Very Computer

In an earlier thread, someone mentioned that the life of a CD-RW drive
gets appreciably reduced if one uses it as a CD-R drive as well. I have
such a setup. At the time of bootup, my CD-RW is detected as :

        hdc: LG CD-RW CED-8080B, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive (I haven't the
foggiest notion whether it is really a DVD drive as well, I certainly did
not order it thus from Dell. Any hints here to confirm / disprove that
will also will be welcome, preferably without trying to play DVD's - I
have none :)).

        That apart, I wish to know whether damage to a CD-RW drive, if it
is (regularly) used as a CD-R drive, is generally seen or is it true for
just some subclass of manufacturers. If so, can someone suggest a *cheap*
CD-R drive that I can buy ? I have a USB port and a parallel port free, so
a USB drive would be great.

Thanks.

  I was the one that posted that earlier and to be fair I didn't buy the
highest quality drives (one was memorex another was acer) but I didn't
get a year out of either. They would continue to read most (but not all)
of the time but I would get buffer underruns like crazy when I'd try to
burn a disk... creating a lot of coasters :(

Jim

--

I send you this sig in order to have your advice

Buffer underruns don't sound like a "wearout" problem, sounds like software,
system performance, or a failed drive. Several years ago, CDRWs of many
brands were dropping like flies.

But, since I have a tower, I have both a CDROM and a CDRW.  I've noticed
that sometimes I'll come across a CDR unreadable by a CDROM, but readable
on the CDRW.  I suppose that could be a session problem or a fixation failure,
dunno.  I never have intentionally made a multi-session CDR.

Actually, I've got an old HP 2x CDRW on one machine I wish would fail so
I could justify getting a faster burner for that machine.

--
Dave Brown  Austin, TX

Wasn't it "...as a CR-ROM as well"?
A salesperson told me that too. So I got a CD-ROM & no CD-RW but am
holding out for a DVD-W or whatever consumer-confusing acronym marketing
people will use for my next backup device when my tape drive dies
[stupid proprietary tape format readable only on discontinued drive!].

Quote:> such a setup. At the time of bootup, my CD-RW is detected as :
>    hdc: LG CD-RW CED-8080B, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive (I haven't the
> foggiest notion whether it is really a DVD drive as well, I certainly did
> not order it thus from Dell. Any hints here to confirm / disprove that
> will also will be welcome, preferably without trying to play DVD's - I
> have none :)).

I'm guessing "CD/DVD-ROM drive" means at that point Linux doesn't know
which type it is, even with the id "LG CD-RW .." being reported. I know
my Asus cd-rom has a combined CD-DVD ms-dos driver, which would indicate
CD & DVD look quite similar to software. BTW you can rent a DVD.

Quote:>      That apart, I wish to know whether damage to a CD-RW drive, if it
> is (regularly) used as a CD-R drive, is generally seen or is it true for
> just some subclass of manufacturers. If so, can someone suggest a *cheap*
> CD-R drive that I can buy ? I have a USB port and a parallel port free, so
> a USB drive would be great.--

Merci...........Yvan          Why dont people understand when
                          I say my automobile has 100 Megametres on it?

Quote:> Actually, I've got an old HP 2x CDRW on one machine I wish would fail
> so I could justify getting a faster burner for that machine.

Same here.. Philips 2000 series 2X CD-R (no RW).  Fast SCSI-2 interface
and still kickin'. :)  And CD-R burners are so cheap now... <g>

--

Software Developer, Engineering Services
Red Hat, Inc.

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