Hi all.

My God, I tell you, I am sick to death of new CD-ROM drives...
:mad:

I have several CD's, that are formatted in JOLIET, but will not read on a modern drive. They read PERFECTLY with NO ERRORS on THREE SEPERATE PC's - one is an ancient 486-SX with standard 4x CD-ROM drive only, and it can access and read the files fine, but the newest drive of all of them cannot...

When you put the disc in, win XP reports: "The disc structure is corrupted, and is unreadable", which is "Not correct", to put it gently, as I can read it in all the other machines.

Why can't the CD-ROM makers, make a drive that actually WORKS for more then 2 months???

This is the THIRD CD-DRIVE I have had to replace, and had to pay for each one, as the manufacturer claimed that the drive is not working now due to normal wear-and-tear, which I think is crazy.

Surely you can expect more then 3-4 months use out of a brand new drive?!??!!

Surely...
:(


MM.

Opps!
:p

Forgot to ask:

Do you think there is anything else I can try with this problem-child drive, or is it just easier in the long run(and saves some brain strain), to just replace the drive - again...

The drive is a DVD/CD-RW combo.

I might see if I can fit two seperate drives in this time - a DVD ROM drive, and a seperate CD-RW drive. Someone here once before told me, that it is better to have two seperate drives over one combo type.
If you are here, mystery person, please speak up!!!
:cool:


MM.

I'm currently looking at three drives by CyberDrive.

A DVD-ROM drive, a CD-RW drive, and a COMBO drive.
All made by CyberDrive.

What is the opinion here, of the CyberDrive brand?


MM.

You may find this interesting

STORAGE:
CD-RECORDABLE/CD-REWRITABLE
http://www.pctechguide.com/09cdr-rw.htm

Someone here once before told me, that it is better to have two seperate drives over one combo type.

It wasn't me, but I wanted to say I run a DVD-ROM drive and a CD-RW drive in my primary computer, just as you proposed. The DVD-ROM drive reads better than the CD-RW drive, IMHO.
Mine is an NEC DVD-ROM and a TDK burner, however a Lite-On burner would be my first choice for replacement for price/performance/reputation. Someone here might know about CyberDrive brands.

My regular PC magazine did a comparative study of various brands of CD-RW drives and put Hewlett Packard 2nd because it was slightly more expensive than the one they judged top.
I decided to buy it [HP CD-RW 9300i] despite that, because of the total package of software that came with it and that turned out to be a very wise choice.
I'm pleased with everything about it.
1. The quality of the hardware.
2. The completeness of the total package.
3. The quality of the installation & setup instructions/video.
4. The software package that included:
a) EasyCDCreator
b) DirectCD
c) Simple Backup
d) CD Eraser
e) Scandisk [for CD's]
f) A Diagnostic Utility to test software, hardware, CD & configuration

I've have it quite some time now and it has never let me down.

O.K.

Thanks to PrntRhd and Sylvander.
I have added these brands to by research list.
I will look them up later today, and see what I can find about them.

Other people here: Feel free to post your recomendations for drive brand/model.
:)

"Knowledge is power"


MM.

I like separate drives, but I don't know if I was the mystery person you seek. In any case, I have noticed that there is quite the quality & performance difference between lesser-known manufacturers and "the good guys" as I like to call them.

My mom's machine has a regular 2-year-old CD-ROM drive from one of those lesser-known manufacturers, and the darn $*%&#* thing works like sh*t!! :mad: It can't do normal CD activities with any degree of reliability. It's been known to choke on tasks such as: recording music off a store-bought CD using WMP, running a computer game disk, and trying to make images using Alcohol 120% trial version. The thing is, it's always been like this, so it's not wear-and-tear or anything like that. It's just cheap!

My computer has a Pioneer DVD-105S (DVD drive) and a Lite-On 52x24x52x (CD-RW drive) and neither of those drives has ever given me problems. They read all store-bought disks, run every program CD flawlessly, and they can rip/image in no time flat! I would definitely advise you to stick to the good manufacturers. They cost more but are worth it because they work!

Hi!
:)

This is good advise - so noted.

I am also looking at a Sony drive.
Sony should be O.K, right? (rhetorical!)


MM.

This £249 Sony gets 4 stars [of 5] in Jan 2003
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/Products/Hardware/1138322
Notice that they said that faster drives were expected shortly after that.

This fast £234 Plextor gets 4 stars in Dec 2003
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/Products/Hardware/1151035

This £186 Iomega got 5 stars in Dec 2003
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/Products/Hardware/1151678

This £146 LG gets 5 stars in July 2003
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/Products/Hardware/1145409

This £100 BenQ got 4 stars in Feb 2004
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/Products/Hardware/1153021

Search there for reviews.

I definitely like the Sony. Ive had my sony CD-RW for two years nearly, not sure which model, but it has only ever had a problem with a single CD, which happened to be my motherboard driver disk :rolleyes:. Apart from that its never given me any trouble.

It sounds to me to be less of a drive problem and more of an XP problem....

Do you have the native XP burning features on or off? any other burning software installed?

What OS's are the other machines (the one that read the disks in question)?

Have you actually confirmed that the disks in question are 100% good on those machines....I have noticed that XP tends to be a little pickier than other versions of Windows.

Hi all!
:)

To Sylvander: Thanks for all the links! I will research them all.

To pave_spectre: Good. Am seriously thinking about the Sony - even though they are generally more expensive then other brands, but Sony have a long history of good quality...

To mjc: Great suggestions. XP intergrated CD burning is switched off.
Other machines were Windows 98SE on Duron 1.3GHz, 256MB RAM, 24x Mitsumi CD-ROM drive; Windows 95B on P100MHz, 32MB RAM, BTC 12x CD-ROM drive; Windows 95a on 486-SX 66MHz, 16MB RAM, IBM 4x CD-ROM drive.

