[rescue] Sun Ultra 1 boot failure

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 @ 15:59 +0000, Peter Corlett said:

> On Mon, Dec 04, 2006 at 10:48:18AM -0500, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> [...]
> > The CD burner is an Optowrite, the DVD burner is an NEC. NEC is just a
> > better drive, period.
> 
> What's your opinion on Pioneer? I've got a few of their drives and they seem
> to be quiet, solid, understated on the fascia, and just get the job done.

NOTE: the last time I seriously studied burn test results on CD/DVD
burners was a year ago.

Pioneer is OK.  For awhile they were used by Compaq and Apple as their
system build drives.  I don't like them as much as I used to.

Plextor generally rates good, as does NEC.

A lot of the others are hit and miss and several good makes 
took a dive in the last 2-3 years for some reason.

I think it was TDK that for awhile was releasing really good burners,
and then something happened and everything they put out is junk.

It helps to look at the burner review site and see what results they got
in testing. 

With burners, there are so many little things that affect every day use,
that it is often hard to decide which drive to get.

On top of that, new firmware releases can dramatically improve drives
as they learn more about how the drive reacts to different media in the
real market.

A lot of firmware updates are nothing but database updates.

> I don't think I've ever had a coaster that was the drive's fault, but I'm
> wondering whether another brand might get better longevity of the media.

I don't know. Depending on which drive you have, Pioneer tends to make
good burns with strong read signals.  You might check for firmware
updates, as manufacturers often update internal databases about
newer media.

All manufacturers make duds now and then, and some never make good ones.

Read the review sites, because they often have information on your
drive's characteristics, and pointers to firmware updates.


-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Meddle not in the affairs of Wizards, for
thou art crunchy, and taste good with ketchup." -- unknown]