18 replies to this topic

[redavatar]

System Specifics: PowerMac G4 500 Mhz, 1024 MB RAM, OS 10.2.8

I am using Toast 6 Titanium with an external LaCie d2 DL DVD+/-RW Firewire drive. The drive will read and play both DVD's and CD's, but will only write to CD-R and CD-RW media. When I try to burn to a DVD-R, the following happens: Error -50: Interface connection is unstable.  

When I click "Okay", I then get this:
Sense Key = Illegal Request
Sense Code= 0x30, 0x05
Cannot Write Medium - Incompatible Format
And then the disk is ejected.

I have tried updating the firmware for the drive, updating Toast, switching cables and Firewire ports, but all to no avail. Any ideas?

[tsantee]

Have you tested with a different brand of blank DVD-R media? What brand are you using? Are you also contacting LaCie support about this?

[redavatar]

tsantee, on Mar 5 2006, 07:34 PM, said:

Have you tested with a different brand of blank DVD-R media? What brand are you using? Are you also contacting LaCie support about this?

I have tried burning to both TDK and Memorex brand disks with the same result. I have been in contact with LaCie support, but none of their suggestions have worked. Ditto for Roxio.

By the way, I notice that you are in Eugene. Hello (waves) from Zigzag, OR.

[tsantee]

redavatar, on Mar 6 2006, 08:12 AM, said:

I have tried burning to both TDK and Memorex brand disks with the same result. I have been in contact with LaCie support, but none of their suggestions have worked. Ditto for Roxio.

By the way, I notice that you are in Eugene. Hello (waves) from Zigzag, OR.

How's the snow?
One thing you can try is download and apply Apple's combined system update. Sometimes applying the combined system update on top of your existing system will fix some strange Firewire (and USB) issues, which could be the reason for DVD writing problems. You also could have a defective drive. Do you have a different Mac to try it on?

[redavatar]

tsantee, on Mar 6 2006, 09:19 AM, said:

How's the snow?
One thing you can try is download and apply Apple's combined system update. Sometimes applying the combined system update on top of your existing system will fix some strange Firewire (and USB) issues, which could be the reason for DVD writing problems. You also could have a defective drive. Do you have a different Mac to try it on?

Well, the last deluge washed away all of the snow near our house, though there's still plenty if you head up towards Mt Hood.

I'll try downloading and applying the combined update, even though that will take a ridiculous amount of time with my dial-up connection.     I have a friend with a G4 running OS 10.3, and as soon as I can get ahold of her I plan to try the drive out on her system to see what happens. Thanks for your suggestions; technical support has been next to useless.

[james.connolly]

Well, I have been having exactly this problem with two Macs, one a 400MHz Cube, the other a 450MHz graphite G4 tower. I hadn't realized there were limitations to the burning of DVDs based on CPU especially since I always create an image file first and then burn.

LaCie 1394 DVD-R/RW+CD drive
NEC DVD_RW ND-2510A

It's a LaCie d2 DL DVD±RW (8x) based on NEC ND-2510A

I tried replacing firewire cables (for the "unstable interface). No luck.
I tried replacing media - no luck.
I updated all the software (Toast 6.1.1, Mac OS X 10.4.6).

I finally plugged the unit into a G5 iMac. It worked perfectly.

It looks like the CPU and/or firewire speed are just too slow for the drive.

The problem exists in Toast, iDVD, Disk Utility.

I guess the drive will be returned to the store as the computer is just too weak to handle DVD writing.

[tsantee]

james.connolly, on Apr 4 2006, 11:49 AM, said:

Well, I have been having exactly this problem with two Macs, one a 400MHz Cube, the other a 450MHz graphite G4 tower. I hadn't realized there were limitations to the burning of DVDs based on CPU especially since I always create an image file first and then burn.

LaCie 1394 DVD-R/RW+CD drive
NEC DVD_RW ND-2510A

It's a LaCie d2 DL DVD±RW (8x) based on NEC ND-2510A

I tried replacing firewire cables (for the "unstable interface). No luck.
I tried replacing media - no luck.
I updated all the software (Toast 6.1.1, Mac OS X 10.4.6).

I finally plugged the unit into a G5 iMac. It worked perfectly.

It looks like the CPU and/or firewire speed are just too slow for the drive.

The problem exists in Toast, iDVD, Disk Utility.
You should be able to burn DVDs via Firewire with those Macs. It's odd that you are having trouble with both Macs. A somewhat common problem is that the OS has a Firewire glitch that happens when doing incremental system updates. If this is the problem here you can fix it by downloading and applying the 10.4.6 Combined System Updater.

I guess the drive will be returned to the store as the computer is just too weak to handle DVD writing.

Before you return the drive, download and apply the 10.4.6 Combined System Updater. It is fairly common for Firewire issues to appear after incremental system updates. These are fixed by applying the Combined Updater on top of the existing OS. Your drive should burn DVDs via Firewire on those Macs.

Edited by tsantee, 04 April 2006 - 01:45 PM.

[boehmb1]

I have the exact same problem trying to burn a dual-layer DVD with a G4-500 and the Lacie drive mentioned above.  I'm running 10.3.9, with 1GB ram.  single-layer DVD's burn like a charm.

