[ale] DVD-R vs. DVD+R

[kaboom at oobleck.net (Chris Ricker)]

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005, Trey Sizemore wrote:

> I've got a laptop with a burner that, according to k3b, is DVD -R
> capable, but not DVD +R capable.  I bought some blank disks the other
> day that say DVD +R.  Ooops.  Does this mean I can't burn DVD ISOs with
> the combination of this drive and these discs?  Are the disks specific
> to the burning method of the burner?

Yes, but depending on the burner, you may be able to add DVD +R support by 
a firmware update

Dell, for example, often ships DVD drives that are DVD+/-R capable, but 
cripples them in firmware to support only one of the two. Aftermarket 
firmware updates fix that problem ;-). Note that a lot of aftermarket 
firmwares also provide other features that may be legally questionable, 
like region-freeing the drives....

Check out sites like cdfreaks.com for more info about your drive and see 
if it offers ways to add +R support

later,
chris