Dual Layer DVD Burning
Borax Man
Just a quick rundown on my system. It has an AMD Duron 700 MHz CPU,
about 100G HD space and 384M RAM. Currently running Red Hat 7.3 (no
real need to upgrade).
At the moment, I've got a CD Burner, a very old one. Works fine but
it's starting to show its age. What I wan't to do is get a DVD burner
and burn DVD's. I will be mostly backing up data, storing files.
I've already installed the dvd-rw-tools, so I have growisofs, and the
latest version of XCDRoast, which is what I usually use when I burn CD's
I have two questions. Firstly, if I purchase a DVD recorder which can
burn dual layer, and suitable media, will growisofs allow me to burn
dual layer discs? I can't find much which conclusively says yes. (I
don't use K3B). Is is the same command as burning single layer 4.7G
discs? I just want to know before i purchase a burner if I'll be able
to burn dual layer discs easily and whether it works the same as
standard single layer.
Secondly, I'm open to recommendations about which brand to get, or which
to avoid. I'm looking at Yamaha, because the CD Burner I have is a
yamaha and its worked very well for the past 7 years and only now
starting to become less than 100% reliable.
Thanks in advance.
Dennis
Rod Smith
Borax Man <rot...@hotmail.com> writes:
>
> I have two questions. Firstly, if I purchase a DVD recorder which can
> burn dual layer, and suitable media, will growisofs allow me to burn
> dual layer discs? I can't find much which conclusively says yes.
Yes -- at least, when burning from a prepared image file. (I've not tried
it any other way.)
> Is is the same command as burning single layer 4.7G
> discs?
Yes.
One caveat: With the dual-layer discs I've got (RiData brand) and the DVD
burner I've got (an HP), the first burn attempt invariably fails. Using
the same disc, the second attempt works. Since the end result is a good
burn, I consider it a minor nuisance rather than a real problem. This is
probably a drive/media idiosyncracy, but I can't rule out the possibility
that it's a quirk of dual-layer burning under Linux or with my drive.
> Secondly, I'm open to recommendations about which brand to get, or which
> to avoid. I'm looking at Yamaha, because the CD Burner I have is a
> yamaha and its worked very well for the past 7 years and only now
> starting to become less than 100% reliable.
Mine is an HP DVD Writer 940d, according to the /proc filesystem entry.
I'd originally bought a Sony, but it had problems reading the discs it had
burned itself about 1/2 the time, so I returned it and got the HP. The
only "coasters" I recall it burning have been with DVD+RW media that have
been used several times. (The Memorex DVD+RWs I've got seem to only be
good for about 2-4 burns before they become useless.) Mostly I've used
Verbatim single-layer DVD+R discs, but I've used a few RiData dual-layer
DVD+Rs, Memorex DVD+RWs, and Verbatim single-layer DVD-Rs. I've recently
bought some Taiyo Yuden single-layer DVD+Rs, but so far I've only burned
one.
--
Rod Smith, rods...@rodsbooks.com
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking
AHappyCamper
burner/players!
Then, I consider 700mhz about the minimum for video or DVD works.
I have DL but have yet to find either the program, or the media, to use
it! Burns Linux ISOs just fine, and, being a Dual Layer device is extra
gravy I may never enjoy.
Borax Man
700MHz isn't a problem because I'm not really going to do video editing,
mostly just storing data, system backups etc.
It turns out dual layer discs seem to cost MORE than twice the single
later ones. It's still cheaper to use two singler layer DVD's than one
dual layer.