From - Mon Sep 15 07:21:30 1997
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From: fadden@netcom.com (Andy McFadden)
Subject: [comp.publish.cdrom] CD-Recordable FAQ, Part 2/2
Message-ID: <faddenEGInEL.9MG@netcom.com>
Followup-To: comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
Summary: Frequently Asked Questions about CD recorders, CD-R media, and
CD premastering.
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Archive-name: cdrom/cd-recordable/part2
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Last-modified: 1997/09/14
Version: 1.11
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Subject: [5] Hardware
The numbers after the model name (e.g. "CDR-102 (2x4/512K)") refer to the
read and write speeds of the unit and the size of the write buffer. "2x4"
would be a double-speed writer that's also a quad-speed reader. If it just
says "2x", the write speed is double-speed and the read speed isn't known
(but presumably is at least 2x). Buffer sizes written with a '+', e.g.
"2MB+", indicate that the buffer can be expanded further.
Many units are repackaged versions of other manufacturer's devices,
sometimes with slight changes in the firmware. Value-added retailers have
been known to switch to a different manufacturer's drive without notice, so
don't assume that everything here is accurate.
All CD-R drives are SCSI unless indicated otherwise. IDE and parallel-port
CD-Rs exist, but aren't quite as common as the SCSI models.
Many of the models listed have been discontinued in favor of newer models,
and some of them have yet to be released, so you will probably not be able
to find all of the models listed here for sale.
An excellent summary of CD-R features can be found about halfway down on
http://makecd.core.de/Compatibility.html.
If you're new to SCSI, take a look at the comp.perips.scsi FAQ,
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/scsi-faq/. It covers
both novice and advanced questions.
A wealth of information on Enhanced IDE and other storage technologies
is available from http://thef-nym.sci.kun.nl/~pieterh/storage.html and
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/pc-hardware-faq/enhanced-IDE/top.html.
Subject: [5-1] Which CD-R unit should I buy?
Based on the experience of users posting to the comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
Usenet newsgroup, the models to get are, in order:
(1) Yamaha CDR-100/CDR-102 (also as S&F 4000/S&F 1004)
(2) Sony 920S/940S (also as S&F 1002/2004)
(3) Ricoh RS-1420C (also as Turtle Beach 2040R)
(4) Ricoh MP-6200
(5) Yamaha CDR-400
(6) Teac CD-R50S (a/k/a Teac 4x4)
(7) Philips CDD2600 (often as HP 6020i)
(8) Panasonic CW-7501/CW-7502
(9) Philips CDD2000/CDD2010 (often as HP 4020i) (see warnings though)
(10) Everything else (but see 'CAVEAT EMPTOR' notes on specific units)
These are discussed in the next few sections. See also the
(somewhat Adaptec-specific but still useful) "CD RECORDABLE SUPPORT"
section from "ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/pub/BBS/dos/ezlist.txt". See
"http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Industry/Mfgrs/RecorderManufacturers.html"
for company contact information.
The model numbers are important! Sometimes the older or newer models
from the same manufacturer aren't as good.
If you have specific needs, you should verify with the manufacturer that
the drive will do what you want.
Many of the devices are simply OEM versions of another company's recorder.
It's unwise to assume that the units are equivalent, however: in many cases
the firmware has been changed, and may not work as well as related models.
External drives are preferred to internal drives because of heat problems,
though this is less of a concern for newer models. External models can
also be moved between machines, and even between platforms. Most if not
all SCSI models will work on both Macs and PCs.
I'm not currently listing stand-alone recorders like the "CD Blaster" or
"CD Dupe-It", which are boxes with a CPU, CD-R, and hard drive that can
duplicate CDs without tying up a full machine. Most of these low-end CD
production boxes are off-the-shelf hardware and software packaged into a
single unit, so listing them separately doesn't make much sense. Besides,
they're not of much interest to the average user.
Subject: [5-1-1] Yamaha
See http://www.yamahayst.com/yamaha5.htm
Models are the CDR-100 (4x4/512K), CDR-102 (2x4/512K), CDR-200 (2x6/1MB),
CDR-400 (4x6/2MB; 'c' is caddy, 't' is tray, 'x' is external), CDR-401
(4x6/2MB;IDE), and CRW-4001 (4x6/2MB;RW@2x). The CDE-100 is just the
CDR-100 in a Yamaha external case.
It has been reported that the CDR-102 is the same mechanism as the CDR-100,
but with the 4x writing feature disabled. There is no known way to convert
it into a 4x writer. Similar speculation has been made about the CDR-200
and CDR-400.
Yamaha CDR-100 and CDR-102 units have problems doing digital audio
extraction on some discs. See section (4-19).
Note Yamaha doesn't do customer service. The dealer you purchase the drive
from is expected to provide support.
Yamaha CDR-100s with firmware version 1.08 may experience problems when
recording audio (e.g. a click at the end of tracks recorded with the "copy
prohibit" flag set to "off"). Upgrading to version 1.10 is recommended.
Since the CDR-100 and CDR-102 units don't have flash ROM (and apparently
the upgrade involves more than just changing a ROM chip), the drive needs
to be sent back to the dealer for the upgrade.
The CDR-100 reportedly works best when writing in 4x mode, and may produce
poor results when used to write at 2x or 1x.
The current firmware versions for the older Yamaha drives is v1.12 for the
CDR-100 and v1.01 for the CDR-102. The change was to "allow mastering in
Blue Book specs". If you aren't having problems, don't get the upgrade.
The Yamaha CDR-400 is somewhere around 1.0g.
The CDR-400 is flash upgradeable, and supports packet writing. The tray on
the CDR-400 has been described as "flimsy".
Subject: [5-1-2] Sony
See http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/products/storage/cdr/
Models are the CDW-900E (2x2/3MB), Spressa CDU920S (2x2/1MB), Spressa
CDU940S (2x4/1MB), CDU926S (2x6/512K), and CDU928E (2x8/512K;IDE).
The CDW-900E has a separate connector that allows multiple "slave" drives
to be daisy-chained, allowing multiple CD-Rs to be written in parallel.
The Spressa 9211 is a 920 in an external case, the 9411 is a 940 in an
external case, and the 9611 is a 926. The 940S drive is actually a 924S;
the 940S designation refers to the complete bundle (software, cables, etc).
Looks like each unit can be referenced by three different numbers.
Sony drives have a special "recover" feature, accessible from programs like
Easy-CD Pro '95. This allows recovery of the CD-R media after certain
classes of failed writes.
All Sony drives can do packet writing.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - CDU926 and CDU928. Believe it or not, the CDU926 and
CDU928 don't support disc-at-once recording (see section (2-9) for a
description). Instead they use "variable-gap track-at-once", which allows
TAO audio recordings with no gaps between tracks. Some popular software
packages aren't as useful when disc-at-once isn't available, so people
considering these drives should carefully consider how they plan to
use them.
Subject: [5-1-3] Smart & Friendly
See http://www.smartandfriendly.com/
Models are the CDR1002 (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S), CDR1004
(2x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-102), CDR2004 (2x4/1MB, based on the
Sony 940S), CDR2006 "Pro" (2x6/512K, based on the Sony 926S), CDR2006
"Plus" (2x6/1MB, based on the JVC XR-W2020), CDR4000 (4x4/512K, based on
the Yamaha CDR-100), and CDR4006 (4x6/2MB, based on the Yamaha CDR-400).
The CDR2004 has replaced the CDR1002, and the CDR4006 has replaced the
CDR4000.
Subject: [5-1-4] Philips
See http://www.philips.com/pkm/laseroptics/cdr/
Models are the CDD522 (2x2/2MB), CDD2000 (2x4/1MB), CDD2600 (2x6/1MB), and
CDD3600 (2x6/1MB;RW). The CDD3610 is a 3600 with an IDE interface. The
CDD521 (2x2/256K) is an older model; if you use one, the firmware upgrade
is strongly recommended (but increasingly hard to find).
The CDD522 does not support reading of subcode-Q data. The CDD521, CDD522,
and Kodak-labeled PCD225 have a sensor that can read the barcode data from
the inner ring on a CD.
See the HP section for comments about the CDD2000 firmware. The firmware
is kept in flash ROM, so it can be updated with software obtainable over
the net. You should be at version 1.25 or later for best results.
Digital audio extraction may not work correctly at higher than 2x on the
CDD2600, especially near the end of the disc. Philips has acknowledged
that audio CDs and packet-written CDs may not read correctly at 6x, but
many users have had problems at 4x as well. It may also suffer from the
block offset problem described in section (4-19). The CDD2600 supports
packet writing, but is NOT flash upgradeable.
Philips' drives, notably the CDD2600, have been shown to hang on some
Amigas if SCSI disconnect is enabled and you try to read the session
information from a multisession CD. Philips does not believe this problem
happens on PCs, and consequently has refused to investigate further. If
you are experiencing hangs when examining multisession CDs, try turning
SCSI disconnect off for the CD recorder.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - CDD2000. Some users of Philips CDD2000 and derivitive
units (like the HP4020i) have reported that the drives went bad over a
short period of time, often 1 to 3 months. While these cases represent the
minority of users, reports have been persistent. On the plus side, in
every case HP or Philips has been willing to exchange the unit for a new
one. If you buy a CDD2000-based unit (of which there are many), be sure
the dealer or manufacturer is aware of this problem and is willing to
exchange the drive should it arise.
See also section (4-10) on the infamous 50h "write append" error.
Drivers are available for the CDD2000 from:
http://www.philips.com/sv/pcaddon/cdr/
Subject: [5-1-5] HP
See http://www.corp.hp.com/Publish/isg/cdr/html/prodinfo.html
See http://hpcc998.external.hp.com/isgsupport/cdr/index.html
Models are the SureStore 4020i (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000)
(sometimes identified as part number C4324) and 6020 (2x6/1MB, based on
the Philips CDD2600; 'i' is internal, 'e' is external, 'p' is parallel;
also known as part number C4325).
The 6020ep appears to be the external SCSI drive with a parallel-to-SCSI
converter. It's usable as a SCSI device as well.
The HP 4020i got off to a rough start because of buggy firmware and
problems with the AdvanSys SCSI controller shipped with the drive. Four
firmware upgrades have been made available so far (v1.20, v1.25, v1.26, and
v1.27), and most but not all problems with the firmware have been
eliminated. HP recommends that users with the v1.20 or later firmware who
aren't having problems should NOT get the upgrade. Contact HP tech support
for more information.
The comments about digital audio extraction problems and the CDD2600 apply
to the 6020i as well. Unlike the CDD2600, the 6020 apparently does not
support packet writing. The firmware is not flash upgradeable.
