CD-R brands and my SCD system

SamIAm · 08/30/2015, 06:43 AM

I'm not going to lie: I play CD-Rs. Often it's of games that I actually have real copies of. Often enough, it's not. Let's just say I'm doing my part to keep market prices low. No, don't thank me.

Anyway, in the past, I always used TDK CD-Rs with green bottoms burned at 8x. I wish I could tell you exactly what type of dye they use, but at the moment, I can't. Anyway, in my two Duo-RXs, these have always done fine. The systems never seemed to have more trouble reading them than they did real CDs, and the drives never sounded like they were struggling or anything. After hundreds of hours of CD-R gaming, I can't detect any signs of deterioration in either of them.

However, I recently got a Super CD system, and a different phenomenon with it was instantly obvious. When playing my TDK CD-Rs, the drive will occasionally emit a weird "thunk" like sound when it seeks something. Interestingly, this is not accompanied by a noticeable delay in reading the track, as sound tests from certain games seem to prove. However, it happens quite often. In my TDK CD-R burn of Dracula X, the "Op. 13" track in the sound test almost always causes this thunk to happen, especially if I play it after playing a different track later on in the CD.

So, maybe the Super CD system just doesn't like CD-Rs? That's what I was thinking. I was even resigning myself to never playing CD-Rs with this particular console. But then just for the heck of it, I burned a couple of other CD-Rs using my recently purchased, blue-bottom Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs at 16x...

The "thunk" sound doesn't happen with the Taiyo Yudens.

Now, maybe the cause is the 16x burning, or maybe it's that I'm using a different burner from when I burned the TDKs. Unless I buy some TDK CD-Rs again, I won't be able to properly isolate the problem. Anyway, this is a relief, as I can now go back to playing my favorite shooters with the audio tracks pre-amplified (if you haven't tried this, you should).

I do know that the effect of CD-Rs on these old systems is something that people around here worry about a lot. A popular theory is that CD-Rs cause the laser to work harder in order to focus and read the data. It sure seems reasonable to me that subjecting my SCD to 10,000 "thunks" might cause some real mechanical trouble. However, given the ease with which it's reading these Taiyo Yudens, I'm going to keep on playing CD-Rs. It just means I have to reburn some things.

If you have experienced trouble with CD-Rs on your system, and you aren't scared of ever trying them again, I really do recommend spending a few dollars and trying some different brands, and possibly even experimenting with different burners and burning speeds if you can. FWIW, it has always seemed to me, whether making CD-Rs for this system or for others, that the brand is the most important factor.

I guess that's all. I'm off to do some burning!

GohanX · 08/30/2015, 11:09 AM

The Duos I've had never really cared what type of media I used. My pce cd drives are a lot more picky.

My black us drive will read almost anything. One of my white drives works perfectly with Taiyo Yudens but nothing else. My third drive won't read cdrs at all but is perfectly fine with real discs.

grolt · 08/30/2015, 03:22 PM

I appreciate this thread and the feedback so far because I'm trying to find something that will work for my setup as well. Thus far I've had some difficulty playing burned discs on my PCE Duo. I've used both Memorex and Taiyo Yuden discs (green base) CD-Rs and both have really given my Duo a hard time. It will play the game, but there can be 30 second load times for a video or dialogue, and sometimes it will fail to play the background music for a screen. Both of my discs have been 700MB, but I see there are 650MB CD-Rs out there - what ones are you guys using, and would that make a difference? I'm intrigued by your success, SamIAm, with blue-bottom discs and wonder if anyone else has had that kind of success. Just for reference, do you have a product number or name or anything for that particular Taiyo Yuden disc?

As it stands now, I do get the odd thunk sound after a lengthy read-attempt period, but mainly the problem just seems to be a lot of loud scanning and long load times on my system. I've only tried a patched Ys IV thus far, and all the official games I've tried have read without fault.

Psycho Punch · 08/30/2015, 04:00 PM

Record that seeking sound for us.

