CD-R/RW problem with old laptop

tomk

I have an old laptop here - P133/2GB HD/48MB RAM - and the CD-ROM drive won't read CD-Rs/RWs. Is there anything I can do about this (cleaning, etc), or is it just a fact of life with older gear?

Zakalwe

Hi Tom. That's the machine you got from me right? I can assure you that it most definitely reads cdrs. I have installed linux on it from the cd drive. The windows install on it was also installed from a backup 98se CD as mine was scratched to pieces.

It could be the media you're using? Are you closing the session? Make sure you burn as iso9660 and not as UDF as 98 won't read UDF.

Zakalwe

I forogot to mention that it probably won't boot off of the CD. Most old BIOSes are like that.

tomk

Originally posted by Zakalwe
Are you closing the session? Make sure you burn as iso9660 and not as UDF as 98 won't read UDF.

You've lost me here. I'm using media burned over the last few months, which work fine in any of my other machines. I used X-CD-Roast on a Debian machine to burn them, selecting DAO each time - I think this relates to "closing the session", but I'm open to correction.

X-CD-Roast did not give me a choice of ISO9660 or UDF (unless I just didn't look hard enough) but when I mount the disks in any other machine, they show up as ISO9660.

Thanks for the reply - any suggestions appreciated.

Re your other post, I know I can't boot from CD - checked out the BIOS already.

Zakalwe

The CDs I use are generic crap I picked up in Dixons on 50 spindles. The ATIP info says they're manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation.

DAO writes can still be open. You should make sure multisession is unticked, do not fixate after write is unticked and that pad tracks is ticked.

Under the iso9660 options try choosing predefined image options "Rock Ridge and Joilet"

tomk

Originally posted by Zakalwe
The CDs I use are generic crap I picked up in Dixons on 50 spindles. The ATIP info says they're manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation.

Mine are Memorex branded, but ATIP says CMC.

DAO writes can still be open. You should make sure multisession is unticked, do not fixate after write is unticked and that pad tracks is ticked.

Already unticked, unticked, and ticked, respectively.

Under the iso9660 options try choosing predefined image options "Rock Ridge and Joilet"

Where are these options in X-CD-Roast?

Zakalwe

When you click master tracks, it's the second tab on the screen that appears.

tomk

Thanks - I generally go straight to Write Tracks for burning isos.

Rock Ridge + Joliet is already selected as the image type.

Would it make any difference if I burned at a slower speed?

Either way, it's no big deal - the machine is up and running using a nanobox floppy, so I can do anything I need over the network.

Zakalwe

It might help to burn at 1x speed. To be honest though, I have never had a problem with burning at full speed and reading from the drive.

Are you using CDRW? If so try CDR. Some old drives are picky about the media you feed them.

tomk

I've tried both R and RW - results are the same.

If it becomes necessary, I'll try a 1x burn, but for the moment, I can work with out the drive.