Using external HD as media disc?
Hello everybody. Just upgraded to Leopard and also got an external HD. I am wondering if there is some way to use it as a media disc?
In other words, I want all my folders such as Music, Pictures, Movies etc to be located on my external so that I can save space on the internal disc.
One way would be to just save everything on the external HD but it seems as if the "real" folders (Music, Pictures etc) have some special attributes that can't be achieved with normal folders. For example, the iPod Photo Cache folder is always located in the Pictures folder on my internal.
The only things that I want to have on my internal HD is applications and system files. Everything else goes on the external.
Any suggestions?
One solution would be to move your home directory to the external HD permanently (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5894030), as long as you don't plan on using your computer without your external plugged in. If you go into System Preferences -> Accounts, and then ctrl+click on your account name and select "Advanced Options..." you can change the path of your home folder. In your case, it should probably be /Volumes/HDNAME/Users/USERNAME/, where HD_NAME = the name of your external HD and USER_NAME = your OSX account name. You may have to manually create the "Users" folder on your external.
If you did that, you'd probably want to create another user account with a home directory on the internal hard drive to use in case your external should ever stop working.
If that idea doesn't appeal to you, you could do the following (though it is an incomplete solution):
In order to move your iTunes and iPhoto libraries to your external, move your music/pictures folders to the external in Finder. Then, hold down the option key while starting up iTunes and iPhoto, and click "Choose Library..." Select your iTunes and iPhoto library files on the external.
According to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300225, iTunes creates the iPod Photo Cache "in the top level of the folder you selected for your photos." So if you choose the "Pictures" folder on the external to sync with, it should be created there.
Hope that helps!
Similar Messages
-
I have the G Drive 1 TB (GEN4 1TB) external drive purchased in 2010. I need to connect to my new MacBook Pro. I'm using the external drive for media storage of my video editing projects. Will a 800fw to thunderbolt adapter cable work? I understand that using a USB port connection is not fast enough for video editing. I read somewhere the G Drives don't connect well to MacBook Pro.
thanks
larryI doubt this can be relocated or moved so you might want to just repost in the macbook pro area.
MacBook Pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions
Can you afford a new Thunderbolt case and cable? any case with FW800 is going to be slow 72MB/sec and less, and any new 1TB drive is capable of 75MB/s minimum up to 125MB/sec.
Thunderbolt storage can of course when setup properly reach 100's of MB higher using multiple drives.
Use what you have for a system backup or for secondary backup storage.
you might be able to take the drive - most cases allow you to open and swap drives - and use this:
G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE mini High-Speed Portable Hard Drive
or this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HB137VC/A/g-technology-4tb-g-raid-professional -high-performance-dual-drive-hard-drive?fnode=5f -
How do I install Canoscan film scanner on macbook using external disc drive?
How do I install a CanoScan film scanner using external disc drive ?
sorry, not being very clear. I have the scanner and am trying to instal the operating programme onto my new macbook. It was fine on my 6 year old one! I put the setup disc in the external drive. I can now get it to load 80% but it then stops. I have then tried to eject the disc - it won't let me as it says it is still setting up - but after 2 hours still says the same and clearly is doing nothing. I can't quit the setup programme - the only way I finally managed to quit was to to force quit the computer to shutdown and then when I start up again I can eject the disc.
Any idea how I make it load the 20% of the setup that it is currently refusing to do? -
Using external HD connected to TC as media server
Just got my first Mac and I am trying to to get everything hooked up. I have the TC connected to AT&T U-verse via ethernet and I am using the TC as the router for my home network. My iMac is connected to the TC via ethernet. XP laptop, printer, iPad, and iTouch are connected wirelessly. I have three accounts on the iMac. I am using the TC for TM backups. Everything works fine. Currently, the iPhoto library is located in the primary account on the iMac. The iTunes library has been moved to the Shared folder. I need to be able to share iPhoto and iTunes libraries amongst all involved.
After reading many posts, I am just a little confused. I believe that the best way is to connect a separate external HD to the TC to function as a media server. I was thinking of using the Iomega Home Media Network 1TB HD for Mac. Can an external HD be connected to the TC via ethernet or does it have to be USB? The TC directions seem to specify USB. After that is done, what is the process for moving or copying the libraries to the HD so that everyone can access, view, edit or use the data easily? I'm a Mac guy now, so it should all work smoothly and easily, right:)lml59 wrote:
I need to be able to share iPhoto and iTunes libraries amongst all involved.
Can an external HD be connected to the TC via ethernet or does it have to be USB?
Welcome to Apple's discussion groups.
Either way works.
The TC directions seem to specify USB.
That's because the USB option is the only one that requires configuration of the Time Capsule.
After that is done, what is the process for moving or copying the libraries to the HD so that everyone can access, view, edit or use the data easily?
Try the advice in this article for music:
http://db.tidbits.com/article/11627
If you read the comments, you'll see that this approach doesn't work well for iPhoto. -
Using bootable external HD instead of disc
Hello!
I am in the process of installing Windows 7 on my computer. Since I have lost my SL disc, would it be possible to use the copy of the disc that I have on my external hard drive? Pardon me if this is a breach of the EULA, though I'm not quite sure if it is (?).
Thank you,
A.DanielsonHi and welcome to Discussions,
making yourself a backup copy of the SL disc is not a breach of the EULA in my opinion.
Whether this copy is useable depends mostly on the way you made it.
The SL disc is a so-called Hybrid Disc, which contains an OSX part and a Windows part, that contains the BootCamp Drivers.
If you made the copy with Disk Utility for example, then most likely you only have copied the OSX part and not the Windows part.
Only when using an application that makes a sector-copy of the SL disc (like SimplyBurns for example) would backup both parts, the OSX and the Windows part.
Plus if your backup copy is a dmg file, Windows won't be able to read/handle dmg files.
You might wanna check with HFSExplorer http://hem.bredband.net/catacombae/hfsx.html if your copy works.
Hope it helps
Stefan -
Satellite A660 - Cannot install Win 7 using external DVD drive
Hello!
Not so long time ago I asked for help with reinstalling win 7 on my laptop.
The only option was actually to order recovery dvd what I did. Today it arrived.
Problem is or was that some of CDs or DVDs couldn't be read for some reason.
Now it doesn't want to boot from cd it says drive failed.
So what I did I pluged my spare external DVD drive and it booted from that.
However just after few seconds it tells me to set "1st recovery media" and opens the disc in laptop. Tried to insert the disc - nothing, like its not inserted, tried to disable laptops cd - nothing please help> somehow it feels very strange that company like toshiba doesn't let people too recover it computers using external drives
Sorry kamil but this is not fully correct.
