MBP Superdrive burns cd's but not dvd's

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My beloved superdrive has decided to not want to burn Dvds (DVD+R Previous discs had all worked for me. Sony, HP, TDK) anymore, after over a year and probably 400 burned dvds for some reason now I am having an issue. The problem started when I reached the end of my last spindle which at that time was TDK My last two dvds did not burn properly they would come up with errors on toast with something along these lines - The drive reported an error: Sense Key = Medium Error Sense Code = 0x73, 0x03 - I didn't think anything of it, I know sometimes the drive has that error because of the motion sensor if I bump my macbook pro whilst burning. flash forward about a month, I purchase new dvds and last night its time to burn stuff to make more room on my HDD I make my desired disc in toast and insert my disc hit go and it starts, the time says time remaining (roughly 13 minutes?) but never moves or very minimal progress and then wouldn't you know it messages like this come up The drive reported an error: Sense Key = Medium Error Sense Code = 0x73, 0x03 or after another attempt Sense Code = 0x0C WRITE ERROR or worse toast just crashes and I have to force quit. :'(

After a year of my apple experience being nothing short of awesome, I have finally achieved a headache, is the problem toast you ask!? I made my way over to Finder to burn my data disc, I start it and before I can see a progress bar it tells me it has failed or something like that (not familiar with finder too much but I knew to look around before making this thread.) So I take out a blank CD opposed to a dvd startup itunes and it burns it effortlessly, I search some more, try other suggested options (Reset Pram, countless restarts, Running onyx AND cocktail and disc utility) Still to no success. Can someone PLEASE help me figure this out before my perfect apple experience becomes a terrible one.

Im not sure about the usual Specs to include so I can add if needed, here are the ones I assume will be needed:

Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,1
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857:

Firmware Revision: HAEA
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 0 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacMini 14.3, 8.1 & 4.1, OS 13.5, 10.14, & 10.11 & 10.6; Macbook Pro 8.2, OS 10.12.
Some necessary questions :
1. What brand and type of dvd's did you buy this time round? Are they, for example, DL (dual layer)? Are they compatible with the capabilities of the Matshita drive?
2. Are you in a position to test dvd burning with your present disks using a borrowed external optical drive?
3. Have you run a hardware check from your original Apple install disks (Utilities)? That might find some fault in the burn mechanism.

Failing optical drives will often burn CDs but not dvd's, as the process is different (too technical for me to understand).
 
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How do I run a hardware check from my original disks I have all of them just dont know how.
 
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How do I run a hardware check from my original disks I have all of them just don't know how.

This advice is from memory and may be subject to correction (unfortunately I don't have the facilities with me to verify these instructions):
Insert Disk 1 of your 2 or 3 original Apple disks.
Reboot your computer holding down the C key as soon as you hear the startup sound. Your computer should then boot from the dvd.
Once the computer is operating again, Ignore the Installation prompts and go to the Installer Menu (top left). Choose Utilities (or Disk Utilities). From there, choose (I think) Hardware Test (or similar).

I will check my own setup here once I've got my disks and will edit my post if necessary.
 
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Did this problem ever get solved?

Hi,

I've been having an identical problem with my burner lately, and found this posting while looking around the internet for solutions. I can't tell if the problem was ever solved. If so, was it a system check that did it? It first happened a while ago, and then I cleaned the drive and everything seemed better. But now it's happening again, and cleaning the drive does nothing, nor does upgrading software, changing media (I've also used many different brands successfully in the past), cleaning the cache, or anything else I've done. Ideas?

Thanks,
Abe
 

chscag

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Usually, when the SuperDrive begins to fail, the impact will be with the DVD burner part. Reason: burning a DVD requires a higher level of power thru the optical circuitry. Sometimes cleaning will work especially if the lens was dirty or smudged.

In your situation where cleaning no longer works, the drive is probably at the end of its life and should be replaced. My recommendation is to either purchase an external drive, or have the internal replaced. If you're a DIY person, you may be able to swap out the drive yourself. The ifixit web store sells the replacement drive and has instructions on how to change it out.

iFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories

Regards.
 
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Kristy - I'm going to suggest that you:
1. ask a Moderator, eg. bobtomay, via Private Message, to change this to a new thread. You've come in on an old one going back nearly two years, and that often causes people able to help to miss it; or
2. Edit your post with the message 'Post deleted, new thread started'; and
3. search the Forum for posts about similar or same problems.

Meantime, have you tried using a different brand of media, using the -R format, and using an alternative to iDVD (eg. Toast)?
 
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thanks--umm no I haven't tried -R or anything else besides iDVD and disk utility. =/
 

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