CD drives slim vs old fashioned  - Curiosity question - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 12:05:16 am
content: (This didn't seem to fit in the "computer" category, and I'm a beginner when it comes to the electronics of computer hardware, so I put it here.)My "new" Dell computer has a laptop style, thin CD/DVD drive.I tried to rip a CD for my dad, but there were two tracks it wouldn't read. I tried my backup drive, and it didn't work on the same two tracks. I tried the wife's computer, with the same type of drive, and it failed on the same tracks. I thought it was a bad CD.Just to be complete, I went to my very old computer in the basement, with the larger, older style CD drive. It read it with no problems. (All three computers use Windows 11, and the "legacy" media player)So, I just wonder: Does anyone know why the older drives are more robust? Is it just the typical "new stuff is crap compared to old" or were the old laser diodes more powerful, or was the older transport mechanism more steady?

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 12:11:15 am
content: More likely that you experienced DRM from Big Music. This wasn't implemented on the old drives, but as the music industry is linked to the HW manufacturers, well...Keep your old HW running, folks. Your options are narrowing.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 12:36:53 am
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on September 20, 2025, 12:05:16 amIt is a bad CD.QuoteThat's a far fetched conclusion based on sample of 1. Chances are you could try another 100 large drives that would not read it too.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 03:10:10 am
content: It could be "weak sectors", which some drives were better at reading than others:http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/magia-chisel/index.html

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 05:52:16 am
content: Agree with amyk. Full height drives are more physically robust though. My workstation has a slim optical drive. Once when I left the tray out, I stood and turned whacking the side with my hand. A couple of parts tumbled to the desktop. Fortunately, nothing was broken, and after some study, I was able to reassemble it. Lesson: don't leave the tray out! Mike

author: rteodor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 05:54:38 am
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on September 20, 2025, 12:05:16 amEven 20 years ago optical drives, mostly big at that time, were sometimes picky with some disks. Its certainly not a new problem. I have seen it many times and my feeling is that your problem its not related to the form factor but to the diversity of the implementations. Not with the new drive. But in the long term "smaller is bad" and I feel that slim ones would fail quicker.I just bought one such slim drive because I could not find a replacement for the old external drive (well, I did found one but could not mate the connectors mechanically). It reads disks >10 years old just as well if not better. I can see it on my scripts that old drive needed usually 6 retries until a disk could be mounted. The slim one mounts it usually at the first try. I have yet to check how it does at the checksum verification level.One thing I don't like at the slim drive is that it bumps quite hard in whatever is around it when ejecting. Not good with powered PCB's and wires around.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 05:54:53 am
content: Quote from: calzap on September 20, 2025, 05:52:16 amYou mean the cup holder, right?

author: squadchannel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 08:45:17 am
content: The same goes for floppy disks.driven by the actual SuperIO chip can read sectors successfully even if they're weak, by retrying several times.But modern USB floppy drives fails to read two or three times and give up.That's why it's better to keep an old computer around.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 01:24:22 pm
content: Quote from: wraper on September 20, 2025, 12:36:53 amI don't think it's too far fetched - what are the chances I use the ONE full size drive that will read that disk when many others don't? I'm not curious enough to try the huge stack of old CD drives I still have to see. (yes, I should have thrown them out years ago)Quote from: amyk on September 20, 2025, 03:10:10 amI believe this is the case. If I could, I'd get another disk, but it's part of a 5 disk set, and I'm not curious enough to spend the money for just one more sample.Quote from: Benta on September 20, 2025, 12:11:15 amMy first thought was it was only a couple of tracks, so I wouldn't think DRM would be implemented that way, but I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that. It does keep the whole disk from being copied.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 01:33:01 pm
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on September 20, 2025, 01:24:22 pmYou easily could have 7 slim drives and one of them reading this CD instead. What a nonsensical reasoning that if a single drive that reads the CD and happens to be large one, therefore large drives are better at reading than small ones overall. You did not even have a second drive to even slightly confirm your theory.

author: BILLPOD
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 01:45:59 pm
content: I'm not curious enough to try the huge stack of old CD drives I still have to see. (yes, I should have thrown them out years ago)Good Morning Excavatoree, don't throw them out without opening them up and stripping out all the goodies in them, like screws and springs and the motor, etc., etc. (there are powerful magnets in them). If you don't have a 'Junk drawer', (I call mine a 'Paw Drawer'), then start one.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 01:55:46 pm
content: Quote from: BILLPOD on September 20, 2025, 01:45:59 pmI'm glad to know I'm not the only one who strips old things before throwing them out. I have more than a junk drawer - I have an overflowing junk closet. I practice SMD work using old boards because I don't have to worry if I mess up.

author: CaptDon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 06:04:16 pm
content: Can you 'play' the last two tracks using the slim drive and media player on your laptop/computer? If you can play them then you should be able to copy them. There are also various 'over-burning' limits. Notice some CDR's say '74 minute' and some are '80 minute'. A store bought aluminized substrate disk may in fact be over 80 minutes in total length. Some apps allow over-burning beyond 80 minutes and some do not. Makes me also wonder if the slim drives have a physical limit on how far the laser can travel toward the outer edge of the disk which could physically limit over-burning.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2025, 07:17:16 pm
content: Quote from: CaptDon on September 20, 2025, 06:04:16 pmOnly one of the four slim drives I have would play the tracks. The rest won't. (I forgot to mention I have two spare slim drives, and I tried them both. I had one fail just out of warranty, I when I see a cheap one on E-bay I get it) When trying to rip the CD, the drive starts making strange noises, and it stops progress. (20-40 percent, varies) I roughly added up the track times, and it's just a few seconds over 74 min.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2025, 09:40:02 am
content: For people dealing with damanged CDs, there's some Windows audio rip program, possibly Exact Audio Copy, that's known for its ability to deal with slightly damaged discs that other software won't handle.