Ideally you should only use Mitsui Toatsu discs (MAM-A Gold) and silver JVC/Taiyo Yudens as they are the only ones retaining any kind of quality, other newer CDRs are garbage and give older drives a hard time.

xcrement5x · 08/30/2015, 04:12 PM

Quote from: grolt on 08/30/2015, 03:22 PMI appreciate this thread and the feedback so far because I'm trying to find something that will work for my setup as well. Thus far I've had some difficulty playing burned discs on my PCE Duo. I've used both Memorex and Taiyo Yuden discs (green base) CD-Rs and both have really given my Duo a hard time. It will play the game, but there can be 30 second load times for a video or dialogue, and sometimes it will fail to play the background music for a screen. Both of my discs have been 700MB, but I see there are 650MB CD-Rs out there - what ones are you guys using, and would that make a difference? I'm intrigued by your success, SamIAm, with blue-bottom discs and wonder if anyone else has had that kind of success. Just for reference, do you have a product number or name or anything for that particular Taiyo Yuden disc?

As it stands now, I do get the odd thunk sound after a lengthy read-attempt period, but mainly the problem just seems to be a lot of loud scanning and long load times on my system. I've only tried a patched Ys IV thus far, and all the official games I've tried have read without fault.

I think the 650MB ones are better for the system since it doesn't cause the laser to go all the way to the outer edge. I seem to remember someone talking about how 700MB CDs would cause the laser to go out too far whilest reading the disc and then get stuck.

Not sure if this is correct or not. Take my above comments with a grain of salt, or imagine esteban wrote it instead.

Dicer · 08/30/2015, 10:04 PM

I've used Imations for ages and have never had a seek problem or drive noise...

HailingTheThings · 08/30/2015, 10:18 PM

650mb/74min. CD-Rs are the way to go. Remember that these games are from the 90s and 700mb/80min. CDs weren't really a thing yet. I believe there were CD-Rs used by developers that were lower capacity than 74min. but I'm not 100% Pretty sure 74min. CD-Rs are close enough to those original capacity discs to not cause problems, though-though-though.

GohanX · 08/31/2015, 12:40 AM

Quote from: grolt on 08/30/2015, 03:22 PMI appreciate this thread and the feedback so far because I'm trying to find something that will work for my setup as well. Thus far I've had some difficulty playing burned discs on my PCE Duo. I've used both Memorex and Taiyo Yuden discs (green base) CD-Rs and both have really given my Duo a hard time. It will play the game, but there can be 30 second load times for a video or dialogue, and sometimes it will fail to play the background music for a screen. Both of my discs have been 700MB, but I see there are 650MB CD-Rs out there - what ones are you guys using, and would that make a difference? I'm intrigued by your success, SamIAm, with blue-bottom discs and wonder if anyone else has had that kind of success. Just for reference, do you have a product number or name or anything for that particular Taiyo Yuden disc?

As it stands now, I do get the odd thunk sound after a lengthy read-attempt period, but mainly the problem just seems to be a lot of loud scanning and long load times on my system. I've only tried a patched Ys IV thus far, and all the official games I've tried have read without fault.

Take one of your legit cds, use Turborip, then burn it to a Taiyo Yuden and see if you get the same symptoms.

CGQuarterly · 08/31/2015, 12:53 AM

Third vote for 650MB discs. I scoop them up whenever I see them for sale at thrift stores.

grolt · 08/31/2015, 01:35 PM

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I went ahead and bought a pack of 650MB MAM-A Gold CD-Rs and will try to burn again when they arrive. The bottoms of all the TG-16 CDs I have are gold, so hopefully these CD-Rs will make it easier for my Duo to read.

elmer · 08/31/2015, 07:10 PM

Quote from: guest on 08/30/2015, 04:12 PMI think the 650MB ones are better for the system since it doesn't cause the laser to go all the way to the outer edge. I seem to remember someone talking about how 700MB CDs would cause the laser to go out too far whilest reading the disc and then get stuck.

Here's another vote for 650MB CD-Rs!

AFAIK the problem with 700MB CD-Rs is that the spiral of data on them is more tightly spaced than on 650MB CD-Rs ... that's how the extra data fits in a disc that's the same physical size.

The old consoles were never designed to deal with CDs like that ... so you're pushing them to the limits of what they can read, and that's never good with 25-year-old technology.

