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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > You CAN record on DVD-RW with 17" AluBook? See inside.

You CAN record on DVD-RW with 17" AluBook? See inside.
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Eug
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Apr 9, 2003, 12:29 PM
 
This guy claims to be able to record onto Maxell DVD-RW, using his 17" AluBook with DWDB firmware.

The few other reports I've seen say that DVD-RW doesn't work with the 17" DWDB AluBook, and I can confirm that D0CB and D0C4 don't work either in my TiBook with Pioneer DVD-RW.

I'll try again just to be 100% sure with my TiBook, but I doubt it will work. It'd be nice if someone could do the same with a 17" AluBook. The way he did it was to use a QuickErased DVD-RW, not a virgin one, if that makes any difference.
     
parsec_kadets
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Apr 9, 2003, 01:55 PM
 
Originally posted by Eug:
This guy claims to be able to record onto Maxell DVD-RW, using his 17" AluBook with DWDB firmware.

The few other reports I've seen say that DVD-RW doesn't work with the 17" DWDB AluBook, and I can confirm that D0CB and D0C4 don't work either in my TiBook with Pioneer DVD-RW.

I'll try again just to be 100% sure with my TiBook, but I doubt it will work. It'd be nice if someone could do the same with a 17" AluBook. The way he did it was to use a QuickErased DVD-RW, not a virgin one, if that makes any difference.
It's an interesting post, but has he erased the disk with the PB? I don't have a DVD-RW drive, so I would need the PB to do this if I were going to use this as an RW drive.
     
forcelite
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Apr 9, 2003, 02:04 PM
 
Keep in mind that there is a slight difference with every drive. Some drives can burn to cheaper dvd-r's and some need the more expensive ones. This could be the same with these drives and dvd-rw media. The chance of a drive being able to burn them is probable 5% or so, but some will be able to, just as some people will be able to burn to cheaper media than others.
I am not saying this guy has dont this, cause I dont know. I am just reasoning it with something I do know
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 9, 2003, 02:09 PM
 
Keep in mind that there is a slight difference with every drive. Some drives can burn to cheaper dvd-r's and some need the more expensive ones. This could be the same with these drives and dvd-rw media. The chance of a drive being able to burn them is probable 5% or so, but some will be able to, just as some people will be able to burn to cheaper media than others.
I am not saying this guy has dont this, cause I dont know. I am just reasoning it with something I do know
The firmware still has to support DVD-RW burning though, regardless of the media quality. It's not the same thing as good vs. poor DVD-R on a drive that includes DVD-R support.

Anyways, like I said, I'll try again, with my Pioneer media.

It's an interesting post, but has he erased the disk with the PB? I don't have a DVD-RW drive, so I would need the PB to do this if I were going to use this as an RW drive.
It sounds like he erased it with an external drive.

For what it's worth, I couldn't erase a DVD-RW with my TiBook's internal drive.
( Last edited by Eug; Apr 9, 2003 at 02:15 PM. )
     
Nicoleto
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Apr 9, 2003, 04:21 PM
 
I've tried to record DVDs (DVD-RW) using cheap media I bought when I had my iMac.
When I first tried the recording process (using media erased with the iMac), it reached 99% of the recording and then got stuck and gave me an error message.

When I try to erase the disk (Either complete or quick erase) it will finish the erasing process successfully. However, if I try to use that erased DVD (erased with the PB17) the computer wont let me do it.
     
vanwyklr
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Apr 9, 2003, 07:43 PM
 
i tested both a new dvd-rw and a previosuley used on powermac dvd-rw .... both memorex.
the previousely used both erased and wrote on the 17 albook. the new one failed.
     
vanwyklr
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Apr 9, 2003, 07:56 PM
 
the new dvd-rw which failed i was then able to erase and write with on the powerbook 17
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 9, 2003, 11:57 PM
 
i tested both a new dvd-rw and a previosuley used on powermac dvd-rw .... both memorex.
the previousely used both erased and wrote on the 17 albook. the new one failed.
Interesting... if your (and my) machines are representative, this is a HUGE advantage of the 17" PowerBook.

I just tried my Pioneer DVD-RW disc again in my TiBook.

A pre-recorded DVD-RW works fine in it. However, my TiBook D0CB SuperDrive still refuses to erase it, or write to the disc after it has been quickerased on my external Firewire LF-D521U, with Toast 5.2.

