Compatability with double layer DVD9's

Is DVD Studio Pro compatible with DVD9's?
Every time I insert a DVD9 into my drive the tray rejects it, opening the tray. Is it possible that it's just my DVD burner that is not compatible? My MAC is over 3 years old.

It is almost certainly your burner... DVDSP has been able to make DVD9s for a while now, and the OS has also supported 9's for quite some time. If your burner is old-ish then it is likely not to be able to do DL discs... or may require a different type - '-' is different to '+' don't forget, and the two standards were not always supported by all burners from the outset.

Not to deviate from the topic - I purchased a 25 pack of Ritek-Ridata DVD-R dual layer disks a few months ago and not one of them would stay in the burner on any of three Mac"s I have. Old or very new Pioneer drives would look the media over and spit it back out.

I then purchase 25 Sony DVD+R's (which BTW say they are Ritek, also) and every one works in every burner. I though Apple started out with -R?

I have not investigated any further, on firmware or other issues.

Hmm - it's a good point John, and I ought to have mentioned it - occasionally media is the culprit, and not the burner.

Apple did indeed start out with -R, but added in +R capabilities a couple of years ago now. The type of media (brand) is important and using good quality discs is the right way to go... the trouble is that different people seem to have different ideas about what good quality actually is! In general, Taiyo Yuden seem pretty universally liked. For my part I tend to end up with very odd discs, often no obvious brand, and sometimes even Packard Bell (!)... the thing is I have found most to be absolutely fine, with very few problems overall.

I also used to burn discs exclusively with Toast, but even that seems not to be a worry anymore - using DVDSP as the burner seems to work just fine for me most of the time. Certainly not enough errors for me to consider alternatives. However, almost all of the discs I create go for replication and for that I use a tape... it may be I have less problems with burning discs because I actually burn less discs :-)

Hal/John - What Apple Drives are you guys using that support -R DL?

This Mac Pro is showing -R, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW no -R DL. And the same for the MacBook Pro by me... new iMacs, old G5's?

I cover a few ways to check what discs your burners support here: How to Find the Media ID

One being Apple > About this Mac > More info then looking at the Disc Burning section.

In general -R is more compatible than +R, setting the +R book type to ROM can help things BUT +R DL (double layer) is far more compatible than -R DL (dual layer).

Quote
Hal MacLean
using DVDSP as the burner seems to work just fine for me most of the time. Certainly not enough errors for me to consider alternatives.

But how are you testing? Complaints just wondering cause anytime I test this in a set of 20-50 players this is not what I find. Burning slower always makes a difference for sure...

Oh, getting back to the post! What version of DVDSP are you using Stu? It'll be pretty easy to check if your mac supports +R DL or -R DL and that you have DVDSP 3.0.2 or later.

You dont burn DVD9's they are replicated DVD-Video Masters so we need to know if you're using -R DL or +R DL. I wasn't aware that DVDSP updated to support -R DL so hopefully Hal or John can shed some light on that but 3.0.2 added support for +R DL. There was a Mac OS update required also if I remember rightly!

Cheers,