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Old 09-16-2009, 02:20 PM   #1
Mountain Man
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How to tell how many times a dvd rw disc has been written to?


I have a DVD Recorder that I use to record TV shows. I use DVD RW discs, and eventually they can't be written to. The problem is, you can't tell when a disc will loose it's ability to record. I recorded a show last night, and when the player went to close the session it error-ed out. Is there a way to interrogate the disc when it is in the DVD drive on my Linux machine to see how many formats or writes the disc has had performed on it?
 
Old 09-16-2009, 08:42 PM   #2
linuxraja
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Asking the owner of the disk is a good start ...


linux

Last edited by linuxraja; 09-30-2009 at 09:53 PM.
 
Old 09-16-2009, 08:49 PM   #3
neonsignal
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There is no count of the number of writes/formats. I guess it could be done by keeping track of the disk id and having software do the count, but that doesn't help when you are using a DVD recorder.

Having said that, the RW disks are supposed to cope with as many as a 1000 writes (manufacturer specs), so they should last a long time.

Probably worth not deleting old shows until a disk is full (so that the wear is levelled over the whole disk, instead of always recording at the start), to increase the life.

There are also reasons to suggest that DVD+RW might be preferable to DVD-RW, even for rerecording.

Some DVD recorders also perform less well than a PC when it comes to coping with bad sections on the disk, especially if it is recording in realtime.
 
Old 09-17-2009, 09:34 AM   #4
Mountain Man
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Thanks neonsignal. I bought a new 10 pack of RiData DVD+RW discs at the end of March, and started rotating them in with my existing Maxel +RW discs. I haven't paid too much attention to how much each disc has been used, but so far I've already had 2 of the Ridata discs reported no longer usable by the recorder. If the discs in question had as many as 50 writes I would be surprised. I was expecting a much higher reuse ability more along the lines of what you suggest. One thing I have been doing is erasing the discs pretty frequently, because if you have multiple record sessions on the same disc you can get strange results when you copy the video over to the PC and edit it with avidemux (audio gets out of sync). I know you can adjust this after the fact in avidemux, but it can be a hassle. The cost of the media isn't as much of an issue as the dependability. If I can only record 10 times on each disc and a 10 pack costs $7, that is only $0.07 per write. I'd pay that much not to have to hassle with fixing the sound in avidemux...

What bothers me is the inability to predict when a disc will fail. I suspected that erasing the discs was part of the problem, so I had started having the dvd recorder overwrite an existing title instead of erasing first. However, the other night I did that and everything was fine until it went to close the session. Luckily they replayed the episode at 1:00 AM the next morning so I was able to get another shot at it. I was hoping there was a way to query each disc and weed out the ones with the most writes. I know from talking with people who are involved with tape drive firmware that this kind of information is traditionally stored on tape media. I was hoping the same was true for DVD RW media. It sounds like what I need to do instead is keep a marker handy and keep a tally on each disc of the number of erase/write cycles.

Last edited by Mountain Man; 09-17-2009 at 09:36 AM.
 
Old 09-17-2009, 09:43 AM   #5
catkin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neonsignal View Post
I guess it could be done by keeping track of the disk id ...
How can that be found?
 
Old 09-17-2009, 11:57 AM   #6
prollocks
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I gave up on re-writable's long ago as I could only manage 3-5 writes before they borked.
It actually works out cheaper and is less hassle to just get a large batch of DVD-+R or an external HD which is what I'm using now.
 
Old 09-17-2009, 08:26 PM   #7
jefro
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If the reader supports DVD-RAM and you can find them, they are supposed to last some 1000 times.


Problem is I doubt either.


I love my DVD TV recorder but I am tempted to switch the drive to one that supports DVD-ram as I have 5 new ones. That should be good for a few years of The Stooges.
 
Old 09-17-2009, 09:02 PM   #8
GrapefruiTgirl
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I have read similar accounts of differences between DVD+ or DVD- discs, one being better in the long run, but you'd have to read up on that yourself, as I can't remember what I had read.

All I really have to contribute to this discussion (and I find it interesting -- good to know about stuff like this) is that while most or all manufacturers of these re-writable dics claim that they are good for about 1000 re-writes (or maybe 1000 blank & re-fill cycles) I have never heard of anyone getting anywhere close to that, nor can I imagine how it can even be possible, given the very nature of the construction of these discs.

I have had good success formatting CDRW's with UDF file-systems and using them like diskettes, but after a few re-formats, they're toast. Seems they're also toast if you just leave them around long enough. Definitely not a good choice for any sort of long-term storage of anything valuable.


Sasha
 
Old 09-17-2009, 09:13 PM   #9
neonsignal
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catkin:
Quote:
How can that [disk id] be found?
Hmm, my mistake, the media id will be the same for the disks of the same make/type. No help at all.
 
Old 09-18-2009, 03:01 AM   #10
catkin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neonsignal View Post
catkin:

Hmm, my mistake, the media id will be the same for the disks of the same make/type. No help at all.
Thanks Pity -- it would be great if it were possible, even if it was not burned on during manufacturing but something that could be optionally written and would not be lost on re-writing or formatting. A whole new world of media management and logging would be possible.
 
  


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