Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] - What SATA CD-R/DVD-R drive manufacturer to buy?

[Paul Hartman]

On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 10:43 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@×××××.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 7:38 AM, Paul Hartman
> <paul.hartman+gentoo@×××××.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@×××××.com> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>  My 5-year old gentoo-AMD64 machine when up in smoke this week so I'm
>>> building a new machine. Most parts are on order but one big change
>>> these days is the motherboards I want to purchase no longer support
>>> EIDE/ATAPI interfaces so I'll have to get a new CD-R/DVD-R drive to
>>> get the OS loaded and for writing mostly audio discs using
>>> cdda2wav/cdrecord. While I understand firmware is often a problem on
>>> these drives I'm wondering what drive manufacturers folks would
>>> recommend these days as having the best results with cdrecord?
>>
>> I have a cheap Sony Optiarc (formerly NEC?) and it has worked fine for
>> me for ripping and burning audio CDs, DVD+/-R (single and dual layer).
>> It cost around $25 USD. I don't know if it is better or worse than any
>> other brand but it seems to work for me anyway.
>>
>
> I just ordered an OptiArc 7240S from NewEgg this morning on a similar
> recommendation from the cdrtools list.
>
> Just curious - have you attempted any firmware upgrades from within
> Linux? Have you tried (or do you know about) the Liggy and Dee
> firmware?

I've got AW-G170S and cannot remember if I've done a firmware update
on it. I think Sony only release a Windows-based firmware installer
but I'm not sure how the third-party ones work.

I have read about the modified firmwares to change burn strategy,
enable bitsetting (make a DVD-R look like a DVD-ROM to fool devices
that refuse to play burned discs) etc but I haven't personally had a
need to use it.