I can remember times when Toshiba released some notebook series without internal ODD (optical disk drive). It was able to recover such notebook using external ODD and recovery disk or recovery USB flash memory stick.
In your case the notebook boots up from the recovery disk because it appears a message saying please insert 1st recovery media and click continue. This means that data could be read from the recovery disk but obviously this is a wrong recovery disk or there is a problem with the inserted disk.
I found interesting document how to create a USB recovery media flash drive from recovery ISO images- or discs (DVDs)
http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/HTD4103KB0000R01.htm
But if the recovery dvd isnt OK, then this method will not function.
In such case you would need to use a Microsoft installation disk or you could order a new recovery disk from Arvato service. -
SuperDrive Media Disc(s) .. Assist ...
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 .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. -
I'm starting a new movie project & was wondering about using DVD+R DL media. Will the DVD's play in most commercial players? I did a quick search of the Forums & didn't come up with much info about it.
At present, there is no Mac on that market that can burn all CD and
DVD media. Therefore when purchasing media, it's extremely important to know what your computer is able to do because if your computer can burn DVD R, it's not going to be able to use media for DVD+R. However, some of the third-party manufactured external drives do have the capability to burn multi-formats.
The difference between DVD+R and DVD-R or is DVD+R better than DVD-R?
1) DVD-R disks seem to be cheaper now
2) DVD-R disks seem to be more compatible with read-only drives
3) Current writers can write DVD-R/-RW at 2.4X while DVDR/RW at 4X
4) If you make disks for yourself, it does not make any difference which format you use
5) If you make disks for someone else, then you make disks that they can read
The Difference Between The Various DVD Recordable Formats
Currently there are many writable and rewritable formats on the market and it can be confusing to the general consumer. These formats include:
DVD-RAM
DVD-R
DVD-RW
DVD+R
DVD+RW
There is also "General Purpose" vs "Authoring" discs don't confuse the "Authoring" media with the term for content development (making/editing what eventually goes on the DVD). The most common type of DVDR is the general purpose type. If you do not know that you have an actual authoring recorder drive, then you most likely have the general purpose type. Take a look at this from pioneer for more information on the differences in these types of media:
DVD-RAM
DVD-RAM is a format primarily used as a data solution, although the type of data stored can include many types of data including video.
Early version 1 recorders used 2.6 GB discs (or double-sided 5.2 GB discs), but current version 2 drives can handle 4.7 GB discs (or double-sided 9.4 GB discs). These discs are traditionally housed within a cartridge which cannot be opened, so that the media is well-protected.
Newer Type 2 cartridges can be opened however, which is important for some people who wish to read these discs in drives or standalone DVD-Video players/recorders which do not use the DVD-RAM cartridge loading mechanism. DVD-RAM is a sanctioned format of the DVD Forum, a consortium of companies involved in the development of DVD standards.
DVD-RAM is a very robust data storage solution, theoretically allowing greater than 100000 rewrites per disc. In addition, similar to a hard drive, it allows full random read/write access and has defect management.
An additional benefit of DVD-RAM is that, having been around for
several years, it is a tried and true technology which has native support in Windows XP and Mac OS X. The discs are usually formatted with the UDF format, but can be formatted to such formats as FAT32 in Windows and HFS+ for Mac, or others. The main drawback of DVD-RAM is its very limited read compatibility in DVD-ROM drives and standalone DVD-Video players. DVD-RAM read support in these machines is increasing however.
DVD-R and DVD-RW are both also supported formats of the DVD Forum. Both formats generally use 4.7 GB discs (generally without
cartridges), although some DVD-R drives used 3.95 GB discs. DVD-R is a write-once recordable format which allows excellent compatibility with both standalone DVD-video players and DVD-ROM drives.
There are two main types of 4.7 GB DVD-R discs: DVD-R for General Use and DVD-R for Authoring. Most consumer drives use the former cheaper General Use discs, while many higher end professional drives use Authoring discs.
The correct media type appropriate for the drive must be used when burning. However, once burned, the discs should be able to be read in either drive type. (General Use DVD-Rs are designed to prevent backup of encrypted commercial DVDs). DVD-RW uses rewritable discs which are rated at more than 1000 rewrites in ideal situations. Unfortunately, DVD-RW does not enjoy the same excellent compatibility with DVD-ROM drives and standalone DVD-Video p -
Can I use external APIs to authenticate users?
I have been asked to develop a lightswitch application either as desktop client or HTML client. Now I am confused about the authentication
mechanism in LightSwitch, and it leads a question: Can I authenticate my users from an external website or application?
For the HTML client, I have been thinking that whether I could use external APIs like Facebook Login API to authenticate my users? If I could, the code should be JavaScript, then where should I put it, and how can I configure my LS application?
For the desktop client, same question, if I could identify my users by pulling some user information from an external website, what kind of code/Programming Language shall I use?Hey ConnorTx!
This is not supported out of the box.
For in-browser desktop applications, you can hack around this by setting up the social media credentials, then redirecting to your desktop application while passing the self-encrypted credentials. I explained this workaround in
this article.
I don't have enough production experience with HTML apps yet. However when you use Forms authentication, I suspect you can simply fill in the IPrincipal on the HttpContext.Current, then redirect to your HTML app, and the LightSwitch Forms Auth mechanism
would pick up your principal as valid credentials. I wish I had time to show you some code for this, would make a great blog post :/
Keep rocking LS!
Jan
It's your story - time to switch on the innovation.||About me||LightSwitch blog -
Moved iTunes library from old computer (PC Windows 7) to new (PC Window 8) using external hard drive. Library listing shows all music but can only play a fraction of it. On the ones it cannot play it asks to locate, then refers to an archived version (an .itl file), and still cannot play them. Do I just need to copy the archived .itl over, or is that not where the actual media are (do the actual media files even exist on the new computer?)? Any advice or information on this would be helpful.
*Also...is there any way I can filter out all the tracks with the ! so I can delete the unplaying copies as they're taking up room in my iTunes? I know how to find duplicates, but then I have to go and delete each one individually...*
*Thank you!* -
Not Allowing Me To Use External Hard Drives
I have a Lacie that I've used in the past on my older MacBook Pro with no problems... On my brand new MacBook Pro it is telling me that it is read only - it won't allow me to use it as a Scratch Disc with Final Cut and it won't allow me to drag any of my footage into it. What do I have to do to get external hard drives to work with this MacBook Pro? Thank you.
Hamilton Shaye wrote:
It says: You can only read. I think it may have been plugged into a PC since I last used it on my old MBP
Any chance it was formatted as NTFS? Mac can read that, but cannot write to that without third-party software help.
