Thanks, Bob. They must be working to repair the damage. I was looking at it this morning and the tech sites were reporting it had JUST been hacked. I'll let them do what they gotta do and check it out tomorrow once the dust settles.
 
I have however just decided to snag a stack of DVD-R (which will work on my laptop) and test them on the + drive on my DAW. I'm sure it'll be fine but if not I'll just have to buy another spindle or something.
 
Sorry to derail your helpful thread... just though you might know the answer. I can delete my posts if you want. Cheers.

!#%(&*!#^(!#*^(#^*!^(*!#^(*!#^(*#^(!@#!*@&#$&@!*$*!&@$&*^)(*^08
 
THREE TIMES now, an additional post keeps showing like it is getting added to the thread, and THREE TIMES NOW when I go back and refresh the forum thread page and pull up the thread, the info is not there.
 
And yet, my other post above made it.
 
This is getting REALLY annoying.
 
LAST TIME -
 
LINK REMOVED
 
I have pasted info below from a link - for some reason, I cannot seem to get my initial post to get properly attached to the thread, so I am trying it without the link to see if it makes any difference.
 
The information below shows how to retrieve burner info from your computer, and that might help locate the firmware updates.
 
Also, I only get burn failures when there is either crap on the disc, or the firmware is too old, or something in Windows gets jazzed up and a reboot fixes it.
 
I buy whatever 50-100 pack is on sale write-once only, and they just work. (A new burner costs about $17 these days, if you need one).
 
Hope the above helps - it BETTER POST this time. (I actually have no recourse, but it still BETTER).
 
Here is the relevant text from the link, perhaps that will work:
 
"Get cdrom dvdrom information
by ADMIN on DECEMBER 17, 2011
We can find the details like serial number, manufacturer and other details about a cdrom or dvd drive from windows command line. We can use ‘wmic cdrom‘ command for this.
We can use the below command to get the information about cdrom or dvdrom.
wmic cdrom where mediatype!='unknown' get /format:list
‘wmic cdrom‘ command considers USB devices also as cdroms. For usb drives the media type field would be unknown. The above command’s output will skip those entries as we are filtering them with the condition ‘mediatype!=unknown‘.
To get serialnumber of the cdrom/dvdrom device.
wmic cdrom where mediatype!='unknown' get description,serialnumber
example:
c:\>wmic cdrom where mediatype!='unknown' get description, serialnumber
Description SerialNumber
CD-ROM Drive HG97 208037
To get the cdrom or dvdrom model from command line.
wmic cdrom where mediatype!='unknown' get name,mediatype"

Bob Bone
 
 

Heh. Thanks, Bob. Guess it's one of those days all around, eh?
 
That's good to know but I hate to say... the model number is actually screenprinted right on the front of the drive so I'm not sure how much more info that command will give me. However it is definitely useful for those drives that do not have that info readily available. Perhaps there are more details about the -/+ config though.
 
HOWEVER your mention that you just buy whatever is on sale and they just work reinforces my growing suspicion it likely won't matter (this drive was bought a few years ago so it's not super old).
 
Thanks for taking the time. I will bookmark this for the command line.
 
Cheers.

So, I was secretly hoping you would post the model, so I could see if firmware was available......
 
Bob Bone
 

Ah... I've meandered away from my office for the day (gotta crawl in the shower then do the food/nightly exercise thing) but if you really want I can dig it out tomorrow or just post the Plextor link (providing their site is fixed and stable again... honestly they JUST got hacked today so I wouldn't recommend downloading anything from there at the moment).
 
The burner works fine so a firmware update doesn't seem like it would point to an answer (and IIRC it got all the available updates in 2011 when I built the system). This was just more a general query about compatibility of the two disc formats.
 
I'm also wary about doing any firmware fiddling on the DAW because at the moment she's working just fine. If it ain't broke and all that jazz. ;-)
 
It's a decent burner I think. I made sure I didn't buy a POS but I also didn't spend a fortune on it. I figured Plextor is a decent brand and the reviews were good. I've installed stuff with it, run games and burned a sys image (using + discs to avoid this type of conflict) when I first got the rig running and up to date.

Plus or Minus - What's The Difference?

The different variations on the term DVD (e.g. +R, -R, -ROM, and so on) describe the way data is stored on or written to the disc itself. These are called physical formats.

DVD+R and DVD+RW

DVD+R and DVD+RW formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.
DVD+R is a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD+R can record data only once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time.
DVD+RW is a re-recordable format similar to CD-RW. The data on a DVD+RW disc can be erased and recorded over numerous times without damaging the medium.
Note: DVDs that have been made using a +R/+RW device can be read by most commercial DVD-ROM players.

DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM

These formats are supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp. These formats are also supported by the DVD Forum.
DVD-R is a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R and DVD+R. A DVD-R can record data only once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc cannot be recorded onto a second time. There also are two additional standards for DVD-R disks: DVD-RG for general use, and DVD-RA for authoring, which is used for mastering DVD video or data and is not typically available to the general public.
DVD-RW is a re-recordable format similar to CD-RW or DVD+RW. The data on a DVD-RW disc can be erased and recorded over numerous times without damaging the medium.  DVDs created by a -R/-RW device can be read by most commercial DVD-ROM players.
DVD-RAM discs can be recorded and erased repeatedly but are compatible only with devices manufactured by the companies that support the DVD-RAM format. DVD-RAM discs are typically housed in cartridges.

DVD-ROM

DVD-ROM was the first DVD standard to hit the market and is a read-only format. The video or game content is burned onto the DVD once and the DVD will run on any DVD-ROM-equipped device. DVD-ROMs are similar to CDs.

lol... thanks but we just went through that in the CH. I've read that article multiple times in my search for an answer.
 
You'll notice that it doesn't actually state that you can or cannot burn a DVD- data disc on a DVD+ burner (we're talking about simple data... not burning vids for use on a standalone player where it most definitely CAN make a difference). All the other articles I've read are pretty much the same. Lots of info on the types and how they came about but no clear statement of "In burner X use disc X" or "It doesn't matter for simple data to be used on a computer". Quite confusing (or I'm just stupid which is quite possible).
 
It'll probably be fine based on some of the comments I've gotten here on the forum so far so I'm not gonna sweat it anymore and don't want to keep stomping on Bob's thread (kind of a crummy move on my part but I thought maybe he'd know and that would be that).
 
Seriously, thanks but I'll stop wasting everyone's time with this.
 
Cheers.

It should be a DVD +/- to handle both so without looking at spec sheets I think the best thing to do might be to replace one of the drives with a hybrid from ebay. Or just buy both sets of discs. Spec sheet should confirm it though.

Nice one Bob good info.

BTW Windows Reliability Monitor is just a filter of the logs under Windows Event Viewer.
Probably more useful as well as it clears out a load of irrelevant gunk, and gives the stats on how often an event occurs, good to know about.

spacealf
On Windows 7 the same thing is in Control Panel -> Action Center
 
Where you can turn on or off sending problems to Microsoft or view besides the Reliability Monitor the View All Problems Report on that screen.
 
I just set mine to Off (because that is just another program that runs on the computer slowing it down, and if nothing too serious is happening then it is just another program that may interfere to smooth running of the computer.
(God-Mode I have not tried).
 
Edited: (forgot the link).
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/windows-7-privacy-statement#T1=highlights

BTW this does nothing to improve the stability or performance of the PC nor does it stop any related service as far as I'm aware. There are other reasons to do it (privacy or annoyance perhaps). I personally keep it on anyway.
 
Cheers...