The 6020 with v1.07 firmware also has trouble reading some CD-ROM discs,
notably single-track CD-ROMs with less than 27MB of data.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - 4020i. See the notes on the CDD2000 in the previous
section. Also, the AdvanSys controller continues to cause problems for
some users, which is made worse by HP's refusal to support people who try
to use a different card. The best approach seems to be to try the card and
stick with it if it works, otherwise buy an Adaptec board (e.g. the 1522A)
and use it with that. There may be a newer rev of the AdvanSys board.
A few users have reported that, after getting lots of "-24 - Target
aborted" errors with jarnold's software, they successfully resolved their
problems by getting a new drive from HP.
An unofficial HP 4020i FAQ maintained by Grek Volk can be found at
http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/HP-FAQ.html.
Drivers, software, and firmware upgrades are available from
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/information_storage/surestore/cd-writer/.
Subject: [5-1-6] Plasmon
See http://www.plasmon.com/products/cdformat.htm
Models are the RF4100 (2x2/1MB+, based on the Philips CDD522 but with
different firmware), CDR4220 (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000),
CDR4240 (2x4/1MB, based on the Panasonic CW-7501), CDR-4400 (2x4/512K,
based on the Yamaha CDR-100), and CDR480 (4x8/1MB, based on the Panasonic
CW-7502). The RF4102 is an RF4100 with more memory.
The RF4100 does not support disc-at-once recording.
Subject: [5-1-7] Kodak
See http://www.kodak.com/cgi-bin/webCatalog.pl?product=KODAK+PCD+Writer+225
See http://www.kodak.com/cgi-bin/webCatalog.pl?product=KODAK+PCD+Writer+600
Models are the PCD200 (2x/256K), PCD225 (2x2/2MB, based on the Philips
CDD522), PCD240 (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000), and PCD600
(6x/2MB+).
The Philips CDD522, Kodak PCD225, and Kodak PCD600 will interface with the
Kodak Disc Transporter, which supports unattended duplication of up to 75
CD-Rs, making it a useful combo for CD-R production.
Subject: [5-1-8] JVC
See http://www.jvcinfo.com/jvc200.html
See http://www.interscape.net/cdr/xrw2010.htm
See http://www.smartstorage.com/
Models are the XR-W1001 (1x/64K), XR-W2001 (2x/1MB), XR-W2010 (2x4/1MB),
XRS-201 (2x2/1MB), and XR-W2020 (2x6/1MB). The XR-W2010 is sometimes
bundled as an XR-W2012, and the XR-W2020 sometimes appears as XR-W2022 or
XR-W2626.
The drives come bundled with JVC "Personal Archiver" or "RomMaker"
software. The XR-W2010 and XR-W2020 also come with "FloppyCD"
packet-writing software.
JVC only provides support for drives purchased directly from them, but
firmware updates can be found at ftp://ftp.jvcinfo.com/, in the directory
/Pub/Firmware/XR-W2010.
Several users have reported difficulty installing the XR-W2020, but the
troubles appear to stem from the SCSI card bundled with the drive rather
than the drive itself.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - XR-W2010. Firmware version 1.51 has some serious
flaws that can cause problems when using the drive as either a writer
or a reader. The v2.05 update fixed most of the problems, but they're
not entirely gone. Until these problems are fixed, this drive should
only be used with the JVC software, and should not be used as a reader.
Power-cycling the unit (i.e. powering it off and back on) immediately
before a write may cure some problems. For examples and some tests,
see ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/jvc-prob.txt.
While there are a large number of people who are using these drives without
problems, one person affiliated with a CD-R software company referred to
the XR-W2010 as their "#1 tech support nightmare".
Subject: [5-1-9] Pinnacle
See http://www.pinnaclemicro.com/producta1.htm
Models are the RCD-202 (1x, based on the JVC XR-W1001), RCD-1000 (2x, based
on the JVC XR-W2001), RCD-5020 (2x2/1MB), RCD-5040 (2x4/1MB, based on the
JVC XR-W2010), RCD-4X4 (4x4/1MB, based on the Teac CD-R50S), and RCDW226
(2x6/1MB;RW).
The -1000, -5020, and -5040 models are flash ROM upgradeable.
RCD-1000 units shipped after Sept 1995 can do audio extraction if they have
firmware v2.35 or later. An upgrade is available from their BBS.
Pinnacle earned a bad reputation after shipping drives with buggy firmware,
a poorly ventilated enclosure, and bad customer support.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - all drives. Pinnacle customer support is reported to be
almost nonexistent, except for some recent tech support via e-mail. Many
owners of the RCD-5040 are perfectly happy with their drives (see the
caveat on the JVC XR-W2010), but most of the stories about Pinnacle's
product support are negative.
Subject: [5-1-10] Ricoh
See http://www.ricoh.com/1cdrc.htm
See http://www.ricohcorp.com/
See http://www.ctours.com/ricoh [ was www.microse.com then www.dataweb.nl ]
Models are the RS-9200CD (1x/1.2MB), RO-1060C (2x2/512K), RS-1060C
(2x2/512K), RS-1420C (2x4/512K+), and MP-6200 (2x6/1MB;RW). The MP-6200
uses a tray, the MP-6201 uses caddies and has a 2MB buffer, and the 6200I
is IDE instead of SCSI.
The RS1060C does not support disc-at-once recording, reading of digital
audio, or subcode-Q data. (One user reported that his RO1060C *could* read
digital audio, but the drive took a little convincing. Another user says
that it has always been supported, but not documented, so it can be done
with the right software, e.g. CDDA v1.5.)
The RS-1420C is flash upgradeable (though it can be a little tricky since
there are different variants of the drive, and each requires a different
ROM image). It does not support packet writing. Most of the commercial
versions come with a 2MB buffer (the last digit of the firmware version
will be 0, 1, or 2, indicating 512K, 1MB, and 2MB, respectively).
The MP-6200 may have minor problems extracting audio from some CDs. See
section (4-19).
Firmware upgrades are available from:
http://www.ricoh.co.jp/cd-r/cgi/e-/version.html
Subject: [5-1-11] Pioneer
See http://www.pioneerusa.com/cds.html [ mass replication ]
See http://www.pioneerproduct.com/prdsoft/cdr/index.html [ PDR-05 ]
See http://www.pioneer.co.jp/ [ if you can read Japanese ]
Model is the DW-S114X (4x4/1MB). The PDR-05 is an audio CD-R recorder,
described in section (5-12).
Does not support disc-at-once recording. Mainly sold in large jukebox
systems.
Subject: [5-1-12] Olympus
See http://www.olympusamerica.com/digital/products/CDR2x4/CDR2x4.html
Models are the CDS615E (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU-920S) and CDS620E
(2x4/1MB, based on the Sony CDU-924S). The CD-R2 is the CDS615E in an
external case. The CD-R2x4 might be the external version of the CDS620E.
Subject: [5-1-13] Optima
See http://www.optimatech.com/CDR.html
Model is the DisKovery 650 CD-R (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S).
Subject: [5-1-14] Mitsumi
See http://www.mitsumi.com/
Models are the CR-2200CS (2x4/4MB, based on the Philips CDD2000 but with
different firmware), CD-2201CS (same as CR-2200CS but with 2x4/1MB),
CR-2401TS (*also* based on the Philips CDD2000), and CR-2600TE
(2x6/1MB;IDE).
The CR-2401TS is flash upgradeable (just use Philips CDD2000 images).
The CR-2600TE does not support disc-at-once recording. Like the recent
Sony units, it supports track-at-once without gaps instead.
Subject: [5-1-15] DynaTek Automation Systems
See http://raider.dynatek.ca/optcstor/cdm.htm
See http://www.dynatek.co.uk/
Models are the CDM200 (2x2/1MB), CDM240J (2x4/512K, based on the JVC
XR-W2010), and CDM400 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100). Older
CDM240 units were based on the Yamaha CDR-102. Since the Yamaha CDR-100
is no longer being made, chances are the CDM400 is now a different unit
as well.
They also sell the CDM4000, which is a stand-alone CD burner.
Subject: [5-1-16] Microboards of America
See http://www.microboards.com/
Models are the PlayWrite 2000 (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S),
PlayWrite 2040 (2x4/512K+), and PlayWrite 4000 (4x4/512K, based on the
Yamaha CDR-100).
Subject: [5-1-17] Micro Design International
See http://www.mdi.com/mdinofr/products/cdwriter.htm
Model is the Express Writer. There's no apparent model numbers. They used
to sell the "old one" (2x2/1MB, based on a Pinnacle (i.e. JVC) drive), now
they sell the "new one" (2x4/?).
Subject: [5-1-18] MicroNet Technology
See http://www.micronet.com/HTDOCS/products/MCD+4x4.html
Models are the MasterCD Plus 4x4 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100)
and MasterCD Plus 4x6 (4x6/2MB, based on the Yamaha CDR-400).
Subject: [5-1-19] Procom Technology
See http://www.procom.com/homepage/wbhrcdrs.html
Model is the PCDR-4X (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100).
Subject: [5-1-20] Grundig
See http://www.grundig.com/ [mostly in German]
Model is the CDR100IPW (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000).
Subject: [5-1-21] Plextor
See http://www.plextor.com/cdr.htm
Model is the PlexWriter PX-R24CS (2x4/512K, a cousin of the Ricoh 1420C).
The unit is flash upgradeable.
Subject: [5-1-22] Panasonic
See http://www.panasonic.com/PCSC/PCPC/multimedia/cdr_specs.html
Models are the CW-7501 (2x4/1MB) and CW-7502 (4x8/1MB). Panasonic is part
of Matsushita, so the units may also be sold under the Matsushita label.
The CW-7501 is flash-upgradeable.
Subject: [5-1-23] Teac
See http://www.teac.com/dsp/cdrec/cdrec.html
Models are the CD-R50S (4x4/1MB) and CD-R55S (4x12/?).
The unit is flash upgradeable, with updates on ftp://nemus.teac.de/cdr_up/.
Apparently they need to be at 1.0E or later to do quad-speed writing
reliably. Power calibration is done via a lookup table rather than
adjusted dynamically, so a flash upgrade may be required before some
brands of media will work.
The CD-R50S appears to use the same command set as the JVC XR-W2010.
Subject: [5-1-24] Wearnes
See http://www.wpinet.com.sg/products.htm
See http://mars.asiabiz.com.sg/~whwang/product.htm
Models are the CDR-432 (2x4/?), CD-R 622 (2x6/?;IDE), and CD-R 632P
(2x6/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2600).
Subject: [5-1-25] Turtle Beach
See http://www.tbeach.com/products/tbs2040r.htm
Model is the 2040R (2x4/512K, based on the Ricoh RS-1420C).
