Toast 7 will not burn properly

[CyberZeus]

Fellow Toast Users and Experts,

 

I have Toast 7.1.2 installed on a MBP 2.16GHz. The DVD burner is the LiteOn SOHW-1633S connected via USB in a reliable EIDE to USB enclosure. This setup worked fine for about 3 months and about 40 burns.

 

All of the sudden, this stopped working. I suspect that the beginning of the issue coincided with my upgrade to OSX 10.4.9. Here are the process, symptoms, and troubleshooting steps I have performed.

1. I begin with a readable and viewable VIDEO_TS folder. I verify that the content is good by viewing it in OSX DVD Player.
2. I start Toast with no incident.
3. I drag and drop the desired VIDEO_TS folder to the Toast workspace
4. I verify that the proper DVD burner is selected in the bottom right
5. I verify that I have "DL" selected for the media type
6. I click on the big red button
7. The process begins the burning process

At this point, Toast performs some analysis and says that it is burning but then in about 10 seconds, it moves right into "Writing Lead-out" and then finishes with a beep followed by the drive tray opening up. Also, the drive does spin up during the attempted burn process and there are no errors or anything at all in any crash logs.

 

To verify if anything was ever written to the media, I visually inspect it and it appears to be untouched by a laser.

 

The troubleshooting steps performed thus far are:

1. Removed and then re-installed Toast followed by the 7.1.2 update
2. Attempted to create an image file with the same VIDEO_TS folder - this worked fine
3. Verifed that the drive exists properly in the System Profiler

HELP!!!

[tsantee]

Good luck...and thanks again for your help.

I appreciate your taking the time to explain your experience. Your remarks make good sense to me.

[Shane K]

Add another person to the list. I have the same problem. UGH!

[freshburn]

If you have any other USB devices connected, unplug all the devices connected the the Mac besides the burner. Don't use a hub or anything, just connect the burner to the Mac and see if that works.

 

The firmware is old on your drive, you may want to update it and see if that helps. Media is always changing and new media doesn't always work with older firmware.

 

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1934

[CyberZeus]

Tsantee, great find on the other post - it is the exact symptom I am experiencing.

 

Lakewoodlawnman, that is probably a good idea - I will try that and reply back to this forum with the results. Also, to your question - no, I do not use any app like Onyx or anything similar.

 

Thanks to both of you for your continued help.

 

Well folks, I tried using the original version from the CD without the update and still it fails. I removed everything prior to installing the software and rebooted before trying the burn but still - failure.

 

The version of code for this test was 7.0.2.

 

Also, I have opened a ticket with Roxio to hopefully get some movement on this issue - ticket number 366154.

 

Keep the ideas coming - Thanks.

[wjw]

wjw,

 

You will need to downgrade back to 10.4.8 or earlier. Check out my previous post titled SUCCESS - I performed very detailed troubleshooting and discovered that there is something within 10.4.9 that causes this issue.

 

I am sure that once back to pre-10.4.9 you will be good to go.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks, I just came to the same conclusion. I've reformatted my external HD and am running OS 10.4.7 with Toast 8.0. I can burn to DL fine by booting from the external.

 

thanks for the response.

 

bill

[gaper1]

since you have an enclosure, have you tried a different burner?

[CyberZeus]

freshburn, that's good advice but it didn't make a difference for CyberZeus according to his posts. From what I've been reading here there is something happening between Toast 7/8 and OS 10.4.9 on certain computers that are giving odd results. In CyberZeus' case he can't burn a DL disc without error unless he first creates a disc image, while this isn't a problem until he updates to 10.4.9. Others are posting about stuttering video playback on some but not all DVD players if the DVD is burned after updating to 10.4.9 but not when using the earlier OS. If this were widespread the forum would be full of these posts, but there do seem to be several different users with such problems.

 

From what I can tell it is specific to Intel Macs but I don't know if it is certain models.

Tsantee and Freshburn,

 

Good feedback and to clarify, yes - I have tried using the combined update from 10.4.6 to 10.4.9 and yes, it did indeed fail.

 

A quick update from my last post. I feel I have pretty much confirmed that this is definiely an issue with 10.4.9. I have been running 10.4.8 since my last post and burned 8 DVD-DL discs with ZERO incident. In between each burn, I performed a very small and controlled portion of the recommended updates from the list provided with the "Software Update" application. I won't bore the group with all the details but suffice it to say that every burn has performed flawlessly after each update. I do have one left - the update to the latest Quicktime so we'll see what happens but I feel pretty confident that it will work fine and if so, then the only thing remaining is 10.4.9 which I WILL NOT perform - but at least we know where the issue is.

