Write errors on burning CD's

My Superdrive -- not so Super as of late -- has been generating write errors when I try to burn CD's or DVD's:
Operation could not be completed: 0X800200E (CD)
Medium write error: (CD)
Error: 0X8002006D (DVD)
Unexpected Error: 0X8002006D (DVD)
Error during verification: 0X80020063 (CD)
"Unexpected error" is really an oxymoron -- is there any other kind?
I've trashed 10 CDs and DVDs experimenting with ways to get burn to work. I can sometimes get CD's to burn at 8X speed, but not always. The higher speed never works. I've used several brands of CD's on the possibility I got a bad batch, but that makes no difference. Burning DVD's doesn't work at any speed with the tests I have done so far.
All of which sounds like the Superdrive is dying. It has never worked very well: it has always taken way too long for inserted CD's/DVD's to mount, with lots of thrashing. But before buying a new (not-so-)Superdrive, I thought I would see if anyone has suggestions about how to salvage the current one. Perhaps part of the problem is with software. I became suspicious of this today when I discovered something really odd. Burning a CD of photos at the slower (8X) speed, the burn completed successfully and the CD icon mounted on the desktop. I could open the CD and then open the photos on the CD. So far so good. Ok, so now I eject the CD and reinsert it. And instead of mounting as a CD with the label I gave it, it mounts as a blank CD with the label "Untitled CD.fpbf" and opening it reveals an empty burn window, not the contents of the photo CD that should be there. If I take this same CD and insert it into a PC, the CD mounts fine and the photos can be seen.
So somehow, the Mac OS is unable to recognize a CD it burned successfully, whereas a Windows machine is able to mount the same CD with no problem. Crazy, huh? (Rebooting my iMac did not make it able to mount the inserted CD correctly; instead it still mounts as a blank CD.)
Any suggestions would be welcome. For the time being I can live with burning at 8X, but I sure want to be able to see the results in my own machine!
Drake

Glen Doggett wrote:
Maybe there is some corruption of the source data on the hard drive. To rule that out, boot from an OS DVD, run the Disc Utility to Repair the Volume and Repair Permissions on your boot drive. How much free space is on the hard drive? If totally full, then you might be running out of temp/scratch space that is needed for temporary files during the burn, maybe?
I routinely use DU to repair permissions before and after updates, and periodically just for maintenance. I also have DU check the HD for problems. The checks on the HD indicate nothing needs to be repaired ("The hard disk appears to be Ok" does not inspire total confidence, however), so I haven't bothered booting with the OS DVD and running a repair off it. I also routinely SUDO DAILY (WEEKLY, MONTHLY) with the terminal. I have all the current updates on OS X 10.4.11 and on iLife. So I have pretty much taken care of that end of things.
I agree that the problem is probably hardware. But it did seem odd that I could burn a disk successfully but not be able to reinsert it and have it mount proplerly. I did insert some other CD's I had lying around, and they mounted Ok (after the usual thrashing).
If I do buy a new Superdrive, is it hard to install oneself? Is it just a modular swap in and out, or does it have to be done by a qualified technician? And what do Superdrives cost?
TIA,
Drake

Similar Messages

  • Getting medium write error on burning a disc image using Disk utility

    Have a MacBrook Pro 15 inch, circa Summer 2007, using OX 10.4.11. up until recently (as in before February) have been able to burn DVD's using Toast (message Medium Writer Error). Started getting problems where the burn failed. Thought maybe it was Toast, so I tried creating an iDVD project and tried to burn the DVD using that, and it stopped in the middle as well and then spit the disk out with no error message.
    , this time I tried creating a disc image, and used disk utility to burn. The process looked like it was going to work but then failed with a message that I have a medium write error.
    I have no problems burning a regular data disk on my superdrive so I am thinking it's maybe a software glitch rather than hardware. . Any thoughts, as to what could be causing this problem all of a sudden. By the way, there are other users out there, who seems to be having DVD burning problems all of a sudden, but most people suggest other media. I am using the same stack of DVD-R's from before when I had no problem.

    Well, I had assumed my media was ok, since I had a spindle of DVD-R's and had used many of them successfully (until now!, ha ha).
    I went out this afternoon and bought another brand (Memorex) and it successfully recorded.
    So hopefully this solves my problem, I had no idea it was the media since I had used several of them before.
    Thanks for your help.

  • Medium write error when burning a DVD. Uh?