What happens is that they fail to read sectors more often, and if they fail too many times, then the drive tries to recalibrate by seeking the head back to the center of the disc, and then moving it back out to the correct spot again.

That's the extra "seek" noises that you hear.

Now, when the drive is really having problems reading the CD-R, it won't be able to properly tell when the head is back at the center of the disc ... and so it keeps moving until the head physically hits the end of it's travel. That's the "thunk" that you hear.

That puts stress on the components, and will lead your drive to an early death.

Now the problem isn't actually because of the 700MD CD-R ... some of them are good, and some 650MB CD-Rs are bad ... it's just that you stand a much better chance of things working well, if you use good quality 650MB CD-Rs that are giving the drive the least amount of trouble to read.

Well, that's my understanding of the issue, anyway!

MotherGunner · 08/31/2015, 07:21 PM

Anyone ever use the black playstation type CDR's? Thoughs?

Gredler · 08/31/2015, 08:23 PM

Quote from: grolt on 08/31/2015, 01:35 PMThanks for all the feedback, guys. I went ahead and bought a pack of 650MB MAM-A Gold CD-Rs and will try to burn again when they arrive. The bottoms of all the TG-16 CDs I have are gold, so hopefully these CD-Rs will make it easier for my Duo to read.

Do you mind sharing a link to where you got[size=78%] them? I am having trouble finding a good deal. I am currently using some very cheap CD-Rs, and although there have been no hiccups I'd rather be safe than sorry.[/size]

OldMan · 08/31/2015, 10:01 PM

QuoteAnyone ever use the black playstation type CDR's?

Pretty sure I tried those, bitd. Wouldn't even boot.

Dicer · 09/01/2015, 01:01 AM

Quote from: MotherGunner on 08/31/2015, 07:21 PMAnyone ever use the black playstation type CDR's? Thoughs?

I had those at one time, older burns, and yeah they worked fine, but this was a LONG time ago...

HailingTheThings · 09/01/2015, 05:48 PM

Quote from: Myself on 08/30/2015, 10:18 PM650mb/74min. CD-Rs are the way to go. Remember that these games are from the 90s and 700mb/80min. CDs weren't really a thing yet. I believe there were CD-Rs used by developers that were lower capacity than 74min. but I'm not 100% Pretty sure 74min. CD-Rs are close enough to those original capacity discs to not cause problems, though-though-though.

Found this image. 71min CD-R. Yay.

/L095Ame.jpg

I thought I remembered seeing a Turbo Madden developer CD-R that had a lower capacity as well somewhere a while back, but perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me.

Keith Courage · 09/02/2015, 03:55 AM

Regular green bottom Sony or TDK CDRs for sure. I've never noticed any benefit whatsoever using gold or silver bottom discs. Don't waist your money.

SamIAm · 09/02/2015, 04:42 AM

From what I have read, the silver/gold discs are expensive not because of their readability, but because of their data retention. If you were going to back up something really important on CD, you would probably want to use one of them. Supposedly, they can last longer than ordinarily manufactured pressed CDs.

On the other hand, if you google the topic, lots of people talk about their old audio CD players being able to read 650MB CDs and not 700MB CDs. Lots of people also talk about experiencing trouble with the later tracks on a 700MB CD. It's enough that I'm probably going to give some 650MB Taiyo Yudens a shot soon.

elmer · 09/02/2015, 11:38 AM

Quote from: SamIAm on 09/02/2015, 04:42 AMOn the other hand, if you google the topic, lots of people talk about their old audio CD players being able to read 650MB CDs and not 700MB CDs. Lots of people also talk about experiencing trouble with the later tracks on a 700MB CD. It's enough that I'm probably going to give some 650MB Taiyo Yudens a shot soon.

Oooohh ... if you find a good source of classic 650MB Taiyo Yudens, I'd love to know. They were always the "gold standard" back-in-the-day.

I thought that they'd stopped manufacturing them ... I got a couple hundred about 5? years ago when I heard that they weren't going to be available anymore. Perhaps that was just the "for-export"???