- I'm going to reformat it now and give that a shot...
Good. I would zero the drive (Options > Zero Data). Format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and partition as GUID.
This new MBP has been a little fishy with another drive I have as well
Hmmm, it shouldn't act any different than an older MBP . . . .
- a brand new 2TB Lacie right out the box! It wouldn't let me drag files into OR use it as a Scratch disk for Final Cut but last night
By chance does it have any software pre-installed on it? Whether it does or not, I'd zero/format/partition it.
it DID let me use it as a backup disk for Time Machine!!!
If there's something amiss, I don't understand that. -
DVD Drive Doesn't recognize Media Disc
I have an Envy dv7. Product # B6B75AV. DVD drive hpBD MLT UJ260
I have a program that will copy a dvd from the source, dvd drive #1, to the target same dvd drive #1.
When it is done copying the disc it ejects the original and asks to have a writable media disc inserted.
When I insert the DVD the drive doesn't recognize the blank dvd, keeps asking for it, and when I put it in, it spits back out saying to insert a writable disc. I have used the blank DVD+R for burning other things so it should work. I tired putting in 4 different blank discs to make sure the disc was ok.
Is there anyway to find out for sure whether this DVD writer uses DVD+R or DVD-R?
Any help will be appreciated.Hi,
You can view all the media capabilities of your optical drive using the free application on the following link.
http://www.vso-software.fr/products/inspector/inspector.php
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 -
Install Windows 7 on a Mid 2010 Mac mini using USB or SD media?
Is is possible to install Windows 7 on a Mid 2010 Mac mini using USB or SD media? I have not figured this out. Here's what I have observed:
I can install OS X Lion using USB or SD media. Both are detected in the boot menu, and will boot.
An SD card with Windows 7 installation files formatted MBR/FAT32 using diskpart appears (with an SD card icon) in the boot menu but when selected as a boot device, the boot fails and the existing OS X instance on the Macintosh HD starts. A USB stick formatted as described does not appear in th boot menu at all.
An SD card or a USB stick formatted as described will boot on a Mid 2011 MacBook Air, and can be used to install Windows 7.
Is this due to EFI differences between a Mid 2010 Mac mini and a Mid 2011 MacBook Air?
Thanks.The Mac Mini Mid 2010 has a DVD player built in, you can startup and install from a Windows 7 DVD. The Mac Mini Mid 2011 does not have a DVD player built in. I am happy that in new computers I can make use of an USB-stick to install Windows 7. Windows 7 uses MBR and Mac OS X uses EFI and that is why it was not possible on a Mac Mini Mid 2010. I think the EFI on a Mac Mini Mid 2011 is different.
I should like a firmware update on my Mac Mini Mid 2010 if possible. In that case I could choose between DVD or USB stick if I want to install Windows 7.
I also have a FireWire CF Card Reader. I think it is not possible to install Windows 7 via FireWire too.
I do have an external USB HD with 2 partitions: Mac OS X 10.6.8 and Windows 7, but is is not possible to start up Windows 7 from the external HD. It is possible to start up Mac OS X 10.6.8 from the external HD on a Mac Mini Mid 2010. -
How do you create a mixed media disc? I would like to include a slideshow/movie as well as include a .pdf of a photo book on the same disc. I would like the movie to play on any DVD player.
Do you want the pdf available to view or just for copying from the disk to a computer for viewing.
To view a PDF you can do a Print ➙ PDF ➙ Save PDF to iPhoto which will create a jpg of each page of the pdf and save it to iPhoto. From there you can send the PDF jpegs to iDVD to make a slideshow of the pages. It's the same principle as used in this tutorial: 06 - Creating an iDVD Slideshow From an iPhoto Book.
If you don't have the Safe to iPhoto workflow in your HD/Library/PDF Services folder you can download it from Toad's Cellar.
Happy Holidays -
SuperDrive media disc(s) .. assist .. update concluded . . .
Concluding post in relation to the earlier postings on this particular subject and thread (now officially closed by apple support) .. and to be found at SuperDrive Media Disc(s) .. Assist ... [http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=759874#759874]
APPLE DVD R DISC MEDIA TRIAL
DVD-R
8x speed
Certified for use with Apple DVD-R drives :: 4.7GB Media
Made in Japan
MAC MINI MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C
Mac mini 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 | 512 MB DDR SDRAM
Tiger OS X 10.4.3
Finder Burn - single folder containing many sub-folders totaling about 800Mbytes and approx. 4000 files.
Burn Speed Options : 4x(faster) : 2x : 1x(more reliable) - actual Finder media disc burn dialogue descriptions
[default selection is 4x(faster) ]
We choose 1x(more reliable) ..
Observations include .. no 8x speed media disc burn available from our little Mac mini Matshita DVD-R UJ-845C burner .. and .. as this is a DVD R .. we have time .. but no going back once burned .. and we want maximum systems compatibility .. you, dear reader, already know the drama we have previously experienced with Finder burns and older Apple iMac DV SE machine DVD drive (media disc burned) read compatibilities.
The total burn was a lengthy delay before the entire routine was completed including automatic verification.
OUTCOME
This disc did not verify correctly and is unreliable. Because this disc is unreliable, discard it and try again using a new, blank disc. (Error code ) 0x80020063
Total disc burned is almost 800Mbytes and about 4000 files.
Verification was not an available option for the burn .. a Finder burn .. meaning verification was apparently automatically included as an unseen 'yes' option at media disc burn execution time.
Examining the resulting Apple DVD R media disc burned .. we discover that things are good .. biggest single files (.dmg's at about 100Mbytes expanding to 350Mbytes - e.g. OS X 10.4.3 update) are able to be copied from the burned Apple DVD R media disc back to the Mac mini hard disk again and verify 100% when opened for installation. Encouraging. Better than anything previously experienced.
iMac DV SE [ DVD MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184 ]
Into the Apple iMac ancient (500 MHz PowerPC G3 operating OS X 10.4.3 Tiger | 640MB SDRAM) and we are greeted with goodness .. same accessibility as the originating Mac mini machine .. satisfying.
And yes the 'problem' of multi-session burns is yet to come on the ancient iMac and if the response is any good as now .. it may not be a problem worthy of mention. At 800 Mbytes burn and 4.7 Gbytes capacity .. one could loosely forecast up to another 5 media disc burn sessions before the DVD R is full and complete.
XP MACHINE
And now into the PC machine for an XP looksee and again .. more goodness. Cross compatible files are fully accessible (an entire - own - website burned). Large files copy 100%. Better than before.
Two thumbs up for this disk and burn.
Verification failure remains a current mystery. Anyone ?
