Mac OS X 10.4: CD/DVD burning problems: Errors, blank discs not recognized, more

No more temporary backups resulting in failed burns Mac OS X 10.4 no longer creates temporary backups of the data that is being burned to media. This saves time, but also results in more failed burns (and wasted media), as well as errors such as the following:

• "The operation could not be completed because one or more required items could not be found. (Error code -43). Could not open the data fork of '' (-43)"

MacFixIt reader Drew Saur notes a couple of potential solutions to this problematic new set-up:

"If you want to burn a backup of a user's folder, log that user out, make a copy of his or her home folder in another (preferably administrative) account, and burn the disc using that folder in this account.

"If you only have one account and you want to burn a backup of your own account's home folder, copy files to a disk image using Disk Utility first ( you can't copy files to your own desktop, because that would be a self-referential, infinitely recursive disaster, of course), and then burn that to a CD or DVD as appropriate."

Another workaround involves holding down the "Option" key while you are dragging files to the media for burning. This will create an on-the-fly copy, eliminating some of the aforementioned burn-error problems.

Error message when attempting burns Under some circumstances, Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) generates the error message "The disc cannot be used because the disc drive is not supported. (Error Code 0x80020025)" when a blank disc is inserted into a CD or DVD recorder and accessed via the Finder.

One solution involves inserting the CD, allowing the error message to pop up, then force quitting the Finder (either via the Apple menu "Force Quit" option, or by holding down the "option" and "control" keys in tandem, clicking on the Finder icon in the Dock and selecting "Relaunch"). After relaunching the Finder, some users report that the media shows up appropriately and can be successfully recorded.

Some readers experiencing this problem have noted that resetting PRAM and NVRAM via the following process (as described in Apple Knowledge Base article #2238):

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Despite the deficiency in the Finder, several readers have reported that they are still able to burn media using third-party utilities like Toast or Apple's own Disk Utility (located in Applications/Utilities).

MacFixIt reader Tom writes:

"Saw a post about people having trouble burning in Tiger. I have a Mac mini 1.42 Combo drive. I am also having a problem burning with the finder. When I insert a CD it tells me my drive is unsupported. System profiler says it is supported, but it is a no go. I can burn with Toast 6.0.9, but not with the Finder."

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