Retail Plus+ External DVD burner Linux compatibility?
 

Is the "Retail Plus+ External Double-Layer 20x DVD+/-RW Writer" compatible with Linux, will it work? I'd like to buy it, but Linux compatibility will affect my decision.

Link: http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

All optical drives are standard devices, they will work no matter what brand or model they are.

The only things that need special attention are manufacturer-specific functions that are not part of the ATAPI specifications, like LightScribe.

So you mean basically any external USB burner will work?

Yeah, any should work.

If you are using a laptop be sure your USB gives enough juice to run it or buy one with an external power source or get a powered hub. I have a satellite notebook and even with both USB jacks connected to the system directly and not through a hub is still not enough to make the damn thing work and I bought it new. If anyone knows how I can resolve this without the extra powered hub or buying another burner then please let me know. Thanks and have a great day.

neilmaclennan,
If you have two USB connectors on the drive then one is just for power. You can purchase a USB power converter. i.e. 120VAC - 5VDC. I would assume there are like devices for 220 VAC for those require it.

Oops I did not explain properly. I meant that the USB cord has two USB-A connectors and one USB-B (I think that is the correct type, it's the square shaped one that is usually associated with printers and the like). So it actually does have a secondary power jack, in case your USB port doesn't supply the required amount of juice needed foo the drive.

I have some more info which you can take as you like, but for me if I buy something brand new and it is broken when I go to use it for the first time, I generally never buy anything by that company again.

I did manage to get it to read a DVD game I have, and get this... I had to turn the drive upside down for it to read and load the disk and when I turned it the right way up again (I moved it very slowly by the way) it immediately stopped working and dropped off the device map and then whirred a bit then appeared again only to get frightened and disappear again. And no amount of coaxing, holding it at all angles possible, and intermittent tapping could be used to get it to register a blank disk.
over the years I have learned to keep my err sanity a bit more intact by thinking that my computer and peripherals have a life of their own. This way I can forgive and dismiss the odd and apparently random quirks of behavior that these things engage in on a fairly regular basis. Which connotes a sign of life and sentience if you ask me.

A friend of mine years a go had an old top loading aka "sledge hammer eject" VHS player that had the top window removed so that a vase could be placed directly onto the tape in the machine and then varying amounts of water was added to it until the picture became clear. How he thought of doing that to manually adjust the overworked tracking I will never know. Experiences like that prompted my present psychosis mindset toward machines. And for those who never heard the term "sledge hammer eject" used to describe those old monster top loading VHS players it was due to the fact that you had to pretty much use a sledge hammer on the eject button to get it to give you your tape back and if you were lucky you didn't have to wind the tape back into the case because the guts of the beast loved Mylar tape and ferrous oxide (iron rust and packing tape basically) for dinner.

Anyway I got way off my topic there. I write for a living in case no one guessed that yet.

Don't buy any shoddy products with the retail plus label. Samsung is the parent co. and I think they just relabel and package old models to move old products and keep their parent reputation from looking too cheap, but it don't fool me. Man! I have to go or I will never shut up. I bet no one reads this marathon reply, I wouldn't. lol have a great day