The disc records and erases fine on that Firewire Panasonic LF-D521U.
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 10, 2003, 10:17 AM
 
Anyone else test their PB17 with a previously used DVD-RW disc?
     
Nicoleto
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Apr 10, 2003, 01:24 PM
 
Actually I tried to record many times. Some times it did work, and some others it did not. However I feel it is a very unreliable process.

It records only when it feels like it. If you are recording an important work, make sure to have a backup.

Maybe I should change the media (currently using a non-branded DVD-RW) to a better one.

In my case I get more erroneous writings than successful ones.

Regards
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 10, 2003, 01:43 PM
 
Originally posted by Nicoleto:
Actually I tried to record many times. Some times it did work, and some others it did not. However I feel it is a very unreliable process.

It records only when it feels like it. If you are recording an important work, make sure to have a backup.

Maybe I should change the media (currently using a non-branded DVD-RW) to a better one.

In my case I get more erroneous writings than successful ones.
Well, that's a lot further than I can get with D0CB or D0C4.

With those, Pioneer DVD-RW is not recognized as recordable media at all.

BTW, so far I have seen no evidence that DVD-RAM works at all in any PowerBook (for either read or write).
     
parsec_kadets
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Apr 21, 2003, 02:10 PM
 
Well, now that I actually got my 17" I was able to try this out myself. I borrowed a used DVD-RW (I forget which brand) from a friend who had performed a quick erase on it. The PB was able to recognize it as a DVD-RW and burn to it. My other friend's Ti was then able to read the disk and copy files from it. So I went out and bought a Memorex DVD-RW and tried burning to it brand new, which failed. My first friend burned to it, and I performed a quick erase. However, I was still unable to burn to the disk afterward. I plan on just trading this disk to my friend for the one that did work and use that whenver I don't feel like wasting a DVD-R on something. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
     
JohnM15141
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Apr 21, 2003, 06:37 PM
 
I bought a Maxell DVD-RW Disc(The cheapest one I could find!).

Using Roxio Toast 5.2.1 which identifies my 17"PB Superdrive as a DCD-RW/CD-RW. I was able to write a 4GB Data file. (At 1X speed only)

I placed this DVD in my PowerMac G4 DP1.25 DVD-Combo Drive and read the files, no problem.

Then I put the DVD-RW back into my 17"PB and erased it. Then I wrote a 47GB Data file onto the same disc. It worked just fine.

However I don't have access to another DVD-RW drive so I can't test if it will erase a DVD-RW written on another computer...

Originally posted by parsec_kadets:
Well, now that I actually got my 17" I was able to try this out myself. I borrowed a used DVD-RW (I forget which brand) from a friend who had performed a quick erase on it. The PB was able to recognize it as a DVD-RW and burn to it. My other friend's Ti was then able to read the disk and copy files from it. So I went out and bought a Memorex DVD-RW and tried burning to it brand new, which failed. My first friend burned to it, and I performed a quick erase. However, I was still unable to burn to the disk afterward. I plan on just trading this disk to my friend for the one that did work and use that whenver I don't feel like wasting a DVD-R on something. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
     
Nicoleto
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Apr 21, 2003, 11:52 PM
 
I wrote an email to Panasonic regarding the purchase of one UJ-815B multi drive and got the following response:


Dear Mr. xxxxx

Please advise approx. how many UJ-815B slim DVD Multi Drives you will require?

Cordially,
Dana M. Berzin

Panasonic Industrial Company
1600 McCandless Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
U.S.A.

Tel. 408-945-5615
Fax. 408-946-3753



It seems that they are willing to sell the drives on a high-quantity basis only.

Here is the link to the drive's page
     
Jayman20
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Apr 21, 2003, 11:53 PM
 
Worked for me using a TDK -RW

Wrote a movie from iDVD, and a DVD movie image from Toast. Both played in my Home DVD Player with no problems.
     
hsvgoku
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Apr 22, 2003, 12:29 AM
 
Hmm...i will try to grab a DVD-RW and try to burn and then erase it with my Ti 1Ghz PB. Will keep you guys posted.
     
adamberti
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Apr 22, 2003, 12:06 PM
 
Originally posted by Nicoleto:
Here is the link to the drive's page
If you read the pdf about the drive, I notice it says UJ-815-B, anyone know the differences between the A and B (If there is any?) Could the B be more reliable at DVD-RW and Apple is now using B's? I'm guessing they used to use A's because I think they put these in the TiBook's the minute they were available. I looked around on the web and certain pages like some on Roxio say they support the UJ-815A, so it did exist and was shipped before....
     