[tsantee]

boehmb1, on Apr 9 2006, 06:15 PM, said:

I have the exact same problem trying to burn a dual-layer DVD with a G4-500 and the Lacie drive mentioned above.  I'm running 10.3.9, with 1GB ram.  single-layer DVD's burn like a charm.

Be sure to be using Verbatim DL DVD+R discs. I haven't heard of any other brand that works with any kind of reliability. Also, I presume you've updated the firmware with the latest version available at the LaCie site.

[boehmb1]

tsantee, on Apr 9 2006, 10:03 PM, said:

Be sure to be using Verbatim DL DVD+R discs. I haven't heard of any other brand that works with any kind of reliability. Also, I presume you've updated the firmware with the latest version available at the LaCie site.

Unfortunately, I bought Fuji DL DVD+R disks on sale.  And, I don't see a firmware upgrade for my LaCie burner (early DL model with NEC 2510A drive).  The only firmware upgrade for Firewire DVD burners is for the new LightScribe ones.  Thanks for the reply, though.  I guess I'll just burn the occaisional DL disk on my Windows box (where it works fine).

[tsantee]

boehmb1, on Apr 10 2006, 08:02 AM, said:

Unfortunately, I bought Fuji DL DVD+R disks on sale.  And, I don't see a firmware upgrade for my LaCie burner (early DL model with NEC 2510A drive).  The only firmware upgrade for Firewire DVD burners is for the new LightScribe ones.  Thanks for the reply, though.  I guess I'll just burn the occaisional DL disk on my Windows box (where it works fine).

Download and run the LaCie 1.3.4 updater anyway. It apparently includes earlier firmware updates for their earlier drives. The updater will check if the drive is compatible with the updater and if an update is needed. It worked for my NEC 3520 drive that is not Lightscribe.

[boehmb1]

tsantee, on Apr 10 2006, 09:29 AM, said:

Download and run the LaCie 1.3.4 updater anyway. It apparently includes earlier firmware updates for their earlier drives. The updater will check if the drive is compatible with the updater and if an update is needed. It worked for my NEC 3520 drive that is not Lightscribe.

Tsantee, you were right.  I did the firmware update and it burned a dual-layer disc (6.2 GB) perfectly!  I also put the video files on one of the internal drives, not the external Firewire one.  I thought that might lighten the load on the Firewire subsystem.  And, oh by the way, the disc I made was on a Fujifilm DL disc, so I guess they are compatable with at least my drive (NEC 2510A).

Thanks again for the advice!

[tsantee]

boehmb1, on Apr 10 2006, 04:42 PM, said:

Tsantee, you were right.  I did the firmware update and it burned a dual-layer disc (6.2 GB) perfectly!  I also put the video files on one of the internal drives, not the external Firewire one.  I thought that might lighten the load on the Firewire subsystem.  And, oh by the way, the disc I made was on a Fujifilm DL disc, so I guess they are compatable with at least my drive (NEC 2510A).

Thanks again for the advice!

That's great news! Thanks for letting me know it worked with the Fujifilm DL disc.

[malatekid]

tsantee, on Apr 10 2006, 01:29 PM, said:

Download and run the LaCie 1.3.4 updater anyway. It apparently includes earlier firmware updates for their earlier drives. The updater will check if the drive is compatible with the updater and if an update is needed. It worked for my NEC 3520 drive that is not Lightscribe.

Do you think the firmware will work with my Lacie d2 burner USB (NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A), no LightScribe? I am having problem burning to a DL and I cannot find a firmware update to this model.
Thanks.

[tsantee]

malatekid, on May 8 2006, 06:54 AM, said:

Do you think the firmware will work with my Lacie d2 burner USB (NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A), no LightScribe? I am having problem burning to a DL and I cannot find a firmware update to this model.
Thanks.

Yes. Although LaCie's support page says it is for the Lightscribe drives, it actually contains earlier firmware updates for its other drives. It will update your 3520A to 3520AW and should help it work with at least Verbatim DL media.

[malatekid]

tsantee, on May 8 2006, 11:12 AM, said:

Yes. Although LaCie's support page says it is for the Lightscribe drives, it actually contains earlier firmware updates for its other drives. It will update your 3520A to 3520AW and should help it work with at least Verbatim DL media.

I just realized you're talking about Mac system. So the driver update is for Mac.

Anyway, there looks like one for Windows--Device Updater 4.0.5 posted on Dec 15, 2005. I hope this is the right one.

Thanks!

[Hollywoodish]

Help Help help
i'am having the same error code trouble on both a int 3520 an ext lacie 3520 g4 running 10.3.9
this all started after i cloned a samsung made dvd from burner to burner on the G4
using toast 6
i downloaded lacies updater and it said all was good on the ext at firm 1.4 i think it was.
brian

[ldsadam]

Mine was an interface error -50. I am running Toast 6 on a G4 Powerbook Mac OSX 10.5.6. I downloaded the latest firmware for the burner. After updating it to the newest firmware it worked. I am using Memorex DVD+R DL.

[tsantee]

Mine was an interface error -50. I am running Toast 6 on a G4 Powerbook Mac OSX 10.5.6. I downloaded the latest firmware for the burner. After updating it to the newest firmware it worked. I am using Memorex DVD+R DL.

Glad it worked after the firmware update. Memorex DL media has possibly the worst reputation of any brand.