Can an old (30 yrs) ballast end up by quickly burning out new
starters? (This is in a 12" 32W circline bathroom fixture.)

Would an old ballast have any telltale signs if it is malfunctioning?
Would it have that burnt smell itself? Thanks.

The light stopped working, so I replaced the ballast. No difference.
So I opened the old and new starter cans (both are FS12) and both
looked and smelled burnt. I don't know if the new starter was
defective when I bought it, but it did provide a really slow start.