
CanWriteISRC: YES
PhysicalInterconnect: ATAPI
FirmwareRevision: PP9
LoadingMechanismCanEject: YES
ProductName: VD-R UJ-845C
SerialNumber: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-845C 5D0A25C7
VendorName: MATSHITA
LoadingMechanismCanInject: NO
WriteBufferSize: 2048
PhysicalInterconnectLocation: Internal
SupportLevel: AppleShipping
LoadingMechanismCanOpen: NO
Device Status
2005-12-06 15:39:56 +1300
MaximumWriteSpeed: 2822.4
MediaState: MediaPresent
CurrentWriteSpeed: 2822.4
MediaIsBlank: NO
MediaBlocksUsed: 173914
BurnSpeeds: Object of Class: NSCFArray, description: ()
MediaBlocksFree: 0
MediaIsReserved: NO
MediaIsAppendable: NO
MediaIsErasable: NO
MediaFreeSpace: 0
MediaClass: CD
MediaIsOverwritable: NO
MediaSessionCount: 1
TrackNumber: 1
FreeBlocks: 0
SessionNumber: 1
TrackLength: 173914
BlockSize: 2048
TrackIsEmpty: NO
SessionFormat: 0
TrackType: Closed
TrackStartAddress: 0
BlockType: 8
MediaType: CDROM
MediaBlocksOverwritable: 0
MediaUsedSpace: 173914
TrackRefs: Object of Class: NSCFArray, description: (<DRTrack: 0x003B4950>)
MediaBSDName: disk1
MediaOverwritableSpace: 0
MediaTrackCount: 1
IsBusy: NO
IsTrayOpen: NO
And here is the Media information from Mactracker ..
www.mactracker.ca .. a free informational tool on
everything Apple hardware ...
Media: 4x8x16x8x24x SuperDrive
.. Dunno exactly what those numbers mean ..
And here is the Media information from Mactracker on the
iMac MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184 ...
Media: 24x CD-ROM or 4x DVD-ROM
Imagine that means read at 24x CD-ROMs and 4x DVD-ROMs
Back to BURNZ
Burnz has a particular feature that meets our
requirements and added weight to the application's value
proposition. You are able to choose the specific optical
media disc burn format. Five graduations exist.
Each graduation includes (all) of the lower ranked media
burn format qualities. Top to bottom sliding scale.
HFS+
ISO 9660 Joliet extensions
ISO 9660 RockRidge extensions
ISO 9660 level 2
ISO 9660 level 1
Visually affirmative .. this feature gives user
confidence about media disc burned format
compatibilities. And the website and written materials
from thinkertons make clear that compatibility is well
covered for all optical media drives. Exactly what we
seek. Default is HFS+ which thinkertons encourages you
to maintain unless you do reason to otherwise change.
Finally, for now, Burnz writes DVD media disc(s) too.
Wethinks .. could we go wrong now .. as we progressed to
practical evaluation. 10 free burns before registration
is required by thinkertons. Here we go ..
We chose 407.29mb data files .. application downloads
and Tiger updates (.dmg, .zip, .bin) .. in one folder
to brand new Verbatim CD-R (702.82mb available according
to Burnz) .. and settings to maximum possible speed
(automatically selected at 16x) .. other selectable
speed setting is 8x .. and leave disc appendable ..
verify burned data ON ...
Burn failed...
StatusError: -2147352477
ErrorString: Verification of the burn failed
RE-inserting the media burned disc gave desktop CDR
icon with the burn folder named and 406.9 MB usage ..
Finder (double click on the desktop disc icon) shows
all 18 items burned .. copy from CDR back to new desktop
folder showed the appropriate copy dialogue box and
progress bar without color .. left awhile to see what
happens ...
The Finder cannot complete the operation because some
data in "Gimp-2.2.8.dmg" could not be read or written.
(Error code -36).
Error code -36 is becoming an old friend ..
Repeating the operation minus "Gimp-2.2.8.dmg" ..
same drill .. offending file "MacOSXUpdate10.4.3.dmg" ..
repeating minus "MacOSXUpdate10.4.3.dmg" .. same
drill .. repeating minus "PDFLab.dmg" .. that's three
out of total 18 so far .. and not one copied from disc
to desktop .. last chance before coaster designation
is applied as we get the pattern and the picture ..
down to 245.9 MB to copy and still no satisfaction ..
and now number 4 "Firefox 1.0.7.dmg" ..
