[TriLUG] Best Linux-supported CDRW?

Jeremy Portzer jeremyp at pobox.com
Mon Oct 14 15:30:07 EDT 2002


On Mon, 2002-10-14 at 15:24, Lisa C. Boyd wrote:
> I currently have an outdated CD-RW that's giving me problems. I'm
> looking at buying a new one and want to make sure what I get is
> compatible with Linux. I would love to be able to write DVDs eventually,
> but right now just writing CDs once would be great :)
> 
> Do you have a favorite that has worked well? Or does it just depend on
> how much money I want to spend on the speed?

Personally, I've had few problems with CD-RW's -- they're becoming more
of a generic "commodity" type hardware now.  I've never heard of a
modern CD-RW that isn't compatible with Linux, for example -- they're
normally just generic IDE or SCSI devices.  If you already have a SCSI
system, I would recommend SCSI for speed and reduction of CPU load, but
it certainly isn't necessary.  SCSI devices also won't require the
sometimes confusing kernel module setup that's necessary for writing to
IDE burners, but SCSI is more expensive.

IDE CD-burners are "damn cheap" nowadays -- $49.99 for an off-brand, and
$69.99 for a name brand, at Intrex.

I can't comment on burning DVDs -- the DVD-RAM and similar drives are
still way too expensive for me, and so is the blank media.

--Jeremy




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