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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Dvd-rw Disc Burning Not Supported

tvadpro - Jun 24, 2005 - 3:23 pm

I just pulled out the Hitachi DVD-ROM on my G4 (OS X 10.3.7) and connected a Pioneer DVR-109 DVD-RW in its place. System Profile recognizes mfr, model, revision, drive type, etc, but lists Disc Burning as "Not Supported." I won't know until my Toast 6 disc arrives (shoulda been here yesterday) whether the drive works on my system as the seller claims it will. Roxio omits the DVR-109 from its list of Toast-friendly Pioneer drives.

I downloaded the SuperDrive update from apple.com, but the installer threw up a message to say the update wasn't compatible with my G4, which I optimistically take to mean the update isn't necessary.

The 109 reads just fine. Is there anything I'll need to do prior to installing Toast 6 Titanium, or can I expect "Disc Burning" will switch from "Not Supported" to "Yes/Supported" after Toast is installed?

Rod Hagen - Jun 25, 2005 - 8:22 am

Hi Sean,

The Pioneer 109 isn't supported directly by Panther, but you can download 'Patchburn" and then use the drive with Apple's built in burning capabilities in iTunes and the finder.

(see http://www.patchburn.de/ for the patch. You may need to install a later version if you subsequently move to Tiger (OSX 10.4) )

Yes, this drive works fine on Macs and fine with Toast (with or without Patchburn) . I have one in a firewire case that works fine with both my PB and imac G5.

THere is also a firmware updater available for updating the drive from a Mac, available at http://www.dvd-recordable.org/wwwimg...9_FW150EU2.zip

The firewire update (to version 1.50) improves disk burning speeds with some media, and improves burn reliability too.

Let me know if you have any more problems.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 25, 2005 - 8:55 am

Thanks Rod!

I just downloaded PatchBurn for Panther and the DVR109 firmware update, and will install both momentarily.

Now is there anyway to make the USPS run faster? (Still grinding my teeth, waiting for the mail carrier to bring my copy of Toast 6 from Software Diner.)

After everything is installed, I will report how the burner is working. Thanks for helping me love my Macintosh even more. I didn't think it was possible.

Rod Hagen - Jun 26, 2005 - 1:48 am

"Now is there anyway to make the USPS run faster? (Still grinding my teeth, waiting for the mail carrier to bring my copy of Toast 6 from Software Diner.)"

Don't know about speeding up USPS, Sean, but I actually bought my copy of Toast Titanium in downloadable form on line from Roxio, providing (almost) instant gratification! ;-)

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 26, 2005 - 9:11 am

I'm willing to grind my teeth for a few more days before I pay twice for one piece of software. Software Diner sells disc-only, thus way below MSRP. 43.94 US, shipping included -- not bad, though waiting for this delivery feels like standing in an endless checkout line at 7 a.m. on the morning after Thanksgiving.

And then there's my 56k dialup: short of satellite broadband, the fastest connection available on my street. Business is good, but not good enough for broadband at $1200 per year.

The PatchBurn and DVR-109 upgrade installations both happened without a hitch. DVR-109 now profiles "Disc burning" as "Vendor supported," and the firmware is 1.5 (previously 1.4).

Having searched Pioneer's and Apple's web sites to no avail, I Googled the "disc burning not supported" problem, thus finding a mostly-unrelated thread on macosx.com: not what I was looking for, but I clicked far enough to understand I could register, submit a question and get an answer. Eventually, I would have found what I sought, but your help doubtlessly saved me hours if not days of searching.

Time is money; for a stingy, impatient AV pro like me, macosx.com merits a permanent bookmark.

Rod Hagen - Jun 26, 2005 - 1:26 pm

Yes, don't think I would have wanted to handle the Toast download over a phone modem myself (or forking out $1200 pa for broadband) either!

Glad it worked for you Sean.

One thing worth knowing with this drive, by the way, is that it can burn various brands of 8x DV+R discs at 12x (which , at least in Australia, are significantly cheaper that 16x discs, and not really much slower). TDK and Verbattim should both work for this (they do for me). It seems to handle DL +R disks very reliably at 4x (at 6x I've ended up with two coasters out of about 20 discs ). You can find an "official" listing at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pi...dia-Speeds.pdf

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 26, 2005 - 2:12 pm

G'day mate ... I didn't realise until now you're residing Down Under. One bit of Yank culture that might not have translated earlier: all the department stores in the States open at 05:00 on the morning after Thanksgiving holiday, and mobs of customers barge in to snatch the advertised specials before the store runs out of stock. By 4 or 5 minutes past opening, there is a line of cranky shoppers at every cash register. (By 10 or 12 minutes past opening, they're passing out rain-checks at the service counter.)

Thanks also for the link to the Media Speeds pdf. I saved it so I can revisit it when nearing the bottom of my spindle. TigerDirect availed me a 25-pack of generic 16x DVD-R (single layer) for under $16 US, shipping included. Package arrived in under 2 days!

