I need to test the condition of several DVD drives in Ubuntu. Based on advice I found in several forums, I'm using the utility cdck with the -t (test timing) switch. For the first drive I tested, cdck reported that there were wide timing variations, and that the disk was unstable.
That drew my attention to the fact that most of the references I found were about testing disks -- not drives. I've concluded that there's really no direct way to test a drive or a disk; one can only test the performance of a drive and a disk together, and to draw meaningful conclusions about either one, you must be able to assume the other is good. Is that an accurate statement?
If so, the next question is: how to obtain one more or more DVDs that I know are good? The only way I can think of is to use commercially produced DVDs of recent vintage from a reputable source. Is that sufficient, or is there more to do?
The final question is: what about write testing? Once I confirm that a DVD drive reads correctly, am I reasonably safe to assume that it also writes correctly, or must I test that separately, and if I must test it, how?
That drew my attention to the fact that most of the references I found were about testing disks -- not drives. I've concluded that there's really no direct way to test a drive or a disk; one can only test the performance of a drive and a disk together, and to draw meaningful conclusions about either one, you must be able to assume the other is good. Is that an accurate statement?
If so, the next question is: how to obtain one more or more DVDs that I know are good? The only way I can think of is to use commercially produced DVDs of recent vintage from a reputable source. Is that sufficient, or is there more to do?
The final question is: what about write testing? Once I confirm that a DVD drive reads correctly, am I reasonably safe to assume that it also writes correctly, or must I test that separately, and if I must test it, how?
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