Burning CD-RW Disks

[Malcolm Potter]

Using Nero InCD UDF Packet Writing Software for Windows I can write to and
read from two CD-RW 1x-4x disks (One Maxell and one TDK) without any problem
but am unable to do the same using three 4x-10x Packard Bell CD-RW disks.
InCD doesn't appear to recognise the Packard Bell disks as re-writables. My
CD-Writer is an Artec 48x12x48 with up-to-date firmware. All my Nero
software has been updated with the latest downloads, as has my Windows XP
Pro operating system. Any ideas folks?

Regards

Malcolm Potter

PS A couple of fairly basic questions about CD burning - If you use a 1x-4x
CD-RW disk in a higher speed CD-Writer, as I have, will the system
automatically adjust it's speed down to match the writing speed of the disk
or should the writing speed be set up manually prior to the burn? Secondly,
are there any CD-RW disks on the market which are higher speed than 4x-10x?
I haven't spotted any as yet.

[None Required]

Sounds like media incompatibility. Writers vary in the ability to use
different media with success. Many people do not realize that media is not
"standard". Some is not very good. Also a LOT of brand names (Maxell,
Memorex, TDK, etc.) are NOT made by the company. They are outsourced to what
is often the cheapest bidder. You can get different brands in the same
stack. One person might love your Packard Bells and another might loathe
them. Find media that works and stay with it.

Some higher speed writers CANNOT see lower speed media. Some low speed
writers also CANNOT see the higher speed media. I have a Cyber drive
24x12x40x that will not see some 1-4x media.

RW Media "should" have the information for Nero and the writer to tell it
what the maximum speed it will burn. You can often choose slower but not
faster.

RW media is up to 24x. It is not common yet. You often have to mail order.

BTW: packet writing is the least stable way to write, especially on poor
quality media. Session writing (normal) is more reliable.

Fritz

Malcolm Potter wrote:
> Using Nero InCD UDF Packet Writing Software for Windows I can write
> to and read from two CD-RW 1x-4x disks (One Maxell and one TDK)
> without any problem but am unable to do the same using three 4x-10x
> Packard Bell CD-RW disks. InCD doesn't appear to recognise the
> Packard Bell disks as re-writables. My CD-Writer is an Artec 48x12x48
> with up-to-date firmware. All my Nero software has been updated with
> the latest downloads, as has my Windows XP Pro operating system. Any
> ideas folks?
>
> Regards
>
> Malcolm Potter
>
> PS A couple of fairly basic questions about CD burning - If you use a
> 1x-4x CD-RW disk in a higher speed CD-Writer, as I have, will the
> system automatically adjust it's speed down to match the writing
> speed of the disk or should the writing speed be set up manually
> prior to the burn? Secondly, are there any CD-RW disks on the market
> which are higher speed than 4x-10x? I haven't spotted any as yet.

[Pavel A.]

"None Required" <None > wrote in message
...
> Some higher speed writers CANNOT see lower speed media. Some low speed
> writers also CANNOT see the higher speed media.
> BTW: packet writing is the least stable way to write, especially on poor
> quality media. Session writing (normal) is more reliable.
>
> Fritz

Hmm. if this is true... then any packet mode - Nero, DirectCD or whatever -
must be avoided as plague.
Can Mt. Rainier drives cope with this trouble?
What about DVD plus/minus RW media?

- PA

[None Required]

If you spend some time in the CD-RW forums and check out some web sites
about this you start to get a picture. Within this picture is a lot of
controversy. CD_RW is not a technically reliable success. It's more like
cars; some are cheap, some expensive, some reliable, some pick about gas,
some not. And people use them for lots of different stuff so get different
results.

I started learning when I found you could check out the quality of the media
burned (IF your drive has this capability) with Nero CD-Speed
www.cdspeed2000.com (site seems down right now-hope it's not gone).
I found a LOT of the early CD's I burned were pretty bad.

There are also a lot of opinions about CD quality. This is backed up with
test results. The problem is lots of CD media are built by OEM manufacturers
and is changing all the time.