Many users have had trouble installing the AdvanSys SCSI card that is
bundled with this unit. Most of the problems can be corrected by enabling
PnP installation, which is disabled by default.
Subject: [5-1-26] Creative Labs
See http://www.creaf.com/wwwnew/tech/spec/cdrom/2000.html
Models are the CDR2000 (2x2/512K, based on the Ricoh RS1060C) and
CDR4210 (2x4/1MB, based on the Panasonic CW-7501).
Subject: [5-1-27] Taiyo Yuden
See ?
Model is the EW-50 (?/?).
Subject: [5-1-28] Memorex
See ?
Model is the Memorex CR-622 (2x6/?;IDE, based on the Wearnes CD-R 622).
Subject: [5-1-29] Hi-Val
See http://www.hival.com/
Model is the Hi-Val CD-R (2x4/512K, based on the JVC XR-W2010).
Subject: [5-2] How long do CD-R drives last?
The MTBF on these drives is typically 25,000 to 50,000 hours, and they come
with a 1 year warranty. Compare that to hard drives rated at between
500,000 and 1,000,000 hours with a 3 or 5 year warranty and that should
give you some idea.
Most of the drives available weren't meant for mass production; notable
exceptions are the Philips CDD 522, Kodak PCD 600, and Sony CDW-900E.
Incidentally, MTBF is not an estimate of how long the drive will last.
Rather, it's an estimate of the failure rate of the drives during the
expected lifetime of the device... after a year or two, the anticipated
failure rate increases. If you have new drives with an MTBF of 25,000
hours, and you run 1000 units for 100 hours, you can expect to see four of
them fail. It does NOT mean you can expect them to run for 2.8 years and
then all fail at once.
Subject: [5-3] What kind of PC is recommended?
If you're about to buy a computer system and are seriously thinking about
buying a CD-R, here are some things to keep in mind. (See the next section
if you're interested in Mac hardware instead of an IBM PC.) Some general
hints can be found at http://thunder.ocis.temple.edu/~acybriws/computer.html.
CPU: buy a Pentium, the faster the better. This is true in general, since
systems tend to be outdated after a year and obsolete after three or four.
A '486 is a *minimum* configuration for a CD-R system; a Pentium gives you
some breathing room. PentiumPro is probably overdoing it.
Motherboard: get one with PCI slots. Not only can PCI cards move data
more quickly, they're much easier to configure.
SCSI: most CD-R drives are SCSI, not IDE/EIDE, so SCSI is still the most
common choice. Whether it's built into the motherboard or on a separate
card, make sure the host adapter supports ASPI and ASPI for Windows (see
section (5-7)). Don't bother with Wide SCSI unless you're planning to buy
a disk array or fancy devices - most 7200rpm drives don't exceed the limits
of 8-bit Fast SCSI anyway. Bus mastering SCSI cards are preferred over
non-bus-mastering cards.
Some vendors have started shipping parallel-port CD-R drives.
Sound: the Creative Labs SB16 and AWE32 boards are widely supported and
very popular, but if you're thinking seriously about recording sound
through it, you'll want to consider alternatives. See sections (3-12)
and (3-13) for other options.
Hard drive: needs to be reasonably fast, and large enough to hold whatever
data you plan to put on a CD. IDE hard drives work fine. See section
(5-6) for more details.
Video card and monitor: depends on what you want to do. A PCI-based video
card is a good idea (though more expensive than an ISA-based card), and a
15" or 17" monitor will work fine for most applications. If you're planning
on creating multimedia products, you'll want a PCI video card with 4MB of
{D,V,W,SD,SG}RAM and a good 17" or 20" monitor.
CDROM: for a variety of reasons, you'll probably want a SCSI CDROM rather
than an IDE CDROM. See section (5-5).
Subject: [5-4] What kind of Mac is recommended?
Any Mac of Quadra 700 or higher capability with a reasonably fast disk
should be suitable for 2x writing (PowerBooks excepted). All PowerMac-class
machines, and probably most Mac clones, should work fine.
Block-by-block copies are the best way to create discs. If your pre-
mastering software has to assemble files and build an ISO filesystem on the
fly, you will need a high-end PowerMac. The above hardware may still be
suitable for on-the-fly mastering, but as a general case, building a
prototype image to a disk or disk partition will be safer.
Using the "simulated cut" feature available on Toast and other software is
also prudent. Make sure you turn off file sharing before you start a burn,
or things will fail if it tries to read a file that's already open. You
may also have trouble writing from the boot/system volume, since it will
always have files open.
(Macintoshes - especially 68K and low-end PowerMacs - have lousy I/O,
notably in the filesystem and network. Fortunately, the lack of preemptive
multitasking in System 7 and earlier keeps things flowing at a constant
rate. As an additional bonus, most internal Mac CDROM drives can do
digital audio extraction with the appropriate software.)
The good news for Mac owners is that the hardware and software
configuration for CD-R usually goes in typical Mac fashion: without
a hitch.
Subject: [5-5] Which standard CDROM drives work well with CD-R?
Besides the obvious question - can it read CD-R discs that you create -
there's also the question of how well the drive works as the source device
when copying discs. To be more specific:
- Does the drive support digital audio extraction?
- Does the drive hog the SCSI bus, obstructing writes to the CD-R?
- Does the drive support multisession discs?
Toshiba and Plextor SCSI models generally work well. The Plextor 6Plex and
higher can extract digital audio at high speeds, and come with a set of
utilities that are actually useful. The 8Plex, 12Plex, and 12/20 are often
recommended. The 12Plex can extract audio at about 9x.
The Panasonic 12x IDE has been recommended several times, as has the Teac
CD516S.
The CD-DA FAQ (http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~psyche/cdda/) lists some drives
that work well for DAE.
NEC models tend to hog the SCSI bus. Older NEC models (especially the
NEC 3x), some Mitsumi models, and some Acer models (e.g. Acer 8x) may
have trouble reading CD-Rs.
Some IDE CDROM drives can be used for direct CD-to-CD copies with some
programs (e.g. Adaptec CD-Creator 2 and WinOnCD). It's the same story
as with digital audio extraction: some drives work, some don't, and the
ones that do don't work with all available software. The Teac 8x has been
mentioned as working with CD Creator for CD-to-CD copies of data discs.
There is one hard and fast rule for direct CD-to-CD duplication: the
source drive must be faster than the target drive (e.g. source 4x if
target is 2x, source 6x if target is 4x).
A performance test on some high-end models can be found at:
http://www.pcmag.com/features/cdrom/cd-test.htm
Don't bother with most of the 15x/16x drives. For details:
http://www.pcworld.com/hardware/cd-rom_drives/articles/feb97/1502p072.html
A quick summary of features for several models can be found at:
http://www.fwb.com/software/support/reference/cdt2.0.5_supp_devices.html
Subject: [5-6] What kind of HD should I use with CD-R? Must it be AV-rated?
There is a fair amount of confusion over what exactly is an "AV drive". A
brief discussion is presented here; for more information see Bertel
Schmitt's article at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/avdrive.txt.
The most important issue is thermal recalibration. Your basic hard drive
will pause for up to half a second (or even up to a full second, depending
on who you believe) every so often to adjust the head positioning to the
current operating temperature. For most applications this goes unnoticed,
but when recording a CD-R you must write the current track to completion
without interruption. AV drives deal with the problem in a way that
doesn't disrupt the disk activity.
A drive that does a quick thermal recalibration is acceptable if the system
is otherwise fast enough or the buffer in the CD-R unit or in the recording
software is large enough (early drives had only 64KB, while current drives
have 512KB or 1MB, making it much less of an issue). You need to be sure
that the recorder's write buffer won't empty during the recal period, or
you'll end up with a buffer underrun.
If your recorder's buffer is less than 512KB, or you're planning to record
at 4x or greater, you should seriously consider an AV drive. Otherwise,
it probably won't matter. Also, don't believe everything you hear from a
salesman -- verify with the manufacturer that the drive model is AV-rated.
What separates a Seagate Barracuda from a Seagate Barracuda AV is that the
latter is tuned for AV performance. This is simply a software change that
affects cache allocation algorithms, error correction, and other SCSI
parameters that may will give better performance for transfers of large
blocks of contiguous data. These sorts of optimizations are more important
for digital video (which runs at a few MB/sec) than CD recording (which is
only 600K/sec at 4x).
If you think AV optimizations will help you, you should take a look at
"Dr. SCSI" at http://www.scsitools.com/. It will help you do the same
optimizations that the AV drive sellers do, for a price that's about equal
to the difference between a standard drive and an AV drive.
It's not necessary to use a SCSI hard drive. In most cases IDE will work
just fine.
On a separate but related issue, all reports from people burning CDs from
Win95 OSR2 FAT-32 filesystems have been positive.
Subject: [5-7] What kind of SCSI adapter should I use with CD-R?
Using different SCSI adapters for the HD and the CD-R used to be
recommended, but may not be necessary with non-ISA adapters. If your CD-R
hogs the SCSI bus the HD may not be able to keep the write buffer full.
Under some operating systems, particularly OS/2, devices that support SCSI
disconnect will work better than those that don't.
In general, the faster the better. PCI or VLB is better than ISA, and the
board should support (and have enabled) SCSI disconnect. The Adaptec 2940
(PCI) is a popular choice, though some users have reported problems with the
Adaptec 2840 (VLB). See the README that comes with Adaptec EZ-SCSI v4.0 and
later for some things to try with SCSIBench to make sure that you're going
to get enough throughput on a single SCSI bus.
The adapter MUST support the ASPI standard (ASPI provides an interface
between software and the SCSI controller) for both DOS and Windows.
If you're having trouble with the 2940UW, go into the configuration menu
(hit Ctrl-A while booting) and make sure the drive is set for 10MB/sec with
Wide Negotiation disabled. If you're using Win95, make sure that Auto
Insert Notification is disabled for all CDROM drives (see section (4-1)).
For some tips on cabling and termination, see Bertel Schmitt's article
at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/scsi-trm.txt.
Subject: [5-8] Can I use a CD-R as a general-purpose reader?
You can, but it's not clear that you'd want to. The seek times tend to be
slower than a standard CDROM drive because the head assembly is heavier.
There's also not much need for rapid seeks when writing a disc, so there's
little reason for manufacturers to try to optimize this. Some users have
reported jerky video playback on a CD-R drive.
The MTBF on CD-R units tends to be low, so it may be wise to use a
different drive for general use to preserve the life of the CD-R.
In addition, if you're using Win95, some CD-R devices don't show up as
readers without additional drivers, or show up as 8 separate LUNs (Logical
UNits, useful for CD jukeboxes). The reason why many don't show up by
default is because they're classified as "type 4" SCSI-2 devices, which is
used to indicate write-once devices. Standard CDROM drives are "type 5".