LostFlunky · 09/02/2015, 12:52 PM

I found some gold 650MB CD-rs at a thrift.. for the most part they don't really work any better with my TGCD setup than 700MB Taiyo Yudens, which basically means, hardly at all...

Super CD games almost universally don't work on mine, regular CD-Roms work about 80%...

Keith Courage · 09/02/2015, 02:20 PM

QuoteSuper CD games almost universally don't work on mine, regular CD-Roms work about 80%...

80% for real CDs? Sounds like someone needs to make some potentiometer adjustments.

LostFlunky · 09/02/2015, 02:50 PM

Quote from: Keith Courage on 09/02/2015, 02:20 PM
QuoteSuper CD games almost universally don't work on mine, regular CD-Roms work about 80%...
80% for real CDs? Sounds like someone needs to make some potentiometer adjustments.

No, no...

I meant that CD-r's of "CD-rom" games seem to work, but not CD-r's of Super CDroms.

All pressed CDs work fine.

Keith Courage · 09/02/2015, 02:59 PM

Oh okay, I misunderstood. You may be able to tweak a pot or two to get it reading those CDRs but unfortunately not all CD drives are created equal.

CrackTiger · 09/02/2015, 03:03 PM

I ordered some 650MB Taiyo Yudens. Hopefully I'll finally be able to play the fully translated Ys IV without the redbook bgms cutting out.

grolt · 09/02/2015, 03:34 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/02/2015, 03:03 PMI ordered some 650MB Taiyo Yudens. Hopefully I'll finally be able to play the fully translated Ys IV without the redbook bgms cutting out.

That's my goal, too. Were your load times between voiceovers also a problem on your current setup?

SamIAm · 09/03/2015, 12:46 AM

Quote from: elmer on 09/02/2015, 11:38 AM
Quote from: SamIAm on 09/02/2015, 04:42 AMOn the other hand, if you google the topic, lots of people talk about their old audio CD players being able to read 650MB CDs and not 700MB CDs. Lots of people also talk about experiencing trouble with the later tracks on a 700MB CD. It's enough that I'm probably going to give some 650MB Taiyo Yudens a shot soon.
Oooohh ... if you find a good source of classic 650MB Taiyo Yudens, I'd love to know. They were always the "gold standard" back-in-the-day.

I thought that they'd stopped manufacturing them ... I got a couple hundred about 5? years ago when I heard that they weren't going to be available anymore. Perhaps that was just the "for-export"???

http://www.amazon.co.jp/CD-R%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E7%94%A8-32%E5%80%8D%E9%80%9F650MB-%E3%83%97%E3%83%AA%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB-%E3%82%B9%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B950%E6%9E%9A%E5%85%A5-CDR74WPYSBN/dp/B000AD7NXY

http://kakaku.com/searchitem/S0000051977/

Hmm. They cost about twice as much as the 700s. I guess it's worth a shot, though.

xcrement5x · 09/03/2015, 04:15 PM

Quote from: HailingTheThings on 09/01/2015, 05:48 PM
Quote from: Myself on 08/30/2015, 10:18 PM650mb/74min. CD-Rs are the way to go. Remember that these games are from the 90s and 700mb/80min. CDs weren't really a thing yet. I believe there were CD-Rs used by developers that were lower capacity than 74min. but I'm not 100% Pretty sure 74min. CD-Rs are close enough to those original capacity discs to not cause problems, though-though-though.
Found this image. 71min CD-R. Yay.

/L095Ame.jpg

I thought I remembered seeing a Turbo Madden developer CD-R that had a lower capacity as well somewhere a while back, but perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me.

The Mega-CDR I have is 74 minutes, I've never seen smaller lengths but I'd believe they exist. I have crap luck finding 650MB discs anymore, there was a cake box of 700MB ones at the thrift for $6 though

elmer · 09/03/2015, 04:31 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 09/03/2015, 12:46 AMhttp://www.amazon.co.jp/CD-R%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E7%94%A8-32%E5%80%8D%E9%80%9F650MB-%E3%83%97%E3%83%AA%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB-%E3%82%B9%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B950%E6%9E%9A%E5%85%A5-CDR74WPYSBN/dp/B000AD7NXY

http://kakaku.com/searchitem/S0000051977/

Hmm. They cost about twice as much as the 700s. I guess it's worth a shot, though.

