Hello, I've been using a plextor external burner with a Mac, burning dvds with Mac the Ripper, compressing with DVD2One, then burning with Roxio Popcorn. It took any type of disc (imation, memorex, etc.), but all of a sudden it keeps telling me that there is a "sense code-incompatible format). I tried using a better quality disc (verbatim dvd-r), but that didn't work either. I downloaded dragon burn, and it keeps telling me that there is a sense code. I don't know what to do--i figured maybe I should get some taio yuden discs, but if that isn't the problem, i don't want to spend money that'll just go to waste. If anyone could shed some light, I would greatly appreciate it.
Have you looked to see if there is a firmware update available for your burner? You didn't specify the model so I'll just point you in the general Plextor direction? http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=38
I apologize! I guess I should've included the model of the Plextor burner. The model of the burner is a PX-740UF
Firmware Version 1.02, the newest as of the 1st of this year, is here: http://www.plextor.com/english/support/downloads/firm_740.htm
I downloaded the upgrade, but it is only for windows, as it is an .exe file. I only have mac right now. Is there any other possibility?
I imagine you'll have to hook the external burner to a PC to do the firmware flash. I'm pretty sure it has to be to a USB 2 port and not a Firewire port as well even if your burner has both ports. It'd be a good idea to see if it works on another system anyway. If it works hooked up to another system, you'll know there is something in your system OS that is causing problems. If it doesn't work on another system and you exchanged cables and upgraded the firmware, the burner may be bad. There's tons of free software available on the PC side. Do you have any friends or family nearby with PCs you could use to test and do the firmware update?
yeah, i know a few people who could let me use their pc. However, just a little while ago, i unplugged the burner from the USB2 port (in the back of my Mac mini), and I plugged it into my keyboard (the keyboard has a usb port) and it is burning now, but extremely slow. I assume that the keyboard port isn't USB2, but 1.1. Now i'm really confused! I'll putz around with it some more, but thanks for all the help, and i'll keep you updated after I get the firmware update.
Yes, if it's a USB 1 port, the burning would be very slow indeed. Try plugging it back into the USB 2 port and see if it works now. At least you know the burner works and that's a plus.
hello again--i downloaded and installed the firmware upgrade, but it's still acting the same. Now i really don't know what to do. I ordered a two-pack of taiyo-yuden dvd-r's from ebay. I'm curious to see if the problem is that the burner is just rejecting my discs due to quality. Is there anything else I can do in the mean time?
i almost got a burn from the usb 1 port--it seemed like it started writing, then said the same "sense code" deal. I didn't try with the pc because it had no burning software on it. I'll see what i can do on that. But are there any other reasons why my burner would just stop reading my blank discs? I don't recall downloading anything or doing anything different than what i've always been doing. It seems wierd.
It cold be the burner has gone bad. If it works on another system, then you know something is amiss on your system. If it doesn't work on another system, the burner is likely bad. You've tried different media so I don't think that is likely the problem. I assume you're burning at a reduced speed like 4X. If you're trying to burn at max speed, that could be a problem. Have you tried a +R format disk? I assumed the disk is reading disks OK. Is that correct? To backup DVDs on a PC, you'll need the following: DVD Shrink (free): http://www.filehippo.com/download_dvdshrink/ ImgBurn (free): http://www.imgburn.com AnyDVD (21-day free trial): http://www.slysoft.com AnyDVD overcomes all the copy protection. Use the AnyDVD ripper or DVD Shrink to rip to the HDD. Use DVD Shrink to compress/reauthor. Use ImgBurn to burn. Link to guides: http://home.comcast.net/~bbmayo/guides.htm Most of us on this forum are PC users and not Mac users. There is a Mac forum at the link below and someone there may be more familiar with your system and potential problems. It's probably worth posting there. http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/56
Hey again! I tried the same exact burning method on my ibook g4, and it works fine, no problem. so now we know that the burner is, in fact, working. The only thing now is that i don't know what to do with my mac mini. do you have any suggestions? I'm guessing the OS isn't recognizing the dvds. I also tried burn a cd, and it did say that it couldn't write, but it still did anyway. Anyway, thanks for all of your help, laddyboy.
Good to know the burner is OK. My only suggestion at this point would be to reinstall the OS. I'd probably backup the data, reformat the HDD, and do a fresh install of the OS and applications. That's usually what we do on the PC side when we can't isolate the cause. It is likely a driver level conflict on the Mini unless there is something wrong with the Mini's USB 2 port. Do you have more than one burning program installed on the Mini? Sometimes they each install drivers that can end up conflicting. You might also look at the settings to make sure the Mini is seeing the burner as both a DVD and CD burner. I suppose it's possible it is seeing the burner as just a CD burner. I haven't used a Mac since OS9 so I have no idea where to tell you to look. Does it read DVDs on the Mini? Hace you tried DVDs again on the Mini since it burned the CD?