HP and Philips supply drivers for their units, Corel supplies several for
different devices, and the Sony 920S works as-is. If you have Adaptec
Easy-CD Pro 95, you can get a patch from Adaptec at
ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/pub/BBS/win95/cdr4up.exe that will allow many type 4
drives, including the Yamaha CD-R 100/102 and JVC XR-W2010, to appear as
CDROM drives. (As it happens, the patch works even if you have the free
Easy-CD demo, available from the Adaptec web site.)
If you don't have the drivers, you can still get it to work by loading the
real-mode drivers like this (example is for an Adaptec 2940):
In Config.sys:
DEVICEHIGH=C:\SCSI\ASPI8DOS.SYS /D
DEVICEHIGH=C:\SCSI\ASPICD.SYS /D:ASPICD0
In Autoexec.bat:
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:ASPICD0 /M:12
Incidentally, to *remove* the Adaptec cdr4up driver, you should remove
the file "CDR4VSD.VXD" from \Windows\System\Iosubsys, and reboot.
Subject: [5-9] To caddy or not to caddy?
This is a general CDROM question rather than a CD-R question, but since
some of the newer recorders are available in either configuration it
seems worthwhile to address it here.
The advantage of a tray is convenience. If you want to put a CD in the
drive, you can just drop it in, instead of buying a pile of caddies and
hunting for a free one.
The advantage of a caddy is durability. CDs are less likely to be
scratched if they're put into a caddy and left there (VERY important if
you have children), and the internal mechanism is less likely to collect
dust. The tray units usually have a worse MTBF rating, because they have
more moving parts.
There have been reports that, at 12x and higher, some CDs will cause loud
vibrations in tray models, but work fine in caddy models. Not everyone
has had this problem though.
It used to be the case that you had to get a caddy drive if you wanted
to mount it sideways, but newer tray models have tabs that will hold the
CD in place. Having to use the tabs does reduce the convenience normally
offered by a tray model.
Which you should choose depends on your needs and circumstances. If you
are planning to write to a disc several times (CD-RW or multisession CD-R),
you are better off with the disc in a caddy.
Subject: [5-10] Can I burn CDs from a Jaz drive? Tape drive?
With a little extra care, yes. For a Jaz drive, defragmenting the drive
right before starting a burn seems to be the key to success. It's also
very important to ensure that nothing else is trying to access the drive
while the write is underway.
One user reported being able to write at 1x from a DAT tape drive using
Seagate's Direct Tape Access, but this isn't recommended. Copying the data
to a hard drive and doing the burn from there is much more likely to
succeed.
There are no known instances of successful CD-R burns using punched card
readers as the source device.
Doing a test run is strongly recommended when using any of these devices.
Subject: [5-11] What is "Running OPC"?
OPC stands for Optimum Power Calibration. Most CD-R units do a power
calibration test before writing to adjust the laser power to the correct
strength. Different brands of media require slightly different power
levels.
Running OPC goes a step farther by actively monitoring the write process
and adjusting the laser power as needed. If the writer encounters dust or
fingerprints, the laser power can be increased to burn through the
obstacles. This is especially useful for discs that are moved around
between recording sessions, such as CD-RW discs or multisession CD-Rs.
Subject: [5-12] What's the story with audio CD-Rs?
Audio CD-R recorders are similar to computer CD-Rs, except that they're
intended to be part of a recording system rather than attached to a PC.
They have audio inputs and front-panel controls like you'd find on a
tape deck. They are usually more expensive than CD-Rs meant for computers.
Some CD-Rs have both audio and SCSI-II interfaces.
There are two classes of audio CD-R, consumer and professional. The units
targeted at consumers require special audio blanks, and employ SCMS
(Serial Copy Management System) to prevent making copies from a copy. The
audio blanks used to be 4x to 5x the cost of computer CD-R blanks and only
held 60 minutes of audio, but 74-minute "Consumer Audio" blanks are now
available for roughly the same price as regular CD-R blanks.
The "professional" units use regular CD-R blanks and don't obey SCMS, and
generally have a wider set of features and input/output connectors.
If you already have a computer, it's probably cheaper to buy a computer
CD-R and a good sound card or digital transfer card (see sections (3-12)
and (3-13) for more info). The ability to edit the sound on a computer
before writing a CD can be very useful. However, there are some advantages
to using an audio CD-R (not all features are present on all models):
- much easier to configure the hardware, and no software to learn
- automatic DAT start_id to CD index mark conversion
- sample rate conversion for 32K - 48K DATs
- analog inputs
- pause button
- buffer underruns are unlikely
Of course, since you're recording the music "live", it has to happen at 1x,
and any skips or pauses in the audio input will show up on the duplicate.
Depending on your situation, this may not be a problem.
(Incidentally, the difference in price for the audio CD-R blanks is due
to licensing agreements and volume. The manufacturer pays a royalty to
a studio consortium under the assumption that everything recorded to an
audio CD-R is pirated material. The technology is identical; the "audio"
discs just have a mark that says a royalty has been paid.)
Examples of "consumer" audio CD-R units are the Panasonic PDR-04 and
PDR-05 (http://www.pioneerproduct.com/prdsoft/cdr/index.html).
Marantz makes professional-grade CD-R units, e.g. the CDR615 and CDR620.
See http://www-us.philips.com/marantz/product/professional/cdrecorder/.
Subject: [5-13] How do I tell what version of firmware I have?
Some SCSI cards on PC or UNIX systems will display a list of attached
devices when the system boots. There's usually a column with a version
number in it.
On a PC running Win95, go into the Device Manager (either from the Control
Panels or by asking for Properties on My Computer), and find the CDROM
drives in the device tree. Select the CD-R drive, hit the "Properties"
button, and then click on the "Settings" Tab of the window that opens.
Look for "Firmware Revision".
Mac users will need to run SCSI Tools to check the identification string.
Subject: [5-14] How well do ATAPI (IDE) and parallel-port CD-Rs work?
By all accounts, they work just fine. Some people have argued that IDE
CD-Rs are easier to install than SCSI.
There is some debate about whether or not a CD-to-CD copy would be reliable
if the source CD-ROM drive and target CD-R drive are both IDE. The concern
is that the increased CPU and bus utilization associated with IDE will
cause buffer underruns. I'm not aware of any carefully controlled
experiments on this issue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: [6] Software
DOS, Win31, Win95, and WinNT all work well, though some recorders are
more difficult to configure for Win95 and WinNT than others.
Mac System 7.x works well. UNIX variants (notably FreeBSD and Linux)
work, but there aren't a lot of people using them to create CD-Rs.
If you're interested in burning CDs with long Win95 filenames, be sure to
get a software package that supports Joliet (see section (3-5-4)).
Otherwise all filenames get mashed down to 8+3.
EMedia Professional has an index of CD-R hardware and software versions,
with a different category featured each month. Take a look at
http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/AprEM/news4.html#index for an example.
Subject: [6-1] Which software should I use?
Generally speaking, you get what you pay for; the more expensive software
has more features. However, this isn't always the case, and the software
with more features isn't necessarily more reliable.
There's little standardization among CD-R drive manufacturers, so not
all devices are supported by all programs.
Subject: [6-1-1] Adaptec - Easy-CD, Easy-CD Pro, and Easy-CD Pro MM
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95, NT), Mac
See http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/
The software was developed by a company called Incat, which was purchased
by Adaptec in 1995.
A limited version of Easy-CD is part of the Adaptec EZ-SCSI 4.0 utilities.
Easy-CD Pro has been superseded by Adaptec's Easy CD Creator.
Subject: [6-1-2] Adaptec - CD-Creator
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95, NT3.x)
See http://www.corel.com/
See http://www.corel.com/support/web/pages/downfile.htm [upgrades]
See http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/d_sheets/CDC_broc.html
The software was developed by Corel, and published by them until it was
purchased by Adaptec in mid-1996.
The package includes drivers that allow several popular CD-R drives to
be used as general-purpose CD readers under Win95. It can also create
VideoCD and PhotoCD discs.
Version 2.x is a considerable improvement over version 1.x. Versions
older than 2.01.079 had some problems inserting "knacks" into audio CDs.
CD Creator has ben superseded by Adaptec's Easy CD Creator.
Subject: [6-1-3] Elektroson - GEAR
Platforms supported: DOS, Windows (3.1, 95, NT), OS/2, UNIX, Mac
See http://www.oneoffcd.com/cdprod/gear.htm
This is bundled with some drives. Does not support Joliet (important for
long Win95 filenames).
Versions older than 4.0 should be upgraded. A number of bugs have been
fixed (e.g. one user found that v3.3 left clicks on audio CDs, another
was unable to use it with Adaptec EZ-SCSI v4.0d or later).
Subject: [6-1-4] Adaptec - Toast CD-ROM Pro
Platforms supported: Mac
See http://www.astarte.de/English/
The software was developed by Astarte, and published by them until it was
purchased by Adaptec in early 1997.
This package is recommended for making Mac/PC hybrids, and is the most
popular package for the Mac. It has also been sold as "CDitAll".
Software updates are available on the web.
Toast is able to make audio CDs using track-at-once recording that don't
have clicks between tracks (if they do, Astarte says it's the fault of your
CD recorder).
Subject: [6-1-5] CeQuadrat - WinOnCD
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://www.cequadrat.com/
WinOnCD ToGo is a "lite" version that comes bundled with some drives.
Can create VideoCD discs and bootable CDROMs. Has very fast virtual CD
creation.
Subject: [6-1-6] Young Minds, Inc. - SimpliCD
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://www.ymi.com/
See also "CD Studio" for UNIX and WinNT, and some specialized solutions
for things like recording over Novell networks and working with CD-R
jukeboxes.
Subject: [6-1-7] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold) - CDRWIN
Platforms supported: DOS, Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.goldenhawk.com/
(CDRWIN is the name of the Win95 version. I don't believe the DOS versions
have an official name.)
Contains sophisticated CDROM duplication programs, track-at-once and
disc-at-once utilities for sound and data, and other goodies. Some of the
software is free, the rest is relatively inexpensive.
These come highly recommended for creating audio CDs, because they give
you a great deal of control over the creation process.
Updates for the software are available on the net.
Subject: [6-1-8] Optical Media International - QuickTOPiX CD
See http://www.microtest.com/html/optical_media.html
[ product has been discontinued ]
Subject: [6-1-9] Creative Digital Research - CDR Publisher
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95, NT), UNIX
See http://www.cdr1.com/ (a/k/a http://www.hycd.com/)
Can create Mac/PC/UNIX hybrid CDs (i.e. CDs that work on all three
platforms), as well as bootable CDs for PCs and UNIX. If you need a
CD that works (and looks good) on Win95, MacOS, and UNIX, this is the
program for you.
