iTunes: the program formerly known as cool

[Gregita]

Where should I begin? For one thing, let me say how surprised I was that NOBODY on here has had a problem burning cds under iTunes. You all should consider yourselves lucky. Hop on over to support at Apple.com. Look under discussion for iTunes. See how many people are having trouble. On one message alone, there were over 200 people that had problems.Supposedly, Apple is investigating it. I am sure you will see some of my posts on there. I have posted 13 times about iTunes. Some display negativity and hostility. Some display a short-lived happiness over one or two cds that were successfully burned. I don't know what else to say. I am extremely disappointed over this whole experience. I lost the ability to burn cds almost two months ago. Once I downloaded iTunes 2.04 and 10.1.4. I have ran software restore. I have used the original version of iTunes. 1.1.1, I think it is. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have had my Mac almost a year now. I have loved it, for the most part. I was so impressed by it when I first starting running it. Having converted from the dark side, I was so happy to be running a computer that ran so smoothly. Then this happened. Disk burner has also been affected with this. I can't burn data cds or music cds. I can't burn in OS 9 or OS X. I have installed all the latest updates. I now have 10.1.5. I thought last night it had fixed the problem. I was wrong. I guess I am the only member of Macosx.com...that has had this problem.

[Gregita]

Fifteen people have read this thread since I created it. Nobody chose to respond, though. One can only conclude that none of those people have experienced the same problem with burning cds that I have.

Apple asked us to post our system information to investigate the problem. I posted mine. I don't know if the problem will be fixed or not. I decided to do something besides just complaining. That hasn't helped, so why not take a different route?

Perhaps it is only older iMacs that are affected. That looks funny considering I have had my iMac less than a year. On some of the posts at Apple.com, I have seen people who have the newest Macs, and they are having the same problems, so maybe not.

Another funny thing: My Mac burnt cds like mad for months on end....and then it just stopped. Right before it happened, I had read a letter on Planet Feedback.com. The woman writing the letter had problems with her Flower Power iMac several times. They had replaced the burner under warranty and she was still having problems. That iMac was the 4th one she had bought, if I am not mistaken. Do you really think she will buy another?

This is a serious problem. A problem that is supposedly being investigated but is never fixed. I am not a Mac basher. I am not a Windows freak. I am a Mac lover severely disappointed . It doesn't really make me angry. Most of the time, it just makes me sad. It is the emotional equivalent of a broken promise to a child. That is how it feels. I can't explain the feeling of being let down any better.

With every day that passes, that feeling grows. Thank you for reading. I hope soon that I will be able to say it has been fixed. In all honesty, though, I have serious doubts it will be. Maybe Apple will prove me wrong.

[evildan]

Gregita,

We've all been there, in one form or another.

Be it Mac or PC, these kinds of issues pepper the forums. While I can honestly say I have not had problems burning with my G4 tower,I can imagine that it would be very frustrating to be in your position.

I don't really have any advice for you, at least none that you may not have thought of, but from your post you mentioned that you cannot burn data cds so that would suggest that it's not an issue isolated only to iTunes.

iTunes may have started the issue, but it doesn't seem to be the only thing effected.

It's been my experience that desperate times call for desperate measures. If the issue was created with software related, then it should be solved with a reformatted hard drive and a fresh system.

Unless, of course, it's a hardware issue, then no amount of software reconditioning is going to do anything. But if I were you, I would want to know if it was hardware or software. If it's hardware, I'd yank my machine and take a drive to where I bought it. If it's software, then hey, don't download the iTunes update this time.

[phatsharpie]

The only time I have had problem with burning CDs is when I was using really cheap CDR's. With higher quality CDR's, I have not had any problems. I don't know if this helps you at all. If you are having problems burning from iTunes and the Finder, it might be a hardware problem, perhaps you have a faulty drive. If you can find someone with a Firewire or USB drive, I'd try burning to another device and see if that works.

Sorry I can't be of more help, and I know it must be frustrating. I hope your issue gets resolved soon.

[Gregita]

Thank you both for your help. I really do appreciate it.

In reponse to both of your suggestions: I could try a different kind of cd-r, but the problem has not been confined to one brand. People have posted on support@apple.com how they have had problems with different brands. Still, I understand where you are coming from. It makes sense.

I don't know anyone with a firewire or usb drive. I would definitely experiment with it if I did. Those kinds of drives have suffered the same error messages and unpredictable burns, too, though.

As for reformatting the hard drive, I have done that. I read a suggestion on Apple.com that said to try it because your computer would run the same as it did out of the box. No better, no less. I tried burning under the original version of iTunes included with OS 9 and OS X. The first time it worked fine. Then, on the next burn, it stopped again. Disk burner wasn't originally affected. It was only recently that it started acting up, too.

As for taking it back to where I bought it, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. I bought it at Circuit City. Had I known Apple was going to discontinue its relationship with them, I would have probably thought twice about it.

I do appreciate your solutions, though. I felt like I was writing for myself here

I posted my system info on the official Apple post tonight so we will see.

Once again, thank you both for your help. I will not forget it.

[rubberchicken]

The only problems I have had burning discs has been due to the media itself. When you look through your iTunes preferences/settings you will see a choice of burning speeds.

I solved a lot of these problems by changing the speed to 4x/2x rather than max speed. This probably won't help when burning data but you should be able to copy music. If that works then you should try different media.

I quite like Imation,Princo, Kodak and Verbatim in no particular order.

[PCSMASHER]

I hate that you have had problems. I have burned over 50 cd's with my G4 and have never had a problem. I know it will get resolved somehow.




HE SHOOTS..... HE SCORES.


Sorry, Red Wings just won game 3.

[rinse]

yeah, i dont think i have had a single coaster come out of my G4 tower... sorry, no help here.