Houston .. we have a coaster .. trajectory .. garbage.
Won't bother trying this disc insert into the iMac.
However, we troubled ourselves to find out what would
happen in the XP machine .. same outcome .. yes,
readable by XP but copy failure to hard disk on the
larger .dmg files. Not unexpected. Media format
compatibility confirmed .. just as Burnz promised.
Repeating the entire exercise with brand new Verbatim
CD-RW (just to reduce CDR coaster count) .. this time
at 4x write (automatically determined with no other
speeds selectable - maximum possible) .. all other
settings unchanged ... samo .. samo ..
Burn failed...
StatusError: -2147352477
ErrorString: Verification of the burn failed
RE-inserting the media burned disc gave desktop CDRW
icon with the burn folder named and 406.9 MB usage ..
Finder (double click on the desktop disc icon) shows
all 18 items burned .. copy from CDRW back to a new
desktop folder showed the appropriate copy dialogue box
and progress bar color .. copy began immediately and
reached the end .. Bingo .. we have a winner ! .. or
do we ? .. Opening 50% of the now copied to desktop .dmg
files produced an error message: The following disk
images failed to mount. And for each delinquent .dmg ..
the same Reason: codec overrun .. quite whatever that is
meaning .. we appreciate the .dmg is damaged and now
useless. Always the larger .dmg files .. up to 125 MB.
On the Apple .. we are down two for two .. let's go
again with burn verification off .. but first erase the
disk with DU quick erase .. done .. now regarded again
as an empty CDR by Finder .. (note that 'Erase disc
before burning' is an available option in Burnz and on
the Burn Disc dialogue box .. but it wasn't available
as soon as the previously burned media disc was
re-inserted for deleting and re-burning) ..
No burn failure message .. as expected .. 406.9 MB
usage on CDRW .. as expected .. Finder shows all
18 items burned .. copy to desktop .. seemingly
good .. as before and usual .. opening .. again
a 50% failure rate .. same message .. same result.
And in the XP machine .. same for read and copy to HD.
OK .. let's give it one last go with the .dmg's, .bin's,
and the .zip files .. by erasing again (with DU again)
and media disc burning the CD-RW with just one file at
a time and then copying back to confirm burned file
integrity .. that's totally 18 burns .. but we shall
only go as far as 9 file burns and copy back to the
desktop from the burned media disc .. if all 9 are
good then we shall assume it would all be good. We
trial the big .dmg's to begin .. interestingly, erase
disk before burning is available now and so we use
that feature rather then DU (perhaps because the
burn is less than the remaining disc storage available)
.. is that a bug ? we wonder .. we turn Verify burned
data ON .. just curious .. we are asked about our erase
certainty before proceeding .. we click yes ..
burning .. 97 MB .dmg .. burned (no negative
verification error message) .. now copying back to
desktop .. opening .. and .. codec overrun message.
Finally, for now, we return to our original evaluation
folders and files trialled with BurnAgain .. and perform
the same media disc burn and onto the same (new) media
disc (i.e. CD-RW) from the same batch too .. using Burnz
.. Verify ON ...
Burn Failed ... blah
Copying back to desktop .. copy back is good .. just
like BurnAgain .. encouraging.
What that says about the larger .dmg files or perhaps
any larger (50mb+) files to burn is unclear .. do you
need even better hardware (media and burner) and
software ? .. or are you out there in expert land able
to advise readers how you do exact maximum confidence
on the larger files media disc burn(s)?
No DVD media burn disc(s) lying around here, for now,
so we shall reserve any outcomes for another day of
evaluations and experimentations.
BurnAgain and Burnz go head to head .. From the tests
performed to date we are able to comment from personal
experimentation and practical experience .. they are
very much similar quality .. Burnz does DVD's too.
However, neither managed to accomplish entirely reliable
media disc burn(s), of use, beyond the originating Mac
mini SuperDrive .. nor accomplish verification .. is
that normal ? Or do we have a particular problem ?
We are back to square one for verifiable media disc
burning.
