Lots of posts on this around the net, so i'll try and summarize both what the problem and what the solution i've got here is:
PROBLEM:
Supported (or unsupported) USB or Firewire burners which either:
(a) Lock up iTunes when attempting to burn an audio CD
(b) Will not burn data/MP3 CDs from the Finder (eg: drag and drop burning)
SOLUTION:
Contrary to the widely-publicized "iTunes Hacks" which are circulating around, not all drives will work with Apple's standard Authoring Support extensions - even those which are listed in Apple's compatibility list. In particular, my Sony Spressa USB+ drive would consistently lock up iTunes whenever i tried to burn within iTunes (even after installing all the appropriate Disk Burner files).
After much troubleshooting i've found that the Sony Spressa USB burners can indeed burn data/MP3 CDs via the Finder AND burn audio CDs from w/in iTunes. The key to getting Spressa USB (and possibly a great deal of other) drives to work with iTunes and Disk Burner really comes down to the extension conflict Apple alludes to in their Tech Info Library Article #60805 ("http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n60805"). Unfortunately while Apple mentions 3rd party extensions may cause a conflict, they fail to mention that using both 3rd party and Apple drivers in tandem can enable near full burning functionality to standard USB-based drives (and hypothetically any CDR/W drive) you just need to know which extensions to turn on and when.
As others have noticed, the linchpin in iTunes lock-ups seems to be the extension that is supposed to support your drive. In the case of the Sony Spressa that would be the "USB Authoring Support" (UAS) extension. Quite simply, in certain cases such extensions are BAD for burning audio w/iTunes , but GOOD for burning data/MP3 disks with Disk Burner. Read on...
THE GOOD-FOR-DATA EXPLANATION:
Booting with the UAS extension in your System Folder and attempting to burn with iTunes or Disk Burner as the front-most application will lock up your machine until the drive is either unplugged or turned-off b/c (from what i can tell) UAS just doesn't support USB Spressa yet (hence the infinite searching for the Spressa). Yet on the other hand, installing the separately available Disk Burner software does allow mounting/burning MP3 and data CDs from the desktop b/c it's not processing the burn through iTunes.
Here's the steps to get desktop mounting/burning up and running:
(1) Ensure Disk Burner or iTunes are NOT running
(2) Ensure the Finder is the active app when you pop in the CDR/W
(3) Ensure you've installed the appropriate Disk Burner components (Disk Burner, Disk Burner Extension, and Finder v9.1.1)
THE BAD-FOR-AUDIO EXPLANATION:
So what is the trick to getting Spressa working with iTunes? Do exactly what Apple tells you not to do: remove/disable the "USB Authoring Support" (or if your drive is Firewire, the "Firewire Authoring Support") extension and install the appropriate the 3rd party drivers for your respective drive. Now while i could not get the Toast USB driver to work for desktop-based burns, i did find a freely available, demo version of Charismac's new Discribe v4.0 burning software which does.
Here's the process for getting your burner to burn from w/in iTunes:
(1) Open Extension Manager and disable the "USB Authoring Support" extension
(2) Head over to "http://www.charismac.com/Support/downloads.html" and download the demo version of Discribe v4.0
(3) Run the installer
(4) AFTER installation remove all but TWO of the Charismac extensions:
"CharisMacOnSAlt SIM V1.07c"
"CharisMacOnSAlt USBD V1.07c".
(5) Reboot, launch iTunes, and select the Advanced Preferences tab in order to locate the Spressa drive. If you experience any failures in finding the drive, go back up to Preferences and allow iTunes to locate the burner again.
So in summary...
To burn data/MP3 disks from the DESKTOP using a Sony Spressa USB drive, you need to:
ENABLE the "USB Authoring Support", DISABLE 3rd party burner extensions
To burn audio disks from ITUNES using a Sony Spressa USB drive you need to:
ENABLE 3rd party burner extensions, DISABLE "USB Authoring Support"
HOW THIS COULD ALLOW ANY DRIVE TO WORK WITH ITUNES:
The fact that the Spressa drive works even in iTunes when known-good drivers are utilized leads me to believe that nearly any burner can be recognized and utilized by iTunes if the appropriate burner drivers are installed and the appropriate Apple Authoring Support extension (either "USB Authoring Support" or "FireWire Authoring Support") is DISABLED. Being w/out access to every burner available, i can only hypothesize at this point, but i welcome feedback from folks with other drives.
Also, if enough folks are interested, i'd be happy to throw together a web-based how-to as well. For now, i hope this clears up some of the confusion as to what works and what doesn't and perhaps more importantly WHY.
- C
[This message has been edited by clifhirtle (edited 02-27-2001).]
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