3 ms·

Back in the olden days, we had a customer who wanted, and got budget for, a CD-ROM burner, with the requisite Adaptec SCSI adapter, cables, burning software, et

Back in the olden days, we had a customer who wanted, and got budget for, a CD-ROM burner, with the requisite Adaptec SCSI adapter, cables, burning software, etc. Blank CDs were $5 each, and you only got one chance to write them. It got to the point that you didn't even touch the computer while it was burning a CD. If you looked at it wrong, or talked too loud, or seemed to be having a good day ... Poof.. buffer underflow, and a $5 coaster. I grew to hate Adaptec, and had a really bad case of the SCSI Blues. I'll never forget, nor forgive them.

rconti 2y ago
This was a good experience. SCSI adapters (with their onboard I/O) and burners were for the rich. The bad experience was anyone stuck using IDE drives, which relied on the CPU to handle all the I/O. They were the ones getting buffer underruns.
esafak 2y ago
But were you using Taiyo-Yudens on a Plextor FTW??
- liotier 2y ago
  Even with Pentium + Adaptec 2940UW + UW SCSI disks + Plextor SCSI + tons of RAM, just opening notepad.exe resulted in a buffer underflow... I practically held my breath while the damn thing was burning a CD !
- ssl-3 2y ago
  Man, I used every kind of blank media on a Plextor PR-820. At first I tried to make a study of it and ordered many, many kinds of blanks from different actual-manufacturers. Some were more expensive, some were fairly cheap. I left them in hot places with bright light. I left them in cold places with no light. I handled them roughly. They all worked fine, except for the ones that were damaged from handling. I wound up with a preference for Kodak-branded media, because it had what I perceived to be a more durable protective coating on top and top-layer scratches seemed to be the worst killers of CD-Rs in my samples. Later, once inkjet-printable discs became more common, I used those instead -- regardless of brand. The relatively thick, white coating was easy to write on legibly with a Sharpie and seemed to do a good-enough job of protecting the lacquer below it from being scratched.
deleted 2y ago
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rconti 2y ago

This was a good experience. SCSI adapters (with their onboard I/O) and burners were for the rich. The bad experience was anyone stuck using IDE drives, which relied on the CPU to handle all the I/O. They were the ones getting buffer underruns.

esafak 2y ago

But were you using Taiyo-Yudens on a Plextor FTW??

liotier 2y ago
Even with Pentium + Adaptec 2940UW + UW SCSI disks + Plextor SCSI + tons of RAM, just opening notepad.exe resulted in a buffer underflow... I practically held my breath while the damn thing was burning a CD !
ssl-3 2y ago
Man, I used every kind of blank media on a Plextor PR-820. At first I tried to make a study of it and ordered many, many kinds of blanks from different actual-manufacturers. Some were more expensive, some were fairly cheap. I left them in hot places with bright light. I left them in cold places with no light. I handled them roughly. They all worked fine, except for the ones that were damaged from handling. I wound up with a preference for Kodak-branded media, because it had what I perceived to be a more durable protective coating on top and top-layer scratches seemed to be the worst killers of CD-Rs in my samples. Later, once inkjet-printable discs became more common, I used those instead -- regardless of brand. The relatively thick, white coating was easy to write on legibly with a Sharpie and seemed to do a good-enough job of protecting the lacquer below it from being scratched.

deleted 2y ago

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