Recommendations for burning a CD-R for testing?

[elmer]

The last time that I needed to do this was for a different console, and the community wisdom at the time was to burn slow, and use a real CD-only burner and not a combined DVD/CD burner.

Using good media like taiyo-yuden was also recommended.

You guys know the limitations of the old early-generation CD drives in the PCE-CD/Duo ... do these recommendations still apply?

What do people do today?

[Necromancer]

I burn taiyo yudens at 1x on an ancient CDR drive.  You might have to try a few different disc brands before you find one your machine likes, and even then you may find that your machine won't play any CDRs (like my TurboDuo); just burn slow and make sure you're using good rips.

[VenomMacbeth]

This is relevant to my interests.  I'll be burning lots of games for my PCE Duo, once I get it.  Note your findings on what CDRs work best, if you think about it.

[cjameslv]

I burned an iso of 240p test suite on a regular memorex 700mb disc @ 10x (slowest my drive will go). Works good but haven't burned any roms though to test it further.

[BlueBMW]

I've typically used these:

http://www.mam-a-store.com/20110-25.html

Being 650mb seems to help some too.

[cjameslv]

I've typically used these:

http://www.mam-a-store.com/20110-25.html

Being 650mb seems to help some too.

WTF!! Those discs are amazing!

The highlights of said beemer discs:

24 KARAT GOLD CD-R
- Protects data from corrosion and chemical breakdown
- 300+ years longevity
- Best method for preserving valuable content for future technology transfers
- Make sure your photos, videos, and data remain intact for retrieval
- Permanent data storage on a physical disc that cannot be erased
- Recording layer is resistant to UV and heat better than other discs.

[Sarumaru]

You're all PIRATES!!

[elmer]

http://www.mam-a-store.com/20110-25.html

Thanks for the link ... I've traditionally bought from MediaSupply, and that's exactly the disk that they recommend theses days.

Ouch!! Quality CD-R prices have really gone through the roof in the last few years!! 

I picked up 200 taiyo-yuden 650MB disks years ago when I heard that they were going to be discontinued, and it was only $40-per-100 at the time.

So now it's approx $210-per-100 for good quality 650MB disks. I hate to think how much it will be next year.

I definitely agree with using the 650MB CD-R's ... that's the original track density that the old CD drives are designed for.

From what I remember, 700MB disks are technically out-of-spec (by original standards) and will be harder for the old drives to read.

I do have an old beige CD-R (the beige shows it's age by itself), and will dig through old boxes to see if I can unearth an old Plextor drive that I know that I used to own.

Apart from that ... I'm tempted to seek out an old Yamaha AMQR-enabled drive to make things even easier for the old PCE mechanism to read.

[elmer]

You're all PIRATES!!

I posted this is in the "development" section and not in the "discussion" section specifically to avoid that kind of reaction. 

[NightWolve]

He was just messing with ya. It wasn't a serious criticism. Oh yeah, in times like these it's always worth noting that riders gonna riiiiiide, and pirates gonna pirate! Such is the way of the world.

[Bonknuts]

There are a few factors involved with running CD-Rs on the system.

 One of them is the type of CD system being used. There are three categories: original CD units (PCE CD brief case model and TGCD model), the original Duo models (US or JP - the blank editions), and the last group (SuperCDROM attachment, and the Duo-R models). The last category, from my experience, pretty much plays any type of CD-R. Even the really crappy ones. The original Duo modes tend to be hit or miss on overall readability. And that leaves the original CD units, which tend to experience the most problems.

 Other factors are the CD-Rs themselves. And of course the last factor being the burner. I've had good luck with DVD/CD combo burners, and I've also had bad luck with them. My laptop burns great CD-Rs, while one of my desktop Blu-ray combo burner isn't so hawt at the job. I've had burners where the lowest speed would produce "coasters", but the next speed up would burn perfectly working discs. You pretty much just have to play with it and figure out what works best.

 On a side note, while I haven't done this myself, I've heard that getting a laser replacement for the original Duo models (black editions) really improves CD-R readability. And one other thing to note; there's something that seems only to appear to happen on the original Duo models: parked laser issue. It's where the unit can't read correctly from the CD-R, so it attempts to scan something at the end of the disc.. but exceeds the length it can move and gets stuck/wedged tight (it can't undo itself). You have to manually turn the axle/screw by hand to get it free. I'm not sure how common this is, but I've personally seen it happen to three different US Duos.

[elmer]

There are a few factors involved with running CD-Rs on the system.

Thanks for the detailed post!

The last category, from my experience, pretty much plays any type of CD-R. Even the really crappy ones. The original Duo modes tend to be hit or miss on overall readability. And that leaves the original CD units, which tend to experience the most problems.

Well, I've got all 3 types of over many years of collecting ... but I expect that I'll probably only need to test on Duo-R and SuperCD, so it's good to know that I can probably "go-cheap" on the test CD-Rs.

Other factors are the CD-Rs themselves.

I seem to remember discussions from back-in-the-day that really old CD drives preferred silver CD-Rs over gold CD-Rs because of their higher reflectivity ... but I have no evidence to support that.

The extra shelf-life of the gold discs is definitely not needed for testing.

It would certainly be nice to be able to use $31/100 "100-year-life" CD-Rs instead of the $210/100 "300-year-life" CD-Rs. 

And of course the last factor being the burner. I've had good luck with DVD/CD combo burners, and I've also had bad luck with them.

That's good to know. I have a cache of Pioneer 115 burners that had a really good reputation ... I'll see how well they do. It would certainly be easier (and prettier) than putting an old beige CD burner in my PC.

Having said which ... I just splurged on a cheap eBay Yamaha AMQR-enabled burner, so I'll give that a test, too.

On a side note, while I haven't done this myself, I've heard that getting a laser replacement for the original Duo models (black editions) really improves CD-R readability.

That's really interesting to hear. I'll give that a try when my old Toys'R'Us-closeout TurboDuo finally needs a capacitor swap.

[Necromancer]

... when my old Toys'R'Us-closeout TurboDuo finally needs a capacitor swap.

It needs one now.  I wouldn't wait until you hear problems, as that's often too late and the cap goo has already damaged the pcb and/or components.

[elmer]

... when my old Toys'R'Us-closeout TurboDuo finally needs a capacitor swap.

It needs one now.  I wouldn't wait until you hear problems, as that's often too late and the cap goo has already damaged the pcb and/or components.

Oh ... sh*t! I didn't realize that they leaked, I just (mistakenly) thought that they died.

Thanks ... alright, I'd better check on it.

My TurboExpress wouldn't turn on the last time that I checked it ... so I should probably look at that at the same time.

Guess that I'll head over to the repair/mod section.

[NightWolve]

My TurboExpress wouldn't turn on the last time that I checked it ... so I should probably look at that at the same time.

Yeah, that's time for a full recap job. If you're willing to pay more for tantalum capacitors, you can get rid of the buzzing in the audio that was so prominent while you're at it. Talk to Le Steve when you're ready.