Burned a CD of some photos from my digital camera. On this particular CD, most images are fine. About 5 images will not open or copy from that CD to any other location (hard drive, etc). Every time I try to open or copy one of those files on the CD, after a long wait, I get an error message that says “Data Error - Cyclic Redundancy Check”. I know what both of those statements mean. What I’m wondering is what is causing this problem overall. The only clue that I have in this case is that the brand of CD is a no-name. Otherwise, the CD doesn’t seem to be scratched or damaged in any way.
Frankly, I’ve had far more problems with the quality and stability of burned CDs (different times, different machines, different media), than I ever did with floppy disks, which really surprises me. I’ve had CDs in the past that would work on one day, and not on a different day, on the same computer, giving a “this CD is not formatted error”, when in fact it was full of data.
use a good brand cd. i like verbatim/mitshubishi, they work very well on most writers.
do not burn a cd at full speed. the lower the speed, the better the results. indeed, if you burn as fast as your cd writer can, you’ll end up with a cd that might contains lots of error.
[quote=“5566”]two rules apply for burning quality cd/dvd:
use a good brand cd. I like verbatim/mitshubishi, they work very well on most writers.
do not burn a cd at full speed. the lower the speed, the better the results. indeed, if you burn as fast as your cd writer can, you’ll end up with a cd that might contains lots of error.[/quote]
right. New burner and good brand CD-R and my error rate is 0 or 10 %.
Later it will increase to 25 or 40%, so I reduce speed, skip the cheap CD-R I find myself buying sometimes and later buy a new burner. This will be after 1 or 2 years.
Beware, nasty old burners will maybe make CDs wich work on themselves, but not on another drive. That is nasty.
I would have assumed that CD writing and reading would have evolved to the point of being “standards based” by now. Hasn’t it? As a technology, it’s seems to still be acting as if it is nearly brand-new, proprietary, and buggy.
I would have assumed that CD writing and reading would have evolved to the point of being “standards based” by now. Hasn’t it? As a technology, it’s seems to still be acting as if it is nearly brand-new, proprietary, and buggy.[/quote]
Well, a lot of mechanics is involved. Bad CD-Rs will spoil the best burning system. And bend plastic will make a burner having burned 300 CDs and DVDs for you change its track just a tiny little bit apart from the standard.
Actually, I was asking literally, but down a different path from your answer. I was asking what I was asking. All clear now?
Really, my question was related to standards. New technology doesn’t have industry-wide standards. Then there are two or three competing standards. Then one of those becomes prominent, and thus the defacto standard. That is a process that takes years. However, when that point is reached, the technology is mature and functions reliably. I thought that CD reading and writing had gotten to that final stage, but really haven’t paid careful enough attention to say for sure. That’s what and why I was asking.
One possibility is a hardware problem. I started experiencing occasional CD burning problems on my laptop last year. Gradually the problems became more frequent, and finally the CD drive was kaput. I need to order a replacement drive from Dell USA.
Hmmmm… the ones for 200 NT a 50pack are rubbish, with dents and scratches. The ones for 400NT or so are just fine and make 0% failure with my new burner now.
[quote=“5566”]- use a good brand cd. I like verbatim/mitshubishi, they work very well on most writers.
[/quote]
You might want to read up and figure out who makes their media. Lots of companies OEM and could switch anytime.
I used Ritek while I was in Taiwan. One of the top 3 Taiwanese companies I believe. I recently got apple DVD-Rs since I needed somethign quick. I figure they would probably choose one of the better companies.
Taiyo Yuden is still the best in the world.
If you want to check media and drive quality, there is software that can test the strength of a burn.
[quote=“gary”][quote=“5566”]- use a good brand cd. I like verbatim/mitshubishi, they work very well on most writers.
[/quote]
You might want to read up and figure out who makes their media. Lots of companies OEM and could switch anytime.
I used Ritek while I was in Taiwan. One of the top 3 Taiwanese companies I believe. I recently got apple DVD-Rs since I needed somethign quick. I figure they would probably choose one of the better companies.
Taiyo Yuden is still the best in the world.
If you want to check media and drive quality, there is software that can test the strength of a burn.[/quote]
I also use Ritek. Readily available here. Good DVDs too.
There are sites where people talk about media and burn quality quite a bit. Looking thru them is interesting. I would really get Taiyo Yuden if you really care about your data.
Now that I have maybe a 100 DVDs that I kinda would like to keep. I’m getting a bit unsettled thinking of their future. Are they going to be good 5 years from now? Everytime I use them, do they get a bit more scratched up?
I really need to get some RAID array and back them up. Network storage like a snap server or an Xserve with XRAID is definitely coming sometime.
Ritek are a Taiwanese company. Basically, all CDs and DVDs in the world are made by either Ritek or CMC (also a Taiwanese company). Therefore I have no problem buying Ritek discs. Big-name brand discs, such as Phillips, Memorex, TDK, and the like are all fine. My Little Pony and Cutie Pie Cuddly discs are pure rubbish. They are seconds. I inherited a load of Fluffy Kitten discs from a friend and threw them away. I use Phillips DVDs and Ritek CDs and have never had a coaster, except when the software application has cocked up.
There might be some factory in Xinzhu or something stamping discs (including particles of dust and dead flies into the bargain) but if it’s not made by Ritek or CMC with a brand name I recognise I won’t buy it.
On the other hand, I sometimes get the odd busted jpeg that has never seen an optical disc, but if you’re having problems writing discs maybe your discs are crap, or the writer is tired, or has taken a knock.
There are of course standards, I think they’re in The Pink Book, or The Monty Python’s Big Red Book (only available in blue), but hey this is Taiwan. The electrical “standards” here are very similar to those in the UK. But take a look at the wiring.
use a good brand cd. I like verbatim/mitshubishi, they work very well on most writers.
You might want to read up and figure out who makes their media. Lots of companies OEM and could switch anytime.[/quote]
i usually buy those made in japan. however quality of verbatim/mitshubishi doesnt vary much. never had any problem in over 8 years with their cd’s (and more recently dvd’s).
Since in Taiwan, I have much more problems burning DVD-ROMs. CD-R usually works.
New Acer PC with inbuilt burner, many other drives have problems reading the DVDs, CDs is fine.
I guess a lot of stuff sold here is just crap. 2nd class quality while the good stuff goes to US and Europe.
Using USB drives now instead of DVDs for backups, tool collections etc.
And re-using the old burner, it was a bit broken, but is still better than the new Acer.
And … did I tell you about the Asus motherboard bought here which never really worked (USB 2.0 ports worked as USB 1.1. only, now fused…)
made in Taiwan is fine, bought in Taiwan is the problem :s
EDIT: no, I have to aplogize to Taiwan, my wife, the Taiwan president and my mother in law. And ACER of course. It is only my old work DVD drive, the one via FireWire/USB which is always bouncing against the wine bottles in my briefcase, which is rejecting the DVDs from the new burner.
So old burner in USB enclosure and off I go burning with my old burner.
This reminds me in the compatibility issues I had in 1985 with a Video2000 VCR when each VCR was unique and could not share your “Boring German idiots singing ugly songs on Saturday Night Live Schau” with your neighbour.
made in Taiwan is fine, bought in Taiwan is the problem :s