iDVD problem on G5 (1.8mhz.)

[MACSIMA]

I have not been able to write / burn video
to DVD in my G5.

It appears that iDVD cannot encode
the menus and the process collapses.
I have tried Apple 1x DVD-R, Verbatim
16x DVD-R, and Packard Bell DVD-R.

All of these disks have worked successfully
in my G4 Quicksilver at 1x speed.

My next step will be to delete and re-install
iDVD in the G5. I am clutching at straws
now and cannot see a way to burning
DVD's on the G5.

The Specs.-

G5 1.8mhz. 2.25mbs.RAM OSX 10.3.7
8x speed Superdrive

G4 Quicksilver 933mhz. 1.5 Gig RAM
OSX 10.3.2 1x speed Superdrive
( Works, but slowly!).

iDVD 4.0.1 FCP 4.0 PHOTOSHOP CS

Current Video: 48 mins. duration
(I have also tried to burn to DVD video of
only 3 mins.duration without any success).

I would be most grateful for any assistance.
Thank you for taking the time.

 

[Cam]

I have been researching this issue online (as I too have the problem). Here are the online suggestions.
1. Delete your iDVD plist (preference) file com.apple.iDVD.plist (the actual folder location has changed over time - but look for the file by name)
2. Make sure you have lots of free space (20GB recommended) on the startup drive.
3. Try using "Save as Disk Image", this burns to hard drive rather than the DVD disk (for iDVD before v5 see Easter Egg comment below). If that works, then burn the image with Disk Utility onto the DVD. This makes duplicate burning even faster and does not waste a DVD

To Burn a disk image to a DVD using Disk Utility (OS 10.3.x):
3a. Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities.
3b. Drag the disk image you created from iDVD to use to the Disk Utility window if the disk image doesn't appear in the list.
3c. Select the disk image (in Disk Utility) and click Burn.
3d. Insert a CD or DVD disc into the optical drive of your computer and follow the prompts.

4. Several people recommended changing type of DVD disk. Different brands and even different speeds (use 4x disks if the burner is a 4x burner)

Let me know if any of these are the key. I was able to finish my 10 disc burn by restarting but each burn was only 1.5 hours. It would be nice to know the actual solution. I like the burn to disk option in general, and this is an official feature on iDVD 5. There is an Easter Egg method to enable this function in older versions of iDVD at http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/mac_support/ (Jeff's Mac Support Website). This site contained most of the information I summarized above.

 

[Gigamux]

I have done everything mentioned and iDVD still quits during the early stages of encoding. I looked at activity monitor and iDVD starts out running in the low 60% CPU use, and then starts running away with over 140%. (see Activity file attached) Then iDVD quits and I get a Dialog box like I just put in a blank DVD (WHICH I DID NOT) (See Disc Window attached) and then underneath is the normal unexpected quit window. ( See Quit Window attached) I looked at the crash log and it is attached for your information.

I am running a brand new G5 dual 2.0 Gig, with the latest version of Tiger build 8F46, and idVD 5.0.1.

Since I just got the G5 a few weeks ago, I have been really pleased and have had no problems to speak of except this iDVD mystery. I have used iDVD many times before on my old G4 and never had a glitch. Since I just bought the G5, I will contact Apple Support, but I was hoping I would not have to talk to them and get help from this excellant forum. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[nixgeek]

To MACSIMA, is it possible for you to update to 10.3.9? Just make sure that you don't have any extra peripherals connected to theUSB/Firewire ports other than the keyboard and mouse. I ask if it's possible since I don't want to be the cause of a program breaking because of the update. If you are going to upgrade, make sure you backup your data first as a safety measure.

I haven't played with iDVD yet so I'm not quite sure, but have you guys checked the preferences to see if there's maybe a specific setting for the G5 CPUs?

 

[MacFreak]

Anyone bother notice that "MHZ" Anyway, Let me clear to you It's 1.8 GHZ not MHZ if you said 1,800 MHZ make sense.

 

[nixgeek]

Anyone bother notice that "MHZ" Anyway, Let me clear to you It's 1.8 GHZ not MHZ if you said 1,800 MHZ make sense.

Yeah, I noticed and understood what they meant. Simple mistake that I've seen many times before. Now, what solution do you have to help this individual?

 

[Cam]

Were you tring burning to the hard disk and not the DVD, yet still got the blank DVD dialog box? I recently did another movie and used this direct to disk trick quite sucessfully. It burned to disk fine and then I used Disk Utility to burn the actual DVD. In iDVD 5 I have been told this feature is not hidden like in my iDVD 3. In addition don't have Netscape and Excel running at the same time. Unfortunately I have not seen a definitive study on what all can cause iDVD to crash (I assume not all iDVD burning has shut down with the latest OS). The list I provided was a summary of all the advice I could find. All I know for sure is that burning to hard drive did not crash and thus I was able to make 6 copies of a 60 min movie with no problem.

I have done everything mentioned and iDVD still quits during the early stages of encoding. I looked at activity monitor and iDVD starts out running in the low 60% CPU use, and then starts running away with over 140%. (see Activity file attached) Then iDVD quits and I get a Dialog box like I just put in a blank DVD (WHICH I DID NOT) (See Disc Window attached) and then underneath is the normal unexpected quit window. ( See Quit Window attached) I looked at the crash log and it is attached for your information.

I am running a brand new G5 dual 2.0 Gig, with the latest version of Tiger build 8F46, and idVD 5.0.1.

Since I just got the G5 a few weeks ago, I have been really pleased and have had no problems to speak of except this iDVD mystery. I have used iDVD many times before on my old G4 and never had a glitch. Since I just bought the G5, I will contact Apple Support, but I was hoping I would not have to talk to them and get help from this excellant forum. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Gigamux]

Well I was on the phone with Apple yesterday for almost two hours, Tier One support. Currently I have an open case with no resolution. After trying everything from restarting the G5 and having only iDVD open and trying to Burn an entire new project. All attempts failed in the same manner. So we were going to reload (restore from Discs that came with the G5) iDVD; but the Discs that came with the G5 were corrupt-damaged and we were unable to use them. So Apple is mailing me replacement discs. So this saga is on hold until the replacements arrive. Stay tuned for as the iDVD turns, but man not Burn...