Concerns with CD playback of Divx files.

[qualitycatalyst]

If someone was to copy a two hour document as a divx file on a compact disc and play it back on a cd-rom. Would playing back a cd for two hours ruin the cd-rom drive?

It seems like when a cd is being played, the CD-rom drive is spinning at a very fast speed. I have a good feeling that it is ruining the CD-rom drive.

Has anybody out there thought about this concern? I have reason to believe that my previous CD-rom drive broke due to "wear and tear" from playing back so many DVDs and Divx documents.

If this is true, is there a method to minimize the damage done to the CD-rom drive?

Some procedures I had in mind:

- If I wanted to watch a 2 hour document divx format, I would copy it to the harddrive and play back from the hard drive . Copying the file may take 8 minutes of spinning the CD-rom, opposed to 2 hours of spinning the CD-rom.

- Check the CDrom properties in my operating system, make sure the caching for the CDrom is not at a maximum speed. I will try the lowest speed, and see if that buffers the data . If not, try a higher speed. This method may lower the RPM speed of the CDrom playback.

I hope this gives you guys a good idea of what "wear and tear" may happen to your CD-rom if it is played back for 2 hours.

Please reply with any solutions to eliminating , or atleast reducing the ammount of damage done to a CD-rom drive.

[sTj]

First off, wear and tear on hardware is inevitalbe, meaning you'll never escape it. It's saddening, frusterating, and expensive, but there you have it.
Secondly, when it comes to minimizing spin time on a cd rom drive, really the only method (or best method) you can use is to *DISABLE* DMA. That way the computer will buffer large chucks of the "file" to the HD (swap file) or to RAM. This can drastically degrade performance, but will at least cut back on spin cycles.
Honestly, I don't know how worth it it is to worry about this. If you're concerned about ruining a drive, then go out and buy an "el cheapo" drive and use it as your divx drive.
I will conclude by saying that it's REALLY early for me right now, and my wife and daughter keep grabbing me away from this, so I hope that my info is accurate.
anyways.

[khp]

Originally posted by sTj
Secondly, when it comes to minimizing spin time on a cd rom drive, really the only method (or best method) you can use is to *DISABLE* DMA. That way the computer will buffer large chucks of the "file" to the HD (swap file) or to RAM.

I don't agree, AFAIK DMA means that the device is allowed to read and write directly to memory, disabling DMA only means that the cpu has to read the data form the device and write it to memory (and visa versa for writing). This is ofcause way slower and wastes a lot of cpu time.
Readahead buffering is set in 'System properties'->'Preformance'->'File system'->'CD-ROM' and is completly independet of the read mode.

[sTj]

ugh...

you know what i should do? i should attempt to ignore my computer first thing in the morning... before i've had my coffee... while my daughter is pulling on my arm and my wife is talking to me... apparently it's not a good thing.

thank you, khp, for putting me in my place. ; )

so, maybe just ignore the part about DMA, and think about stocking up on cheap drives. grab used ones if you're that concerned. though i've run the same drive for years without any problems, and even my newer DVD drive (which is also used for divx, vcd, etc...) has never given any grief either...

anyways, i'll shut up now.

[Enchanter]

Having a single CD-drive (that is a writer as well) that has gone well beyond its second birthday, I needed to make sure that the drive remains functional until DVD writers become affordable for us, the average peasants.

Until then, I store all the frequently used files on my 80GB and 30GB drives. HD space is so cheap nowadays that it does not really make sense to throw your money for a 'fodder' CD drive.