 

Hopefully this will be good information for Roxio to get it fixed.

 

Stay tuned...

[CyberZeus]

I'm using an Intel 1.66 MHz Mac Mini. I recently upgraded to OS10.4.9.

 

Prior to the upgrade I had no problems burning dual layer discs.

 

Now, whenever I try, toast 8.01 starts to prepare for burning and then goes directly to writing lead-out. the program hangs there until I force quit. I've replaced my external LG E10L USB 2.0 drive and I'm still having the same problem.

 

I've tried creating a disc image first but get the same result.

 

Any help would be appreciated. If I'm able to solve my problems, I'll post any info I have.

 

thanks.

wjw,

 

You will need to downgrade back to 10.4.8 or earlier. Check out my previous post titled SUCCESS - I performed very detailed troubleshooting and discovered that there is something within 10.4.9 that causes this issue.

 

I am sure that once back to pre-10.4.9 you will be good to go.

 

Good luck.

[lakewoodlawnman]

Fellow Toast Users and Experts,

 

I have Toast 7.1.2 installed on a MBP 2.16GHz. The DVD burner is the LiteOn SOHW-1633S connected via USB in a reliable EIDE to USB enclosure. This setup worked fine for about 3 months and about 40 burns.

 

All of the sudden, this stopped working. I suspect that the beginning of the issue coincided with my upgrade to OSX 10.4.9. Here are the process, symptoms, and troubleshooting steps I have performed.

1. I begin with a readable and viewable VIDEO_TS folder. I verify that the content is good by viewing it in OSX DVD Player.
2. I start Toast with no incident.
3. I drag and drop the desired VIDEO_TS folder to the Toast workspace
4. I verify that the proper DVD burner is selected in the bottom right
5. I verify that I have "DL" selected for the media type
6. I click on the big red button
7. The process begins the burning process

At this point, Toast performs some analysis and says that it is burning but then in about 10 seconds, it moves right into "Writing Lead-out" and then finishes with a beep followed by the drive tray opening up. Also, the drive does spin up during the attempted burn process and there are no errors or anything at all in any crash logs.

 

To verify if anything was ever written to the media, I visually inspect it and it appears to be untouched by a laser.

 

The troubleshooting steps performed thus far are:

1. Removed and then re-installed Toast followed by the 7.1.2 update
2. Attempted to create an image file with the same VIDEO_TS folder - this worked fine
3. Verifed that the drive exists properly in the System Profiler

HELP!!!

 

I would fix permissions and download Combo Update for 10.4.9 since you said it started after update.

[CyberZeus]

SUCCESS!!!

 

Well, at least partially - and we're on the right track. After a few more troubleshooting steps that I wont bore you with here, suffice it to say that I decided to blow away the hard drive and re-install the OS. I was going to do this anyway to get the Bootcamp partition off of there so it was something that needed to get done anayway.

 

So I rebuilt the system with 10.4.6 and did all of the upgrades and got the system all dialed in with 10.4.9 and tried the test - FAILED - boy was I pissed. But I held it together and rebuilt it again but this time, I did ZERO updates and behold SUCCESS - it is burning right this very moment.

 

The config as it sits right now is 10.4.6 with NONE of the updates from the Apple website. After I finish the current burn and verify the DVD quality, then I will install the 10.4.8 combo update and test again. This was the last known good OS that worked properly so it seems to be a good next step.

 

If this next test works, then I will start adding the updates (EXCEPT 10.4.9) one at a time and burn a DVDs after each step. If they all pass, then I know it's something in 10.4.9 that Toast does not like. However, if it fails at some point along the way, then we will know which module is the culprit. Personally, I have a feeling that it will end up being 10.4.9 and really, either way, it is still almost surely a Roxio issue inasmuch as they need to produce a patch to deal with the updates from Apple. I hope they are reviewing this thread to get an update and start their regression but I doubt they are after my red-hot post to them 3 days ago.

 

Stay tuned for updates on my future tests - Thanks.

[CyberZeus]

I would fix permissions and download Combo Update for 10.4.9 since you said it started after update.