    So I mounted my DVD and burnt 2 x copies successfully. When it came to number three the message "Medium write error" came up and the disk was rejected unburnt! I got the new iMac cos the old one's DVD burner failed. What can I do to get things working again? iMac is about a month old.

    is there a list of media that works in a mac?
    or is it safe to say that the more expensive the dvds the highr the chance that it will work

  • Medium Write Error, cannot burn CD in iTunes (Toast works fine)

    I have always used iTunes to burn my CDs. Today I keep getting a Medium Write Error. I tried buring the same playlist with Roxio Toast and worked fine. Then the error happened again on iTunes.
    I have been using iTunes for years on this computer. Why would it suddenly give an error? The error happens while the disc is finalizing. There is nothing wrong with the drive, as evidenced by Toast writing fine. Is there any way to fix this or do I just need to use Toast from now on?

    I'm having the same problem!! I've successfully burned 3 different CD's. Now I'm getting a 'burn cancel' unknown code. Very frustrating. All CD's are good, even new!
    Can anyone share any thoughts??
    Thanks in advance!!
    Amy

  • Medium Write Error when burning CDs

    Hi all, I have just started getting the message when trying to burn an audio CD on Itunes v7;
    "The attempt to burn a disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error"
    This is on a new iMac 24" that is 3 weeks old and has only happened in the past 2 days. There were no issues prior to that on any of my Macs.
    I've noticed once post that suggests anyone with this error message go straight to the shop for a remedy. Any other suggestions?
    regards
    sdpoh
    iMac 24" Duo, iMac 17 G4 1.25 & iBook 15 G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   iTunes 7.01

    I've had this problem as well, but it wasnt until I downloaded vs. 7 of iTunes. I heard somewhere that the operating system has some kind of conflict with the iTunes program and thats why the error pops up. Also try using Sony or TDK disks, for some reason they seem to work and the error message doesnt pop up. It worked for my computer anyway, it might be worth a try.

  • Medium Write Error when burning

    Every time I attempt to burn a CD, I get the medium write error. I have done everything from use a laser cleaner disc to buy 6 different kinds of CD-Rs - nothing is working.
    Out of nowhere, every time I try to burn a cd, it either kicks the CD back out after burning about half of the songs, or pretends to have burned the whole disc, but when I try to play it, nothing is on the CD. I am getting so frustrated. Please, if anyone has a clue why this is happening and what I can do to fix it (aside from taking my computer into the Apple Store for the millionth time), I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

    I had the same problem and was able to fix it with the help of Apple Care. There was some type of corruption in my com.apple.finder.plist file. I deleted that file, shut down, rebooted and it took care of the problem. I'm no computer whiz and I don't know if this will cure your problem but it did help me out. The cd's are burning and playing back fine now.

  • I got an error message while burning a cd in itunes - "The attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error.  What is that and how can i fix it?t

    I got an error message while burning a CD in iTunes - "the attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error."  What does this mean and how do I fix it?

    The disk you are using probably has a defect, not uncommon on consumer grade disks. Try another disk or better yet another disk from a different manufacturer or at least a different batch.

  • The Attempt to burn disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error.

    When trying to burn a CD, I'm getting an error that reads:The Attempt to burn disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error.  I experienced this message before and took my Macbook in to the store and the the genius was stumped but when he tried one of his CD's it burned fine to he concluded that the problem was in the CD's NOT the Macbook or program  HOWEVER, months later, I'm having the same issue using the NEW CD's.  Does anyone have any information about this?

    3 methods to fix this:
    The first is to reset pram
    at boot up hold four keys down till you hear 3 chimes:
    command(apple)=option+p+r
    release keys and it will now reboot.
    The second is to reset nvram
    at boot up hold four keys down:
    command(apple)+option+o+f
    a black screen will appear
    now type: reset-nvram
    click enter
    now type: reset-all
    click enter
    it will now reboot
    The third is to open system preferences.
    go to international
    under languages: drag any of the other languages to the top, then drag english back to the top.
    make sure "order for sorted lists" is set to english
    make sure "word break" is set to english(united states, computer)
    then restart.
    I hope this helps you as it certainly did me. :^)

  • I am getting an error every time i try to burn a playlist. The error reads The Attempt to burn disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error.

    Can somebody help me. I used to be able to burn with no problem. But now while finishing discs, I get the following message.
    The Attempt to burn disc failed. The burn failed because of a medium write error.

    Try a different brand of discs.  Try restarting your computer.

  • Im trying to burn a cd from itunes, I keep getting a message that says "the attempt to burn a CD failed because of a medium write error" any help would be appreciated

    hello, I'm trying to burn a playlist from itunes to a cd, but I keep getting a message saying "the attempt to burn a CD failed because of a medium write error" can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong. I'm not so tech savvy so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

    I'm not familiar with this error, but check the following:
    -Is your disc a CD or a DVD? You want a CD, not a DVD.
    -Is the CD blank? You'll want a blank one.
    -Maybe the disc is scratched and cannot be used. Try another CD.
    -Maybe your disc burner is broken. If you have another, try it.