It is easy to figure how one may doubt one's media burning hardware is any good by now .. but the gathering volume of supporting entries at the relevant media burning and error message forums reveals that hardware is unlikely to be (entirely) at fault .. rather something else .. say firmware ?
Apple Media DVD R discs are manufactured in Japan (stated on the disc) and the quality difference and price premium are consistent with what others have written of the place of manufacture and the Apple media disc as well. Mostly positive.
Still .. we should like to have access to dependable RW discs from Apple too .. for reliable re-useability.
As for the subject of burn speed ...
Many forum readers are well aware of an ongoing and gradually escalating matter between Apple and this gentleman http://www.crc.id.au/page/2/ .. we have curiously followed the unfolding events to observe the outcome of the burn speed specification variation. As you know .. our Mac mini is rated at maximum DVD media disc burn 4x and fitted with a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C which is a later edition than Mr H's UJ-835 .. however .. we are more curious to observe whether the final outcome will satisfy Mr H or not. Burn speed, primarily, and quality of burn, secondarily, on selected media by Mr H. Once the outcome is known and to Mr H's satisfaction .. then we may enquire about his satisfaction with burn quality at the chosen burn speed(s) by Mr H.
Here is an offline forum communication that we shared with another Mac mini user about disc media burn speed. As you may read .. he is entirely dissatisfied with the Mac mini media burn speed and isn't too keen on using the Apple disc burn media either ...
So...Have you found any dvd-r or +r media that burns reliably on the mini? (non apple media please).
I am completely disgusted with my new mini's pathetic superdrive that I paid way too much for.
I have purchased new & built from new parts several PC's that burn DVD after DVD on a wide variety of media reliably.
No one has even replied to my post
http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2773&start=0&postdays=0&postord er=asc&highlight=
Thanks
.. and at latest check .. no-one has responded to the post .. maybe no-one knows .. outside of Apple HQ .. mind you .. no-one has truly usefully responded to our post either .. we responded thusly ...
Mac Mini SuperDrive .. burn speed .. and burn .. reliability
Sometime I just can't get my head around the subject and have to step back and breathe in real deep .. which makes me kinda dizzy .. and wait until the focus is on the forest before
choosing the tree(s) to climb. This particular tree is getting taller ...
And congratulations on your Apple ownership. Small is beautiful.
Regret your coaster experiences. Frustrating and unfortunate.
What SuperDrive description is fitted in your new mac mini ?
We seem to be staring into a gaping black hole of acknowledgement .. from anyone.
PC users, windows operating system software computers, appear to have an extreme edge .. when it comes to media disc burning. i.e. successful burns.
Re-reading that lengthy post .. which doesn't fully format as intended .. has me fully believing that less is more and small is beautiful (still). Future specific posts will probably follow as a matter of personal self-committment .. to persist until the solutions are fully to hand. For now .. may we refer to your mentioned post in our next planned post please ? Solidarity of negatory outcome experience is credibility.
Three forums have we frequented and participated to learn more about the black hole .. we know as SuperDrive media disc burning .. only you have provided any feedback whatsoever .. post reader numbers grow but answers are missing in action .. absent from class.
http://www.crc.id.au/page/2/
We have thought the SuperDrive matter you have referred to in your post was of no concern to us .. but now you have us thinking again .. although model numbers differ .. (ours is a later numerical reference) the concerns appear to be similar .. or largely about performance .. we shall also refer to this domain in our planned next post. Yes, we are aware of the matter .. from another forum .. but shall now supply the link for others to weigh and hopefully dish out their two cents worth .. where a consensus could mean we are also a part of this particular action. An ideal consensus would be firmware is unsuitable .. requires immediate update .. and in particular the quality of burn is consensually unacceptable .. action could follow.
We have progressed no further with burning experimentations .. and will be using Apple media before progressing with our findings reporting. For now, we are unable to add to your ease of mind .. frankly .. unless the burning media is made in Japan .. we doubt any burn verification success is to be had. And we cannot find any burning media made in Japan in our locale. Where is the Apple media made?
We have come to appreciate the SuperDrive is all about the firmware .. but have no new firmware to apply .. in fact .. our research to date shows that we have been unable to find the Matshita SuperDrive at all online and cannot confirm specifications .. neither could we locate the specifications at www.apple.com.au .. which is just plain odd.
A third look has provided ... from www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html ..
Storage
* One of the following optical drives:
o Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
o Optional SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW): writes DVD-R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD-RW discs at up to 2x speed, writes DVD+R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD+RW discs at up to 2.4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 16x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 8x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Where were you able to establish your SuperDrive (burning) specifications ?
Writer's note : .. some things change .. and so have the Apple Mac mini SuperDrive burner specs changed .. since recording those detailed above. In fact .. they read like they maybe should have all along .. 8x DVD R media burn speed. DL is a bonus. Can anyone tell us what the drive designation is please ?
CRC says: ".. This limits burn speed to 4x for Mac Minis and 8x for Powerbooks.".
While speed matters .. and it does .. you appear to have exactly the same media disc burning problems that we are experiencing .. failed verification(s) .. and for us .. in short .. complete DVD-R media disc burned rejection from the Apple OS X.
Do we .. in actual fact .. have two separate operating challenges here .. speed of burn and quality of burn .. any burn ? Speed was not our first priority .. quality is .. now we figure that at any speed the burn quality is anywhere from dubious to coaster.
CRC says: ".. The UJ-835 that Apple use is firmware limited to suit various bits of hardware that they want to put together. The burner in the Mac Mini is the exact same model as the one in the PowerBooks. Apple load a 4x firmware on the Mac Mini, and an 8x firmware on the PowerBook drives.
My bet is that this is for marketting reasons only. ".
One of the contributors to http://www.crc.id.au/?p=21 . . says . .
# Moneky Boy Says:
August 14th, 2005 at 1:03 am
My parents have a mini and my has one of the PowerBooks. Confirmed the drives are Matsushita UJ-835. They have never had an issue burning DVDs. Confirmed it by burning DVDs last night on the wife’s 12″ PowerBook.
As far as updating the Firmware in your optical drives, no, you do not have to remove them from the machines to update their firmware. I’ve updated the firmware on my optical drives (for Region Free and/or speed gains) via the GUI in Mac OS X. One application that will do this is called DVRFlashX I believe. The key is then finding the firmware, which is platform agnostic.
BTW, removing the drive wouldn’t void the warranty on your Mac but messing with the firmware certainly will void the warranty on the drive.
Our primary concern remains SuperDrive media disc burn quality .. while you do appear to share the same concern as well as speed performance. Mr Haigh's only concern appears to be speed .. and here we may have missed any opportunity .. since the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C
SuperDrive is a later designation and the speed performance specifications showing on the apple web-site are likely consistent with current performance capabilities of that SuperDrive and later .. including yours ?