 

Well, I did as you suggested - and a lot more - and none of it worked so I built a procedure and took very careful notes to make sure I was extremely methodical in my steps. Here is what I came up with:

1. Remove Toast
2. Remove the 2 plist files
3. Empty Trash folder
4. Repair permissions on main volume - all others would not allow repair
5. Powered everything off and then powered everything back up - the drives on before laptop
6. Verified disk permissions on main volume
7. Installed Toast using the 7.1.2 DMG disk image
8. Opened Toast to make sure everything works properly and it is configured properly - required CD key
9. Verified that the 2 plist files exist in the proper location
10. Verified disk permissions on main volume again
11. Powered everything off then powered back on just the same way as before
12. Verified disk permissions on main volume one last time
13. Tried to burn a DVD
14. Still failed

So, as you can see, this still failed. Does anyone know if there are any logs or utilities that exist to help troubleshoot this?

[CyberZeus]

since you have an enclosure, have you tried a different burner?

Well, as most of us power-users \ engneers are, I just couldn't let this go - at least not yet. I really want to know why this started to fail all of the sudden. Before I tell you what troubleshooting steps I have performed in the last 24 hours, I am happy to report that the drive does indeed work but in Windows, not OSX and not with Toast.

 

After all of this, I began to think that maybe the drive took a dive which would have been really strange but hey, it does happen. So I pulled it out of the enclosure and put it back into my WinXP box and behold, it burns fine. I have ripped 3 movies now with zero errors - flawless - no worries. Again, this is not using Toast - I use "CopyToDVD" on my Windows based machines and it is rock solid. So at least now we know we have good hardware.

 

Next, what have I done in the last 24 hours?

1. Verified the drive jumper settings. I did have it set to slave and this is incorrect - I moved it to CS and tested again - FAILED.
2. The enclosure is a dual-bay model so I thought, maybe the one side took a dive so I swapped the port to a known good port and re-tested - FAILED
3. I removed the USB hub in between the enclousre and the machine - I had done this before but thought to try it again without the 2nd drive bay connected - FAILED

So given all this - what do we know?

1. That the drive is good
2. That the firmware it has works fine with WinXP-SP2 and current Verbatim media
3. That in the past, it worked great with Toast v7.0.1, the existing firmware, current Verbatim media, the USB enclosure, and OSX 10.4.8
4. That the previous OSX working scenario DID NOT have a USB hub in the middle

I see the next few steps to be:

1. Try it in the enclosure with direct USB connect to the WinXP machine and test
2. If the previous works, then move back to MBP and try the test in WinXP via Parallels
3. If the previous works, then add the hub back and test

Somewhere aloing the line, I may try the firmware as well but I don't want to remove a known working item that would be very difficult to back out of. I don't have my exisitng firmware code anywhere so backing out would probably be impossible.

 

Stay tuned.

[tsantee]

You didn't specifically say that you downloaded and applied the OS 10.4.9 combined system update. If you haven't done this it is the most likely solution. There frequently are odd USB and Firewire communication issues after applying an incremental system update that are fixed by also doing the combined update.

 

I didn't notice if you mentioned the brand of dual-layer DVD you are using. Many drives seem to only like the Verbatim DVD+R DL media.

 

Lastly, try choosing Save as disc image instead of clicking the burn button. When that is done, choose the disc image using the Image File setting in the Toast Copy window to burn you DL DVD.

[CyberZeus]

You didn't specifically say that you downloaded and applied the OS 10.4.9 combined system update. If you haven't done this it is the most likely solution. There frequently are odd USB and Firewire communication issues after applying an incremental system update that are fixed by also doing the combined update.

 

I didn't notice if you mentioned the brand of dual-layer DVD you are using. Many drives seem to only like the Verbatim DVD+R DL media.

 

Lastly, try choosing Save as disc image instead of clicking the burn button. When that is done, choose the disc image using the Image File setting in the Toast Copy window to burn you DL DVD.

 

Tsantee,

 

Thanks for the information but unfortunately, I don't think the image burn workaround is good enough. This system was working fine before so it should work fine now - obviously something has changed and it is a shame that Roxio doesn't appear to have better troubleshooting tools for thier products.

 

To answer your questions though:

1. I am using Verbatim DL DVD media - it's the only one I use
2. I did install the combned update before any of this - what was shown was post 10.4.9 update re-install
3. As my post first stated, I have verified that the image burn works but again, I view this as a band-aid and not a resolution

[tsantee]

Tsantee,

 

Thanks for the information but unfortunately, I don't think the image burn workaround is good enough. This system was working fine before so it should work fine now - obviously something has changed and it is a shame that Roxio doesn't appear to have better troubleshooting tools for thier products.

