[G4] Reading DV+R discs on Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105

[Philip J Robar]

On Oct 14, 2006, at 1:23 PM, Carol wrote:

> I just received some DVDs on Fujifilm DVD+R that my MDD G4 OS 10.3.9  
> with the orignal Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105 just spits out.  I put them  
> in on older Sawtooth G4 (OS 10.3.5) that has had the original  
> optical drive replaced with a newer DVD/CD-RW drive.  This drive  
> accepted the discs, but just dragging a folder from the disc to the  
> hard drive gave an I/O error.
>
> I took the discs to work where I have a newer computer, a PC running  
> Windows XP that has a Phillips DVD+-RW drive.  No problem.
>
> The MDD G4 has accepted other DVD+R discs, but I do not recall the  
> brand or the speed.  There must be some kind of incompatibility with  
> these particular discs.

Were the DVD discs or at least their last session closed? Windows  
software often leaves a disc unclosed so that more sessions can be  
added later. From what I've gathered reading various lists OS X  
doesn't like discs (or is it just the last session?) that haven't been  
closed. Installing something like Roxio's Toast might help, but I'd  
check with them first.

Here's a couple of places to learn more about sessions and disc  
compatibility issues:

http://www.roxio.com/enu/support/compatibility_forum/white_paper.html

http://www.cdrfaq.org/

The DVD FAQ is mostly aimed at A/V issues, but it does have a section  
on computers and DVDs.
http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

BTW, I'm curious. Why haven't you upgraded the Sawtooth to 10.3.9?


Phil