Mr H may have indeed received marketing materials that promised 8x while actually receiving a 4x SuperDrive .. which only performs at 2x unless exceptional media disc(s) .. so he does have a legitimate claim concerning performance. Do we ?
What has us fully curious is whether he can burn quality media disc(s) with his new SuperDrive ..
(Update 24/12/2005 07:10pm (+11 GMT)
Well, it seems that Apple have decided to replace my hardware. I've started the proceedings yesterday and will hopefully get some news in the new year as to what they are going to replace. At the moment, I'm looking to send in the 12" Powerbook for a replacement, then see what changes in the mac mini side of things. I'm not going to accept the same DVD drive - as we all know the problems with the UJ-835. Stay tuned for more details as they come to hand.) .. http://superdrive.crc.id.au/
.. which would likely be the same as yours .. now that should prove an interesting outcome .. which he seems likely to voluntarily report and will be the essence of any enquiries from us in the near foreseeable future assuming Mr Haigh is forthcoming in his SuperDrive computing developments.
Mr Haigh may have begun to scratch the surface (so to speak) .. and find the more serious problem is that no matter how fast or slow the SuperDrive .. reliable media disc burns are a fantasy !
As yet no update .. almost three months .. could the delay by Apple could have something to do with the model identification of any replacement DVD burner .. if they use an UJ-845 .. then all **** could break loose as Apple users realise (such as we) they do have the same DVD burner and (in a Mac mini) are limited to 4x maximum speed DVD media disc burning performance .. so another designation may be required .. one that already delivers 8x DVD burns .. bit of a mess really .. and the latest Mac mini SuperDrive sports 8x DVD R media burn speed.
We are curious about you too, dear reader .. are you satisfied with your non Apple disc media burn quality ? We are able to openly admit that we are dissatisfied with our non Apple disc media burn output quality.
We are currently satisfied with the Apple DV R disc media burn quality. However at a price of premium dollars and an unexplained media burn verification failure message.
Burn speed, we nonchalantly confess, is not our greatest concern, and, for now, falls to a lower priority of importance with us.
For now the matter is at rest with us.
How about you ?
Yours Sincerely
Stuart
PS. .. helping to explain the confusions surrounding the Mac mini SuperDrive is this extracted from ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_mini
October 2005–February 2006
Multiple reports exist that the Mac mini was quietly upgraded in October 2005 to 64 MiB VRAM, and either a 1.33 GHz (up from 1.25 GHz) or 1.5 GHz G4 (up from 1.42 GHz) processor, with 512 MiB of PC3200 RAM while underclocking it to PC2700. The 80 GB drive is currently a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 ST9808211A, which runs at 5400 RPM with an 8 MiB cache. The SuperDrive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845, which supports +R DL burning, and may also have unofficial support for DVD-RAM. Apple did not revise the official specifications on their web site. This may be to avoid issues with discounting or discontinuing of old stock.
Well .. whatever .. we use a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C SuperDrive .. wouldn't that mean we have +R DL feature too ? .. probably not judging by the following explanations .. sort of .. and yes you could grab the mac_min.pdf service manual and do your own upgrading and overclocking as it pleases you .. try google for more info.
PPS. .. http://www.macintouch.com/macmini11.html
Mac Mini Part 11
January 9, 2006
Stealth Upgrade
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
I recently received the SuperDrive Mac Mini that I ordered from Amazon the day after Christmas. To my delight, my Mini contains a 1.5 GHz PPC and 64MB of video RAM.
The SuperDrive is listed as a Panasonic UJ-845. According to Panasonic's web site this drive is supposed to allow DVD-RAM writing (and I assume reading). Has anyone attempted to use DVD-RAM discs with this drive under 10.4.3?
Xxxxxx Xxxx
I also have a new SuperDrive mini with the same specs, and note that the UJ-845 drive doesn't include DVD-RAM capability, though as Gordon notes the OEM Panasonic drive does. However, Panasonic's spec page is for the UJ-845-B drive, and I expect that the one in the mini is instead a special version of the UJ-845 that Panasonic made for Apple with DVD-RAM disabled. For some reason Apple doesn't seem to want to support DVD-RAM, which is a pity. I believe the drive will work with DVD-RAM discs, but treat them like DVD-RW, requiring complete erasure every time they're used, rather than allowing addition and subtraction of individual files, which is what makes DVD-RAM a great backup/exchange medium, especially for travelers.
My new PowerBook came with an Apple-labeled Panasonic UJ-825-C drive, which System Profiler saw as simply "UJ-825" and which didn't include DVD-RAM although Panasonic's specs showed it; I replaced it with an 825-B I got on eBay, which System Profiler sees as "845-S" and which now does DVD-RAM even without Patchburn. Note that the 825 is two generations earlier than the current 845/846 drive (whose new feature is DL burning); DVD-RAM has been available for a long time, but Apple has been using special versions of the drives without it.
How to exactly determine the capabilities of your drive: Insert a disc (any type, CD or DVD, but not a blank recordable disc that has to be formatted), open Disk Utility, and on the left side select the drive (not the disc in the drive), then look in the lower right side of the window where it says "Capabilities". You may have to widen the window to see the whole list, as it doesn't wrap for some reason. If it says "DVD-RAM" in the list, the drive should do DVD-RAM discs as they are meant to be used: like a 4GB floppy disk, they must be formatted once, then can be used as "random access media" (RAM). Doesn't matter what kind of disc you put in the drive; any type will make the drive appear in Disk Utility, which will then show its capabilities.
FOLLOWUP: I opened up the Mac Mini, and found the SuperDrive is an Apple label "UJ-845C", presumably a special version of the 845 with DVD-RAM disabled, unlike the UJ-845-B spec'd at the Panasonic site.
[MacInTouch]
We just received a middle-model Mac Mini - 80GB/512MB/AirPort+Bluetooth/Tiger - ordered from Amazon (currently $519.99 after rebate) and were pleased to find that it is one of Apple's "stealth" upgrades, where the label belies the actual specifications. Apple shows it as a 1.42GHz model, but it's actually running at 1.5 GHz, according to System Profiler.
It has a Seagate ST9808211A hard drive, which is a 5400-RPM model (better than the dog-slow 4200-RPM drives Apple started shipping sometime after the original Mini models debuted).
The optical drive is a Matsushita CW-8124, a Combo drive with 24X CD writing and reading and the ability to read DVD-R and DVD-RW, as well as DVD-ROM, at 8x.
