SUMMARY: [Q] Need recommend on CD-R (CD Recoder)..

From: unixadm@www.co.mo.md.us
Date: Mon Jun 09 1997 - 08:49:03 CDT


Thank you for all the answers. I list all the answer I got in following:

My original post:

>I need your help to give me some suggestion on CD-Recorder. The CD-R
>need meet following requirment:
>
> . External device
> . at least 4 X write
> . work with SUN SPARC SOLARIS 2.5.1, WIn 95/NT
> . parallel port or SCSI
>
> Someone told me on PC I need use SCSI harddisk to work with CD-R,
>because IDE harddisk too slow will cause CD write error. I don't know is
> it true or NOT? Thank you for help.

=================================================================
>From pokallus@ccr-p.ida.org Thu Jun 5 16:53:37 1997

  We got a Yamaha CDR400 and GEAR for Unix software from CDROM, Inc.
  It satisfies all your above requirements. I highly recommend it.
  CDROM, Inc has a web page at http://www.cdrominc.com

  You will probably need to use a SCSI hard disk to hold the CD
  image. Once the cdrom write process begins, it must never run
  out of data to write. (the dreaded data underflow) The GEAR
  software allows you to do test writes to check for this
  condition. (Data is sent to the CD-R, which throws it out instead
  of writing it to CD)

  I would also recommend setting it up on either a standalone system
  or one which you can "take over" when writing CDs and not let anyone
  else on who might grab some I/O cycles.

=========================================================================
>From shooton@cuc.com Thu Jun 5 17:06:55 1997

This is not true: The main concern for an IDE drive is CPU utilization
(it sucks up some processor ticks). When buying a CDR your main concern
should be buffer size (on the CDR). Buffer underuns are the most common
error when recording CDs. I have a Sony CDR which has a 1 MB buffer and
is very, very difficult to crash. One thing you do need is a SCSI CD-ROM
(if you want to do cd-cd copying). Hope this helps.

==========================================================================
>From jeff@octopus.wr.usgs.gov Thu Jun 5 17:07:56 1997

Try www.ymi.com...Young Minds have several solutions to this.

This implies the CD-Writer needs to be IDE. Those IDE CDRs do exist,
but are somewhat rare. I would have a preference towards SCSI, for
compatibility, versatility, and speed.

Jeff Brody
US Geological Survey

==========================================================================
>From groenvel@cse.psu.edu Thu Jun 5 17:10:52 1997

http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/FAQ.html

============================================================================
>From reynolds@acetsw.amat.com Thu Jun 5 17:12:02 1997

Hi.

I have a Young Minds CD-R device working on SunOS 4.1.4, and I'm sure
they have a Sol2 version. Once we figured it out, we've burned a few
dozen Cds on it.

The Young Minds studio works by having a SCSI disk and a CDwriter in
their box. You use their programs to create an image of the what the
CD should look like, and download it to the SCSI disk. Then you tell
the studio to record the CD. The disk and CD-R can talk to each other
without bein interrupted, which would ruin the CD.

It's certainly worth a look.

Good luck!

======================================================================
>From BruetschM@es1.infonet.com Thu Jun 5 17:26:08 1997

You are probably best of using a SCSI type drive. Win NT will not "do"
IDE drives, since it uses the HAL. Almost any SCSI I/F Card will work
in NT... Dont now about SOLARIS

====================================================================
>From aaron@intraware.com Thu Jun 5 17:44:40 1997

We just got a Yamaha CD-R 400 with Elektroson Gear software. The Gear
software works great on Win 95. It is supposed to work on Solaris and
NT as well (that's why we bought it). We got a Seagate Barrauda SCSI
hard drive for the Win 95 machine - IDE is too slow. Check out
http://www.cdrominc.com They were helpful. Go SCSI all the way - and
dedicate a machine (PC) to do it if you can.

=====================================================================
>From jasonn@nabaus.com.au Thu Jun 5 18:00:45 1997

Try talking to Young Minds at sales@ymi.com or on the web at www.ymi.com
The have a very good solution that we use to distribute financial applications
to the regions.

