Re: dvd+rw-tools: growisofs exit code

[A E Lawrence <A.E.Lawrence@lboro.ac.uk>]

In response to Volker:-

I have been using PRINCO media for 3 years with extremely good results. So 
have colleagues. People using Windoze software (Nero and the like) do seem 
to have problems with this manufacturer: one can only speculate why.

I have never seen a failure in reading a Princo DRD-RW or DVD-R disc that 
has been reported as successfully written. Very rarely, I have had burn 
failures like the one that I posted. On each occasion, simply re-trying, 
sometimes after reloading the media, has worked.

I am well aware that there are people who seem to have a great deal of 
trouble with Princo media, but none of the mailings that I have seen have 
inspired any confidence that these were from people with any understanding 
of the technologies. They just abused the manufacturer rather than provided 
any reasoned explanation.

It may be that there were some very poor batches, and that I have been 
lucky with my discs. However, a relative who uses Windoze had trouble with 
a pack of 50 DVD-RW discs, not from Princo. He sent many samples of these 
"troublesome" discs, but dvd+rw-tools handled them flawlessly. No failures 
at all, yet there were repeated and consistent failures with the Windows 
software (Nero and Winbackup). And the drive was a PIONEER-105. Changing to 
another media manufacturer, there were no problems.

However good is a manufacturer, there is still a chance of the occasional 
defective disc. I want my script to notice and not blindly miss a 4.3 Gbyte 
chunk out of a series of DVDs in a backup set. My backps use between 3 and 
10 DVDs to do a backup, depending on the machine.

So just changing to another media manufacturer is no answer to my 
particular wish for (near) certainty that when my backup script runs to 
completion, I have a good and complete set of discs.

But thank you for the suggestion,

Adrian Lawrence