[orca-list] dvd burning hardware

[Michael Weaver <weavermicha googlemail com>]

Is there a way of telling if a PC can burn DVDs under Linux?
My E-machine desktop which unfortunately I am not getting sound from at
present when I boot does support burning to DVD but I am not sure if my
Compaq presario 140 laptop supports burning to DVD.
I can't seem to be able to check if I have the right specs in Orca and
every disk I have thrown at it so to speak seems to just keep making
this strange noise apart from my standard CDroms so whether this is a
problem with the drive or the fact my drive doesn't support burning DVDs
and only plays them I don't know.
This means I am not sure if the disks are faulty when I dump them.
What seems to happen is the disks spin briefly, stop and then spin again
like it can't seem to read them which is why I am wondering if I am
throwing away perfectly well working DVDs.
Also when you burn movies are they classed as data or audio format?