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Unreadable disk image created with disk utility

I am trying to create a disk image from a music CD, have tried creating a standard image, and a CD/DVD master both are unreadable by the same system that created the image, along with an older Mac Mini, iMac running Ventura 13.4 Disk Utility says the operation is successful.



iMac 27″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jun 3, 2023 4:55 PM

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Posted on Jun 4, 2023 3:46 PM

You're very welcome! Sounds like we're on the right track. Hopefully, the SMC reset will do the trick.


... and for future reference:

  • SMC reset: Resets fans, keyboard backlight, status indicator, battery indicator, display backlight, power button, close/open the lid, sleep or shut down, battery doesn't charge, MagSafe indicator light incorrect status.
  • NVRAM/PRAM reset: Resets sound volume, display resolution, startup-disk selection, time zone, & kernel panic information
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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 4, 2023 3:46 PM in response to LeoArt

You're very welcome! Sounds like we're on the right track. Hopefully, the SMC reset will do the trick.


... and for future reference:

  • SMC reset: Resets fans, keyboard backlight, status indicator, battery indicator, display backlight, power button, close/open the lid, sleep or shut down, battery doesn't charge, MagSafe indicator light incorrect status.
  • NVRAM/PRAM reset: Resets sound volume, display resolution, startup-disk selection, time zone, & kernel panic information

Jun 3, 2023 5:10 PM in response to LeoArt

It's rather odd that Disk Utility is confirming the operation as successful, yet the images can't be read by your system.


There could be a number of reasons for this, including an issue with the CD itself, the disk drive, or the Disk Utility software. The other potential issue is with Digital Rights that can be associated with a music CD.


As a first step, try creating a disk image from a different non-music CD to rule out a problem with the CD itself. If the problem persists, we can try to reset Disk Utility's settings.


To reset Disk Utility, follow these steps:

1. Quit Disk Utility if it's open.

2. Open Finder, go to 'Go' in the menu bar, hold down the 'Option' key, and select 'Library'.

3. In the Library folder, open the 'Preferences' folder.

4. Locate the file 'com.apple.DiskUtility.plist' and move it to the trash.

5. Restart your Mac and try creating the disk image again.


Keep in mind that deleting this .plist file will reset all Disk Utility settings to default, so make sure you're okay with this before proceeding.


If the issue still persists, you might need to repair your disk permissions, especially if you recently updated your system.


Here's a link to Apple's support article on how to repair disk permissions:


Also, here's another support article that might help:

Jun 4, 2023 10:39 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for the suggestions and tips. I have reset Disk Utility's settings and tried imaging a non-music CD and although disk utility says the operation is successful the end result is the same. While it is possible there could be a problem with the drive itself (a pioneer Blu-Ray BDR-XU03) it was processing disks fine prior to upgrading to Ventura- the last time I created a disk image. There doesn't seem to be any issue reading disks, copying files etc. This has only become an issue now that Apple no longer supports optical drive sharing post 10.15.

Jun 4, 2023 3:35 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for that. I had previously tried zapping the PRAM to no avail, but resetting the SMC does seem to have done the trick at least for an old SW Cd I had. I'll assume a music CD will have the same result, but will give it a try later. The process to image the CD using DU went a lot quicker this time too.

Unreadable disk image created with disk utility

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