The Solaris version should be available through Sun's Catalyst program; see
http://www.sun.com/sunsoft/catlink/cdr/cdrpub.htm.
Subject: [6-1-10] mkisofs
Platforms supported: UNIX
Get ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/mkisofs/mkisofs-1.11.tar.gz
This allows creation of a prototype ISO-9660 filesystem on disk or tape,
which can then be copied to a CDR. It supports the Rock Ridge extensions,
and can be configured to ignore certain facets of the ISO standard
(like maximum directory depth). Newer versions support multisession and
bootable discs.
This can be used in conjunction with "cdwrite" or "cdrecord" to write
discs under UNIX.
See ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/CD-Writing for a
"mini-HOWTO" on writing CDs under Linux.
See http://lidar.ssec.wisc.edu/~forrest/ for a copy of "cdwrite" patched
for use with SGI, and ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/cdrom/cd-writers
for the FAQ on SGI CD writing.
X-CD-Roast is a Tcl/Tk/Tix front-end for mkisofs and cdwrite. See
http://www.fh-muenchen.de/home/ze/rz/services/projects/xcdroast/e_overview.html
Users without a supported drive can still write the image to an MS-DOS
drive, and then use a program like Jeff Arnold's FILE2CD to write the
image.
Subject: [6-1-11] Asimware Innovations - MasterISO
Platforms supported: Amiga
See http://www.asimware.com/ (demo available)
Your basic CD-R mastering package for the Amiga.
Subject: [6-1-12] Newtech Infosystems, Inc. (NTI) - CD-Maker and CD-Copy
Platforms supported: Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.ntius.com/ (demo available)
CD creation and duplication software. Reportedly works very well on
otherwise difficult discs.
They also make "CDR Explorer", free CD-R creation software that works like
Win95 Explorer. It's available at their web site.
Subject: [6-1-13] Cirrus Technology - CDMaker
Platforms supported: OS/2
See http://www.cirunite.com/ (demo available)
Drag-and-drop CD creation, written specifically for OS/2. Allows creation
of CDs with an HPFS (OS/2) filesystem.
Subject: [6-1-14] Hohner Midia - Red Roaster
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://hohnermidia.com/proaudio.html
Windows-based CD-R software that has some nice features for creating
audio discs, including the ability to edit the P-Q subcode data.
The "rrdemo.zip" on the web site is actually a demo of Samplitude Master
from SEK´D Software. Samplitude Master is a fancy audio editing program
that - among other things - allows you to create ISO images suitable for
writing to a CD-R, but the demo package doesn't include software to do the
actual writing (the full package includes PoINT CDaudio).
Subject: [6-1-15] Dataware Technologies - CD Author
Platforms supported: DOS
See http://www.dataware.com/site/prodserv/cd_rom.htm
See http://www.dataware.de/untern/index.html
CD creation software aimed at the corporate user. Comes with libraries
for creating custom applications.
Subject: [6-1-16] CreamWare - Triple DAT
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95)
See http://www.creamware.com/
A hardware and software combo for professional-quality sound editing, this
now includes an audio CD creation tool.
Subject: [6-1-17] MicroTech - MasterMaker
Platforms supported: DOS
See http://www.microtech.com/software/mmaker/index.htm (demo available)
Pre-mastering software that supports the RockRidge extensions. The free
demo creates ISO-9660 disc images.
Subject: [6-1-18] Angela Schmidt & Patrick Ohly - MakeCD
Platforms supported: Amiga
See http://makecd.core.de/
CD-R creation software that supports the "AS" extensions (which preserve
the Amiga protection bits and file comments).
You need AmiCDFS, CacheCDFS, AsimCDFS, or something similar
to make use of the "AS" extensions. AmiCDFS is available from
http://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/aminet/dirs/disk_cdrom.html. Look for
amicdfs*.lha, where '*' is a version number.
Subject: [6-1-19] Optical Media International - Audiotracer
See http://www.microtest.com/html/optical_media.html
[ product has been discontinued ]
Subject: [6-1-20] Jörg Schilling - CD Record
Platforms supported: UNIX (several variants)
See ftp://ftp.fokus.gmd.de/pub/unix/cdrecord
A collection of freeware software and drivers for burning CDs under UNIX.
The current version supports SunOS, Solaris, Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD,
OpenBSD, SGI-IRIX and HP-UX.
Works best in conjunction with mkisofs (which should be available from
the same site).
Subject: [6-1-21] Prassi Software - CD Rep
Platforms supported: Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.prassi.com/
CD mastering bundled with SCSI Rep, which allows you to write to more than
one SCSI CD-R at once. See also section (3-17).
A review can be found at http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/awards/award8.html.
Subject: [6-1-22] Nero Software - SubIgnition
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95)
See http://www.home.aone.net.au/nero/ (free beta version available)
Full-featured audio CD creation.
Subject: [6-1-23] Dieter Baron and Armin Obersteiner - CD Tools
Platforms supported: Amiga
See http://www.giga.or.at/nih/cdtools.html
Free CD writing tools, with source code.
Subject: [6-1-24] PoINT - CDwrite
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95)
See http://www.pointsoft.de/
Full-featured CD recording.
Subject: [6-1-25] PoINT - CDaudio Plus
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95)
See http://www.pointsoft.de/
Creates audio CDs, with full control over P/Q subcodes.
Subject: [6-1-26] Adaptec - Easy CD Creator
Platforms supported: Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/
Adaptec's all-singing, all-dancing combination of Easy CD Pro and CD
Creator. Combines the best features of both and costs less, including
the ability to create PhotoCDs, VideoCDs, and jewel case inserts. Also
includes some new features, including an application called "Spin Doctor"
that helps convert from old LPs to CD.
The write buffer management is reported to be so robust that some testers
were able to defragment their hard drive while writing a CD.
Subject: [6-1-27] Padus - DiscJuggler
Platforms supported: Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.padus.com/ (demo available)
Allows you to write to more than one SCSI CD-R at a time. See also
section (3-17).
Subject: [6-1-28] Ahead Software - Nero
Platforms supported: Windows (3.1, 95, NT)
See http://www.ahead.de/ (demo available)
Full-featured CD creation and duplication.
Comes with "MultiMounter", which appears to be similar to Adaptec's
"Session Selector".
Subject: [6-1-29] CharisMac Engineering - Discribe
Platforms supported: Mac
See http://www.charismac.com/html/discribe.html
CD creation for the Mac. Supports creation of hybrid CDs.
Subject: [6-1-30] István Dósa - DFY$VMSCD
Platform supported: VMS (VAX, Alpha)
See http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/vms.html
Write CDs from VMS. Really.
Subject: [6-1-31] RSJ Software - RSJ CD Writer
Platforms supported: Windows (95), OS/2
See http://www.rsj.de/us/default.htm
CD writing with support for ISO-9660, Joliet, and RockRidge extensions.
Subject: [6-1-32] James Pearson - mkhybrid
Platforms supported: UNIX
See http://www.ps.ucl.ac.uk/~jcpearso/mkhybrid.html
This is a mkisofs variant that creates discs in ISO-9660 format with
Joliet and HFS extensions.
Subject: [6-2] What other useful software is there?
Software related to CD-Rs that isn't a direct part of the premastering
process.
Subject: [6-2-1] Optical Media International - Disc-to-Disk
See http://www.microtest.com/html/optical_media.html
[ product has been discontinued ]
Subject: [6-2-2] Gilles Vollant - WinImage
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://www.winimage.com/
Among other things, this lets you list and extract the contents of an
ISO-9660 image.
Subject: [6-2-3] Asimware Innovations - AsimCDFS
Platforms supported: Amiga
See http://www.asimware.com/
Allows the Amiga to read High Sierra, Mac HFS, and ISO-9660 (including Rock
Ridge extensions).
Subject: [6-2-4] Steven Grimm - WorkMan
Platforms supported: UNIX
See http://www.midwinter.com/ftp/WorkMan/
In addition to its primary role as an audio CD player for UNIX workstations,
version 1.4 (still in beta) allows SPARC/Solaris2.4+ workstations to extract
digital audio into ".au" files.
Subject: [6-2-5] Adaptec - Easy-CD Backup
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/
Backup software designed to store data on CD-Rs. Allows incremental
backups via multi-session writes, but backups aren't allowed to span
multiple volumes.
This is currently available as part of Easy-CD Pro.
Subject: [6-2-6] Cyberdyne Software - CD Worx
Platforms supported: Windows (95, NT)
See http://www.b.shuttle.de/cyberdyne/cdworx.html
Full-featured extraction and manipulation of audio data from CDs.
Subject: [6-3] What is packet writing software?
Packet writing is an alternative to writing entire tracks or discs. With
track-at-once recording there's a maximum of 99 tracks per disc, a minimum
track length of 300 blocks, and an additional 150 blocks of overhead for
run-in, run-out, pregap, and linking. Packet writing allows several writes
per track, with only 7 blocks of overhead per write (4 for run-in, 2 for
run-out, and 1 for link). Since it's possible to write packets that are
small enough to fit entirely in the CD recoder's buffer, the risk of buffer
underruns can be eliminated.
There are some problems with packet writing, mostly due to the inability of
older CDROM drives to deal with the gaps between packets. CDROM drives can
become confused if they read into the gap, a problem complicated by
read-ahead optimizations on some models.
There are two basic "philosophies" behind packet writing, fixed-size and
variable-size. With fixed-size packets, the CD recorder writes data
whenever it has a full packet. All packets in the same track must have the
same size. It's relatively easy for a CDROM drive to skip over the
inter-packet gaps if it knows where the gaps are ahead of time, but there's
a large installed base of CDROM drives that aren't that smart.
With variable-sized packets, the CDROM drive can't tell ahead of time where
the gaps are. The problem can be avoided by laying out the filesystem in
such a way that the drive never tries to read from the gaps. One approach
is to put the entire file into a single packet, but if the size of a file
exceeds the size of the CD recorder write buffer, the risk of buffer
underruns returns. An alternative is to write the file in several pieces,
but the Level 1 ISO-9660 filesystem supported by most operating systems
doesn't support this. Replacing the "redirector" (e.g. MSCDEX) with one
that supports Level 3 ISO-9660 solves the problem.
The industry-standard UDF filesystem uses Level 3 multi-extent files,
so support for Level 3 ISO-9660 will likely be added to most OSs.
Writing to a CD-R with packets will be slower than writing with standard
premastering software. Since the expected application for packet writing
is "drive letter access" rather than creating an entire CD, this should not
be an issue for most people.
