On May 30, 2010, at 9:42 AM, Thomas Ethen wrote:
I burn lots of disk's both audio and video with Toast and rarely
have a
failure using my Al PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz and my MacBook Pro 2.53Ghz.
Successful burning requires the proper combination of drive and media
(plus the proper software).
To check the combo, inject blank media while running TOAST, and then
use the RECORDER --> Disk Info pull-down menu to see which, if any
speeds are supported.
An old drive of the type initially installed in Macs usually supports
only DVD-R media, and usually only at slow burning speeds, such as 2X
and 4X.
A modern drive can support DVD+R as well as DVD-R, and also DVD+DL,
with DVD5s being supported up to 24X, and with DVD9s being supported
at up to 8X.
A "Buffalo" USB burner actually contains an OPTIARC (Sony) drive, and
although it is 100 percent powered by the USB bus, it still supports
reasonably fast burning, plus it supports all media.
A modern, fast drive, either ATA or SATA, costs about $25, and a
"Buffalo" or similar USB burner with the same capabilities costs
about $50. All modern drives support under- and over-run protection,
and most have 2 MB buffers. Bad burns have become a rarity.
Drives and media have become a commodity, with DVD drives now costing
less than CD drives, and with DVD5 (4.7 GB capacity, enough for a 2
hour movie with all the bells and whistles) media now costing the
same as CD media (70 minute capacity).
No matter what the media is branded, it is probably made by one of a
very few manufacturers in the Far East.
RiData is one manufacturer which makes media under its own name, but
also makes media for Memorex, TDK, and perhaps numerous others.
You can check the actual manufacturer of the media and its speed by
using the RECORDER --> Disk Info pull-down menu. If it says something
like RITEK 16, or similar, you can bet RiData made the disk, and that
its maximum speed is 16X.
Clicking on the icon will launch videohelp.com which will interpret
the media code for you, and give you a list of thumbnails which show
the retail packaging for the subject media.
Alas, some drives have down-level firmware, and not all current
drives can accept the most current media, as the media seems to be
changing faster than the drives.
Should this prove to be the case, then your option is to update the
firmware of your drive, or to seek older media, if even available.
Some re-branded drives are actually name-brand drives with custom
firmware which adds the latest media codes to the drive's supported
list and/or adds additional burning speed options.
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