716A improperly identifies CD-RW discs as DVD-RAM; fails to write

Problem: PX-716A improperly recognizes CD-RW discs as DVD-RAM discs and is unable to write or erase them

PX-716A installed as Cable Select (Master) on secondary ATA bus
Firmware installed: 1.06

Computer: Apple Macintosh dual 1.25GHz G4 "Mirror Drive Door"
OS: Mac OS 10.3.8

I just purchased a Plextor PX-716A drive and have observed that the drive fails to work properly with three brands of CD-RW discs.

TDK 12X CD-RW discs and Memorex 4X CD-RW discs are identified as 1X DVD-RAM discs. Any attempt to write or erase these discs using the PX-716A drive fails and the drive becomes inoperable until performing a cold boot of the computer.

Ricoh 1X CD-RW discs are also recognized as DVD-RAM discs, but with a speed rating of "1X to 20X". Attempting to write or erase the disc results in the failure noted above.

With any of the above three CD-RW discs made in the burner that came with the computer (brand: HL-DT-ST; model: GCA-4020B; type: DVD-RW), while still being recognized as a DVD-RAM disc by the PX-716A, they are readable and files can be copied off them.

DVD-R and DVD-RW burning appears to work properly, although as I have yet to take delivery of any high-speed media my tests have been limited to 2X DVD-R and 1X DVD-RW.

Any clues as to the genesis of this problem and what its solution might be?

http://patchburn.de/

read some of the FAQs and posts...hopefully they can help you. native support for opti drives with Mac OS X is far from stellar.

Thanks for the advice, but I have combed through all the FAQs and dozens of discussion threads prior to posting here ( I've done my homework ). None mention CD-RW discs being identified as DVD-RAM discs, so I was hoping that was a clue.

And patchburn, which is only necessary if one wishes to access the drive with any of the "iapps" such as iTunes, iDVD, etc. was installed within 60 seconds of installing the drive several days ago.

Hehe ... funny since the 716A does not support DVD-RAM at all ... I wish a company like Plextor would take better care of Mac customers (or Apple would take better care of their customers) ... regarding both companie's premium price policies, this should be feasible ...

sorry couldn't be of more help. . good luck.

the plextor will not read dvd rams at all

if you put one in it'll read as if theres nothing inside... so your problem is something else

btw WE SHOULD HAVE DVD RAM SUPPORT

I second that ... at least, reading DVD-RAM should be of no problem.

it's very easy since the laser used can change the intensity the question is is plextor willing to..

Hi Ladd,

I have same problem on Mac G5. I try many CD - RW brands, not single one is recognized corectly. I first thought it is Toast problem but using own Apple Disk Utility it performed same-except that Apple Utility recognized disk as CD-RW but can not write on it.
Plextor Support said it is Roxio problem, but when I informed them that Apple own Disk Utility perform same, they suggest media checking and drive test with PlexTools.
I try all firmware from 1.03 to 1.06 same thing CD-RW is seen as DVD 1-3X.

Regards

B.

firmware updates
and its a mac! macs are ment to be broken by default..

Bozaz -- here's what I have figured out:

I downloaded the 30-day trial of Dragon Burn and it recognized the three CD-RW discs as CD-RW when they were placed in the Plextor 716A. The discs have been written to and erased via Dragon Burn and the 716A. Everything works exactly as it is supposed to.

What's *REALLY* interesting is that these CD-RW discs are now recognized properly by Disc Utility and the Finder -- I have written to the discs with direct Finder burns and erased them via Disk Utility.

Toast still thinks the discs are DVD-RAM though. Writing fails as before, as does erasing. So I'm thinking that it is a Toast issue.

get a pc.. macs are useless
just a toy to play with

Very constructive posts dragger..

Thanks for keeping us updated Ladd. Good to hear that you solved your problem (or so it seems) and that it's not a drive related problem

Thanks Ladd for this contribution.

B.

meh its true we have toy macs to toy with... all of the video and photo apps are now pc based by tech savy students out of college.. its alot more powerful and less headaches for it's

Toast 6.1 now available.

This update fixes the problems noted with Toast incorrectly identifying CD-RW discs in the Plextor 716A drive as DVD-RAM discs.