 

To answer your questions though:

1. I am using Verbatim DL DVD media - it's the only one I use
2. I did install the combned update before any of this - what was shown was post 10.4.9 update re-install
3. As my post first stated, I have verified that the image burn works but again, I view this as a band-aid and not a resolution

In the "misery loves company" mode, check out this post that just appeared in the Toast 8 forum:

http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=20825

[freshburn]

Do you use the Apple Software Update to update the system, or do you download the full combined update from their website and burn?

 

It's a know fact that Apples incremental updates have problems, especially with firewire and USB, and it is always recommend to download and install the full combined updated from their website and install it.

[tsantee]

Do you use the Apple Software Update to update the system, or do you download the full combined update from their website and burn?

 

It's a know fact that Apples incremental updates have problems, especially with firewire and USB, and it is always recommend to download and install the full combined updated from their website and install it.

freshburn, that's good advice but it didn't make a difference for CyberZeus according to his posts. From what I've been reading here there is something happening between Toast 7/8 and OS 10.4.9 on certain computers that are giving odd results. In CyberZeus' case he can't burn a DL disc without error unless he first creates a disc image, while this isn't a problem until he updates to 10.4.9. Others are posting about stuttering video playback on some but not all DVD players if the DVD is burned after updating to 10.4.9 but not when using the earlier OS. If this were widespread the forum would be full of these posts, but there do seem to be several different users with such problems.

 

From what I can tell it is specific to Intel Macs but I don't know if it is certain models.

[lakewoodlawnman]

You said "Removed and then re-installed Toast followed by the 7.1.2 update" in your first post.

 

What if you didn't do the update? Does it work?

 

Do you have or run a maintenance app like Onyx?

[wjw]

freshburn, that's good advice but it didn't make a difference for CyberZeus according to his posts. From what I've been reading here there is something happening between Toast 7/8 and OS 10.4.9 on certain computers that are giving odd results. In CyberZeus' case he can't burn a DL disc without error unless he first creates a disc image, while this isn't a problem until he updates to 10.4.9. Others are posting about stuttering video playback on some but not all DVD players if the DVD is burned after updating to 10.4.9 but not when using the earlier OS. If this were widespread the forum would be full of these posts, but there do seem to be several different users with such problems.

 

From what I can tell it is specific to Intel Macs but I don't know if it is certain models.

 

I'm using an Intel 1.66 MHz Mac Mini. I recently upgraded to OS10.4.9.

 

Prior to the upgrade I had no problems burning dual layer discs.

 

Now, whenever I try, toast 8.01 starts to prepare for burning and then goes directly to writing lead-out. the program hangs there until I force quit. I've replaced my external LG E10L USB 2.0 drive and I'm still having the same problem.

 

I've tried creating a disc image first but get the same result.

 

Any help would be appreciated. If I'm able to solve my problems, I'll post any info I have.

 

thanks.

[CyberZeus]

Well folks, I tried using the original version from the CD without the update and still it fails. I removed everything prior to installing the software and rebooted before trying the burn but still - failure.

 

The version of code for this test was 7.0.2.

 

Also, I have opened a ticket with Roxio to hopefully get some movement on this issue - ticket number 366154.

 

Keep the ideas coming - Thanks.

So seriously, when I receive less than steller customer service, I get pretty upset - at times, too much in fact. But what I just experienced with Roxio completely takes the cake - when a vendor completely blows me off, I simply go ballistic as you will soon see. As I posted here earlier, I opened a case on this issue last week and let them know in the ticket that I had this post going. I also filled in most of the gaps re: important information. These clowns took 4 days to review the ticket and then CLOSED it without even working on it. Becuase they asked for most of the information already provided, I am convinced that they just sent me a canned response and closed it.

 

I tell you all this just to let you know what to expect - also, here is what I put in the ticket to illustrate how frustrating this is...

 

=====BEGIN RESPONSE=====

 

So first of all, you guys took 4 days to get to this ticket - completely unacceptable. Then second you close the ticket??? I can honetly say that based on these 2 points alone, Roxio support sucks. I work for a huge tech company and if we performed the same way with our customers, they would be leaving for the competition - which is what I will do once this reply is completed.

 

Additionally, you SHOULD NOT need some of the information requested in your reply. Had you read the complete description of the issue - I told you that I had a forum post on this issue which, when coupled with my initial description, contains most of the information you requested - I even gave you the link to make it easy. But becuase you still asked for it, I am sure that the response I received is a canned response - amazng that this is your process. But in the slim chance you guys step and try to redeem yourselves, here are the answers you requested:

 

1) Mac OS X 10.4.9

2) Not using a suite

3) Toast v7.x

4) There is no error message - try reading the information I gave you initially

5) Don't waste my time with requestiing this as it has nothing to do with this issue

6) I gave you most of this as well - here is the firmware: BS0R / MMC-3

 

Whoever handled this case is tragic...can you say written warning?