Interestingly .. those 10 free media disc burns
available .. have only reduced by the number of burns
without verification .. since negative verification
appears to not count .. 8 free burns still available ..
Recap On Applications, Capabilities and Limitations as
encountered To Date ..
SuperDrive MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C : Mac mini (Apple)
Apple OS X Disk Utility : apple OS format only
: multi-session burn(s)
Apple OS X Finder : apple OS format,
: ISO 9660 Rock Ridge..
:..Joliet with Rock Ridge
: one burn only each media disc
OS X BurnAgain : ISO 9660 Rock Ridge
: do not mix burn applications
: CD-R & CD-RW media disc(s)only
: no DVD media disc burn feature
OS X Burnz : ISO 9660 level 1
: ISO 9660 level 2
: ISO 9660 RockRidge extensions
: ISO 9660 Joliet extensions
: HFS+
: CD-R & CD-RW media disc burn
: DVD-R & DVD-RW media disc burn
[1]Sony cd-rw crx230e (CD 207x rd, 52x Wr):XPmachine(PC)
XP integrated tools .. : ISO 9660 ?*
.. Windows Explorer :read SuperDrive Finder CD media
:..disc(s) burned and copy to HD
:..and write to CD media disc(s)
:..burned with Finder
:read SuperDrive BurnAgain
:..CD media disc(s) burned and
:..copy to HD and write to CD
:..media disc(s) burned with
:..BurnAgain application but
:..preferred that you do not
: limited to and tested only CD
?* .. opening resource: http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.php
Explains more about XP native CD media disc burning and
further links to more well informed research webpages
that show XP appears to apply ISO 9660 Joliet .. to
manage long file names, primarily. The entire area is
wide-scope with technicalities .. access
www.cdrfaq.org and see for yourself how deep the rabbit
hole goes. Software is performing an important aspect
of your optical drive media disc burning capability ..
as hardware specs improve and softwares fully use the
available service offered by the developing hw/sw
standards .. as evidenced by browsing the cdrfaq.org
.. you can see how things have moved along for the
user's benefit and advantage.
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C : iMac DV SE (Apple)
: read only media disc(s) burned
from Mac mini.. : cannot read SuperDrive media
from mac mini.. :..disc(s) burned on DVD or CD
from XP machine.. :can read media disc(s) burned..
from XP machine.. :..on XP machine (test only CD)
: if SuperDrive media disc burn first and then further
written and so added to by XP machine..unable to read.
(applied to Os X Finder, BurnAgain and Burnz
applications)
We are safely at the point where we can assert that we
have a potential operating solution for the Mac mini
media disc burning. However, we remain reliant on our
XP machine to create media disc burned that can be read
fully by the iMac DV SE. And we have no confidence to
date in the ability to share information burned by the
Mac mini with any other party .. except where we can
repeat ourselves over several iterations to accomplish
100% data transfer .. and that means we are confined to
our home operating computer systems. For now, XP machine
is required to write a media disc that can then be read
by the iMac DV SE. (Yes, we do have a Mac to Mac network
.. but if data is unavailable on either of the Mac
machine drives then we are required to resort to hard
media backup) Media disc(s) sampled to date .. Verbatim
CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW .
Apple quality media pack (8x DVD-R only)*• is available
at www.apple.com and in our locale. We shall sample the,
not inexpensive, apple media disc(s) in the near future
.. and report back. Still the DVD-R is write once. And
no mention of any CD-RW apple quality media
availability. Remember ...
*• DVD-R discs hold about 4.7 GB of information.
You can burn files on a DVD-R disc using the Apple
SuperDrive. DVD-R discs are not reusable; you can burn
files on them only once.
[1] Action item one is to acquire genuine quality media
disc(s). [ to, ideally, accomplish burn verification ]
If 100% media disc burn and verification were able to be
accomplished by the OS X supplied applications Finder
and Disk Utility then only limitations to overcome are:
Finder's (improved standards adhering) write once only
to media disc feature and Disk Utility's apple OS only
media disc burned format limitation and maybe multi-
session disc burning feature.
[2] Action item two is to acquire genuine quality media
disc burning software(s). [to accomplish burn media
capacities and maximum standards adherences ]
If fuller standards compatibility and media disc burn
usage features are available then items one and two
requirements seem to be met. And actions items three
and four are no longer options of any material
significance. That would be welcome.