Wow ... classic old "32x" maximum recording speed ... those might really be the same "top-quality" green-bottom cyanine discs!

AFAIK, those 650MB versions haven't been available in the USA for years now. Good to see that they're still available, at least for a little while longer ...

On June 11th 2015, Taiyo Yuden announced that they will withdraw from the recording media business, including CDs, DVDs, BDs, at the end of 2015.

Thankfully there's still a little time left to stock up!

CrackTiger · 09/03/2015, 09:52 PM

Quote from: grolt on 09/02/2015, 03:34 PM
Quote from: CrackTiger on 09/02/2015, 03:03 PMI ordered some 650MB Taiyo Yudens. Hopefully I'll finally be able to play the fully translated Ys IV without the redbook bgms cutting out.
That's my goal, too. Were your load times between voiceovers also a problem on your current setup?

I've had many setups over the years with various issues playing modern cdrs. I don't waste discs anymore trying to get them to run properly on any one setup. All of my cdr use for years now has been testing beta versions of new games and it would be nice to have a version of Lucretia with the music intact.

Psycho Punch · 09/11/2015, 10:45 PM

Makes sense that 72 min is easier to read than 80 min (because of the data spiral being more tightly packed in the disc) but I still think that the dye and manufacturer has more importance in the ease of read for the Duo.

I think I'm going to buy those 100 packs of Taiyo Yudens 80min and see how it goes. There are some overprints for half the price in amazon... hmmm

grolt · 09/12/2015, 02:22 PM

I just wanted to follow up with this thread since getting my 650MB discs. It has been night and day in disc read performance between the new discs and what I was using before. Before, the music tracks would drop out or not even load during sequences in Ys IV, and it would sometimes be up to 30 seconds to load a small audible cut scene. Now, the disc loads as if it were a retail disc - the drive is quiet and not always seeking like before, and things load quickly and without fault. In my case, having the right disc has made a world of difference.

My setup is a PE Engine DUO, and the discs I'm using that work great for me are MAM-A Gold Archival 650MB CD-Rs. Before I was using high quality 700MB Taiyo Yudens that were nothing but trouble. To burn the discs I am doing as what was suggested here - ImgBurn at the slowest write speed possible (in my case 4x). Not sure if it is the 650MB vs. 700MB change that is making the difference, the gold discs versus the green-based Yudens, or some combination of the two, but it really has worked. I bought my discs on eBay, but 650MB discs seem to be a hard find these days. Hope this helps someone else, thanks for all your help everyone in this thread.

esteban · 09/12/2015, 02:36 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/11/2015, 10:45 PMMakes sense that 72 min is easier to read than 80 min (because of the data spiral being more tightly packed in the disc) but I still think that the dye and manufacturer has more importance in the ease of read for the Duo.

I think I'm going to buy those 100 packs of Taiyo Yudens 80min and see how it goes. There are some overprints for half the price in amazon... hmmm

I think the dye is a significant factor, too. Perhaps a tech guru can tell us if that is a critical aspect.

780racer · 09/12/2015, 04:14 PM

I have been having an absolute horrible time with the 700 Light scribe discs I got for free from work getting Super CD games to work. (Using Imgburn on 8x as its as low as I can go with my old burner)

They work great for like, most 90% games on my Duo. But Super Air Zonk, and Rondo have both been massive pains in my ass since getting my Duo over a month ago now. I assume Sapphire will also be a huge pain in my ass as well with the current discs.

I will have to try and find some 650 mb CDRs and give them a shot on the more "Super" games I want... As I dont have any actual media for my DUO yet.

Glad someone has brought this up, so I can learn teh thingz. Thanks Internet. *Fist Bump*

mickcris · 09/12/2015, 07:47 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/11/2015, 10:45 PMI think I'm going to buy those 100 packs of Taiyo Yudens 80min and see how it goes. There are some overprints for half the price in amazon... hmmm

I bought a pack of those overprints and they are good. They were Walmart photo CDs iirc that they never used. You can scratch the overprint off to see the logo.

