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The horror of the permanently blank CD
The nightmare
If OS X is going to make the Macintosh into a "digital hub," why does it refuse to work with so many external CD burners? Even months after the release of OS X 10.1, many users still have to reboot into OS 9.x to make beautiful music--not convenient. Owners of Que USB drives take the worst drubbing. Since there's nary a driver release on the horizon, several users have resorted to using their CD burners as doorstops and buying new ones--after checking to see which models are supported by OS X.
Analysis
USB, CD-R, MP3--here's another acronym Mac users should know: OOL (out of luck). That's the situation for owners of some external CD burners. Apple says the Que USB drives are simply not compatible with Mac OS X. Apparently, OS X's Mass Storage Driver supports virtually all other external CD burners but not the Que USB models. Both companies say the other party should fix the problem, but we vote for QPS, the company that makes the Que drives.
Advice
Rebooting into OS 9.x is, no surprise, the only workaround at the moment. You can try pressuring Apple and QPS by sending them e-mail. Then again, you could try pressuring them by putting a note in a bottle and throwing it into the Gulf of Mexico. It might have the same effect.
Check for system updates frequently and monitor message boards at sites such as MacNN or MacAddict. Apple's recent 10.1 update provided support for some additional burners but not the Que models. No doubt a solution will appear eventually. We're curious to see if it'll be from Apple, QPS, or some third-party developer who's fed up with the whole situation.
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