Nicoleto
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Apr 22, 2003, 09:08 PM
 
I?m not sure which one is more reliable. However my 17? PB has an UJ-815C drive.
     
daemon1
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Apr 23, 2003, 09:09 AM
 
Just like to confirm,

Have 17" powerbook

with Matshita UJ-815 drive, firmware: DWDB

I have used Imation DVD-RW Disc: http://www.imation.com/en_US/product.jhtml?Id=IM_PRD425

Put the DVD in, used Toast 5.2 to erase. Did a full erase (which took a while!).

Burnt about 280mb on the disk... ejected and reinsterted, the files were all ok, open/read everything

Erased the disk again, with the Finder Disk Copy program (in Application/Utilities), did a quick erase.

Loaded up Toast again, burnt 3.8gb on the disk.... (took about 40-50mins) support 1x speed.... ejected, reinserted disc, all file ok, no probs...

Burnt same image on apple dvd-r disc, got a fork something error when there was about 10sec left... rebooted the system (the dvd wouldn't eject.. read the contents ok, files that i looked at seemed fine)... Toast said it was an osx error which caused the burn to fail, I was running the battery down (it was on about 5% at the time), also doing some stuff in terminal... anyway the disc survived, didn't come out as a coaster.

Also have read the pdf from the industrial panasonic site, which tells you what the drive can support.

Based on this, the apple firmware doesn't cripple DVD-RW on firmware DWDB.

Im not eager to change anything about the drive... my dvd region is 4 (Australia) - have only region4 discs, dont need to be region free...

The drive burns DVD-R, DVD-RW and does CD-R @ 16x (have burnt about 20 cds at that speed on the weekend - no probs)... That's all I need... if it does DVD-RAM now, or in the future, its a bonus, if not, am happy with DVD-RW

Hope this helps!!
     
Finrock
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Apr 23, 2003, 11:08 PM
 
Here's the scoop on my 17" PowerBook:

Serial Number: V7312
DVD-R Firmware: DWDB

I've been wondering if I can use DVD-RWs, and I decided to spend a few bucks today and find out first hand.

DVD-RWs used: Brand New Maxell DVD-RW (ver. 1.1)

First, I inserted the DVD-RW into the drive. The finder recognized it as a blank DVD and asked me what to do with it. I clicked "Ignore." Next, I opened Roxio Toast 5.2.1 and it recognized the DVD-RW as blank and ready to be written to. I didn't try to burn anything to the DVD-RW, I was more interested in trying to burn with iDVD 3.

Just for kicks, thought, I tried to erase an already blank DVD-RW. Toast erased it perfectly, although it took quite a while.

I launched iDVD 3 and opened a project that was ready to burn. When I clicked "burn" and inserted the DVD-RW, it said the disc could not be written to. Insted, I inserted a DVD-R and when it began to encode, I pressed the eject key on my keyboard and inserted a DVD-RW into the drive. iDVD then burned a DVD-RW of my iDVD project. I played the DVD in my Sony DVD player without a problem.

So... DVD-RWs seem to work perfectly in my 17" PowerBook. I'm curious to hear how others have fared.

-Finrock
     
b3b0p
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Apr 24, 2003, 12:20 PM
 
Hot Damn! I can't wait to try this. I am going to pick me up a DVD-RW sometime soon and check this out.

Chris
     
HvyMtlMdns
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Apr 24, 2003, 12:48 PM
 
Decided to test this capability this morning after reading this thread. I have the 17" Al PB with the DWDB DVD-R Revision. I took a brand new Memorex DVD-RW v1.1 and was able to burn a short video (110MB) to it without any problems.

After this, I was able to successfully erase the disk without any problems. I then loaded about 3.5GB of MP3 files and attempted to burn this file. Well, this is where things got interesting.

It went thru the entire burn cycle and then thru the verification cycle where it then reported an error just near the end of the whole process. The disc was ejected. I was a bit disappointed. I decided to see if I could erase it and try again.