[3] Action item three is to optionally acquire an
alternative media disc burning solution. [ to accomplish
100% or nearest possible media burn quality and
consistency ]
[4] Action item four is to forego media disc burning
(item three) in favour of external hard disk solution
(which could be partitioned) to share datafiles among
differing machines and operating systems. [ to resolve
the media sharing challenge in the absence of
satisfactory value media burning solution that meets
quality, consistency and compatibility needs ]
Hopefully .. this tale of media burning discovery does
ignite some passion and interest among certain others of
you who may be willing to share a little of your own
enlightening discoveries in the industry of media disc
burning and any Apple SuperDrive MATSHITA guidelines or
guidance(s) that you have established .. in particular.
For now .. and until any further future update .. thank
you again everyone .. we look forward to any remedial
solutions that you may have developed to your media disc
burning operating satisfaction. Much have we to learn ..
search for answers continues ...
Well .. it's been fun .. in an adventurous and discovery
kinda way .. but back to our chosen path must we return.
Stuart.
Additional Informations ...
We only ever used the software system default media disc
burning speed settings where no choice permitted, or
where choice permitted .. we used half (the
automatically selected ) speed setting or lowest
possible speed setting.
Xp machine OS: Windows XP (5.1.2600 Service Pack 2)
XP machine media disc burner: Sony cd-rw crx230e
[+]Sony cd-rw crx230e (CD 207x rd, 52x Wr)
This is what we want(ed) to know about the Apple
MatShita SuperDrive too ! (opensourceuser note: crx230ae
is the closest we could find to XP revealed Sony optical
drive)
[+]SPECIFICATIONS
PART NUMBER CRX230A/U
DRIVE TYPE Internal
MEDIA & MODES SUPPORTED CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM (Mode 1 & Mode 2),
CD-ROM XA (form 1 & form 2), CD Audio, Video CD,
CD Extra, Multi-Session, Packet Writing
READ/WRITE SPEED CD-R Write: 4X, 8X, 12X, 16X CLV, 24 ~ 40X P-CAV,
52X CAV (turbo mode) max.
CD-RW Write: 4X, 8X, 10X, 12X CLV, 16 ~ 32X CAV max.
CD Read: 52X max.**
SUSTAINED DATA TRANSFER RATE 600 kB/s (4X CD-R/RW read/write)
(CD-R/RW DISCS): 1,200 kB/s (8X CD-R/RW read/write)
1,800 kB/s (12X CD-R/RW read/write)
4,800 kB/s (32X CD-R/RW read/write max.)
7,800 kB/s (52X CD-R read/write max.)
RANDOM ACCESS TIME 100 ms
INTERFACE ATAPI/EIDE
LOADING MECHANISM Motorized tray
MOUNTING Vertical or Horizontal
BURST TRANSFER RATE PIO Mode 4: 16.7 MB/s, Ultra DMA Mode 2: 33.3 MB/s
BUFFER MEMORY 2 MB
POWER REQUIREMENTS +5V / +12V V DC
POWER CONSUMPTION +5V: 1.5A / +12V 1.5A
DIMENSION (W x H x D) 5.75 x 1.63 x 7.49 inches
WEIGHT Approx. 2.2 lbs.
PACKAGE CONTENTS CRX230A/U Drive
ATAPI Cable
Software installation CD-ROM: B’s Clip and B’s Recorder Gold
Mounting Screws
Quick Start Guide
Limited Warranty Card
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Intel®Pentium®II processor 400 Mhz or faster (or equivalent)
CPU, 64 MB RAM, 1 GB available hard disk space
recommended. Microsoft®Windows®98SE, Windows®
Millennium Edition, Windows®2000 Professional, or
Windows®XP Home/Professional operating systems
WARRANTY One Year Limited
*Buffer underrun protection technology is conformed to Sony’s Power-BurnTM drive specifications.
**Requires Ultra High Speed Plus CD-RW Media
(opensourceuser note: datasheet(s) supplied with images
of the recommended Sony media disc(s) - however on
closer inspection at the local store - Made in Taiwan)
Still we did find TDK media disk - Made in Japan - at
the same store and apart from the DVD-RAM media discs,
the only one type CD-R, everything else from China to
Singapore.