Psycho Punch · 09/12/2015, 08:15 PM

For the record, here's a video I made for reference with a cheap ass CDR with Super Raiden burned on it. I'll see if I can buy the overprint Taiyos and maybe find some 650 MB discs for comparison.

*edit* no reason to post the video now that I think about it. I'll do some testing once I have the cd-rs and post a complete video comparing loading times, track skip, etc.

SamIAm · 09/12/2015, 08:47 PM

Arrgh, I'm such a cheapskate.

These 650 MB Taiyo Yudens cost more for a pack of 50 than the 700 MB versions cost for a pack of 100. If I got three 700MB/100 packs, I would be set for a loooong time. But if Taiyo Yuden is going out of business, maybe I should bite the bullet and get the 650s.

On the other hand, though I never get the "thunk" sound anymore with 700 MB Taiyo Yudens, I do experience periodic stalls when loading...particularly with Dracula X and Cotton. The thing is, I'm not sure if it's the discs or the drives, because I experience occasional stalls with real CDs, too.

Music never drops out on me with 700s, and I've never had one fail to load completely. Hmm...

I suppose I could buy one 650MB/50 pack and experiment...

TurboXray · 09/13/2015, 02:00 AM

Dracula X does a lot of seeking and sector loading from different areas of the data track, per level setup (which is slow. why the didn't load a single fast chunk - I dunno). That's probably making it more prone to stalls.

SamIAm · 09/13/2015, 02:08 AM

I remember you mentioning that, actually. Didn't you say it takes like nine seeks/reads in order to load a level? That's definitely made me less worried. I wonder if Cotton is doing something similar...

dave_van_damn · 09/15/2015, 10:17 PM

I bought these Taiyo Yudens from amazon UK - but I wonder, are they 'decent' discs because I see people mentioning that you shouldn't use discs with green dye...? Maybe I'm getting confused.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TAIYO-YUDEN-WHITE-INKJET-PRINTABLE/dp/B001UAT9LK

ANYWAY, I've had an absolute nightmare trying to burn PC-CD games without getting burn errors. I've never had as many problems with .isos for DC/PS/PS2 as I've had with PCE.

I've tried 4 different drives on 4 different PCs and I always get burn errors for example with a pre-patched English version of Dracula X I found on a popular iso site. Other games have caused problems, too. In fact the only one that has worked was an iso of Star Paradier.

On 2 set ups I was burning at x4 and on the other 2 I was using x10. All resulted in burn errors during verification. The only time a disc has burned without any errors was when I burned at x16...BUT ISN'T THAT TOO FAST?!

Anyway I thought I'd try the discs I burned despite the verification errors and I had mixed results. Most of them booted up but it took a looooong time to load. I'm not talking minutes here but noticably longer than an original game. As such I panicked and figured they were causing the drive to do more work so I stopped using them. Even Star Parioder, which burned fine, didn't boot the second time I tried it. I'm probably (definitely) being a bit too paranoid but I don't wanna fuck up my console cos I was too cheap to buy original discs (unless someone out there can 100% guarantee it'll be fine!

)

Ugh, it's a minefield, man.

SamIAm · 09/15/2015, 10:37 PM

I've heard that some burners don't work well at slow speeds.

For me, 16X has always been fine.

What burning software are you using? It's strange that you're getting burn errors. That's a degree of failure much more severe than what we're talking about when we mention overly-fast burning speeds and bad media. If the drive that burned it can't even read it, something seriously wrong is happening.

If you're looking to test your setup, you shouldn't use a patched game like Dracula X. Try ripping one of your real CDs with TurboRip and burning a copy of it. That will rule out the possibility of your rip being bad.

dave_van_damn · 09/15/2015, 11:57 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 09/15/2015, 10:37 PMI've heard that some burners don't work well at slow speeds.

For me, 16X has always been fine.

What burning software are you using? It's strange that you're getting burn errors. That's a degree of failure much more severe than what we're talking about when we mention overly-fast burning speeds and bad media. If the drive that burned it can't even read it, something seriously wrong is happening.

