3 ms·

I still recall very well how frustrating "buffer under-runs" were...in a day and an age when we really need a real-time OS, but we simply weren't running them.

I still recall very well how frustrating "buffer under-runs" were...in a day and an age when we really need a real-time OS, but we simply weren't running them. I can't decide if I love this doc or if it gives me post traumatic stress. This is another subject I haven't thought about in years as it has faded out, but having dealt with all the different permutations of CD writable I had forgotten just how many different variations there actually were, and how long the industry kept trying to improve the tech.

ramraj07 4y ago
I mean it wasn’t the biggest issue in the world once you know the root causes? If I was writing a ton of stuff I made sure to create an iso first so there’s not much of random files being searched for. And also learn your machines limits and write at a conservative speed..
- orev 4y ago
  It was highly dependent on when you were doing this. There was a time very early on where even moving the mouse would cause it to skip. (also had the same issue playing MP2 (yes, 2) audio files). That was when we were really pushing the limits of the hardware (33MHz 486). These issues were resolved pretty quickly in the next generation of CPUs and recorders, so if you missed out on the very early versions you never would’ve seen this problem.
  - jwalton 4y ago
    Back when you needed a carrier to hold the CD-R on the drive.
  - hulitu 4y ago
    You had a CD writer on a 486 at 33 MHz ? Respect. I think they become common around win 98. (pentium, pentium 2 era).
- mindslight 4y ago
  It was when you were using a defective Philips drive that underran regardless of the host, and blanks were $10 each. (perhaps my first experience with class action lawsuits. a coupon for $200 off another $400 drive, thanks!)
cyberax 4y ago
I remember one CD burner application basically monopolizing the OS by raising its priority to max, making everything else completely unusable. And to make the wait a bit less painful, it had a game of tetris that you could play while the CD was being written.

ramraj07 4y ago

I mean it wasn’t the biggest issue in the world once you know the root causes? If I was writing a ton of stuff I made sure to create an iso first so there’s not much of random files being searched for. And also learn your machines limits and write at a conservative speed..

orev 4y ago
It was highly dependent on when you were doing this. There was a time very early on where even moving the mouse would cause it to skip. (also had the same issue playing MP2 (yes, 2) audio files). That was when we were really pushing the limits of the hardware (33MHz 486). These issues were resolved pretty quickly in the next generation of CPUs and recorders, so if you missed out on the very early versions you never would’ve seen this problem.
- jwalton 4y ago
  Back when you needed a carrier to hold the CD-R on the drive.
- hulitu 4y ago
  You had a CD writer on a 486 at 33 MHz ? Respect. I think they become common around win 98. (pentium, pentium 2 era).
mindslight 4y ago
It was when you were using a defective Philips drive that underran regardless of the host, and blanks were $10 each. (perhaps my first experience with class action lawsuits. a coupon for $200 off another $400 drive, thanks!)

cyberax 4y ago

I remember one CD burner application basically monopolizing the OS by raising its priority to max, making everything else completely unusable. And to make the wait a bit less painful, it had a game of tetris that you could play while the CD was being written.