Have I been lucky?

I set a piece of software to turn off the computer on completion,
having forgotten there was a DVD in the disc drive. This resulted in
the disc spinning for 30 hours. It seems no harm has been done. Was
I lucky?

On 22/04/2018 22:15, Scott wrote:
It seems no harm has been done.

What harm were you expecting?

When the machine is off, I don't expect anything to be moving so how did
you work out that your DVD was spinning?

Have you been hallucinating again? You are fortunate that Windows 10 is
keeping you safe in all respects so keep using it and ask your friends
and family members to do the same.

/--- This email has been checked for viruses by
Windows Defender software.
//https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/comprehensive-security/


--
With over 600 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

On Sun, 22 Apr 2018 22:25:26 +0100, Good Guy
wrote:

On 22/04/2018 22:15, Scott wrote:
It seems no harm has been done.

What harm were you expecting?

Overheating of a motor that was not designed for 30 hours continuous
use.

When the machine is off, I don't expect anything to be moving so how did
you work out that your DVD was spinning?

Because I could hear it when I walked into the room and the sound
stopped when I ejected the DVD.

Have you been hallucinating again? You are fortunate that Windows 10 is
keeping you safe in all respects so keep using it and ask your friends
and family members to do the same.

Not today, and my criticism was aimed at myself not W10.

Apart from that, thanks for your assistance.

/--- This email has been checked for viruses by
Windows Defender software.
//https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/comprehensive-security/

Scott wrote:
I set a piece of software to turn off the computer on completion,
having forgotten there was a DVD in the disc drive. This resulted in
the disc spinning for 30 hours. It seems no harm has been done. Was
I lucky?

To put it in perspective, "you just played fifteen 2 hour movies".

A drive costs $20 to replace. You replace it when it wears out.

The hardest ones to replace, are the ones with IDE connectors
that aren't for sale any more. If your drive has SATA connectors
on the back (the thin red data cable), then you'll still be able
to get a replacement drive, if it actually packs up. With a price
of $20, you could buy a replacement now and keep a spare.
I have one spare IDE optical drive right now, as an example
(bought from a surplus store). I don't have any spare SATA
ones at the moment.

Slim drives, or drives for laptops, are likely a bit more
expensive (it's what the market will bear that determines
the price).

I wasn't able to find any authoritative data on laser diode
lifetime, for a DVD player laser. And extrapolating from
LED lifetimes, simply would not be appropriate. I looked
at a handful of laser diode datasheets, and not one would
give a lifespan in hours. I believe I was given a figure
at work once, but I won't repeat that unless I have
a datasheet to back it up.

The laser diodes use programmable power level. There's a "driver"
that modulates the current flow, with a different power level
for read, write, erase. And as far as I know, the media tag on
a blank disc, has some sort of power level specified there.
While it was sitting there spinning, it probably wasn't
in a high power state the entire time (because it's prepared
to read, but doesn't have to remain in a high power state the
whole time - in some cases, the drive will actually stop
spinning).

To estimate motor life, we could assume the motor is similar
to a fan motor, and a good fan will run for three years continuously,
before needing replacement. Therefore, you've used about 0.1% of the
motor life. As a wild guess.

It's hard to say what percentage of total life was used on the laser.

Paul

On Sun, 22 Apr 2018 19:14:39 -0400, Paul
wrote:

Scott wrote:
I set a piece of software to turn off the computer on completion,
having forgotten there was a DVD in the disc drive. This resulted in
the disc spinning for 30 hours. It seems no harm has been done. Was
I lucky?

To put it in perspective, "you just played fifteen 2 hour movies".

A drive costs $20 to replace. You replace it when it wears out.

The hardest ones to replace, are the ones with IDE connectors
that aren't for sale any more. If your drive has SATA connectors
on the back (the thin red data cable), then you'll still be able
to get a replacement drive, if it actually packs up. With a price
of $20, you could buy a replacement now and keep a spare.
I have one spare IDE optical drive right now, as an example
(bought from a surplus store). I don't have any spare SATA
ones at the moment.

Slim drives, or drives for laptops, are likely a bit more
expensive (it's what the market will bear that determines
the price).

I wasn't able to find any authoritative data on laser diode
lifetime, for a DVD player laser. And extrapolating from
LED lifetimes, simply would not be appropriate. I looked
at a handful of laser diode datasheets, and not one would
give a lifespan in hours. I believe I was given a figure
at work once, but I won't repeat that unless I have
a datasheet to back it up.

The laser diodes use programmable power level. There's a "driver"
that modulates the current flow, with a different power level
for read, write, erase. And as far as I know, the media tag on
a blank disc, has some sort of power level specified there.
While it was sitting there spinning, it probably wasn't
in a high power state the entire time (because it's prepared
to read, but doesn't have to remain in a high power state the
whole time - in some cases, the drive will actually stop
spinning).

To estimate motor life, we could assume the motor is similar
to a fan motor, and a good fan will run for three years continuously,
before needing replacement. Therefore, you've used about 0.1% of the
motor life. As a wild guess.

It's hard to say what percentage of total life was used on the laser.

Thank you for your comprehensive reply, which reassures me.