Intel Imac internal DVD won't burn past 2x! at DVinfo.net

Scott Jaco · February 7th, 2007, 07:32 AM

Hi,

I use disk utility to burn my DVD's which allows me to select the burn speed.
When I put a disc in, it tells me the max speed at which I can burn. I select 8x but it still only burns at 2x!

I recently started using Taiyo Uden discs but the burns are still slower than what I selected. What is wrong?

Scott Jaco · February 8th, 2007, 03:43 PM

Since I’ve gotten such an overwhelming response to this question, I decided to do some research of my own.

Apparently this is an issue that affects many of the Apple Super Drives.

What is happening is Apple wants to force you into buying “Apple” branded DVD media.

They program their drives to only allow apple discs to burn at 8x speeds. All other media is forced to burn at 2X.

Fortunately, I only burn my clients project at 2x anyway for safety but I don’t like not having the option to burn faster!

Shawn Kessler · February 8th, 2007, 03:49 PM

Ive never had a problem burning with my superdrive I usually burn at around 16x. But then again i dont have an intel mac. But as far as useing mac dvd's
i have never used one yet ive only used off brands work fine for me.

shawn

Scott Jaco · February 8th, 2007, 04:12 PM

This seems to be a problem for the Imacs, Mac Mini's and MacbookPro line.

Greg Boston · February 9th, 2007, 07:18 AM

I've had similar issues with my G5 Imac. Some of my research suggested certain drives exhibited this issue, while other's thought the choice of blank media (rated for the correct speed) was the issue.

Apple branded DVD media seemed to fair better and there was one other brand that did well that I can't remember. It was a couple years ago when I was looking into this issue.

I also need to mention that I had to remove a couple posts from this thread because as you should know, DVINFO does not allow platform wars. That includes derogatory remarks about one OS or the other because it always escalates. Thanks for keeping the policy in mind.

-gb-

Terence Murphy · February 9th, 2007, 06:15 PM

I have a rev 1 iMac G5, with a 4x SuperDrive, and it also typically burns at 2x. I had a spindle of DVD-Rs once that burned at 4x (I think they were Memorex, but I'm not positive), but Sony, Verbatim, and TY discs all burn at 2x. Its quite annoying -- I secretly hope the drive will just die so I can replace it with something faster that isn't "patched" with this "feature".

-Terence

Boyd Ostroff · February 9th, 2007, 06:23 PM

Funny, I'm also seeing this on my dual 2.5ghz G5 PowerMac. I recently bought a different brand of blank DVD and now I can only burn at 2x whereas before I was getting 4x IIRC. So I think it's definitely related to the type of DVD media. But I don't burn very many DVD's on that machine, so I really haven't looked into the issue very closely.

Victor Kellar · February 9th, 2007, 09:53 PM

I once heard that this kind of behavior was related to your Mac OS; I know that with my two home puters running 10.3.9 the Superdrives will only burn at 4X. At the studio I work at, where the G4s run up to date OS I seem to get more options

But here's a thought: I always burn at the slowest speed possible (except for data DVDs) For "movie" DVDs, burning at a slower speed can seem to help some playback issues.

Craig Parkes · February 13th, 2007, 08:04 PM

I have one of the new 20" Intel Imac's that I brought back in August/September and have burned a number of DVD's using disk utility onto differently branded media and never had an issue with it burning at 8x except that i have had reported errors on the very occassional DVD, which I attributed to the inherit risks of burning at 8x. I keep fully up to date with all the OS upgrades, and I check that the disks I am buying have 8x speed listed on them (I have a feeling that different DVD-R media is rated for different speeds.)

I very much doubt it would be wholesale move by apple to block anything but their 'own' media, as Apple really isn't a media producer.

Kevin Wild · February 13th, 2007, 08:27 PM

Let us know if anyone finds anything out on this.

We also have noticed that our iMac Intel model burns about 1/5th as fast as our Quad G5. It's REALLY slow. I thought it was a Toast problem, but maybe it is the computer or burner itself.

Boyd Ostroff · February 13th, 2007, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

now I can only burn at 2x

Hmmm. Just burned 4 DVD's yesterday and I was getting 4x. But supposedly the media supports 16x....

Terence Murphy · April 15th, 2007, 09:08 AM

For any Mac users who've had this same problem of DVDs not burning faster than 2x -- I just opened a new shipment of Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R valueline printable DVDs from SuperMediaStore, and they're burning at 4x (the max speed on my rev 1 iMac G5). This is in contrast to the previous spindle, same brand/part from SuperMediaStore, which would only burn at 2x. Its like a free upgrade! I'm glad I ordered 600, which should last me until next year.

-Terence

Scott Jaco · May 2nd, 2007, 01:35 AM

I use the exact same 8x TY media from the exact same outlet and I can still only burn 2x!

Terence Murphy · May 2nd, 2007, 09:58 AM

This is my third batch of the same item number from SuperMediaStore -- the first two were stuck at 2x but the new ones must be coded slightly different because they allow the higher speed. Hopefully this is a permanent change, and your next order will burn at the faster speed.

Arnaldo Paixao · May 3rd, 2007, 09:37 AM

I'm on PC so I know zip about MACs.

Just having a look around the APPLE support site, I saw mentions to firmware upgrades. Can the recorder's firmware be updated?

Hope it helps.

