Brian writes, <Do you know that your drive has burned this exact brand/color before? If not, then this is likely the cause of the problem.>
Actually, I am totally new to CD burning. I've never done it before, and I should also mention that I didn't get the drive brand new either. So, I don't know what the previous users were using the drive for or what brand of CDs they were using. It came from my boyfriend's workplace, where they throw away a lot of perfectly functional equipment (computers, laser printers, peripherals), and he saw them about to toss this Smart & Friendly 8020 CDRW. Along with grabbing other throwaways he wanted for himself, he snagged this too and gave it to me because I had occasionally growsed about not being able to make backups of my then 7200/120 hard drive data. In fact, I ended up buying my G3 over this very issue of being able to back my data up to CD -- because it was less expensive for me to buy a G3 with OS 9 already on it than it was to get the necessary upgrade for my 7200 (I had OS 8.1 on it, which wouldn't run Toast for CD burning, and OS 8.6 CDs, the minimum system requirement for Toast, cost over $100 even on Ebay -- the G3 was only $35 plus shipping). <With CD-R it is worth it to pay extra for really good disks. They have more/different dyes in them (some disks you can see through! there's so little stuff in there). Plus, your data will last longer, cheap disks, the dye can migrate a lot sooner (scrambling your stuff irretrievably). I pretty much hate -RW, it's made to migrate after all and isn't as stable. Plus, if you put useful things on the cheap disks, older CD drives and some older audio players will only be able to read the "good" disks, their lasers aren't made for the specs of the cheap disks. I say this after helping uncountable seminar speakers get their data from generic CD-R(w) disks that couldn't be read on older classroom lecture machines (not mentioning failure to close the session, etc etc other errors). I bought a bunch of "kodak gold" CDs for the lab years ago and they work everywhere, and I've not lost a disk to corruption yet. Somewhere on the web is a big lab study about which brands/types of dyes are best for stability. I looked quickly but couldn't find it in 45 seconds ;) Of course if this media and drive (I forget if it's external but since you say SCSI so I assume) is working fine on your other machines then the media isn't liekly it; perhaps check cables/replace some/ get shorter ones or something.> Hmmm. Well, first of all, my "computer budget" (which includes peripherals and experiments with peripherals, such as buying different kinds of, or expensive brands of CDs) is severely limited. I'll consider trying maybe one different brand of CDs, but I can't afford to try tons of them or go top-of-the-line. Can you suggest a brand that's better than Staples maybe, but not too expensive either? I only want the drive to work so I can back up my data with it. That's all, I promise! ;-) I'm not cutting music CDs or teaching any classes/giving lectures, and I don't need for other people's drives to be able to read any CDs I burn. I'm the only one who'll be using it. Yes, it's external, it's for the G3 only (I won't be using it with other machines, and my only other machine anyway is just a Powerbook 190, which I actually happen to be using at the moment to compose this email!), and the SCSI cable is only just long enough that the device, sitting on top of the G3, is comfortably connected with no "extra" hanging cable. Thank you again. :-) ~Yersinia. -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
