From - Mon Sep 15 07:21:30 1997 Newsgroups: comp.publish.cdrom.hardware,comp.publish.cdrom.software,comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia,comp.answers,news.answers Path: news.mitre.org!blanket.mitre.org!news.tufts.edu!cam-news-feed5.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!ix.netcom.com!fadden From: fadden@netcom.com (Andy McFadden) Subject: [comp.publish.cdrom] CD-Recordable FAQ, Part 2/2 Message-ID: Followup-To: comp.publish.cdrom.hardware Summary: Frequently Asked Questions about CD recorders, CD-R media, and CD premastering. Sender: fadden@netcom4.netcom.com Supersedes: Organization: Lipless Rattling Crankbait Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 20:54:21 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Lines: 2286 Xref: news.mitre.org comp.publish.cdrom.hardware:44689 comp.publish.cdrom.software:22029 comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia:13506 comp.answers:27508 news.answers:109784 Archive-name: cdrom/cd-recordable/part2 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 1997/09/14 Version: 1.11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Send UCE to postmaster@localhost (Spam Bait) Send mail to fadden@netcom.com (Andy McFadden) Fight Internet Spam - http://spam.abuse.net/spam/ & news.admin.net-abuse.email Try some spammed toll-free numbers from http://www.clark.net/pub/kfl/toll.html