System Profiler shows 64 MB of video RAM - double Apple's specified amount - for the "ATY,RV280" graphics card (ATI Radeon 9200) on an AGP bus, supporting display rotation and Quartz Extreme but not Core Image.
(For what it's worth, we found that we could not connect a Dell 1704FPT to the digital video port while an analog video cable was connected; after removing the analog cable, the Dell works beautifully with the Mini's DVI video. The Dell display also worked fine with analog video via the adapter included with the Mini.)
We also tried a WiebeTech Maxelerate hard drive enclosure but found it unpleasantly noisy, even in a special reduced-RPM version the company offers customers who raise the issue. By contrast, the miniStack we previously reviewed is virtually silent with the same hard drive inside.
Xxx Xxxxxxx
While this isn't the first time I've seen this type of 'error' from Apple, or other firms, this particular incident seems to have gone beyond the typical example, and I'm beginning to wonder if it is more than just an overlap in an otherwise complicated process.
I've done my share of OEM documentation, including manuals, labels and cartons. I know how hard it is to maintain reality in this regard. But in this case, it seems to me that the mismatch between the inside and the outside of the package has gone beyond the norm, and I'm wondering if someone along the line has simply decided to live with it, rather than deal with it up front. I can see this saving money...changes cost more than just the ink - it takes time and planning to overcome a spec change and cover all the bases.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone in a position to decide hasn't simply elected to run out the materials without implementing changes. After all, the customer gets more than they expect, which can be favorable publicity, and we all know the saying "any publicity is good, and good publicity is even better".
On the other hand, it can be a minefield to fess up. Once word gets out, customers start hand-picking the good from the better, taking the higraded units and leaving the rest as floatsom. Or they buy the downgrade for less, then return it shortly thereafter, demanding the up while refusing to pay more.
Let's just hope the sun keeps shining on this particular parade, and no one decides to claim fraud. All it would take is one competitor with a surplus of over-eager attorneys, and Apple would be forced to apologize for over-stuffing the golden goose.Concluding post in relation to the earlier postings on this particular subject and thread (now officially closed by apple support) .. and to be found at SuperDrive Media Disc(s) .. Assist ... [http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=759874#759874]
APPLE DVD R DISC MEDIA TRIAL
DVD-R
8x speed
Certified for use with Apple DVD-R drives :: 4.7GB Media
Made in Japan
MAC MINI MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C
Mac mini 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 | 512 MB DDR SDRAM
Tiger OS X 10.4.3
Finder Burn - single folder containing many sub-folders totaling about 800Mbytes and approx. 4000 files.
Burn Speed Options : 4x(faster) : 2x : 1x(more reliable) - actual Finder media disc burn dialogue descriptions
[default selection is 4x(faster) ]
We choose 1x(more reliable) ..
Observations include .. no 8x speed media disc burn available from our little Mac mini Matshita DVD-R UJ-845C burner .. and .. as this is a DVD R .. we have time .. but no going back once burned .. and we want maximum systems compatibility .. you, dear reader, already know the drama we have previously experienced with Finder burns and older Apple iMac DV SE machine DVD drive (media disc burned) read compatibilities.
The total burn was a lengthy delay before the entire routine was completed including automatic verification.
OUTCOME
This disc did not verify correctly and is unreliable. Because this disc is unreliable, discard it and try again using a new, blank disc. (Error code ) 0x80020063
Total disc burned is almost 800Mbytes and about 4000 files.
Verification was not an available option for the burn .. a Finder burn .. meaning verification was apparently automatically included as an unseen 'yes' option at media disc burn execution time.
Examining the resulting Apple DVD R media disc burned .. we discover that things are good .. biggest single files (.dmg's at about 100Mbytes expanding to 350Mbytes - e.g. OS X 10.4.3 update) are able to be copied from the burned Apple DVD R media disc back to the Mac mini hard disk again and verify 100% when opened for installation. Encouraging. Better than anything previously experienced.
iMac DV SE [ DVD MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184 ]
Into the Apple iMac ancient (500 MHz PowerPC G3 operating OS X 10.4.3 Tiger | 640MB SDRAM) and we are greeted with goodness .. same accessibility as the originating Mac mini machine .. satisfying.
And yes the 'problem' of multi-session burns is yet to come on the ancient iMac and if the response is any good as now .. it may not be a problem worthy of mention. At 800 Mbytes burn and 4.7 Gbytes capacity .. one could loosely forecast up to another 5 media disc burn sessions before the DVD R is full and complete.
XP MACHINE
And now into the PC machine for an XP looksee and again .. more goodness. Cross compatible files are fully accessible (an entire - own - website burned). Large files copy 100%. Better than before.
Two thumbs up for this disk and burn.
Verification failure remains a current mystery. Anyone ?
It is easy to figure how one may doubt one's media burning hardware is any good by now .. but the gathering volume of supporting entries at the relevant media burning and error message forums reveals that hardware is unlikely to be (entirely) at fault .. rather something else .. say firmware ?
Apple Media DVD R discs are manufactured in Japan (stated on the disc) and the quality difference and price premium are consistent with what others have written of the place of manufacture and the Apple media disc as well. Mostly positive.
Still .. we should like to have access to dependable RW discs from Apple too .. for reliable re-useability.
As for the subject of burn speed ...
Many forum readers are well aware of an ongoing and gradually escalating matter between Apple and this gentleman http://www.crc.id.au/page/2/ .. we have curiously followed the unfolding events to observe the outcome of the burn speed specification variation. As you know .. our Mac mini is rated at maximum DVD media disc burn 4x and fitted with a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C which is a later edition than Mr H's UJ-835 .. however .. we are more curious to observe whether the final outcome will satisfy Mr H or not. Burn speed, primarily, and quality of burn, secondarily, on selected media by Mr H. Once the outcome is known and to Mr H's satisfaction .. then we may enquire about his satisfaction with burn quality at the chosen burn speed(s) by Mr H.
Here is an offline forum communication that we shared with another Mac mini user about disc media burn speed. As you may read .. he is entirely dissatisfied with the Mac mini media burn speed and isn't too keen on using the Apple disc burn media either ...
So...Have you found any dvd-r or +r media that burns reliably on the mini? (non apple media please).
I am completely disgusted with my new mini's pathetic superdrive that I paid way too much for.
I have purchased new & built from new parts several PC's that burn DVD after DVD on a wide variety of media reliably.
No one has even replied to my post
http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2773&start=0&postdays=0&postord er=asc&highlight=
Thanks
.. and at latest check .. no-one has responded to the post .. maybe no-one knows .. outside of Apple HQ .. mind you .. no-one has truly usefully responded to our post either .. we responded thusly ...
