Howdy johnwr,
Greatly appreciate you accepting this as an answer to your
question. I have edited the original posting to remove
some extraneous, etc. wording.
The Raymond Mills & Associates' Toggle News Letter web site
points out the most probable problem. Even though it is a
CD-R in a computer, it is still the same problem as yours.
http://www.toggle.org/html/0007artb.htm
"Our son made a CD-ROM disc from his computer ... When we put
it in the drive ... the system doesn't recognize there is a
disc in the drive. When we put it in our new computer ... it
works just fine. ... Commercial CDs work just fine."
The Toggle News Letter answer was:
"It may seem like CDs and CD drives are all alike but they
are not. Commercial CDs have a metallic reflective layer
that is placed directly against the clear base of the disc."
...
"CD-R discs, on the other hand, require an extra layer of
light-sensitive dye to record the data."
...
"The long and the short of it is that some CD drives--and
especially older ones--may not be good at reading CD-R or
CD-RW discs while they may do a perfectly fine job of
reading commercial CDs."
The Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ indicates what to check:
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_cdfaq4.html#CDFAQ_038
It includes dirty lens and problems with extended length discs.
They also have general preventive maintenance tips.
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_cdfaq4.html#CDFAQ_027
Even though some sites (and legolas-ga) warn against using CD
laser lens cleaners, this TNT Audio write-up likes them.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/cd-lense.html
You can get CD lens cleaners at places like Crutchfield.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-XQl6n24u5v3/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?g=101200
"Maxell CD-AUTO Automotive CD Lens Cleaner
Cleaner disc with multi-brush system
...
$12.99"
Your car's CD player probably just needs some maintenance,
and it might be as simple as cleaning the lense. If your
radio/CD player is a real good one, I would take your car
to an automobile audio shop and have them do some proper
maintenance (cleaning and alignment) on it. If not, then
I would try the CD lens cleaner, and see if that clears the
problem up. If that doesn't work, then you have an excuse
to get a new radio/CD player for your car.
One of the links (The Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ) I provided
above also has a section titled "Problems with extended length
discs" at:
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_cdfaq6.html#CDFAQ_015
"The specifications for the length of an audio CD is just over
74 minutes. I have seen them as long as 78 or 80 minutes which
means that some of the basic CD specifications have been
compromised - either the track pitch has been reduced or the
track extends closer to the outside edge of the disc - or both."
...
"The disc may be rejected resulting in the display showing 'disc'
or 'error' as though damaged, improperly inserted, or missing. In
this case, the CD player's microbrain simply thinks anything with
a total playing time exceeding 74 minutes and 15 seconds is invalid."
So, maybe as you got more experienced with burning your own CD-Rs
you might have "crossed the line" of the 74 minute "limit" that
your CD deck might have in place. To test this theory, check out
some of the working CD-Rs that you have and see if they have less
than 74 minutes of material on them. The link above has more on
the possible problems that can happen with extendeded length discs,
so you might want to read that reference in detail.
As the new CD-Rs work on other CD players, etc. I am positive
that it is an issue with your car's radio/CD deck and (hopefully)
just a maintenance (dirt, alignment, tracking, etc.) issue that
can be cleared up relatively easily, or the extended length disc
problem, which might mean you can get away with "just" reburning
your CD-Rs with less material.
Even though the "gold/gold" CD-Rs are supposed to be better,
at least from a "shelf life" factor, and slower recording
speeds are recommended to improve "readability", we still
can't escape that your new CD-Rs seemed to be OK in every
way except when it comes to your car's CD player.
The PC Buyers Guide.com website has a CD-R Reliability Report.
http://pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/storage/CD-R_reliability_reports.html
"Notably, few CD-R users speak highly of "blue dye" discs. In PC
Buyer's Guide's own tests, in fact, blue discs (e.g., BASF brand
with silver disc label, etc.) consistently caused more trouble
than any other type. In general, we've found that discs with dark
dye performed worse than those with lighter dyes."
...
"... we have had good results from silver/silver unbranded discs
(based on "advanced phthalocyanine dye", according to the Media
section of the CD-R FAQ) and find them an economical and -- so
far -- reliable solution."
The above page also has some links at the bottom to some other
information, including details concerning "gold/gold" CD-Rs.
Andy McFadden's CD-R Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) states:
http://pcline.epfl.ch/zuzu/cdr_faq.htm#7
"Some audio CD players (like the ones you'd find in a car stereo)
have worked successfully with one brand of gold media but not another.
Some players fail completely with green, some fail completely with gold."
A few more things you can try:
- see if a different brand of CD-R burned on another computer works
- test "audio" (74 minute instead of 80 minute) CD-Rs
- test silver and gold CD-Rs
So even though a different type of CD-R might work for you,
you would still be stuck with the possible inability to use a
friend's CD-Rs.
If playing CD-Rs in your car is important to you, as it appears it
is, it would probably be easier just to go out and buy a new CD
deck. There is still the route of getting your current one
serviced, but that might be money that would be wasted. At least
you can re-use the CD lens cleaner.
If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.
Search Strategy:
"commercial CDs work"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22commercial+CDs+work%22
cd player maintenance
://www.google.com/search?q=cd+player+maintenance
"gold/gold" CD-R
://www.google.com/search?q=%22gold%2Fgold%22+CD-R
Looking Forward, denco-ga |