Audio CDs can't be written with packets.
Some CD recorders may only be able to write 99 packets, because the
recorder has to calibrate the laser power before writing, and there are
only 99 spaces for doing the test writes. Sony and Philips have recently
developed ways to work around the problem however, and will presumably
make them available to other manufacturers. For details about the problem,
see http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/JanEM/standard1.html.
Drives based on the Sony 920S/940S/960S, Philips CDD2000/CDD2600, JVC
XR-W2010, Ricoh MP-6200, and Yamaha CDR-400 mechanisms are capable of
packet recording. (This list is not comprehensive; there may be others.)
A glossy overview of packet writing software can be found here:
http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/MayEM/starrett5.html
Details on Adaptec's software, as well as a good overview of the benefits
and limitations of packet writing and UDF, can be found at:
http://www.adaptec.com/DirectCD/
For a highly technical - if somewhat dated - reference, see:
http://www.onlineinc.com/cdrompro/0296CP/02osborn.html
Specifications for the Sony CDR-FS stuff can be found at:
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/ccpg/support/cdrfs/cdrfshome.html
For a technical discussion of packet writing and UDF, visit:
http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/MayEM/mcmurdie5.html
Subject: [6-3-1] Adaptec - DirectCD
Platforms supported: Windows (95)
See http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/
UDF-based packet writing software. Check the compatibility list on the web
site to see if it works with your CD recorder and your firmware revision
level.
DirectCD versions older than 1.01 conflicted with some scanners. Be sure
to check the Adaptec web site for the latest version.
Subject: [6-3-2] CeQuadrat - PacketCD
Platforms supported: Windows
See http://www.cequadrat.com/
UDF-based packet writing software. You can see a press release on
http://www.cequadrat.com/news/news.html#2.
Subject: [6-3-3] SmartStorage - SmartCD for Recording95
Platforms supported: Windows (95)
See http://www.smartstorage.com/scdr95.htm
Packet writing software intended for shared environments.
Subject: [6-4] I want to write my own CD-R software
Source code and ready-to-link libraries are available, but the more useful
products tend to be more expensive. The library authors are usually CD-R
software publishers themselves, and aren't about to put themselves out of
business. Expect to sign a strict licensing agreement, if they agree to
do business at all.
Source code for some of the packages (notably Joerg Schilling's "CD Record"
and "CD Tools" by Dieter Baron and Armin Obersteiner) is available. See
sections (6-1-20) and (6-1-23).
Subject: [6-4-1] PoINT - CDarchive SDK
Platforms supported: Windows, OS/2
See http://www.pointsoft.de/earchiv.html
API and SCSI device drivers.
Subject: [6-4-2] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold)
Platforms supported: PC
See http://www.goldenhawk.com/
C++ class libraries. [ Not yet available? ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: [7] Media
This section covers recordable CD media.
Subject: [7-1] What kinds of media are there?
The basic building blocks of CD-R media are "green" dye (cynanine) and
"gold" dye (phthalocyanine). Taiyo Yuden produced the original green CDs,
which were used during the development of CD-R standards. Mitsui Toatsu
Chemicals invented the process for gold CDs. See section (7-3) for vague
details on who manufactures what.
There are gold/gold, green/gold, and silver/blue CD-Rs. "Gold" and
"Green" discs both use a gold reflective layer (yes, it's real gold),
but the cyan-colored dye makes the discs look green.
The silver/blue CD-Rs (metalized azo dye, also based on cynanine, with a
silver alloy substrate) are relatively new. They appear to have a very low
BLER (BLock Error Rate), come with a scratch-resistant coating, and are
reputed to be more resistant to UV radiation, but their lifespan relative
to green and gold media has yet to be determined. The process is patented
by Verbatim.
Some CDs have an extra coating (e.g. Kodak's "Infoguard") that makes the CD
more scratch-resistant, but doesn't affect the way information is stored.
The top (label) side of the CD is the part to be most concerned about,
since that's where the data lives, and it's easy to damage on a CD-R.
Applying a full circular CD label will help prevent damage.
http://www.mitsuigold.com/ has some info on MTC media.
Subject: [7-2] Does the media matter?
Yes. There are four factors to consider:
(1) Does it work with your recorder?
(2) Which CD readers can use it?
(3) How long does it last before it starts to decay?
(4) What's the typical block error rate for the media?
Some audio CD players (like the ones you'd find in a car stereo) have
worked successfully with one brand of gold media but not another. Some
players fail completely with green, some fail completely with gold, some
only work with blue.
Some people have found brand X CD-R units work well with media type Y,
while other people with the same unit have had different results.
Recording a disc at 4x may make it unreadable on some drives, even though
a disc recorded at 2x on the same drive works fine.
To top it all off, someone observed that discs burned with one brand of
CD-R weren't readable in cheap CDROM drives, even though the same kind of
media burned in a different device worked fine.
A number of specific discoveries have been posted to Usenet, but none of
them are conclusive. Many people have reported that Kenwood CD players
don't deal with CD-Rs very well, while Alpine units play nearly
everything.
Some users have found that the *quality* of audio recordings can vary
depending on the media. Whatever the case, if you find that CD-Rs don't
sound as good as the originals, it's worthwhile to try a different kind of
media or a different player. See section (4-18) for other ideas.
One final comment: while there are clearly defined standards for CD-R
media, there are no such standards for CD and CD-ROM drives -- other than
that they be able to read CDs. It is possible for media to be within
allowed tolerances, but be unreadable by a CD-ROM drive that can handle
pressed discs without trouble. All you can do in this sort of situation is
find a better-quality CD or CD-ROM drive, or switch to a brand of media
whose characteristics are on the other side of the tolerance zone.
Subject: [7-3] Who manufactures CD-R media?
Taiyo Yuden made the first "green" CDs. They are now manufactured by TDK,
Ricoh, Kodak, and probably several others as well.
Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals (MTC) made the first "gold" CDs. They are now
manufactured by Kodak and possibly others as well.
Verbatim made the first "blue" CDs. They are the only manufacturer.
Most CD-R brands (e.g. Yamaha and Sony) are OEMed from one of the above
manufacturers. Attempting to keep track of who makes what is a difficult
proposition at best, since new manufacturing plants are being built, and
resellers can switch vendors.
Subject: [7-4] Which kind should I use?
The Orange Book standard was written based on the original "green" discs
from Taiyo Yuden. Green media is more forgiving of marginal read/write
power variations, making them easier to read on some drives. TDK's media
is a popular (if not the most popular) choice.
Gold media has a longer lifespan and may work better in higher speed
recording. Mitsui's gold/gold discs are recommended by some vendors, and
in some informal and unscientific tests were more compatible with car CD
players than Kodak gold or TDK green discs.
Trying samples of blanks is strongly recommended before you make a major
purchase. Remember to try them in your reader as well as your writer; they
may not be so useful if you can't read them in your normal CDROM drive.
Maxell's CD-R media earned a miserable reputation on Usenet. In April '97
Maxell announced reformulated media ("gold" discs) that seems to work
better than the previous ones ("green" discs).
A survey can be found at http://www.tcp.co.uk/~blades/cdr/.
See also "Is There a CD-R Media Problem?" by Katherine Cochrane, originally
published in the Feb '96 issue of CD-ROM Professional.
Subject: [7-5] How long do CD-Rs last?
The manufacturers claim 75 years (green dye) or 100 years (gold dye) once
the disc has been written. The shelf life of an unrecorded disc is
estimated at between 5 and 10 years. There is no standard agreed-upon way
to test discs for lifetime viability. Accelerated aging tests have been
done, but may not be representative of deterioration in real life.
Exposing the disc to excessive heat, humidity, or to direct sunlight will
greatly reduce the lifetime. In general, CD-Rs are far less tolerant of
environmental conditions than pressed CDs, and should be treated with
greater care.
Keep them in a cool, dark, dry place, and they will probably live longer
than you do.
One user was told by Blaupunkt that CD-R discs shouldn't be left in car CD
players, because if it gets too hot in the car the CD-R will emit a gas
that can blind the laser optics. However, CD-Rs are constructed much the
same way and with mostly the same materials as pressed CDs, and the
temperatures required to cause such an emission from the materials that are
exposed would melt much of the car's interior. The dye layer is sealed
into the disc, and should not present any danger to drive optics even if
overheated. However, leaving a CD-R in a hot car isn't good for for the
disc, and will probably shorten its effective life.
See also http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/Media/Longevity.html.
http://www.onlineinc.com/cdrompro/0296CP/02parkerstarrett.html has a very
readable description of CD-R media error testing that leaves you with a
numb sense of amazement that CD-Rs work at all. It also explains the
errors that come out of MSCDEX and what the dreaded E32 error means to a CD
stamper. Highly recommended.
Subject: [7-6] How much data can they hold?
There are 21-minute (80mm), 63-minute (120mm), and 74-minute (120mm) CD-Rs.
These translate into data storage capacities of 184MB, 553MB, and 650MB,
respectively (note these numbers are approximate). 80mm CDs never really
took off, so 80mm CD-Rs are no longer manufactured.
CD-Rs may advertise that they hold 650MB, 680MB, or even 700MB of data,
even though they all claim to hold 74 minutes of audio. The reality is
that they're all almost exactly the same size, and you're not going to get
more data onto a 74-minute disc by buying a different brand.
Folks interested in "doing the math" should note that only 2048 of each
2352-byte sector is used for data on typical (Mode 1) discs. The rest is
used for error correction and other misc fields. This is why you can only
put 650MB of data on a disc that will hold 740MB of audio.
It should also be noted that hard drive manufacturers don't measure
megabytes in the same way that CD-R and RAM manufacturers do. The "MB" for
CD-Rs and RAM means 1024x1024, but for hard drives it means 1000x1000.
Keep this in mind when purchasing a hard drive that needs to hold an entire
CD. A data CD holds about 682 "disk" MB of data.
Some programs, such as Easy-CD Pro 95, will tell you the exact number of
2K blocks available on the CD. (With Easy-CD, put a blank disc in the
CD-R and go to the "Disc Info / Tools" menu item.) It's difficult to
draw conclusions from the results though. An article in the June issue
of EMedia Professional found that not only does disc capacity vary from
brand to brand and batch to batch, it may even vary depending on which
model of recorder is used to examine the disc.
An informal survey conducted by one user found that the deviation between
the largest and smallest CD-R was about 3500 blocks (47 seconds, or 7MB),
which while not inconsequential is nowhere near the difference between
650MB and the 680MB or 700MB figures quoted by some manufacturers. All
discs had at least 333,000 blocks, as required by the Red Book
specification. (Before you ask which discs held the most data so you can
run out and buy them, I should mention that the person doing the survey had
trouble mounting some of the higher-capacity discs. Getting those few
extra seconds may cost you in other ways.)
