# Mac G4 internal CD burner problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761 "2004-05-12T10:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/1 "2004-05-12T10:46:58Z")
Morning, My G4 will no longer recognize blank CDs or data CDs, yet has no problem recognizing or importing Music CDs into iTunes. Anybody know whats going wrong here? Why will it recognnize one format and yet not the other? I’d appreciate any help with this. Would I need to replace the CD drive, or is it an extension/software problem? cheers ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/2 "2004-05-12T12:15:54Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > Morning, > My G4 will no longer recognize blank CDs or data CDs, yet has no problem recognizing or importing Music CDs into iTunes. Anybody know whats going wrong here? Why will it recognnize one format and yet not the other? > > I’d appreciate any help with this. Would I need to replace the CD drive, or is it an extension/software problem? > cheers What OS are you using? When did the CD burner stop working correctly? Did you perform any updates shortly before this? If using X (this is for Panther - Jag and before will be similar), I would suggest the panacea of Repairing Permissions - open Disk Utility (In Applications:Utilities) select your HD in the left hand panel and choose Repair Disk Permissions in the First Aid tab. If this doesn’t work it sounds like it may be a hardware issue with your burner, although it is odd that it will read and not write (hence why I’m thinking it may be a permissions problem). ob ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/3 "2004-05-12T13:04:39Z")
Sorry, should have said. It’s a 2 year old Quicksilver G4 running OS9.2. It hasn’t been able to burn or read data CDs for about a week. As this is my work computer, it’s been running 9-10 hours a day 5 days a week for all its life and when it worked, the CD burner was burning anything between 2-25 CDs a week. I’ve not installed anything or updated any of the software for at least 2 months, and then that was Quicktime. I’m upgrading to a G5 in a couple of weeks, but this is getting handed down to the dept new kid, so we could do with it running again. cheers ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/4 "2004-05-12T15:43:54Z")
So, when you insert the blank CD, does the Mac not try to mount it on the desktop? If not, are you able to start your burning software and see the CD? (For example, do you set up your burn image and then force the program to try and burn?) ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/5 "2004-05-12T16:38:38Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > Sorry, should have said. It’s a 2 year old Quicksilver G4 running OS9.2. It hasn’t been able to burn or read data CDs for about a week. As this is my work computer, it’s been running 9-10 hours a day 5 days a week for all its life and when it worked, the CD burner was burning anything between 2-25 CDs a week. I’ve not installed anything or updated any of the software for at least 2 months, and then that was Quicktime. Hmm, haven’t used OS9 in about 2 years, but if you still have your hardware check CD then you could try using that… Other things to try might be rebuilding your desktop (with a blank CD in the drive), checking your preferences (is there a pref for CDs/DVDs in OS9? I know in X you can set it to ignore any disks you insert) and, as the above poster mentioned, try starting a burn in iTunes (for example) with no CD inserted and insert the CD when prompted. Burners are so cheap nowadays it may be worth just buying new one (just make sure it’s iTunes compatible). > [@paulberserker](#): > > I’m upgrading to a G5 in a couple of weeks, but this is getting handed down to the dept new kid, so we could do with it running again. > cheers Lucky sod… I guess that means you’ll also have the joy of X. ob ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-g4-internal-cd-burner-problem/244761/6 "2004-05-12T17:07:39Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > Morning, > My G4 will no longer recognize blank CDs or data CDs, yet has no problem recognizing or importing Music CDs into iTunes. Anybody know whats going wrong here? Why will it recognnize one format and yet not the other? > > I’d appreciate any help with this. Would I need to replace the CD drive, or is it an extension/software problem? > cheers [This link suggests replacing the cable](http://www.duxcw.com/dcforum/DCForumID6/299.html) > [@](#): > > RE: CD Rom plays Music, can’t read data > Twinhead Mar-23-02 04:17 PM > In response to message 2 > > Replace the data-cable. The ribbon cable could be partially defective. > If there is only ONE lead in the cable who does not make contact to the interface or has been broken, the DATA cannot be read. Audio is transported through the thin wire to your soundcard. Commands are given through differend leads in the ribbon cable then then where the data is read through