[tsantee]

So seriously, when I receive less than steller customer service, I get pretty upset - at times, too much in fact. But what I just experienced with Roxio completely takes the cake - when a vendor completely blows me off, I simply go ballistic as you will soon see. As I posted here earlier, I opened a case on this issue last week and let them know in the ticket that I had this post going. I also filled in most of the gaps re: important information. These clowns took 4 days to review the ticket and then CLOSED it without even working on it. Becuase they asked for most of the information already provided, I am convinced that they just sent me a canned response and closed it.

 

I tell you all this just to let you know what to expect - also, here is what I put in the ticket to illustrate how frustrating this is...

 

Whoever handled this case is tragic...can you say written warning?

I've never filed a ticket with Roxio support but I have read posts here where people are frustrated and sometimes angered by that process.

 

My conclusion from your thread is there is no advice or steps anyone can give you that will make this work. Maybe it is an OS issue that could be fixed with a complete reinstall of the OS, maybe it is something that Roxio is working on for an update to Toast 8, or maybe it just is this way on Intel Macs. At least for now you have the disc image option even though it is unacceptable to you. Maybe there is other burning software that will work for this.

 

By the way, what happens when you try to burn the DL disc on the Superdrive instead of the external drive?

[CyberZeus]

You said "Removed and then re-installed Toast followed by the 7.1.2 update" in your first post.

 

What if you didn't do the update? Does it work?

 

Do you have or run a maintenance app like Onyx?

 

Tsantee, great find on the other post - it is the exact symptom I am experiencing.

 

Lakewoodlawnman, that is probably a good idea - I will try that and reply back to this forum with the results. Also, to your question - no, I do not use any app like Onyx or anything similar.

 

Thanks to both of you for your continued help.

[CyberZeus]

I've never filed a ticket with Roxio support but I have read posts here where people are frustrated and sometimes angered by that process.

 

My conclusion from your thread is there is no advice or steps anyone can give you that will make this work. Maybe it is an OS issue that could be fixed with a complete reinstall of the OS, maybe it is something that Roxio is working on for an update to Toast 8, or maybe it just is this way on Intel Macs. At least for now you have the disc image option even though it is unacceptable to you. Maybe there is other burning software that will work for this.

 

By the way, what happens when you try to burn the DL disc on the Superdrive instead of the external drive?

Tsantee,

 

Thanks for your feedback. I know my response was probably a little heavy handed but honestly, I've been on the other end in support and when my colleagues have screwed up like this and totally not excercised due dilligence, our management would be seriously upset - even to the point of reprimand. The 2 goals of my message to them were to 1) Realize how upsetting this is to customers and that it is not acceptable and 2) Fill in any gaps in the information thread. If they missed #2, then that is another area where they need to improve.

 

I think that many of these companies nowadays view support as a $$$ pit and as long as sales are going well, then they can let support suffer. Plus, for some specifc needs, Toast is the only game in town so they are not as compelled to do a good job of supporting thier customers and frankly, it's just not acceptable. If we don't speak, who will?

 

To your points, I don't think an OS re-install would help because the only thing that changed was going to 10.4.9 - and if it can't operate with that, then it's still a show stopper. Plus if something like Roxio requires or causes a full OS install, then there is a bigger issue somewhere. OSX is known for many things one of which is the need NOT to have to re-install every 6 months like I did back in the WinXP days. Also, I tried the Superdrive but Roxio won't recognize Verbatim (best in town) dual-layer media in the Superdrive.

 

As to a fix in Toast v8 - already went there and actually, you are the one who pointed it out to me. There is another post in the Toast 8 forum of a user experiencing the EXACT same issue. I currently work as a software test engineer and while I don't claim to be 100% infallible in terms of code troubleshooting, I am pretty sure this is something systemic in the code base common between v7 and v8. Again, I pointed Roxio support to this post for several reasons one of which was so that they would have a quick link to a repository of all of this valuable information - the point was missed on them I guess.

 

So the real reason for me coming back to this post was to let the community know that based upon my needs, OSX Disk Utility will probably suffice and also another product, DVD Copy for Mac, is out there for $49 and it seems to work really well. I have no idea how their support is but the product works. Check it out at http://www.soft29.com/mac_dvd_burner_software.html.

 

Good luck...and thanks again for your help.