Mac Mini SuperDrive .. burn speed .. and burn .. reliability
Sometime I just can't get my head around the subject and have to step back and breathe in real deep .. which makes me kinda dizzy .. and wait until the focus is on the forest before
choosing the tree(s) to climb. This particular tree is getting taller ...
And congratulations on your Apple ownership. Small is beautiful.
Regret your coaster experiences. Frustrating and unfortunate.
What SuperDrive description is fitted in your new mac mini ?
We seem to be staring into a gaping black hole of acknowledgement .. from anyone.
PC users, windows operating system software computers, appear to have an extreme edge .. when it comes to media disc burning. i.e. successful burns.
Re-reading that lengthy post .. which doesn't fully format as intended .. has me fully believing that less is more and small is beautiful (still). Future specific posts will probably follow as a matter of personal self-committment .. to persist until the solutions are fully to hand. For now .. may we refer to your mentioned post in our next planned post please ? Solidarity of negatory outcome experience is credibility.
Three forums have we frequented and participated to learn more about the black hole .. we know as SuperDrive media disc burning .. only you have provided any feedback whatsoever .. post reader numbers grow but answers are missing in action .. absent from class.
http://www.crc.id.au/page/2/
We have thought the SuperDrive matter you have referred to in your post was of no concern to us .. but now you have us thinking again .. although model numbers differ .. (ours is a later numerical reference) the concerns appear to be similar .. or largely about performance .. we shall also refer to this domain in our planned next post. Yes, we are aware of the matter .. from another forum .. but shall now supply the link for others to weigh and hopefully dish out their two cents worth .. where a consensus could mean we are also a part of this particular action. An ideal consensus would be firmware is unsuitable .. requires immediate update .. and in particular the quality of burn is consensually unacceptable .. action could follow.
We have progressed no further with burning experimentations .. and will be using Apple media before progressing with our findings reporting. For now, we are unable to add to your ease of mind .. frankly .. unless the burning media is made in Japan .. we doubt any burn verification success is to be had. And we cannot find any burning media made in Japan in our locale. Where is the Apple media made?
We have come to appreciate the SuperDrive is all about the firmware .. but have no new firmware to apply .. in fact .. our research to date shows that we have been unable to find the Matshita SuperDrive at all online and cannot confirm specifications .. neither could we locate the specifications at www.apple.com.au .. which is just plain odd.
A third look has provided ... from www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html ..
Storage
* One of the following optical drives:
o Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
o Optional SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW): writes DVD-R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD-RW discs at up to 2x speed, writes DVD+R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD+RW discs at up to 2.4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 16x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 8x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Where were you able to establish your SuperDrive (burning) specifications ?
Writer's note : .. some things change .. and so have the Apple Mac mini SuperDrive burner specs changed .. since recording those detailed above. In fact .. they read like they maybe should have all along .. 8x DVD R media burn speed. DL is a bonus. Can anyone tell us what the drive designation is please ?
CRC says: ".. This limits burn speed to 4x for Mac Minis and 8x for Powerbooks.".
While speed matters .. and it does .. you appear to have exactly the same media disc burning problems that we are experiencing .. failed verification(s) .. and for us .. in short .. complete DVD-R media disc burned rejection from the Apple OS X.
Do we .. in actual fact .. have two separate operating challenges here .. speed of burn and quality of burn .. any burn ? Speed was not our first priority .. quality is .. now we figure that at any speed the burn quality is anywhere from dubious to coaster.
CRC says: ".. The UJ-835 that Apple use is firmware limited to suit various bits of hardware that they want to put together. The burner in the Mac Mini is the exact same model as the one in the PowerBooks. Apple load a 4x firmware on the Mac Mini, and an 8x firmware on the PowerBook drives.
My bet is that this is for marketting reasons only. ".
One of the contributors to http://www.crc.id.au/?p=21 . . says . .
# Moneky Boy Says:
August 14th, 2005 at 1:03 am
My parents have a mini and my has one of the PowerBooks. Confirmed the drives are Matsushita UJ-835. They have never had an issue burning DVDs. Confirmed it by burning DVDs last night on the wife’s 12″ PowerBook.
As far as updating the Firmware in your optical drives, no, you do not have to remove them from the machines to update their firmware. I’ve updated the firmware on my optical drives (for Region Free and/or speed gains) via the GUI in Mac OS X. One application that will do this is called DVRFlashX I believe. The key is then finding the firmware, which is platform agnostic.
BTW, removing the drive wouldn’t void the warranty on your Mac but messing with the firmware certainly will void the warranty on the drive.
Our primary concern remains SuperDrive media disc burn quality .. while you do appear to share the same concern as well as speed performance. Mr Haigh's only concern appears to be speed .. and here we may have missed any opportunity .. since the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C
SuperDrive is a later designation and the speed performance specifications showing on the apple web-site are likely consistent with current performance capabilities of that SuperDrive and later .. including yours ?
Mr H may have indeed received marketing materials that promised 8x while actually receiving a 4x SuperDrive .. which only performs at 2x unless exceptional media disc(s) .. so he does have a legitimate claim concerning performance. Do we ?
What has us fully curious is whether he can burn quality media disc(s) with his new SuperDrive ..
(Update 24/12/2005 07:10pm (+11 GMT)
Well, it seems that Apple have decided to replace my hardware. I've started the proceedings yesterday and will hopefully get some news in the new year as to what they are going to replace. At the moment, I'm looking to send in the 12" Powerbook for a replacement, then see what changes in the mac mini side of things. I'm not going to accept the same DVD drive - as we all know the problems with the UJ-835. Stay tuned for more details as they come to hand.) .. http://superdrive.crc.id.au/
.. which would likely be the same as yours .. now that should prove an interesting outcome .. which he seems likely to voluntarily report and will be the essence of any enquiries from us in the near foreseeable future assuming Mr Haigh is forthcoming in his SuperDrive computing developments.
Mr Haigh may have begun to scratch the surface (so to speak) .. and find the more serious problem is that no matter how fast or slow the SuperDrive .. reliable media disc burns are a fantasy !
As yet no update .. almost three months .. could the delay by Apple could have something to do with the model identification of any replacement DVD burner .. if they use an UJ-845 .. then all **** could break loose as Apple users realise (such as we) they do have the same DVD burner and (in a Mac mini) are limited to 4x maximum speed DVD media disc burning performance .. so another designation may be required .. one that already delivers 8x DVD burns .. bit of a mess really .. and the latest Mac mini SuperDrive sports 8x DVD R media burn speed.
We are curious about you too, dear reader .. are you satisfied with your non Apple disc media burn quality ? We are able to openly admit that we are dissatisfied with our non Apple disc media burn output quality.
