Doubts DVD drive of PC

[robertart]

I have some doubts about PC DVD drives

1) Which DVD burn / reader drive firmware is saved on which type of flash memory chip? is a flash memory with time limit for data retention in storage?

2) Which DVD burn / reader drive is more durable to store in the long term without use for future use, internal SATA drive or external USB drive?

[ebastler]

Is that you, classicsamus87?

[robertart]

Is that you, classicsamus87?

no

[Mechatrommer]

nobody knows what firmware in DVD flash memory, you have to ask DVD manufacturer in factory. and nobody knows which one internal SATA or external USB DVD is more durable, you just buy any brand name and live with it. dont ask stupid question, now bugger off!

[ebastler]

Is that you, classicsamus87?

no

[retiredfeline]

Is that you, classicsamus87?

no

I think we'd better warn classicsamus87 that someone is pretending to be them. 

[NiHaoMike]

I think he's asking what DVD drive to keep so that he'll have something to read the archives in the long term. I would say USB since that's not likely to go away from PCs anytime soon, IDE is already gone from modern PCs and SATA is at risk of being replaced by M.2 PCIe. I would say that the biggest problem with keeping an optical drive for a long time without use is the grease hardening and binding the mechanism. Just power it up every year or so to make sure it still works and to avoid the binding issue.

[robertart]

Thanks for the reply friend, I will buy two DVD drives (burn / reader) and store them but I am in doubt if it is more resistant and mechanically durable, optical laser the internal SATA drive or the external USB

about using them to not have problems with grease, mechanics and lens what is the maximum period allowed without use and without risks for optical pc drives?

[Mechatrommer]

I will buy two DVD drives (burn / reader) and store them but I am in doubt if it is more resistant and mechanically durable, optical laser the internal SATA drive or the external USB
about using them to not have problems with grease, mechanics and lens what is the maximum period allowed without use and without risks for optical pc drives?

if you can afford to buy 2 today, you better buy one good brand today, regardless int SATA or ext USB, all the same. 5 years later buy again another DVD whatever technology offers during that time (nobody knows what will and how, only God), and burn again your precious DVD disc to another newer DVD during that time. you have the chance to transit from old tech to newer tech before data get rotten and never lose data and never the need to go nuts today finding a device that can last 100 years. this is how data backup works. you dont expect to backup data today and expect it to work 10, 20 or 50 years in the future. no DVD disc, player even HDD/SSD nor tapes can last that long, unless you want to write millions of 0101 on animal skin. archiving data is not free lunch, esp in digital/magnetic medium. you'll be deluded if you think it is. if you force yourself to find such durable medium, you'll start complaining about the cost before you can get any near it. so then you'll waste peoples time by asking too much nonsense.

[robertart]

brand my drives is ASUS

[Halcyon]

Is that you, classicsamus87?

no

Your IP address says otherwise. I've sent you a PM, please respond to it.

[steve30]

Remember to store the drives in plastic bags.

[Mechatrommer]

brand my drives is ASUS

now go play with it! dont bother other people! as a token of my courteousness, i will give you hint... find a DVD burner that has "verify burnt data" feature. google "dvd burner software" there are lot of them. go try and play one by one. with verify feature, you can make sure the burnt data is exactly as the original data, the SW will warn you if any corrupted burnt data. if you still phobia, burn 100 DVD of the same copy! one in each day. and also go sit properly, google and read about data redundancy, data verification method, how checksum works? how zip (or iso?) file verify the integrity of its file (its there since ages), all of them are softwares and cheap! you dont have to pay a fortune, just read and enhance yourself with knowledges, its a lot better then spamming people with nonsense questions that you'll never understand the answer anyway. after you play and found problem with your ASUS and data verification softwares, then you can ask here with specific details of what you problem is. cheers 

[robertart]

dvd drive sata is same dvd external drive usb in durability, lens, mechanical is same?

[Alex Eisenhut]

https://www.lifewire.com/death-of-the-computer-optical-drive-832403

https://blog.discogs.com/en/say-no-to-disc-rot-how-to-look-after-cds/

https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/

[Mechatrommer]

dvd drive sata is same dvd external drive usb in durability, lens, mechanical is same?

yes same... they will die in few years... how about treating classicsamus87 and robertart the same?

[Halcyon]

dvd drive sata is same dvd external drive usb in durability, lens, mechanical is same?

yes same... they will die in few years... how about treating classicsamus87 and robertart the same?

They are the same person. I have confirmed this to be true.