Theoretically Mt. Rainier is more reliable for packet writing as it has a
built in error checking protocol. I don't think it would help a lot if you
had a bad mismatch between a particular burner and media. There is also the
issue that it is not a universal protocol and discs cannot be easily moved
between machines. No OS currently supports it.

BTW, the so-called "native" burning of XP is just a dumbed down version of
Roxio EZ-CD Creator. It appears to do packet writing but is a session
writer.

I DO use both RW and packet writing myself. I do not archive with it. I also
check the results regularily.

Don't know anything about DVD except its even less mature than CD.

Fritz


>> Some higher speed writers CANNOT see lower speed media. Some low
>> speed writers also CANNOT see the higher speed media.
>> BTW: packet writing is the least stable way to write, especially on
>> poor quality media. Session writing (normal) is more reliable.
>>
>> Fritz
>
> Hmm. if this is true... then any packet mode - Nero, DirectCD or
> whatever - must be avoided as plague.
> Can Mt. Rainier drives cope with this trouble?
> What about DVD plus/minus RW media?
>
> - PA

[Malcolm Potter]

Thanks for the response. I did try burning one of the Packard Bell disks
using the Nero Burning ROM (standard?) method but without success. TDK
appears to be among the recommended disk 'manufacturers' so, having had some
success with their lower speed (1x-4x) disks, I am going to try their higher
speed (4x-10x) disks and keep my fingers crossed.

Cheers.

Malcolm

"None Required" <None > wrote in message
...
> Sounds like media incompatibility. Writers vary in the ability to use
> different media with success. Many people do not realize that media is not
> "standard". Some is not very good. Also a LOT of brand names (Maxell,
> Memorex, TDK, etc.) are NOT made by the company. They are outsourced to
what
> is often the cheapest bidder. You can get different brands in the same
> stack. One person might love your Packard Bells and another might loathe
> them. Find media that works and stay with it.
>
> Some higher speed writers CANNOT see lower speed media. Some low speed
> writers also CANNOT see the higher speed media. I have a Cyber drive
> 24x12x40x that will not see some 1-4x media.
>
> RW Media "should" have the information for Nero and the writer to tell it
> what the maximum speed it will burn. You can often choose slower but not
> faster.
>
> RW media is up to 24x. It is not common yet. You often have to mail order.
>
> BTW: packet writing is the least stable way to write, especially on poor
> quality media. Session writing (normal) is more reliable.
>
> Fritz
>
> Malcolm Potter wrote:
> > Using Nero InCD UDF Packet Writing Software for Windows I can write
> > to and read from two CD-RW 1x-4x disks (One Maxell and one TDK)
> > without any problem but am unable to do the same using three 4x-10x
> > Packard Bell CD-RW disks. InCD doesn't appear to recognise the
> > Packard Bell disks as re-writables. My CD-Writer is an Artec 48x12x48
> > with up-to-date firmware. All my Nero software has been updated with
> > the latest downloads, as has my Windows XP Pro operating system. Any
> > ideas folks?
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Malcolm Potter
> >
> > PS A couple of fairly basic questions about CD burning - If you use a
> > 1x-4x CD-RW disk in a higher speed CD-Writer, as I have, will the
> > system automatically adjust it's speed down to match the writing
> > speed of the disk or should the writing speed be set up manually
> > prior to the burn? Secondly, are there any CD-RW disks on the market
> > which are higher speed than 4x-10x? I haven't spotted any as yet.
>
>

[None Required]

TDK used to make it's own stuff but now outsources it. You could end up with
anything. They don't even shoot for quality anymore. The 1st disks I ever
bought were TDK based on reputation and they turned out to be Riteks (but
they do work). Fujifilm (Taiyo Yuden) has one of the most consistent
reputations.

Check here: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_cdr_info_abc.shtml
for a starter.

Go here: http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/
To download CDR Identifier. This reads the disk and will tell you what it
really is (most of the time).

Fritz

Malcolm Potter wrote:
> Thanks for the response. I did try burning one of the Packard Bell
> disks using the Nero Burning ROM (standard?) method but without
> success. TDK appears to be among the recommended disk 'manufacturers'
> so, having had some success with their lower speed (1x-4x) disks, I
> am going to try their higher speed (4x-10x) disks and keep my fingers
> crossed.