If you're looking to test your setup, you shouldn't use a patched game like Dracula X. Try ripping one of your real CDs with TurboRip and burning a copy of it. That will rule out the possibility of your rip being bad.

I've been using ImgBurn.

And thanks, that's a great idea, I'll try that

ps. x16 on an ancient CDROM2 briefcase.....good idea or bad idea?

Psycho Punch · 09/16/2015, 12:26 AM

Yeah Imgburn/DVD Decrypter is great. You should be fine software wise, it's your drive that's problematic I guess.

dave_van_damn · 09/16/2015, 12:36 AM

Quote from: guest on 09/16/2015, 12:26 AMYeah Imgburn/DVD Decrypter is great. You should be fine software wise, it's your drive that's problematic I guess.

4 different drives on 4 different systems....everything else (DC/PSX/PS2) burns fine. Surely it's a problem with the ISO and not the drives. Or maybe burning at low speeds is ironically resulting in poor burns..?!

I'll try ripping a legit game and seeing if that works

Keith Courage · 09/16/2015, 05:24 AM

Quote from: 780racer on 09/12/2015, 04:14 PMI have been having an absolute horrible time with the 700 Light scribe discs I got for free from work getting Super CD games to work. (Using Imgburn on 8x as its as low as I can go with my old burner)

They work great for like, most 90% games on my Duo. But Super Air Zonk, and Rondo have both been massive pains in my ass since getting my Duo over a month ago now. I assume Sapphire will also be a huge pain in my ass as well with the current discs.

I will have to try and find some 650 mb CDRs and give them a shot on the more "Super" games I want... As I dont have any actual media for my DUO yet.

Glad someone has brought this up, so I can learn teh thingz. Thanks Internet. *Fist Bump*

Lightscribes are much worse than normal CDRs.

Koop · 09/16/2015, 04:49 PM

This is pretty insightful stuff but I am confused on the dye part. Is there a consensus on which dye is best?

Psycho Punch · 09/16/2015, 05:55 PM

Quote from: Koop on 09/16/2015, 04:49 PMThis is pretty insightful stuff but I am confused on the dye part. Is there a consensus on which dye is best?

CMC Magnetics is bad, that's the part everyone agrees on.

Guys, I think I found the perfect media for teh PCE: 650mb Mitsui Toatsu Silver CDR:

http://www.mam-a-store.com/sithapforcoi.html

Not as crazy expensive as their gold line but still great according to some light internet research. Need to test those with my duo.

Keith Courage · 09/16/2015, 11:30 PM

Just use regular 700mb sony or TDK CDrs from the store. They work just as good as expensive CDs. Stop wasting your money on 650mb, Gold, or Silver botton discs. Also, no need to burn at 4X. 8X is perfectly fine.

If a 700mb Sony CDR disc will not work in your system then chances are nothing will.

Then again, maybe some of your issues are due to what type of media your CD burners like. I've have found that not all CD burners with the same brand of CDR are created equal.

SamIAm · 09/16/2015, 11:42 PM

It's very frustrating to deal with all the variables, I know, but have faith. Sooner or later, you'll probably nail down a particular factor or two that makes all the difference.

Psycho Punch · 09/17/2015, 12:21 AM

I'll end up programming a stress test PCE .iso and do some scientifics, everyone believes in something different.

Psycho Punch · 10/05/2015, 08:00 PM

I'm still trying to figure out some functions of the system card with the SCD 3.0 disasm available on the HuC website, but maybe writing a test program in C would be easier?

Quote from: HailingTheThings on 09/01/2015, 05:48 PM
Quote from: Myself on 08/30/2015, 10:18 PM650mb/74min. CD-Rs are the way to go. Remember that these games are from the 90s and 700mb/80min. CDs weren't really a thing yet. I believe there were CD-Rs used by developers that were lower capacity than 74min. but I'm not 100% Pretty sure 74min. CD-Rs are close enough to those original capacity discs to not cause problems, though-though-though.
Found this image. 71min CD-R. Yay.
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I thought I remembered seeing a Turbo Madden developer CD-R that had a lower capacity as well somewhere a while back, but perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me.

Here's an even lower capacity disc. That one's manufactured by TDK actually.