  • TS1436 I received this message twice on 2 new & separate attempts to burn a playlist to a NEW cd:  "The attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error."  What is a "medium write error" and how can I deal with this?

    I received this message twice on 2 new & separate attempts to burn a playlist to a NEW cd:  "The attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error."  What is a "medium write error" and how can I deal with this?

    Hello Pat,
    The following article provides troublehsooting steps and information that can help get iTunes burning discs again.
    Can't burn a CD in iTunes for Windows
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1436
    Cheers,
    Allen

  • HT1751 On an old Mac I got this message while trying to burn a CD for the car: "The attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error."  What does this mean?  And how do I work around it?

    On an older Mac I got this message while trying to burn a CD for the car: "The attempt to burn a disc failed.  The burn failed because of a medium write error."  What does this mean?  And how do I work around it?

    I had been getting this all morning and checked other messages from the community. THe one which worked was trying a different brand of disc.
    I had been using Verbatim which had copied the music fine off the Real Player on my PC at school, but wouldn't work with I Tunes. Tried a Staples and an Office Depot CD-R , both of which did the job.

  • I got a message while burning a CD.  "The Attempt to Burn the disc failed because of medium write error"..what does this mean?

    i got this message while buring a CD on itunes.   "The Attemp to burn the disc failed because of medium write error"..what do you make of this?
    i think the CD was bad.   i took the machine to the Apple store and they said the Optical Drive was OK.   so it must be the CD's i'm using... i use Verbatim type.   let me know.

    'Mediium write error' means it failed to write to the disc - some makes work better than others and you may just have hit a single bad disc or maybe your burner doesn't like the make of disc. I've always had good results with TDK.

  • Burn-ed! Disc Image "write error"

    Was having glitches burning dvd projects ("error multiplexing") so I created a disc image and was able to successfully burn two dvds before flaming, "burn failed because of a medium write error." I then ran a checksumming between burns, got a couple more done, then again with the "medium write error". What am I not doing?
    I've been reading this month's postings re: iDVD burnings and I've gotten this far thanks to helpful submissions and responses. Two references in passing that intrigue me; how can I control burn speed (eg. x4 in Disk utility),and do you really need to take a break to cool down the laser?

    Thank you for your guidance. Maybe I'm asking too much of my G5/OS 10.4.8 to burn 50 dvds for a school. I could outsource or I could buy my own burner, I suppose. Or maybe I need new software (Toast?) or a new approach. While looking for a way to control burn speed (never found it), I opened up a process called "Convert," which is a way to "quickly copy many types of dvds." Would this approach work? Meanwhile I labor on. Have burned 35 of the 50 in fits and starts (4 burn, 2 fail, and so on). And, yes, I am using good quality Verbatim.
    Thanks again for your help. Appreciate any other insight you might have on multiple burns.

  • DVD-R burn error "medium write error"

    Just received a refurbished iMac today. Doing a basic Disc Copy from Disk Utility and burn one disc OK. The second disc ejects half way through burn and "medium write error" pops up. All the disc I pull out are blazing hot as well. I don't know if this has anything to do with it.
    I am trying another burn now. Has anybody seen this error or had DVD-R burning issues?
    Thanks,
    Adam

    I saw this using Toast 9 -- turned out I had turned on the DVD-DL support by accident and I didn't have a DL DVD drive.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Count all rows of a Database table

    I want to count all the rows of a table. I have made correctly the connection with the database and all the other things (make a statement, make the query and the resultSet), I use the MySQL server v4.0.17 Here is the code I use: int count=0; String

  • Space is coming in displaying address in adobe forms

    Hi Experts, I am displaying address by fetching it from ADRC table. printing individual fields without using address node concept. Here the issue is... If there is any address field is vacant then that field is coming with space. I have to suppress t

  • Why isn't my iphone charging unless it's been turned off?

    why isn't my iphone charging unless it's been turned off?

  • What should I do with scratched rear glass on iPhone 5?

    The glass on the back of my iPhone 5 was scratched...I had no idea why this happened cuz the alluminum part is not scratched at all!  Is this covered in the warranty? or do I have to pay for the repair cost?

  • Powermac g4 startup issue

    I have a power mac G4, 933MHz. I am trying to turn the machine over to my Mom because I'm getting a new Mac Book Pro soon. So I shipped it to her and started up--all good. I created an account for her and made her an admin user too. But, I had permis