Jason

========================================================================
>From mroo@asml.com Thu Jun 5 18:08:33 1997

We have several "SONY CD-R CDU920S" drives (in a external casing) that work
fine with SUNs. It is a SCSI drive, but I do not know if it is a 4 speed
writer. The writer-software we use is Gear for Unix. The SUNs here run
Solaris 2.4, but I don't think there will be a problem running it on
Solaris 2.5.1.

I have been trying to use a Philips CDD2000, but somehow it didn't work with
Gear and SUN. The Sony mentioned abover works fine.

> Someone told me on PC I need use SCSI harddisk to work with CD-R,
> because IDE harddisk too slow will cause CD write error. I don't know is
> it true or NOT? Thank you for help.

Depends. The (E)IDE drives of today are very fast aswell. At home I have
a Philips CDD2600 SCSI writer with a 2.5GB E-IDE harddisk and I do not have
any problems with writing an image.

=========================================================================
>From carle@vianet.on.ca Thu Jun 5 22:48:24 1997

Dont't try to skimp out on cheap hardware when it come to cdr's. I've
recently purchased the Pinnacle 4X writer and I use it in conjunction with
a Micropolis 2G AV drive. I've never had a problem writing CD's off the 2G
but have not yet been able to successfully write a complete CD at 4X from
an IDE drive. Get a CD writer from a reputable manufacturer with at least
a 1Mb buffer and a fast SCSI hard drive and you should be OK.

Keep in mind... difference between writers =:

        2X = 45min
        4X = 15min

========================================================================
>From Juergen.Schultz@fh-zwickau.de Fri Jun 6 02:00:40 1997

A IDE harddisk will be enough for your problem. The only thing you have to
remember is, that your harddisk must be able to send the CD-R the data in a
speed the CD-R requests it. So you must be able to send data at a ratio of
4*200 KB/s = 800KB/s at least. Better is 1 MB/s or above !!! BUT : this ratio
must be delivered during the WHOLE transfer to CD-R !!!!

Sorry, I am not too good at UNIX so I do not know if UNIX fragments your
data. If this is the case, you HAVE TO defrag your harddisk, as you HAVE TO
save the time your OS needs for searching after your data. ( Under NT and
Win95 you have to defrag ). Then benchmark your system if it is good enough
for the circumstances (ratio) mentioned above !!!!

I have a Quantum fireball 2.5 G EIDE and it works fine !

Good luck,
Juergen

=======================================================================
>From lhughes@anitesystems.co.uk Fri Jun 6 05:13:06 1997

Thats easy..

you need a yamaha 4x write 6x read...

really good..

never leave home without it :-).

Lee

Lee Hughes Anite Systems
                                        Space and Defence Division

======================================================================
>From davisson@pfp.net Fri Jun 6 17:50:47 1997

We use a Yamaha CDR100 (4x) in Unix and Win95 and also a Pinnacle RCD100 (2x).
Yes, you must use SCSI disks to stage to the CDR! CDR technology works by
direct writes on the SCSI bus. We have struggled with optimizing CDRs for over
two years. If the hardware is not tuned extremely fine, you will be throwing
out a lot of CDR blanks.

Two things you can check out to reduce your misery in learning how to make
CDRs.

1. Check our Gear software for both Windows and Unix. It is about the best
around for working with CDR.

2. No matter what OS you install on, you MUST use a SCSI disk that does not do
reference checks. These are typically called AV-rated SCSI disks. Normal SCSI
disk do frequent reference checks and when they do, it will cause a buffer
underrun to the CDR and the whole process fails.

The best AV-rated disks we have found are the Western Digital Enterprise
series.

======================================================================
>From whamlin@connetsys.com Sat Jun 7 13:57:52 1997

> Someone told me on PC I need use SCSI harddisk to work with CD-R,
>because IDE harddisk too slow will cause CD write error. I don't know is
>it true or NOT? Thank you for help.

This is NOT true. I have burnt over a hundred CDs on Win95/NT/3.1 using
IDE hard drives. IDE is far faster than is required to sustain CD-R
buring rates.

Unfortunately, I can offer no advice on specific CD-R drives.

Good luck!

   - Bill



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