Here's a new stumper...

[terryj]

Ok, so I bought the new 16x TDK 100pk ( two 50pks) from
Supermedia store to burn at home on the Pioneer-109 in the Mac.
Pioneer's website says that the TDK 16x media is compatible
with the 109 firmware i'm using, v. 1.17.

Burned through 43 of a 50 spindle ( media code is TTH02),
on disc 44, Toast 6.11 reports a Medium sense error.
ok.
figured bad one out of the lot, ejected it, set it aside,
put in disc no. 45. same thing.

Ok, had been burning 10 in a row, backing up various projects,
backing up my iTunes, I figured, I'll give the drive a rest.
So I re-booted, and let the G4 come back up, and then tried again,
disc no. 46. Same thing.

I check all three discs, no visible blemishes or scratches I can see.
Media Inspector tells me all 3 are still TTHO2, so no variant within the spindle.

So, I go open the second 50 pack, and take the first off the top,
and its TTH02. I put it into Toast, and it burns fine.

Ok, so:

Is this a sign of possible flakiness with this media, the laser in the -109,
firmware, or flakiness in Toast 6.11 ?

but it is weird for it to act up after 43 discs in on the SAME spindle.
Surely this would have occurred duing the first off the top?

[willrob]

I've always wondered if the disks at the bottom of a spindle (especially the 100 disk ones) suffer from the weight of their brothers above.

Why haven't you upgraded to the 1.58 firmware for the 1.09?

[terryj]

I've always wondered if the disks at the bottom of a spindle (especially the 100 disk ones) suffer from the weight of their brothers above.

Why haven't you upgraded to the 1.58 firmware for the 1.09?

call me chicken?

I probably will come January, when i'm at the six month mark
on the warranty of my -109. That way I can justify six months of use
at of it, and if I screw up the FW install, also justify another $45 for a -110.
8)

but back to my stumper...I pulled disc 48 ( 2 down, and 2 away from
the end of the spindle)on my first spindle and it burned fine.
So monday I'll call Supermedia, and see about returning the
ones that won't burn.

[JoachimS]

I think your burner has no write strategy for the media you are using and uses a generic strategy.

Using the updater to version 1.58 is the only way to get good burns on most recent media. It just takes a minute and a reboot to use the 16x TDK media.

[willrob]

DVRFlash makes it painless.

[terryj]

ok you two, I'm heading over to the Firmware Forum now... :P

[terryj]

Ok, so I used DVRFlash, and am now on FW 1.58region free.
But, I still get medium errors on blanks 44, 45, 46.
I'll just chalk this up to something in the disc I can't see,
and return these to Supermedia store.
The new spindle is at 5 discs in, and so far no coasters.

thanks, willrob and joachim.