[alphasubzero949]

Below is my feedback to Apple through their Mac OS X Portal:

SUBJECT: iTunes Verification of Data CDs/DVDs

Specs: 15" Al PowerBook G4 (Rev. A), Pioneer DVR-K05 Superdrive Upgrade, 60 GB HD, 1.25 GB RAM

To whom it may concern:

iTunes does NOT check data CDs or DVDs for integrity. This is completely unacceptable. After having backed up my entire music library of songs through iTunes, one of DVDs turned out to be a coaster upon re-importing all of the songs back into the library and iTunes stumbled while trying to read from the DVD.

FORTUNATELY, I HAD A PRE-EXISTING BACKUP FROM A WEEK BEFORE OF MY SONGS BURNED THROUGH TOAST.

I simply cannot trust iTunes to back up my music if it can't take the time out to do a simple post-burn verification of every CD or DVD backed up as a data disc.

Furthermore, if a coaster is discovered in the verification process, iTunes should offer to re-burn AT THE POINT left before the failed verification instead of rendering the entire backup effort useless and requiring the user to start from square one.

Please address this oversight promptly.

Here is what I was trying to do:

I backed up my music as data DVDs in iTunes. 6 DVDs were produced in all. Unfortunately, the 4th DVD was a coaster. I did not find out until I tried to reimport all of my music back into iTunes (as to why, it's irrelevant) using those same DVDs. The DVD drive was thrashing as iTunes was trying to read the DVD ("Processing XXXXXX" dialog). Also, in some of the other DVDs, iTunes stumbled on some songs that it could not read from the DVD for whatever reason.

At the time, iTunes indicated that the burning session was successful through the little tune played at the end.

Bottom line: Make those DVD backups through iTunes at your own risk.


The fact that the Finder doesn't know how to do a multiple disc session (if the contents won't fit, you should be prompted to add additional discs) with the burn folders is another serious flaw with Tiger, relegating those wanting to back up their music to iTunes.

Thankfully this was a TEST backup and not a real one; just to see what iTunes would do. I had a previous backup made using Toast and while dragging in folders and figuring out what could fit was cumbersome, at least I knew if each DVD disc was successfully burned.

[moonmonkey]

Perhaps if you were a little more polite there would be more chance of getting verification added to iTunes.

[alphasubzero949]

Yeah, because I'm sure some poor sap out there who loses a DVD's worth of purchased music will want to be polite in requesting that verficiation becomes a "feature."

[Randman]

Backup 3 does verify.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by alphasubzero949

Yeah, because I'm sure some poor sap out there who loses a DVD's worth of purchased music will want to be polite in requesting that verficiation becomes a "feature."

Good, i'm glad we agree.

[alphasubzero949]

Originally Posted by Randman

Backup 3 does verify.

Thankfully it does. So does Finder and Toast. However, with Backup 3 I am restricted to using Backup to open the archive and retrieve my music files. Let's not also forget the other issues plaguing the point-zero release. What if the user isn't a .Mac member? And this same user has a library much larger than 100 MB? The Finder? It won't let me burn multiple discs to fit the aliases in my burn folder.

Back to verfiication...

Why does iTunes not do this? Forget the notion of audio CDs and MP3 CDs. There isn't a reason why data CDs/DVDs created through iTunes shouldn't verify the integrity of the discs especially given that one of the warning dialogs in iTunes recommends that the user's purchased music be backed up.

It's very misleading for iTunes to pretend that all of the DVDs and CDs fed in the data burning session were successfully burned without checking first.

If it takes a few more minutes for each CD or DVD, I'm all for it if it means being absolutely sure that there isn't a coaster being made, especially given that DL DVDs can be costly to waste.

* * *

After posting the OP, I found yet another problem. If you try to drag in music files (into the iTunes library window) directly from a DVD, iTunes may stumble on a few files while "processing." Yet, when one copies these same files from the DVD to a location on the hard drive, and THEN bring them into iTunes, those same "problem" files are just fine. No biggie to me but may be annoying to others.

[sushiism]

"Furthermore, if a coaster is discovered in the verification process, iTunes should offer to re-burn AT THE POINT left before the failed verification instead of rendering the entire backup effort useless and requiring the user to start from square one."

The confusion that would cause for novice users would far outweigh the handful of power users time being saved.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by sushiism

"Furthermore, if a coaster is discovered in the verification process, iTunes should offer to re-burn AT THE POINT left before the failed verification instead of rendering the entire backup effort useless and requiring the user to start from square one."

The confusion that would cause for novice users would far outweigh the handful of power users time being saved.

No it wouldn't cause confusion. It would cause people to waste discs that way. If previously burned discs were ok and one wasn't, the program would say that that particular disc had a problem, please insert another disc labeled the same way as the previous disc.

People would get upset if they found out that the program was wasting perfectly good burned discs because one disc (and not all) had a problem, ESPECIALLY if they were using expensive discs.