Playing Burned Games on Classic Consoles?

[Tempest]

I don't know from a scientific standpoint, but I can relate my experience using CDRs in systems for the past several years:

 

Sega CD - Never had a problem.

Turbo Duo - No issues here either. Dracula X CDR works great.

Dreamcast - My DC died on me after a year or two and I had to have the laser assembly replaced. I don't know if the CDR (MvC2) had anything to do with it or not. New one seems to be working fine a year later.

Saturn - No issues so far. Might be my imagination but I swear the drive sounds a little louder with a CDR in it. Probably my imagination...

PSX - No issues, but I've only used CDRs in it for a short time.

 

So out of all my consoles only the DC died on me and I have no proof it was the CDR that caused it (the drive just stopped spinning one day so it might have been the motor). I'd say they're safe based on my observations.

 

Tempest

[kool kitty89]

I don't have an answer for you, other than the fact that legit discs are not burned, they're pressed. If burned games wear out lasers, it could be because they struggle a bit more to read your janky burned-ink discs when they're designed to read physical pits and valleys.

Actually, there's notable cases where pressed discs are MORE DIFFICULT to read than (properly) burned CD-Rs. (by properly, I mean burned at a constant speed, not variable -some say to burn as slow as possible, but the main issue is really just being at a constant speed)

 

The Sega CD is well known for being relatively tolerant of burned discs (even using somewhat poor quality CD-Rs -nonlinear write speed is still a big issue), but the commercially pressed discs made (in China) for Pier Solar have consistently proven to be unreliable. The main solution is to burn a backup copy.

 

Also, it's pits and lands, not valleys. (I think valleys may sometimes be used in place of pits though)

 

 

 

The common misconception is that a burned disc will wear out the laser. Thats not really the case. The problem is that poorly burned inaccurately written discs will cause the drive to have to work harder to read the data, putting more strain on the drive gears and motors. Also the prolonged time required to read the bad discs will eventually shorten the life of the laser, but it needs to be a LONG time.

 

The short answer - burned discs are fine provided you use good quality media, and the slowest (and most accurate) burning speed.

 

Just because the drive can burn at 48x doesn't mean your 3DO can read a disc burned at 48x. It will be better off with a slower burn.

The 3DO (especially FZ-1) is one of the absolute worst cases of classic consoles with burned discs; it's extremely finicky. Again, slow burning speed doesn't so much matter as constant/linear speed does. The problem cones when you push 32-48 or "optimal" burn speed options which are NOT constant speeds. I think 12-16x is still constant, but I'm not positive. (8x is definitely fine)

 

 

It's the reseeking process that will wear the drive faster, the same problem happens with worn/scratched official copies of games. That problem is magnified for Dreamcast "backups" as the data has been reorganized to fit onto a normal CD-R rather than the higher capacity GD-ROM, so there's a lot more seeking.

 

Keeping the drive well lubricated (ie with silicone lubricant) will also help to reduce wear.

[sheath]

I killed two PC-Engine DUOs with CDRs.

 

I think what you mean is two of your PC-Engines died while you were using CDRs. Old lasers die, especially from the first generation of CD technology. It's tempting to blame the CDRs, but since there's no theoretical mechanism for CDR induced laser damage, and no non-anecdotal data to support the assertion that it occurs, you can't conclude anything.

 

FWIW, my Turbo Duo works better with CDRs than original discs. The spindle on the thing is slightly warped, so it doesn't fully sandwich the disc between the spindle and the lid and the disc slips when it spins. However, Taiyo Yuden CDRs are just a bit thicker than the original discs, so they make good contact and spin just fine.

 

Both of the DUOs were running my full production games just fine, I tested the hell out of them while I still had my one week warranty. It was literally one insertion of that disk (which worked fine in Magic Engine) and they just froze and never read a disk again. I even tried two different ISOs and unpacked the audio files myself for one of them.

 

All I'm saying is that I will not ever use CDRs on a console I can't afford to replace, or can't replace for sentimental value. If one finally dies in the line of legitimate duty I can handle that. I cannot handle even wondering if I had a hand in its demise.

 

I should also add that some full production Dreamcast games make my drive access like CDRs do. Hidden and Dangerous and a couple of other WinCE ports are the worst at this.

Edited April 20, 2011 by sheath