I've been planning on installing a DVD burner in a Dell Optiplex 600MHz PIII to do backups over my home network. I just noticed that on most manufacturer's websites the "required minimum hardware" is at 700Mhz or more. Of course they are assuming that the user is running Windows, so I'm wondering if anyone is using a burner in a Linux box that is running at a speed lower than 700MHz?

Thanks,
Tom Murray

I once used a Cd-burner at 2/3 system requirements without any problem. I just made sure I turned on "buffer under write".
Noah

The reason they give those recommendations is not because it wont work but because it wont work at its optimal speed. Your P3 probably cant keep up with a 4x dvd burner, which is around 4500kb/sec. I dont know if any linux programs support buffer under write but basically what it does is prevent the burner from going to fast for the system and making coasters. This is not just for slow pc's, but also for a sudden spike in cpu usage by another program. If you can find good linux burning software that supports it, then youre fine, if not, youre gonna mess up alot of blank dvd's, and theyre kinda expensive.

Can you burn dvds with X-CD-Roast? That supports buffer under write. I would make sure I had at least the recommendation for RAM.
Noah

Thanks for your responses.

I just found out that the minimum hardware requirement for LiteOn burners is a PIII @ 450MHz with 128MB RAM. This even applies to their 8x DVD+R drives. I'll probably go with the LiteOn LDW - 811S.
It appears that you can. Great!

-Tom Murray