# External blu ray writer doesn't work!?



## steveyg777 (Aug 15, 2008)

Hi i bought an external writer for my imac (late 2013) a few months ago. Initially it burnt one or two discs. Then it fails twice. I haven't had much time to investigate since but came to try again tonight and it failed again! Discs are expensive and i don't expect this to happen anyway. It came with a usb cable and another one which is usb on one side and goes into a dc 5v input on the drive. It says it is usb 3.0 and apparently had a Panasonic drive inside (i think). I could have a look for the Amazon product page if you need me to?

Anyway does anyone know what is going on? Should i not use the power cable with the USB one?

I include the error notification which came up after it had got to 2% of the burn. I was using toast titanium 12 on el capitan. Also i noticed that the box to run a simulation is greyed out which i thought was strange but I'm not sure if this is normal because it's an external drive? The info for the drive days that it can (test write) which sounds like a simulation mode capability?

All help is greatly appreciated.

Steve


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You need to use the units power adapter. The USB port will not put out enough power by itself. 
Also in the *Recorder Settings*, choose the Slowest possible write speed for the media This will be the only way to avoid burn fails.
Also, External Blu-Ray burners require a USB 3.0 connection, (blue ends) not the standard USB 2.0 which are far slower.


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## steveyg777 (Aug 15, 2008)

spunk.funk said:


> You need to use the units power adapter. The USB port will not put out enough power by itself.
> Also in the *Recorder Settings*, choose the Slowest possible write speed for the media This will be the only way to avoid burn fails.
> Also, External Blu-Ray burners require a USB 3.0 connection, (blue ends) not the standard USB 2.0 which are far slower.


Thanks for the advice. However it is a blue ended usb cable and the other cable that goes to the power is the one it came with that fits from another usb port to a dc 5v port on the burner. The burner claims speeds of 6x writing although i only have 4x discs. If i have to use 2x then is it safe in saying this product is not for for purpose?


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## steveyg777 (Aug 15, 2008)

I just looked up usb village and Wikipedia days it carries 5 volts which is the required amount for the burner. I don't get why is dropping out. Not sure if toast isn't up to the job or my imac?


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## steveyg777 (Aug 15, 2008)

This is the product i bought :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/271413633753


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> External Blu-Ray burners require a USB 3.0 connection, (blue ends) not the standard USB 2.0 which are far slower.


 You need a USB 3.0 port on your _computer_ (blue ends) not just from the drive, if you only have the standard USB 2.0 it will be too slow and the burn will fail. 
I have found that drives with USB power connections usually do not get enough power from the computer. I have found that a device should have it's own power adapter. 
If the software will allow you to burn at 1X you can try that, but again it will fail if you only have USB 2.0 ports.


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## steveyg777 (Aug 15, 2008)

My imac only had usb 3 ports so shouldn't be a problem. Can you recommend a power supply for this drive please?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

A power adapter for a Panasonic external Blu-Ray player would come from Panasonic. Contact them or ask their support: Support


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