The PCA (Program Calibration Area), PMA (Program Memory Area), TOC (Table
of Contents), leadin, and leadout areas don't count against the 74-minute
rating on single-session CDs. You really do get all the storage that the
disc is rated for. Bear in mind, however, that the "cluster" size is 2K,
and that the ISO-9660 filesystem may use more or less space than an MS-DOS
FAT or HFS filesystem, so 650MB of files on a hard disk may occupy a
different amount of space on a CD.
On a multisession disc, you lose about 23MB of space when the first session
is closed, and about 14MB for each subsequent session. A common mistake
when writing multisession CDs is to overestimate the amount of space that
will be available for future sessions, so be sure to take this into
account.
Factory-recorded CDs also hold up to 74 minutes of data (but see
section (3-8)).
Subject: [7-7] Is it okay to write on or stick a label on a disc?
Only if you're careful. The adhesives on some labels can dissolve the
protective lacquer coating if the adhesive is based on a solvent that the
lacquer is susceptible to. Asymmetric labels can throw the disc out of
balance, causing read problems, and labels not designed for CDs might
bubble or peel off when subjected to long periods of heat inside a CD
drive. Similarly, the ink in some kinds of pens may damage the top coating
of the disc.
Specific information can sometimes be found on the back of the jewel case
that the discs come in. The TDK CDR-74 discs have the following warning:
[...]
2. Do not attach labels or protective sheets, or apply any coating
fluids to the disc.
3. When writing titles and other information on the label (gold)
side of the disc, these should be written in the printed area using
an oil-based felt-tipped pen.
[...]
Other brands say "use a permanent felt-tipped pen" or words to the effect
that the ink shouldn't smudge. Most important part is to use a felt tip
pen and not a ball-point, because the top layer is somewhat delicate.
Several people have reported good luck with Sanford "Sharpie" pens, but
make sure you don't etch the surface accidentally if you have an "Ultra
Fine" pen.
Dixon Ticonderoga sells a water-based felt tip marker called "Redi Sharp
Plus" that is both permanent and smear-proof. It's widely recommended.
So long as you keep all of the above in mind, it's okay to write directly
on the top surface of the CD, label or no. If the prospect makes you
nervous, just write in the clear plastic area near the hub instead.
Only use labels made specifically for recordable CDs. Attempting to remove
the label once attached is probably a bad idea. ProSource Sales &
Marketing, Inc. (http://www.inter-look.com/prosource/) sells labels and an
applicator that are reputed to work well. See also http://www.neato.com/
for information on the NEATO CD-Label kit (complete with animated
illustrations), and http://www.labelcd.com/ for the CD Stomper Pro. If you
speak Italian, try http://www.ufocd.com/.
You can also buy printers that will write directly onto a CD-R with a
printable surface. One example is http://www.fargo.com/.
A wealth of information on CD-R labeling options can be found here:
http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/Labeling/
Subject: [7-8] How do CD-Rs behave when microwaved?
Disclaimer: I'm not recommending you put a CD into a microwave. CDs may
contain metals that will cause your microwave to arc, destroying the
microwave emitter (see cautions about metal objects in the manual for your
microwave). Don't try this at home. Better yet, don't try this at all.
The basic process is, take a disc that you don't want anymore, and put it
shiny-side-up on something like a mug of water so it's nowhere near the top,
bottom, or sides of the microwave. (Actually, you may want to leave it
right-side-up if the disc doesn't have a label, because the foil is closest
to the top of the CD). Turn off the lights. Program the microwave for a
3-second burst, and watch the fireworks.
Performing this operation on replicated CDs results in blue sparks that
dance along the CD, leaving fractal-ish patterns etched into the reflective
aluminum. For those of you not with the program, this also renders the CD
unreadable.
Trying this with a green/gold CD-R gives you a similar light show, but the
destruction patterns are different. While pressed CDs don't show much of a
pattern, the TDK green CD-R I'm looking at (stupid Incat error handling)
shows some definite circular patterns. Ditto for a Mitsui gold.
On a different note, CD-Rs seem to smell worse, or at least they start to
smell earlier, then replicated CDs. The materials used are non-toxic
("cyanine" comes from the color cyan, not from cyanide), but breathing the
fumes is something best avoided.
Subject: [7-9] What can I do with CD-R discs that failed during writing?
If the disc wasn't closed, you can write more data in a new session. If
the disc was closed, or was nearly full when the write failed but is still
missing important data, then its use as digital media is over.
However, that doesn't mean it's useless. Here are a few ideas:
- Fill in the center hole to avoid leaks, and use them as drink coasters.
- Create a hanging ornament or wind chime. The latter isn't all that
interesting - they just sort of "clack" a little.
- Use them as mini-frisbees in an office with cubes. Since they're rather
solid and may hurt when they hit, you should await a formal declaration
of intra-office war before opening up with these.
- Have CD bowling tournaments where you see how far you can roll one down
a narrow hallway. You'd be surprised at how hard it can be unless you
get the wrist motion just right.
- Put them under a table or chair whose legs don't quite sit right.
- Run them through one of those industrial-strength paper shredders (the
kind with the rapidly spinning wheels) to get shiny green or gold
confetti.
- Make really, really big earrings.
- Try to convince people at the beach that it's a shell from a new species
of abalone.
- Hook them into your bicycle spokes as reflectors.
- Use them as wheels on a toy car. (If you had buggy firmware, you're
probably stocked for a toy 18-wheeler.)
- Build a suit of "CD-R chain mail" for laser-tag games.
- Use them as art-deco floor or ceiling tiles.
- Hang them from the rear view mirror in your car.
- Cut it into a jigsaw puzzle with a small wire saw.
- Try out the "helpful CD repair" suggestions that periodically crop on
the newsgroup. Like the ones that suggest using acetone and sandpaper
to refinish a scratched CD-R.
- Hang them in your car windows. Some people believe that CDs will defeat
speed guns and automated speed traps that use flash photography.
If you've given up hope of doing something "useful" with it, do something
destructive with it. Try to scrape the reflective layer off the top with
your fingernail. Drop it on the ground so that it hits edge-on and see if
the reflective layer delaminates or the plastic chips. Try to snap it in
half. Leave it sitting on a window sill with half the disc covered by a
book to see the effects of heat and sunlight. Write on it with nasty
permanent markers and see if you can still read it a week later. Different
brands of media have different levels of tolerance to abuse, and it doesn't
hurt to see just how much or how little it takes to destroy a CD-R (unless
you forget to wear eye protection when shattering discs).
In one carefully controlled experiment it was determined that CD-Rs behave
differently from pressed CDs when you slam them edge-on against the
ground. The aluminum ones will chip (once you throw them hard enough,
otherwise they just bounce) and create silver confetti. The gold one I
tried chipped and the gold layer started peeling, leaving little gold
flakes everywhere. One user reported that a Verbatim blue CD developed
bubbles even though the plastic was intact. More experimentation is needed
(but not around pets, small children, or hard-to-vacuum carpets).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: [8] Net Resources and vendor info
Some of these sites have both technical information and product sales;
they're listed twice.
The CD-Info bibliography at http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Bibliography.html
is updated more frequently and will probably be more accurate than this
section. It also has pointers to books, magazines, relevant areas on
commercial online services, and other good stuff.
Subject: [8-1] Information resources
http://www.cd-info.com/
Information about CDs and CD-Rs, especially technology and industry
stuff.
http://www.osta.org/
Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA); see the CD-R Q&A doc.
http://resource.simplenet.com/
Mike Richter's collection of files and URLs related to CD-R.
http://www.adaptec.com/cdrec/
Lots of useful information on CD-R.
http://www.westnet.com/~gsmith/cdrecord.htm
Some practical advice and experiences with CD-R, including a lengthy
discussion on transferring audio recordings from other sources.
http://www.discmfg.com/techlib/index.html
Disc Manufacuturing, Inc.'s technical library.
http://www.cdarchive.com/
Lots of information on CDs and CD-Rs.
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/cdrom/faq
Information and FAQs from the alt.cd-rom group.
http://www.araltd.com/whatscdr.html
Product information plus some nifty graphics.
http://www.hsv.tis.net/disc/
Technical info.
http://emf.net/~mal/cdplus.html
Info on CD Plus (a/k/a CD Extra).
http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/g496/eric0139/Papers/paper.html
Highly technical paper on CDs.
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~xi/hp4020i.htm
Site dedicated to the HP4020i.
http://www.epool.com/mtc/mtc_02.html
Information about CD-R in general and Mitsui Toatsu media in particular.
http://www.octave.com/library/ricoh/handbook.html
Ricoh's CD Recordable Handbook in HTML form.
http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~psyche/cdda/
Information and links to software for digital audio extraction.
http://music.digidesign.com/html/faqs/faqmlcd.html
FAQ for MasterList CD. Has some interesting notes.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/6665/jdlnet_jvc_cd-r.html
A collection of information and helpful hints for new users in
general and JVC XR-W2010 users in particular.
http://www.orangeforum.or.jp/english/
The "Orange Forum" web page. (CD-R is "Orange Book".) Very artistic.
Subject: [8-2] Magazines and other publications
http://www.onlineinc.com/emedia/index.html
Home of EMedia Professional, formerly CDROM Professional. Some
articles are available online.
http://www.kipinet.com/
Several publications which may be of interest.
http://www.datadisc.com/Handbook.html
Info on CD-ROM Professional's CD-Recordable Handbook
http://www.cd-webstore.com/
Home of two online trade publications, "Burning Issues" and "Pressing On".
Subject: [8-3] Net.vendors
NOTE: this should not be considered an endorsement of these vendors. No
attempt has been made to verify the quality of products or service you will
receive. This list is provided as a convenience.
http://www.uvision.com/
Internet bargain hunter.
http://www.pricewatch.com/
Street price search engine.
http://www.cdrom.com/pub/simtelnet/msdos/cdrom/
Free or shareware utilities.
http://www.necx.com/
Hardware, software, and media.
http://www.gemmedia.com/
Media.
http://www.com/mediasource/
Hardware and media.
http://www.cdarchive.com/
Hardware and software.
http://www.cddimensions.com/
Media and some high-end hardware like networked CD-R jukeboxes.
http://www.NCAcomputers.com/
NCA's online catalog.
http://www.compusa.com/
CompUSA's online catalog. Hardware and media.
http://www.oneoffcd.com/
One-off CDs and CD reproduction; also hardware, software, and media.
http://www.datares.com/creativet/
Media and hardware.
http://www.araltd.com/
Media and hardware.
http://www.inter-look.com/prosource/
Media, hardware, and oft-recommended CD labels.
http://sweb.srmc.com/andys/index.html
Hardware and software.
http://www.microtech.com/
CD-R duplication hardware and services.
http://www.cdrmicro.com/
Media and hardware.
http://www.hk.linkage.net/~metro
Hardware, software, and media.
http://www.octave.com/
Hardware and software.
http://www.pasystems.be/
Hardware and media.
http://www.mediasupply.com/
Media.
http://www.computability.com/
Hardware.
http://www.globalcomputersupply.com/
Media.
http://www.cdw.com/
Hardware and media.
http://www.pcconnection.com/
Hardware and media.
http://www.cmpexpress.com/
Hardware and media.
http://www.essential-data.com
Hardware, software, and media.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: [9] Contributors
Most of the information contained in this FAQ was culled from the Usenet
newsgroups comp.publish.cdrom.* and the WWW sites mentioned in the previous
sections.