We are currently satisfied with the Apple DV R disc media burn quality. However at a price of premium dollars and an unexplained media burn verification failure message.
Burn speed, we nonchalantly confess, is not our greatest concern, and, for now, falls to a lower priority of importance with us.
For now the matter is at rest with us.
How about you ?
Yours Sincerely
Stuart
PS. .. helping to explain the confusions surrounding the Mac mini SuperDrive is this extracted from ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_mini
October 2005–February 2006
Multiple reports exist that the Mac mini was quietly upgraded in October 2005 to 64 MiB VRAM, and either a 1.33 GHz (up from 1.25 GHz) or 1.5 GHz G4 (up from 1.42 GHz) processor, with 512 MiB of PC3200 RAM while underclocking it to PC2700. The 80 GB drive is currently a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 ST9808211A, which runs at 5400 RPM with an 8 MiB cache. The SuperDrive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845, which supports +R DL burning, and may also have unofficial support for DVD-RAM. Apple did not revise the official specifications on their web site. This may be to avoid issues with discounting or discontinuing of old stock.
Well .. whatever .. we use a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845C SuperDrive .. wouldn't that mean we have +R DL feature too ? .. probably not judging by the following explanations .. sort of .. and yes you could grab the mac_min.pdf service manual and do your own upgrading and overclocking as it pleases you .. try google for more info.
PPS. .. http://www.macintouch.com/macmini11.html
Mac Mini Part 11
January 9, 2006
Stealth Upgrade
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
I recently received the SuperDrive Mac Mini that I ordered from Amazon the day after Christmas. To my delight, my Mini contains a 1.5 GHz PPC and 64MB of video RAM.
The SuperDrive is listed as a Panasonic UJ-845. According to Panasonic's web site this drive is supposed to allow DVD-RAM writing (and I assume reading). Has anyone attempted to use DVD-RAM discs with this drive under 10.4.3?
Xxxxxx Xxxx
I also have a new SuperDrive mini with the same specs, and note that the UJ-845 drive doesn't include DVD-RAM capability, though as Gordon notes the OEM Panasonic drive does. However, Panasonic's spec page is for the UJ-845-B drive, and I expect that the one in the mini is instead a special version of the UJ-845 that Panasonic made for Apple with DVD-RAM disabled. For some reason Apple doesn't seem to want to support DVD-RAM, which is a pity. I believe the drive will work with DVD-RAM discs, but treat them like DVD-RW, requiring complete erasure every time they're used, rather than allowing addition and subtraction of individual files, which is what makes DVD-RAM a great backup/exchange medium, especially for travelers.
My new PowerBook came with an Apple-labeled Panasonic UJ-825-C drive, which System Profiler saw as simply "UJ-825" and which didn't include DVD-RAM although Panasonic's specs showed it; I replaced it with an 825-B I got on eBay, which System Profiler sees as "845-S" and which now does DVD-RAM even without Patchburn. Note that the 825 is two generations earlier than the current 845/846 drive (whose new feature is DL burning); DVD-RAM has been available for a long time, but Apple has been using special versions of the drives without it.
How to exactly determine the capabilities of your drive: Insert a disc (any type, CD or DVD, but not a blank recordable disc that has to be formatted), open Disk Utility, and on the left side select the drive (not the disc in the drive), then look in the lower right side of the window where it says "Capabilities". You may have to widen the window to see the whole list, as it doesn't wrap for some reason. If it says "DVD-RAM" in the list, the drive should do DVD-RAM discs as they are meant to be used: like a 4GB floppy disk, they must be formatted once, then can be used as "random access media" (RAM). Doesn't matter what kind of disc you put in the drive; any type will make the drive appear in Disk Utility, which will then show its capabilities.
FOLLOWUP: I opened up the Mac Mini, and found the SuperDrive is an Apple label "UJ-845C", presumably a special version of the 845 with DVD-RAM disabled, unlike the UJ-845-B spec'd at the Panasonic site.
[MacInTouch]
We just received a middle-model Mac Mini - 80GB/512MB/AirPort+Bluetooth/Tiger - ordered from Amazon (currently $519.99 after rebate) and were pleased to find that it is one of Apple's "stealth" upgrades, where the label belies the actual specifications. Apple shows it as a 1.42GHz model, but it's actually running at 1.5 GHz, according to System Profiler.
It has a Seagate ST9808211A hard drive, which is a 5400-RPM model (better than the dog-slow 4200-RPM drives Apple started shipping sometime after the original Mini models debuted).
The optical drive is a Matsushita CW-8124, a Combo drive with 24X CD writing and reading and the ability to read DVD-R and DVD-RW, as well as DVD-ROM, at 8x.
System Profiler shows 64 MB of video RAM - double Apple's specified amount - for the "ATY,RV280" graphics card (ATI Radeon 9200) on an AGP bus, supporting display rotation and Quartz Extreme but not Core Image.
(For what it's worth, we found that we could not connect a Dell 1704FPT to the digital video port while an analog video cable was connected; after removing the analog cable, the Dell works beautifully with the Mini's DVI video. The Dell display also worked fine with analog video via the adapter included with the Mini.)
We also tried a WiebeTech Maxelerate hard drive enclosure but found it unpleasantly noisy, even in a special reduced-RPM version the company offers customers who raise the issue. By contrast, the miniStack we previously reviewed is virtually silent with the same hard drive inside.
Xxx Xxxxxxx
While this isn't the first time I've seen this type of 'error' from Apple, or other firms, this particular incident seems to have gone beyond the typical example, and I'm beginning to wonder if it is more than just an overlap in an otherwise complicated process.
I've done my share of OEM documentation, including manuals, labels and cartons. I know how hard it is to maintain reality in this regard. But in this case, it seems to me that the mismatch between the inside and the outside of the package has gone beyond the norm, and I'm wondering if someone along the line has simply decided to live with it, rather than deal with it up front. I can see this saving money...changes cost more than just the ink - it takes time and planning to overcome a spec change and cover all the bases.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone in a position to decide hasn't simply elected to run out the materials without implementing changes. After all, the customer gets more than they expect, which can be favorable publicity, and we all know the saying "any publicity is good, and good publicity is even better".
On the other hand, it can be a minefield to fess up. Once word gets out, customers start hand-picking the good from the better, taking the higraded units and leaving the rest as floatsom. Or they buy the downgrade for less, then return it shortly thereafter, demanding the up while refusing to pay more.
Let's just hope the sun keeps shining on this particular parade, and no one decides to claim fraud. All it would take is one competitor with a surplus of over-eager attorneys, and Apple would be forced to apologize for over-stuffing the golden goose.
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