Disc Rot ? Or Not ?

[Neohound]

I was searching for my collection of Homebrew Dreamcast cds tonight and eventually found them in an old leather case next to the wall behind a wardrobe. Ok, I'm not the tidiest or most organised person in the world........

I opened the case to find about thirty or so discs in, well they were in a fairly pitiful state. Around 75% of the discs had like this blue/green staining all over them which didn't bode well and, after testing them, I realised they wouldn't load

These discs were burned between 1999 & 2006. Is this disc rot ? And, if not, what the hell has happened ?

The 'bad' discs were unbranded so I'm thinking cheap discs=shit quality ?

BTW, if anyone's interested in what brand the 'ok' discs are, then note that they were Verbatim cd-r and Fuji cd-r Pro. Just a coincidence or have these discs got any special anti-ageing qualities ?

Whatever, if you're starting out with a homebrew collection or just burning a few retail games then it might pay to be choosy about what discs you use.

[Comrade Snarky]

Disc rot only occurs on pressed discs. This is just CD-Rs being CD-Rs. They aren't made to last forever.

[Anthony817]

I got dome hella old Trance and Breakbeats cdr's that are about from 98-03, had them all in a shoebox, and they were looking the same way. However, Texas is a dry climate, so they became kinda flaky, not really like molding or bleeding the colors, not that they are really mold, but that's the only thing I can describe it to but I think I know what you mean.

[Neohound]

Disc rot only occurs on pressed discs. This is just CD-Rs being CD-Rs. They aren't made to last forever.

Oh, right. I didn't know that !

It's a bit worrying coz I have put a lot of stuff on dvd-r and cd-r in the last six months. Shit, I'll have to think of another way of archiving files from now on.

I can watch my grandad's 8mm movies from forty years ago, my mother's wedding day video and listen to my cassette collection from twenty years ago but I won't be able to view my photo discs etc in a few years time

I suppose I could dump everything onto memory card/stick ? I really don't know of anything else to do other than trusting my harddrives to never fuck up.

[Neohound]

I got dome hella old Trance and Breakbeats cdr's that are about from 98-03, had them all in a shoebox, and they were looking the same way. However, Texas is a dry climate, so they became kinda flaky, not really like molding or bleeding the colors, not that they are really mold, but that's the only thing I can describe it to but I think I know what you mean.

Mmm, yeah that does sound similar. It's a damn pain in the arse !

[Comrade Snarky]

Disc rot only occurs on pressed discs. This is just CD-Rs being CD-Rs. They aren't made to last forever.

Oh, right. I didn't know that !

It's a bit worrying coz I have put a lot of stuff on dvd-r and cd-r in the last six months. Shit, I'll have to think of another way of archiving files from now on.

I can watch my grandad's 8mm movies from forty years ago, my mother's wedding day video and listen to my cassette collection from twenty years ago but I won't be able to view my photo discs etc in a few years time

I suppose I could dump everything onto memory card/stick ? I really don't know of anything else to do other than trusting my harddrives to never fuck up.

That's the problem with digital media, and a reason I have a raging hatred for HD video. Those old 8mm films' resolution is only slightly worse than the 2k HD cameras that are used for most modern movie productions.

[madmax2069]

So far the only brand/s i will use for burning my homebrew on is the memorex and maxell brands (i prefer memorex over maxell if i had to choose mainly because i haven't had any issues from memorex), and i always put the disk back into a jewel case or the case the blank CDs came in. most of my games that i have burnt i made back in 2005 - 2006. they have been through hell, they have sit in a non climate controlled storage for around two years, they are in the same state now as they was when i first burned them.

I am getting to the point that i want the SD card reader mod for my DC because its eye wont last forever (the CD spindle motor has already been replaced once)

[Neohound]

Ok, I'll have a look at some Maxell/Memorex discs. A musician friend of mine suggested getting Verbatim Super Azo Crystal DataLifePlus (what a mouthful ! lol). Apparently they last up to 100 years !!

Obviously, whatever I go for is going to be more expensive than my present unbranded ones but hopefully it will be worth it.

[madmax2069]

Ok, I'll have a look at some Maxell/Memorex discs. A musician friend of mine suggested getting Verbatim Super Azo Crystal DataLifePlus (what a mouthful ! lol). Apparently they last up to 100 years !!

Obviously, whatever I go for is going to be more expensive than my present unbranded ones but hopefully it will be worth it.

Yeah i heard great things about Verbatim disks, I have never had a chance to use them to voice my opinion with them seeing that i haven't had any issues with Memorex or Maxell.

[DoctorN]

A memory stick/ hard drive will last a long time. Its like film, they perserve old movies by putting them onto film and placing them into a cooled freezer basement like thing.

my cd's are TDK