I was then pleasantly surprised to see that the disc mounted upon insertion. I was able to play quite a few of the MP3 without any problems. I then tried to copy back the entire contents of the disk. It hit an error about 2/3rds of the way thru and stopped. Luckily, I determined that the file it stopped on was a single bad file that was also bad on my hard drive. I was able to copy the rest of the material without any troubles.

It looks like this bonus feature of the 17" laptops does exist!
MacMini 2.0 Ghz C2D/160GB/2GB RAM/8x Dual-Layer SD/3X 1 TB Ext HDs; iMac C2D 20" 2.66 GHz/320GB/2GB RAM/8x Dual-Layer SD/20" Display with external 20" Apple Cinema Display; PB G4 1.67 GHz 17"/250GB/1 GB RAM/8x Dual-Layer SD; 5G iPod Classic 160GB; 2G iPod Shuffle; AppleTV
     
jia_zhuang
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Apr 25, 2003, 05:23 PM
 
should this mean that there is hope that the superdrive on the 17" will one day be able to burn to DVD-RAM with just a firmware update??? Any news on the DVD-RAM??? Lacie is producing a DVD multi drive and is got the same specs as that of the UJ-815.
     
OSXFreak
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Apr 26, 2003, 01:31 PM
 
Ecstatic to report that I can burn onto Packard-Bell DVD-RWs (purchased from Dixons in the UK) with no probs - have tried Roxio Toast & iPhoto with not a single hiccup. Yet another reason to get an aluminium beauty!!
I merely like XP; I'm having a passionate love affair with OS X
     
jia_zhuang
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Apr 28, 2003, 12:02 PM
 
i second that, Packard Bell DVD works, just pop to dixons and picked up a pack and Toast 5.2 works.
     
hsvgoku
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Apr 29, 2003, 07:30 AM
 
I bought 2 DVD-RW ( Philips and Verbatim) and both of them doesn't work with my Ti PB
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 29, 2003, 07:37 AM
 
Originally posted by hsvgoku:
I bought 2 DVD-RW ( Philips and Verbatim) and both of them doesn't work with my Ti PB
Does Philips even make DVD-RW? They support the DVD+RW format. I know Verbatim has both DVD+RW and DVD-RW.

DVD+RW won't work in the Panasonic drive.

EDIT:

By the way, were you trying to record or just read? Mine definitely can't record to DVD-RW either. Only the 17" can. I can read DVD-RW just fine however.
( Last edited by Eug; Apr 29, 2003 at 07:47 AM. )
     
videian28
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Apr 29, 2003, 07:41 AM
 
I bought 2 DVD-RW ( Philips and Verbatim) and both of them doesn't work with my Ti PB
what firmware?
     
hsvgoku
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Apr 29, 2003, 09:30 AM
 
Err...whats the difference between a DVD+RW and a DVD-RW ??? The Philips one is DVD+RW the Verbatim one is DVD-RW. I can't read both the Philips one (with data) and the Verbatim one (no data).
     
Eug  (op)
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Apr 29, 2003, 09:53 AM
 
Originally posted by hsvgoku:
Err...whats the difference between a DVD+RW and a DVD-RW ??? The Philips one is DVD+RW the Verbatim one is DVD-RW. I can't read both the Philips one (with data) and the Verbatim one (no data).
They are very similar, but different enough that one format's disc can't be burned on the other's burner. Check my sig.

DVD-RW came out first, and then DVD+RW came out to compete.
     
hsvgoku
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Apr 29, 2003, 10:23 AM
 
Thanks Eug. So there is no way that i can burn DVD-RW / DVD+RW on my Ti PB ?
     
royal
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May 21, 2003, 06:27 PM
 
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Eug:
[B]This guy claims to be able to record onto Maxell DVD-RW, using his 17" AluBook with DWDB firmware.

What's the big deal, I have a 17" and DVD-RW works fine in my matshita uj-815 DWDB drive... of course!

     
wanderlust
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May 22, 2003, 10:58 PM
 
[QUOTE]Originally posted by royal:
[B]
Originally posted by Eug:
This guy claims to be able to record onto Maxell DVD-RW, using his 17" AluBook with DWDB firmware.

What's the big deal, I have a 17" and DVD-RW works fine in my matshita uj-815 DWDB drive... of course!

That was posted a month a half ago when it was "news".
     
   
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