Best regards,
Arnaldo

February 7th, 2007, 07:32 AM	#1
Scott Jaco Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 471	Intel Imac internal DVD won't burn past 2x! Hi, I use disk utility to burn my DVD's which allows me to select the burn speed. When I put a disc in, it tells me the max speed at which I can burn. I select 8x but it still only burns at 2x! I recently started using Taiyo Uden discs but the burns are still slower than what I selected. What is wrong?

February 8th, 2007, 03:49 PM	#3
Shawn Kessler Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ofallon missouri Posts: 123	super drive Ive never had a problem burning with my superdrive I usually burn at around 16x. But then again i dont have an intel mac. But as far as useing mac dvd's i have never used one yet ive only used off brands work fine for me. shawn

May 3rd, 2007, 09:37 AM	#15
Arnaldo Paixao Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vimeiro - Portugal Posts: 255	Firmware upgrade? I'm on PC so I know zip about MACs. Just having a look around the APPLE support site, I saw mentions to firmware upgrades. Can the recorder's firmware be updated? Hope it helps. Best regards, Arnaldo

February 8th, 2007, 03:43 PM	#2
Scott Jaco Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 471	Since I’ve gotten such an overwhelming response to this question, I decided to do some research of my own. Apparently this is an issue that affects many of the Apple Super Drives. What is happening is Apple wants to force you into buying “Apple” branded DVD media. They program their drives to only allow apple discs to burn at 8x speeds. All other media is forced to burn at 2X. Fortunately, I only burn my clients project at 2x anyway for safety but I don’t like not having the option to burn faster!

February 8th, 2007, 04:12 PM	#4
Scott Jaco Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 471	This seems to be a problem for the Imacs, Mac Mini's and MacbookPro line.

February 9th, 2007, 07:18 AM	#5
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	I've had similar issues with my G5 Imac. Some of my research suggested certain drives exhibited this issue, while other's thought the choice of blank media (rated for the correct speed) was the issue. Apple branded DVD media seemed to fair better and there was one other brand that did well that I can't remember. It was a couple years ago when I was looking into this issue. I also need to mention that I had to remove a couple posts from this thread because as you should know, DVINFO does not allow platform wars. That includes derogatory remarks about one OS or the other because it always escalates. Thanks for keeping the policy in mind. -gb-

February 9th, 2007, 06:15 PM	#6
Terence Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 161	I have a rev 1 iMac G5, with a 4x SuperDrive, and it also typically burns at 2x. I had a spindle of DVD-Rs once that burned at 4x (I think they were Memorex, but I'm not positive), but Sony, Verbatim, and TY discs all burn at 2x. Its quite annoying -- I secretly hope the drive will just die so I can replace it with something faster that isn't "patched" with this "feature". -Terence

February 9th, 2007, 06:23 PM	#7
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,798	Funny, I'm also seeing this on my dual 2.5ghz G5 PowerMac. I recently bought a different brand of blank DVD and now I can only burn at 2x whereas before I was getting 4x IIRC. So I think it's definitely related to the type of DVD media. But I don't burn very many DVD's on that machine, so I really haven't looked into the issue very closely.

February 9th, 2007, 09:53 PM	#8
Victor Kellar Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto Ontario Canada Posts: 239	I once heard that this kind of behavior was related to your Mac OS; I know that with my two home puters running 10.3.9 the Superdrives will only burn at 4X. At the studio I work at, where the G4s run up to date OS I seem to get more options But here's a thought: I always burn at the slowest speed possible (except for data DVDs) For "movie" DVDs, burning at a slower speed can seem to help some playback issues.

February 13th, 2007, 08:04 PM	#9
Craig Parkes Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 444	I have one of the new 20" Intel Imac's that I brought back in August/September and have burned a number of DVD's using disk utility onto differently branded media and never had an issue with it burning at 8x except that i have had reported errors on the very occassional DVD, which I attributed to the inherit risks of burning at 8x. I keep fully up to date with all the OS upgrades, and I check that the disks I am buying have 8x speed listed on them (I have a feeling that different DVD-R media is rated for different speeds.) I very much doubt it would be wholesale move by apple to block anything but their 'own' media, as Apple really isn't a media producer.

February 13th, 2007, 08:27 PM	#10
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	Let us know if anyone finds anything out on this. We also have noticed that our iMac Intel model burns about 1/5th as fast as our Quad G5. It's REALLY slow. I thought it was a Toast problem, but maybe it is the computer or burner itself.

April 15th, 2007, 09:08 AM	#12
Terence Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 161	For any Mac users who've had this same problem of DVDs not burning faster than 2x -- I just opened a new shipment of Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R valueline printable DVDs from SuperMediaStore, and they're burning at 4x (the max speed on my rev 1 iMac G5). This is in contrast to the previous spindle, same brand/part from SuperMediaStore, which would only burn at 2x. Its like a free upgrade! I'm glad I ordered 600, which should last me until next year. -Terence

May 2nd, 2007, 01:35 AM	#13
Scott Jaco Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 471	I use the exact same 8x TY media from the exact same outlet and I can still only burn 2x!

May 2nd, 2007, 09:58 AM	#14
Terence Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 161	This is my third batch of the same item number from SuperMediaStore -- the first two were stuck at 2x but the new ones must be coded slightly different because they allow the higher speed. Hopefully this is a permanent change, and your next order will burn at the faster speed.