Urgent! Please Help!

[iLoveMyApple]

Okay so I have the White Intel iMac (the one before the current aluminum one) and it's running Tiger 10.4. I edited my school project on iMovie and when I load it into iDVD to burn it onto a DVD it says that it's waiting for device, then my iMac spits out the DVD and says no disc in drive and to insert a recordable DVD disc. I'm putting in a recordable disc. I've tried other blank DVDs and still the same problem. The blank DVDs say DVD-R Ver2.1/1x-16x on the front. I've used iDVD before to burn my DVDs and have always been successful in doing so. Someone please help. I'm desperate!

 

[iLoveMyApple]

Could it maybe be the DVDs I'm trying to use. Because I just put in Lilo & Stitch and it worked. I've burned my projects to DVDs before.

 

[iLoveMyApple]

BTW I'm using iDVD

 

[czachorski]

Have you ever used this particular brand/type of media to burn before? If the answer is no, it is probably some incompatibility between the media and your drive. I would go buy another type, or borrow a few from a neighbor to do a test, and see if another type/brand will burn. I have found optical disc burning, and especially DVD burning to be quite finicky and hit or miss. When I find a DVD type that burns, I tend to stock up on it, to make sure that I always have media that will actually work. But even then, the playback can be hit miss, depending on the DVD player it is put in. The whole thing is quite a PITA and I look forward to when optical media (and all physical media for that matter) is dead.

Does you school have web access? Do you have a place to host a movie? Maybe a way to do this is to put it on the web for delivery, and maybe even try to get bonus points from your teacher for using a delivery mechanism that is the wave of the future, rather than a technology from the 90's. If you don't have a hosting service, and want to go this route, let me know, if the movie is not too big, I will host it for you.

 

[iLoveMyApple]

Yes, They're the same Sony DVDs I've been using

 

[czachorski]

You might try resetting the PRAM. If that doesn't work, check out the many stories of success with this solution. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[iLoveMyApple]

Would resetting the PRAM get rid of my iPhoto pictures or potentially wipeout my hard drive? Dumb me doesn't have any of my stuff backed up, but plan on buying an external hard drive to put everything on. Anyways back to the point, Would my iTunes and iPhoto be safe my resetting the PRAM?

 

[r.j.s]

Would resetting the PRAM get rid of my iPhoto pictures or potentially wipeout my hard drive?

No.

Anyways back to the point, Would my iTunes and iPhoto be safe my resetting the PRAM?

Yes.

You might also try a DVD laser lens cleaner. If it is reading, but not burning, the lens of the laser might just be a little dirty.