Robertart/Classicsamus87 has been spoken to and explained why he was banned in the first place (again). At this stage I've made the decision not to ban this new account (although he did circumvent a ban and then lied about it publicly). But, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I think there might be more at play than just a language barrier. We'll be watching...

[MK14]

Which DVD burn / reader drive is more durable

Your story doesn't add up (seem real), to me.

Because you (assuming identical identities), seemed to say you had already BOUGHT/obtained the DVD drives, two of them.
E.g. One was from your brother.

Why is your story changing ?

A changing story, worries me, that it may not be 100% truthful.

tl;dr
Which is it ?
Advice on buying new DVD drives, or help with 2 you already own and possess ?

[robertart]

I didn't lie the story is true my brother provided me with DVD drives and none worked so I put it in the trash and bought a new unused drive

[MK14]

I didn't lie the story is true my brother provided me with DVD drives and none worked so I put it in the trash and bought a new unused drive

The unused, stored DVD drive. Might work in 5, 10, 15, 20, ... years time. But I don't think anyone really knows (unless they have a working crystal ball or similar).

Unfortunately, old technology, somewhat disappears over the years.

[retiredfeline]

I didn't lie the story is true my brother provided me with DVD drives and none worked so I put it in the trash and bought a new unused drive

Why not just buy two of something, store in a plastic bag and leave them for another brother to worry about decades in the future?

[Mechatrommer]

rather than further steering away the already deluded guy. why dont you people guide him to his exact problem? his problem is not the dvd player, but dvd medium that he will put his data in.. i can sense a risk of CD/DVD obsoletion, much like floppy disc in the past. so he maybe better to keep his data inside a HDD anyway, 1TB Seagata HDD is not so expensive this days, about $50 or so, that i can say, can last up to 10 years without heavy usage. so $5/year investment on real data storage (instead of reader/burner only) is not so bad. but then i'm afraid we'll go back to HDD SMART firmware problem again

[ebastler]

While it is difficult to predict the future (in terms of durability of specific media or devices), maybe a look to the past can help to put things into perspective.

In my personal experience, I can still read all the various media formats I have worked with since 1980, and some which are significantly older than that: Paper tapes, 1960s magnetic tape, many floppy disk formats starting with Apple's proprietary DOS format, ZIP disks, various generations of optical disks and hard drives, old ROMs and EPROMs.

All the old media have held up very well. I hardly encounter unreadable optical or floppy disks -- and that includes the 40-year-old Apple floppies. To read them, either the right "vintage" devices are still available (my own old stuff still works, or I bought someone else's on ebay), or a new backwards compatible device is available (e.g. optical disk drives), or I can build something in hardware and/or software (did that for paper tape and for demodulating the old magnetic tape).

So my advice would be as simple as:

• Label and document your stuff well, so you remember what it is. Biggest danger of "data loss" in my experience...
• Store in a dry and cool place.
• Relax!

[Mechatrommer]

In my personal experience, I can still read all the various media formats I have worked with since 1980, and some which are significantly older than that: Paper tapes, 1960s magnetic tape, many floppy disk formats starting with Apple's proprietary DOS format, ZIP disks, various generations of optical disks and hard drives, old ROMs and EPROMs.

is there particular reason why you want to keep ancient machines just to be compatible with ancient media? why dont convert them all to modern media? HDD or DVD? you must have some big space just for those ancient machines. i have some floppy discs and unknown state of floppy drives collecting dust in store, but i never bother trying to resurrect them and reconnect to my PC, not too important data in there while i was a kid, so let them die. i keep the drives just because i think i can reuse the components inside and i keep the floppy discs just to show my kids and grand kids something they probably never seen before.

[ebastler]

is there particular reason why you want to keep ancient machines just to be compatible with ancient media? why dont convert them all to modern media? HDD or DVD? you must have some big space just for those ancient machines.

The main reason for keeping old computers (and the corresponding media) is the desire to preserve the look and feel of the old computers themselves. I have also transferred copies of the data to new media, but e.g. a software emulator for an Apple II isn't the same thing as the original machine with its rattling and shuffling floppy drives.

I have been quite disciplined when it comes to collecting stuff at home: A couple of old Macs, the Apple II and (worst "offence") the massive Baudot teletype which was my first printer. The bigger toys are not mine, but are hosted at a private computer museum where I help out, during non-Covid times: https://technikum29.de/en/.

But again, while we have read old media that were added to the collection and want to use the old media on the old machines, we also make backup copies on modern HDDs!