8 replies to this topic

[tangleroc]

I've just purchased a Sony external DVD drive/recorder and attached it to my eMac (running OS 10.2.6).  The Toast 6 Lite software that came with the recorder won't recognize the attached recorder!  It's only giving me the option of recording to my Mac's internal CD drive.

How do I get the software to recognize the attached Sony DVD drive/recorder?

Thanks in advance.

[tsantee]

It should work. Click on the name of the drive at the bottom of the Toast window to see if Toast finds the Sony drive. If it doesn't appear then your Mac isn't seeing the drive as a disc burner either. Go to Apple System Profiler and see if the drive is shown there next to the type of connection you've made. Hopefully you've attached it with Firewire because you can't burn DVDs with USB 1.1 connections (or if you can it will be painfully slow). The maximum speed for CD burning with USB 1.1 is 4X. I'm guessing your eMac doesn't have USB 2 because I think the ones that do came with 10.3. But none of that matters as long as you have connected the drive via Firewire. Are any other Firewire devices (or hubs) connected that might keep the Mac from recognizing the drive. Also, any reason you haven't updated to 10.2.8?

[tangleroc]

Toast doesn't find the Sony drive, System Profiler does show it as being connected by Firewire, yet no software program (Toast Lite, iTunes, etc.) will recognize the existence of the drive.  Not only does it not show up in Toast Lite, but nothing happens no matter what media I put into the drive (music CD, commercial DVD, etc.)  I am not running any other Firewire devices.

I'm doing support searches and finding a lot of articles claiming that Tiger and external DVD drives are having compatibility issues, but none of them go so far as to say their software won't even recognize the existence of the drive.

10.2.8?  Didn't know it existed yet.  If you go to apple.com the latest OS they will sell you is 10.2.6.

Thanks again for any help.

[tsantee]

tangleroc, on Jun 19 2006, 08:29 PM, said:

Toast doesn't find the Sony drive, System Profiler does show it as being connected by Firewire, yet no software program (Toast Lite, iTunes, etc.) will recognize the existence of the drive.  Not only does it not show up in Toast Lite, but nothing happens no matter what media I put into the drive (music CD, commercial DVD, etc.)  I am not running any other Firewire devices.

I'm doing support searches and finding a lot of articles claiming that Tiger and external DVD drives are having compatibility issues, but none of them go so far as to say their software won't even recognize the existence of the drive.

10.2.8?  Didn't know it existed yet.  If you go to apple.com the latest OS they will sell you is 10.2.6.

Thanks again for any help.

Click Here to download the 10.2.8 combined update. That may fix the issue. Have you downloaded and installed Toast Lite 6.1? Also, look to see how System Profiler describes the drive. It should say it is DVD RW. It really should work so let's keep trying.

[tangleroc]

I mistyped.  I am running 10.4.6, not 10.2.6.  Sorry for the confusion.  I do have Toast Lite 6.1 installed.  As for profiler I'm noticing now an additional intermittent problem.  Sometimes when I click on Firewire it shows the Sony drive, other times it doesn't.  I'm trying to figure that one out now...

OK, it's showing up in profiler now:


DVD RW DRU-820A:

  Manufacturer: SONY
  Model: 0x0
  GUID: 0x101D2D
  Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
  Connection Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
  Sub-units:
DVD RW DRU-820A Unit:
  Unit Software Version: 0x10483
  Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
  Firmware Revision: 0x463
  Sub-units:
DVD RW DRU-820A SBP-LUN:

Edited by tangleroc, 20 June 2006 - 10:28 AM.

[tsantee]

Well there you have it. An intermittent connection. This can be caused by poor connection at the plug in, defective Firewire cable or it is one of those odd Firewire problems that appear after doing incremental system updates. The latter (which I've also experienced) is fixed by downloading and applying combined system update on top of your existing system. So I'm still sending you back to Apple for a download, except this time for the 10.4.6 combined updater.

[tangleroc]

Thank you.  I've just searched the Apple site, and I can't find the 10.4.6 combined updater.  Any chance you could post a link?

[tsantee]

tangleroc, on Jun 20 2006, 03:46 PM, said:

Thank you.  I've just searched the Apple site, and I can't find the 10.4.6 combined updater.  Any chance you could post a link?

Here's the page for the combo download: 10.4.6 Combo Update PPC

[tangleroc]

Installed the update and it didn't do the trick (although I'm looking forward to any increased functionality I get anyway).

Sony thinks it might be a hardware issue and they're offering to replace my drive for free (minus costs to ship my current drive to them).  I'm gonna try it.

Thanks so much for your help.