[SOLVED] The genuine maximum sizes of USB 3 pen drives / flash drives currently available and compatible with Linux?

teckk · 04-20-2021, 01:16 PM

I've got CDR's from 1999 that still read. DVD+/-R's from 2003 onward that read ok. I've kept them in the original 100 pack plastic spindles, standing upright. The spindles have been kept inside in climate controlled conditions. Not in the sun, not in a damp basement, not in the garage etc. They would cost about $16 per spindle, sometimes free shipping.

I did buy Verbatim until I started getting bad ones from them. I switched to RiData. They were not suppose to be as good, but they worked ok for me. If you write them within 18 months of manufacture you are good. I stopped when external HD prices fell. DVD+/-R are antiquated technology. I've haven't suffered from "Bit rot" that I have heard talked about. They have been reliable storage for me.

Hard drives are way more convenient to use, and single layer DVD's only hold 4.3GB. DVD+/-R's have lasted and kept data for me just fine. I haven't burned one in a good while.

jsbjsb001 · 04-20-2021, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

...
5. If you asking if I put the drive in a drawer and forgot about it how long will it take to degrade then it depends. Maybe 5 years.
...

My 1GB SanDisk USB 2.0 stick I brought over 10 years ago now (probably more like over 15 years ago now - but I can't remember the exact year) still works as well as it did when I first bought it... pity it's only got 1GB of space on it.

jefro · 04-20-2021, 03:54 PM

I bought some of the 100 year dvd's for archiving. They get actual burn pits to record.

Before that I used to like the black dvd's. Seemed to survive better but any chemical disc will fail soon.

rnturn · 04-20-2021, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

I lose my best kept disks at 5 years or slightly over, and dvd drives not long after. Dust buildup is a major issue. Optical are anything but childproof, and a sure sign of their "Success" or lack thereof is that they have been dispensed with in nearly all new laptops. Written sparingly a usb drive outlasts them.

I've had a few DVDs "go bad" after a few years but they've been the exception.

I have some ancient CD/Rs that I burned back in the 90s (on an external SCSI Ricoh CD burner) and still play well. And they're kept in the car. Re-writables? I still have a stack of blanks that I bought back when that Ricoh was new. They only played back worth a darn on the device that wrote them---so much for burning new road trip CDs (which was my intent).

I suspect that CD/DVD drives have disappeared in laptops mainly as part of the race to make the thinnest laptop possible. New laptops just aren't thick enough to include an optical drive.

I imagine anyone who considers CDs or DVDs childproof never borrows either type of media from their public library. (At least I hope it's kids that are abusing them.)

Cheers...