problematic CD-R/RW

There are lots of different makes of blanks on the market. In contrast to disks or the silver CDs you can buy, there is hardly a CD Writer can write on all CD-Rs without any problems. Further down you will find a list of CD-Writers which have problems with certain CD-Rs. This list should not be seen as definitive as due to new Firmware versions a CD Writer may have no problems with certain blanks anymore. Some CD Writer have more problems with NoName blanks.

What is remarkable is that some 4x blanks are no longer suitable to be written with 1x. There will probably be similar problems for blanks which can be written with 8x.

We have also noticed that sometimes writing on the blank works without any problems (without an error message) but reading these CDs can cause problems which depend on which CD Writer was used to write. The effects are noticable as crackles.

Afterthought on NoName blanks: Numerous users say that writing on such CDs and reading off of these CDs works without any problems. Often correct - but: the lifespan of such blanks is relatively short as a general rule. After some time however in many cases, it is often no longer possible to read off of such blanks.

CD Writer

problematic CD-R/RW

unproblematic blanks

Caravell CDR-N820S

until firmware 1.10: Mitsubishi, Kodak, Fujifilm, Maxwell

HP 8100, HP 8110

Arita (silver/blue), Neotoc (dark-blue), Mitsumi (gold), Lead Data 80min (silverblue or dark-blue)

Philips (gold/green), TDK (silver/dark-blue), Samsung, Verbatim, Hi-Val (silver/blue), Maxell CD-R74, Memorex (gold/green), Ricoh (gold/gold)

Mitsumi 2600TE

ISI

Mitsumi 2801TE

Verbatim Datalife Plus, Ricoh, Kodak Gold, BASF (blue/green)

80 minute blanks (up to fw 1.09)

Lenco (gold), Philips Silver Premium

Panasonic 7502

Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Kodak, Mitsui

Philips CDD2600

Maxell, KAO, Ricoh

TDK, 3M, HP, Memorex

Philips CDD3600

Princo, BTC CD-Rs (diffcult to read)

BASF, Maxell

Philips CDD3610

Koch (green), Koch (silver), Princo, KAO (some)

Verbatim (blue), Mitsubishi (blue), Kodak, HISpace (silver)

PlexWriter

Kodak (gold), Maxell, SABA (difficult to read), SunStar (silver/blue) fw<1.06

Verbatim, SunStar (silver/blue) fw>=1.06,

Plextor PX-R820T

Mitsui

Kodak silver, BASF Ceramic Guard

Ricoh MP6200

Arita (blue), Koch (green), Boeder (green), Princo; According to Ricoh Hotline: Maxell, Sony, Verbatim

Verbatim (blue), Mitsubishi (blue), Boeder (Cyan), 3M (Cyan), Sony Shiny (Cyan); according to Ricoh Hotline: Ricoh, KAO, Kodak, Taiyo Yuden, TDK

Sony 928

Koch (green), BASF/EMTEC Magnetics (gold/green), FUJI (green/silver), Memorex, Imatian (white/cyan), Maxell (gold), Pioneer CDM-V74S

Sony

TEAC CD-R50S

Ricoh

TEAC CD-R55S

TDK, SunStar (silver/blue), FUJI, Ricoh (silver) fw <1.0l, Taiyo Yuden fw <1.0h

Ricoh (silver) fw>=1.0l, TEAC recommend the following blanks: Mitsui Tohatsu, TDK, Verbatim, Kodak

TEAC CD-R56S, TEAC CD-R58S

NetWork with firmware 1.0j: Leoptics 80min Silver, Exact 80min Silver,

TEAC currently recommends the following makes of blank: Mitsui Tohatsu, TDK, Verbatim, Kodak

Yamaha

would be a long list - through firmware updates it should be possible to solve most problems. (1.0q: Lead Data 80min)

At the moment Yamaha recommends the following makes of blank: CD-R: Yamaha, TDK, Ricoh, Memorex, Mitsui-gold, Mitsubishi, Sony, Imation and Pioneer; CD-RW: Yamaha, TDK, Ricoh, Mitsubishi and Verbatim