Please remember that the author is NOT a CD-R expert, so sending him mail
won't get you very far. Please *post* questions to comp.publish.cdrom.*.
This FAQ was assembled by:
Andy McFadden fadden@netcom.com
With a great deal of help on the first several drafts from:
Katherine Cochrane katherine@cd-info.com
Hal Rottenberg hal.rottenberg@mci.com
Georges Brown Georges@cdarchive.com
And information and suggestions -- mostly in the form of posts to
comp.publish.cdrom.{hardware,software,multimedia} -- from:
Pierre-Yves Andri PierreYves.Andri@ping.be
Jeff Arnold jarnold@mainstream.net
Jeff Aspinall aspinall@umich.edu
Brian Barth BrianBarth@aol.com
Dave Bayer bayer@bway.net
Dennis Benjamin ocms0001@ermine.ox.ac.uk
Mathieu Besson Mathieu.Besson@hec.unil.ch
Blaine blam1@aol.com
Jim Blietz entexse@interaccess.com
Peter 'Pedro' Blum peter@microtech.com
Patrick Boen patrick.boen@tip.nl
Eric Jan van den Bogaard bogaard@euronet.nl
Axel Booltink ab@comex-sales.com
David Bouw bouw@dds.nl
Scott Bracken scott@oneoffcd.com
Simon Brownlee simon.brownlee@jrc.it
Craig Burgess craigb@microstar-usa.com
Mirco Caramori mirco@padus.com
Mark Carde mcarde@nntpq30.bnr.ca
Juan Carlos ackman@emirates.net.ae
Brian D. Chambers bucknife@electriciti.com
Kenneth Chen lore@carabelli.com
Michel Cherbuliez cherbu@cuimail.unige.ch
Andrew Chiang andrewc@seas.ucla.edu
Sean Christy seanchr@hotmail.com
Dave Chung dtchung@vms6.sci.csupomona.edu
Kevin Clark clark@crl.com
Christophe CLERC-RENAUD clerc@ntt.fr
Jef Collin Jef.Collin@tornado.be
Gary Crosby gacrosby@mail.socomm.net
datta datta@archive.uwp.edu
Gary Davis gdavis@loop.com
Peter DiCamillo peter@stanley.cis.Brown.EDU
Steven M. Dietz steve@burp.hboc.com
Mike Dijkema m.dijkema@bureau.rug.nl
Kurt Dommermuth kurtz@lanminds.com
Hans Driessen marcomlo.pkm@nl.cis.philips.com
Russell Duffy rad@gulf.net
Mark J. Dulcey mark@ziplink.net
Lunatic E'Sex Luny@apple.com
Jonathan Edelson winnie@teleport.com
Steve Enzer enzer@mpi.com
Grant Erickson eric0139@itlabs.umn.edu
Martin Evans MARTIN@paladio.demon.co.uk
Voytek Eymont voytek@ibm.net
Tung Siu Fai sftung@metro.com.hk
Frank Feder fwfeder@deltanet.com
Helen Feng wanderer@li.net
Joel Finkle jjfink@skcla.monsanto.com
Emile Gardette egardett@freenet3.scri.fsu.edu
E. Goldberg earl@sky.net
Colin Gordon gordonc@oldpeter.agw.bt.co.uk
Jac Goudsmit jacg@xs4all.nl
Gary E. Grant ggrant@crl.com
grasser grasser@srmc.com
Patrick Green patrick@bbs.fornext.com
Richard Green srcemag@gate.net
Dave Grimes dgrimes@cts.com
Ron Gustavson rongus@tiac.net
Steven Duntley Halpape UserNAme@ix.netcom.com
Russ Harper topquark@niia.net
Matt Hartley hartlw@rpi.edu
Robert Hedges rhhedgz1@ulkyvm.louisville.edu
Marc Herbert Marc.Herbert@bat710.univ-lyon1.fr
Herman Hillebrand hermanh@bio.vu.nl
Steve Holzworth sch@unx.sas.com
Vincent van't Hoog hoog@zeelandnet.nl
John J. Hook jjh@sprintmail.com
Malcolm Humes mal@emf.net
Todd R Hustrulid Todd.R.Hustrulid-1@tc.umn.edu
Andrea Invernizzi ainvernizzi@tinet.ch
Jadiel jadiel@geocities.com
Harri Johansson harri.johansson@hpy.fi
Curt Johnson cjohnson@dbtech.net
Arnold Jones arnold@mdi.com
Tapio Keihanen dio@snakemail.hut.fi
Roger A. Kendall kendall@ucla.edu
Roger Kirk rkirk@videoserver.com
Jerry Kohoutek jerryk@rmii.com
Adrie Koolen adrie@ica.philips.nl
Steven A. Kortze skortze@erols.com
Alexander S. Kosiorek alex_audio@interramp.com
Bernard Lang lang@calva.inria.fr
Greg Legowski gregleg@telerama.lm.com
Lemarcha lemarcha@plg.u-nancy.fr
Barry Libenson barryl@visix.com
Marc van Lierop marc.l@death.to.spammers.com
Wee-Keong LIM keong@deepdene.ecr.mu.oz.au
Linda linda@htp.net
George Lindholm lindholm@ucs.ubc.ca
Mike Linhart mlinhart@rsl.ukans.edu
Torbjörn Lindgren tl@funcom.com
Chris HP Lovecraft tmservo@ksu.ksu.edu
nelson luc nelson_luc@isd.toshiba.com.au
Jean-Paul Maas jmaa@ictlux.com
Nathan Manlove nate@ai2a.net
Markie markie@the*the*-castle.com
Bob Martin rtm@netgate.net
John Marvin jsm@fc.hp.com
Jean-Francois Masse jfmasse@teaser.fr
Anthony McCarthy anthony@xi.compulink.co.uk
Doug McFadyen dmcfadye@kea.bc.ca
Dawn Messerly astarte@winternet.com
Michel Milano mmilano@tiac.net
Gene Miller gmiller@vnet.ibm.com
Mikrichter mikrichter@interramp.com
Hans Mons Hans.Mons@iaehv.nl
Ken Moss kmoss@surfnthe.net
F.Mouta fernando.mouta@mail.telepac.pt
John Navas JNavas@NavasGrp.Dublin.CA.US
Niderost, B.U. niderost@fys.ruu.nl
Lou Nigro buster@hiheels.com
Jon nobody nobody@nowhere.net
Jonathan Oei joei@mindspring.com
David Oseas davido@aimla.com
palomaki palomaki@erols.com
Dana Parker danapark@ix.netcom.com
Jeff Pearson lumpofcoal@aol.com
Chris Petersen cpeterse@unix.SRI.COM
Matthias Petofalvi mpetofal@vub.ac.be
Jason Petrait petrait@u.washington.edu
Jaap v.d. Pol jaap.van.de.pol@tip.nl
Kevin Purdy kpurdy@voicenet.com
Frank Racis racis@voicenet.com
Paul Reeves reeves@guy.asimware.com
Phillip A. Remaker remaker@cisco.com
Mike Richter mrichter@mindspring.com
Jim Riggs jriggs@verbatimcorp.com
Danny Roos mayday@dataweb.nl
Tonko de Rooy tderooy@raleigh.ibm.com
Paul Rubin phr@netcom.com
Michael Rubin mickster@li.net
Torsten Sander ints@sun.rz.tu-clausthal.de
Nick Sayer nsayer@quack.kfu.com
John Schlichther jschlic1@mnsi.net
Angela Schmidt Angela.Schmidt@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de
Bertel Schmitt bschmitt@panix.com
Barbara Severance digihorse@earthlink.net
Shawn shawnl@jax.jaxnet.com
Brett Sherris bsherris@li.net
Aron Siegel vinylm@hotmail.com
J. Robert Sims, III robsims@depeche.lvld.hp.com
Bart Smith BartSmith@msn.com
Eric Smith eric@brouhaha.com
Greg Smith gsmith@westnet.com
Tim Smith tzs@coho.halcyon.com
John Smyth xy3@usa.net
Guy G. Sotomayor, Jr. ggs@idiom.com
Ziv Speiser xor@main.aquanet.co.il
Deirdre' Straughan 74431.2004@CompuServe.COM
Kees Stravers pb0aia@iaehv.nl
Gregg Strawbridge audubon@felix.teclink.net
Ron Stuurman rons@bart.nl
Paula Terrell paula@cdr1.com
tethys tethys@ml.com
Gregory Theulings marcomlo.pkm@nl.cis.philips.com
Kevin Patrick Thibedeau thibedek@wpi.edu
Lorin Thwaits lthwaits@aol.com
Martin Trautmann traut@th-darmstadt.de
tRIs sis5264@sis.port.ac.uk
Tung Cheng Tsai thlx@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Louis Tumbao tumbao@usa.pipeline.com
Dave Ulmer iilucky@ix.netcom.com
Rich Unger rbu1@cec.wustl.edu
S Valdez svaldez@icogsci1.ucsd.edu
Chris Valentine c.p.valentine@open.ac.uk
Vo, Charles H. st3wr@rosie.uh.edu
Greg Volk gvolk@umr.edu
Gilles Vollant 100144.2636@compuserve.com
Jon Wadelton eden@c031.aone.net.au
Michael Walker mwalker@cybernex.net
Mark Warbington markoni@mindspring.com
Gerald E. Weber geweber@hiwaay.net
Jerome H. Whelan whelanj@oasys.dt.navy.mil
Royce White rwhite@datadisc.com
Roy Worthington royw@octave.com
Joachim Worringen zdv181@zam176.zam.KFA-Juelich.de
Oliver Zechlin oliver.zechlin@erl9.siemens.de
Zohar Ziv zziv@actcom.co.il
OSTA CD-R Q&A http://www.osta.org/
My humble apologies to anyone I've omitted. ++ATM 970914
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