On all three other machines(Duron, P100 & 486), I am able to read the entire CD into the HDD with no problems, except for speed restrictions of the older machines...

You can see the contents, and read any file you like, or the entire contents of the disc. I am going to burn a copy of this disc from the P100 machine, using 4x burn speed, onto a CD-RW disc, and see if the CD-ROM drive in the XP machine can see this.

Ta-ra!


MM.

QUOTE
Joliet
A standard developed by Microsoft for Windows 95 that allows CDs to be recorded using long filenames. Joliet allows you to use filenames up to 64 characters in length, including spaces, and also allows you to use Unicode characters for better international support. Joliet records the associated DOS standard filename (8 + 3 characters) for each file so that the CD can be read on DOS systems or earlier versions of Windows.

I wonder what you are trying to do with this disk?
Which software made it?
If you are trying to copy it, then the reader would need to be capable of "Digital Audio Extraction".
e.g.
Adaptec Easy CD Creator supports the following CD-R formats:
CD-ROM
CD-ROM XA
CD-DA
CD Extra
Mixed-Mode
CD-I
D-XA Bridge Disc

A multi-session CD-ROM drive is required to read CD-Extra format disks.

What capabilities do the various CD drives have?

Using "CD Copier" for:
Audio: The reader must support "Digital Audio Extraction".
"Direct CD" disks: reader must be a "Multi-Read" drive.
Photo CD & Video CD: CD-ROM XA capable drive required.

Hiya!
:-)

The disc contains downloads copied from the workshop PC, which has fast-internet access. The disc contains mainly updated applications, such as MusicMatch 7, Mozilla web browser, Microsoft XP SP1a, etc...

All this stuff came from the 'net, and was written at 4x speed using an old faithful Mitsumi 4804TE writer. The disc was closed to be readable in any standard CD-ROM drive.

As mentioned, the other PC's can access/read them, but the AOpen combo drive cannot...

I have now decided to replace the combo with two seperate drives from Lite-On.

These drives seem to rate very well, and CDR Labs think highly of them.

I might have better luck with a DVD drive, AND a CD-RW drive as seperate units.

I'll keep this thread posted as to developments!
:)


MM.

Originally posted by Mini-Me
The disc was closed to be readable in any standard CD-ROM drive.
But you said prevously the were close in Joliet format!
To be readable in MOST standard CD-ROM drives they must be closed in "ISO 9660" format, and only CD-R's can be thus closed [not CD-RW's].

Which software was used to copy the data?
Packet writing software?
That cannot save in Joliet format, but only in ISO 9660, I believe.
If so the packet writing software must be running on the PC you are trying to read the disks on.

Lots of factors can play a part here, so we need to know them all.

"But you said prevously the were close in Joliet format!"

Correct. I never said otherwise.
They are closed in JOLIET format for Windows, this being the most popular CD-format for the Windows platform.

The "MOST" word you are reffering to, is not mine, but rather that of the Adaptec Easy CD Creator software, when you close the disc, and it says "The disc is readable in most CD-ROM drives under Windows", or words to that effect.

I only ever use ISO9660, when I need a disc to work under DOS.

The disc created with ECDC 5 under a Win98SE machine, closed, and moved to my home machine(Win XP). At this point, the disc should be readable by any CD-R compatible CD-ROM drive, under Windows 95A, 95B, 98, 98SE, Me, NT, XP, 2000.

Disc is readable under P100 with ECDC 4, and on 486 with no CD-software at all(naturally!)


MM.

Oh, by the way: Other discs are readable fine under XP on this drive, just some of them are not. All discs are the same media. All discs are the same speed. All discs are the same capacity (700MB).

Perhaps if the writer did not select a strong enough writing laser-level, then the disc is lacking in contrast, and the reading drive cannot "See" it.

Possible, do you think?


MM.

I have to say I have never encountered a CD that was solely Joliet format. Every CD I have done or seen done has been in ISO9660 plus Joliet.

QUOTE
Joliet
A standard developed by Microsoft for Windows 95 that allows CDs to be recorded using long filenames. Joliet allows you to use filenames up to 64 characters in length, including spaces, and also allows you to use Unicode characters for better international support. Joliet records the associated DOS standard filename (8 + 3 characters) for each file so that the CD can be read on DOS systems or earlier versions of Windows.

ISO 9660 File System Option
Select this option if you want to be able to read the CD on different platforms including DOS, Macintosh, OS/2, Windows and UNIX.
An international standard that specifies how data is physically recorded on to the CD (sector-by-sector) into a directory tree (up to eight directories).
End of quote

I think it's either Joliet or ISO 9660 you select.
ISO 9660 disks are readable by a wider range of OS's, but if you are using later versions of Windows, using Joliet you get the advantage of long filenames.

Vic970 is having a similar problem with his CD's.
Some files readable, some files not; and on the same disk.
Certainly the laser has to be considered a suspect, but in his case you wouldn't think it would vary from file to file on the same disk.

Hi!
:)

Thanks all, for all your replies thus far!
:)

Yep, in the old ECDC 5, you'd select JOLIET or ISO9660 as the disc format in the PROPERTIES or was it the DISC LAYOUT?
I forget which, as I don't use ECDC anymore, having been forced to Nero, as the AOpen drive would not work with ECDC 5 - even with all the updates.

...but i've got to like Nero Express, and InCD - which does the same thing as Direct CD, albeit with CD-RW discs, and CD-RW discs are SO MUCH CHEAPER then they used to be...

Lite-on brand also rates extremely well with the media compatibility tests performed by CDR Labs - "Excellent" was their one-word summary...
(my AOpen seems a little picky on the media I want to use)


MM.