I note that several brands of 8x -R discs will also burn at 12x on the DVR-109. One desktop video afficionado advised me a month or two ago that the -R discs play in more consumer DVD players than the +R discs. Have you experienced this?

The DVDs I create, when finished, will be duplicated (roughly 200 copies) and distributed to DIY stores throughout the Eastern U.S.

I suppose I'll know as soon as I've burned and tested my first disc whether my formatting choices are optimal.

Thanks again -- cheers,
SP

Rod Hagen - Jun 27, 2005 - 12:31 am

As far as the DV-R or DV+R compatability in consumer players issue goes it seems to me that actually die and background colours can have more impact on this than the nature of the original disc.

We've had one friend discover that their very early player wasn't able to deal with a particular disc (I'm afraid I can't remember whether it it was a DV+ or DV-)

We don't seem to have any problems in any of our own DVD players (We have half a dozen in the house, the oldest of which must be over ten years old now) with any of the TDK (or Verbattim) + or - discs that I usually use.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 27, 2005 - 7:19 am

Die and background colours?

Sounds like something I'll understand after Toast arrives. My 250GB firewire hard disc will probably get here first (scheduled for delivery today.)

Rod Hagen - Jun 27, 2005 - 7:26 am

Different discs have a different colour on the "business" side. Silver ones, are usually more universally readable than gold ones, for example. This depends on the color of the dies used in manufacture.

THe colour of the "other" side of the disc can make a difference too. Plain white and gray tend to be more "friendly" to DVD players than other colours and patterns.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 27, 2005 - 7:53 am

Fascinating ... I wonder why that is.

The generics I received last week are unadorned (silver) on top, and smoky (grey or charcoal) beneath ... unless they were packaged upside-down. The visible alphanumeric text on the inner ring can be read from what I believe is the business/underside (grey/charcoal) -- which leads me to believe they're packaged right-side up.

Anyway ... time to start peeking through the window so I won't miss the UPS truck.

Rod Hagen - Jun 27, 2005 - 11:20 pm

One more quick update. A new version of firmware has just been released for the Pioneer 109 (version 1.55) . If uyou want to use it there is a Mac compatible upfdater available at http://www.macbidouille.com/download...9_FW155EU2.sit

It worked fine for me.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 28, 2005 - 2:51 pm

Cool! I'll hit that one momentarily. Trying to get my OS current, and system crashes frequently and arbitrarily these days. Dunno if it's the new CPU I installed a few weeks ago, the 1.5 GB SDRAM, a stupid virus, or some completely different problem.

Hoping the update to 10.3.9 will shake some of the bugs out, but when the system froze after 95 MB downloaded and I had to start downloading again from scratch, I finally understood how Sisyphus felt.

Rod Hagen - Jun 28, 2005 - 7:20 pm

Ouch! 95 MB over a phone line is no fun at all!

Its always a good idea to try to sort out any problems like this before any OS update, Sean. An OS update will very rarely actually "fix" a problem of this kind, and , in fact, its more likely to make things worse if the underlying problem is directory or OS corruption of some sort.

Not sure what resources you have to hand (DiskWarrior or a second bootable HD for example), but , at the very least I'd be booting up from your Panther CD and running diskUtility from the installer menu on the menubar, and using it to "repair disk" and "repair permissions" on the HD, BEFORE trying to install the update. You could also try an extended run of the Apple Hardware Test to see if anything pops up re the processor or RAM..

Disconnect all external devices except for your monitor, mouse and keyboard when you try to install the OS upgrade, too.

It won't be a virus. There still aren't any out there that can touch Panther,

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 28, 2005 - 9:13 pm

THANKS Rod -- you're a life-saver. I'll open a can of disc repair on my system before trying to upgrade to 10.3.9. Might as well -- can't seem to hold an Internet connection long enough to download anything anyway!

Rod Hagen - Jun 28, 2005 - 10:21 pm

Just a suggestion on updates.

Before I got broadband, when huge updater files came along I used to simply pop along to my friendly neighbourhood Apple store and they would burn me a copy of the relevant "Combo" updater (and anything else new like the Quicktime updater and security updates) onto CD for a few dollars. Even with a twenty minute drive to my "local" dealer it seemed quicker and less frustrating than trying to download the beast over the phone line.

Of course, you may well be able to simply head to a local broadband internet cafe and download and burn it yourself (or stick it on a memory stick). They didn't have internet cafes in our neck of the woods in the days when I was on dialup.

Cheers

Rod

tvadpro - Jun 28, 2005 - 10:54 pm

I'd have to open my own internet café! Nearest Mac store is over an hour by car. One of my clients runs a G5 in his office on a broadband connexion, but one can only ask so much of one's customers.

I verified and repaired file permissions on OS-X's resident hard drive, by the way. Been at least an hour, and so far no crashes nor disconnects.

Of course, the night IS still young ...