CD-ROM FAQ
multi...@woods.uml.edu
a new wonderful group called :misc.education.multimedia. Or, can anyone
tell me where to get it? It was truly great!
Howard Kaplan
hka...@woods.uml.edu
David Whitten
: There used to be a CD-ROM FAQ. Can someone post it to this group? Or post it to
: Howard Kaplan
: hka...@woods.uml.edu
I didn't write but found so...
From: r...@cdrom.com
Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom,comp.multimedia,comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia,comp.publish.cdrom.hardware,comp.publish.cdrom.software,alt.answers,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: alt.cd-rom FAQ
Followup-To: alt.cd-rom
Reply-To: r...@cdrom.com
Summary: Frequently asked questions about CD-ROMs
Approved: news-answe...@MIT.Edu
Archive-name: cdrom-faq
Last-modified: 1994/03/14
========================= FAQ alt.cd-rom ===================================
FAQ for the alt.cd-rom usenet newsgroup. This list is posted to alt.cd-rom
every month. The latest version is available via anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com: /pub/cdrom/faq. If you do not have ftp capability, you can
get the file by sending email to in...@cdrom.com with the subject "FAQ". As
a last resort, you can call 1-510-674-0783 and get it on a 3.5" MSDOS floppy
for $6 ($1 + $5 S&H) Visa/MC/Amex. This file is freely redistributable.
============================================================================
0. What is a CD-ROM?
1. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs?
1a. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in North America?
1b. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Europe?
1c. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in the Mid-East?
1d. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Asia?
1e. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Australia and New Zealand?
2. Can you recommend a good CD-ROM drive?
3. Where can I get caddies?
4. Are there any good periodicals and publications on CD-ROMs?
5. Why are CD-ROM drives so slow?
6. Is it important to have a fast CD-ROM? Does 300ms vs. 700ms really matter?
7. Is it important to buy a fully SCSI compatible drive?
8. Where can I get information on SCSI controllers for CD-ROM drives?
9. How much does it cost to make a CD-ROM?
10. I have a great idea for a CD-ROM but no money. What can I do?
11. Where can I get a CD-ROM published?
12. Where can I find equipment to make my own CD-ROMs?
13. Where can I get blank media for my CD-ROM recorder?
14. I have 10000 paper documents that I want to put on a CD-ROM. Who can help?
15. Are there any organizations of CD-ROM Publishers?
16. Where can I get more information about CD-ROM publishing?
17. How much information will fit on a CD-ROM?
18. Why doesn't MSCDEX work with DOS 5.0?
19. Where can I get the latest version of MSCDEX?
20. I bought a used drive at a garage sale. Where can I find a driver for it?
21. What is the difference between `High Sierra' and ISO-9660?
22. Where can I get a copy of the ISO-9660 standard?
23. What is an HFS disc?
24. Can you give a short explaination of ISO-9660?
25. What the heck does `Red Book' and `Yellow Book' mean?
26. What is CD-I?
27. What is CD-ROM/XA?
28. What are the Rock Ridge extensions?
28b.What systems support Rock Ridge?
29. What is ECMA 168?
30. Is a short technical introduction to these standards available?
31. Who comes up with these standards? Can I have any input to the process?
32. Are there any ftp sites with good stuff related to CD-ROMs?
33. How do I write an MSDOS program that can access a cdrom using MSCDEX?
34. How do I mount an ISO-9660 disc on a Sun?
35. How do I use a CD-ROM with OS/2?
36. Which CD-ROM Drives will work with MicroSoft Windows-NT?
37. How do I read an audio cd track as digital data?
39. Why do all the bundle deals require me to buy a drive? What if I
already have a drive?
40. Are alt.cd-rom archives available anywhere?
41. What is the shelf-life of a CD-ROM?
42. How should I handle my CD-ROMs? How do I clean them?
43. Which drives will work with Kodak Photo CD?
44. What is a "Multisession" CD drive?
45. How does Photo CD work?
46. Where can I get more information about the Kodak Photo CD?
47. What are the lowest prices for getting my photo's put on Photo CD?
47. Where can I get maps of the US on CD-ROM?
48. How do I put a CD-ROM Drive on a Novell network?
49. Are any CD-ROM Jukeboxes available?
50. Can I speed up my CD-ROM by using a cache?
51. Do you have any info about the CD-ROM filesystems for Amigas?
53. What are some good references to CD-ROM reviews?
54. How do I read the UPC (universal product code?) from a CDROM?
55. How do I Put a CD-ROM driver on the Ethernet by using a unix system as
a server and make it available to the PC and Mac.
56. Where can I find a full text retrieval engine for a CDROM I am making?
57. Is there any *FREE* CD-ROM mastering software, with full source code?
58. ???? Please send any other questions (and answers) that should
be included in this FAQ to r...@cdrom.com.
==========================================================================
0. What is a CD-ROM?
CD-ROM means "Compact Disc Read Only Memory". A CD-ROM is physically
identical to a Digital Audio Compact Disc used in a CD player, but the
bits recorded on it are interpreted as computer data instead of music.
You need to buy a "CD-ROM Drive" and attach it to your computer in
order to use CD-ROMs.
A CD-ROM has several advantages over other forms of data storage, and
a few disadvantages. A CD-ROM can hold about 650 megabytes of data,
the equivalent of thousands of floppy discs. CD-ROMs are not damaged
by magnetic fields or the xrays in airport scanners. The data on
a CD-ROM can be accessed much faster than a tape, but CD-ROMs are
10 to 20 times slower than hard discs.
You cannot write to a CD-ROM. You buy a disc with the data already
recorded on it. There are thousands of titles available.
==========================================================================
1. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs?
Jim Raehl has compiled an excellent list of sources for inexpensive
CD-ROMs. His list is periodically posted to alt.cd-rom, and is available
via anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/faq_disc.
You can get a list of about 85 CD-ROM titles by sending a blank message
to CD-...@micromed.net.netcom.com [ Several people have had trouble
getting the list, so I have made it available for anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/micro.med ]
==========================================================================
1a. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in North America?
---------------------------------
Buckmaster Publishing
Route 3, Box 56
Mineral, VA 23117
703-894-5777 or 800-282-5628
A ham radio callbook database and 5000 public domain programs: $50
---------------------------------
Bureau of Electronic Publishing
141 New Road
Parsippany, NJ 07054
1 800 828-4766, 201-808-2700, Fax: 201-808-2676
Publish lots of CD-ROM titles. Call them for a catalog.
----------------------------------
CD-ROM Access
27361 Moody Road
Los Altos, CA 94022
(415) 941-6424 Voice/FAX kirk....@spacebbs.com
----------------------------------
CD-ROM INC
1667 Cole Blvd, Suite 400
Golden, CO 80401
1 800 821-5245
Many discs, drives and accessories.
------------------------------------
The CD-ROM Source
PO Box 20158
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Phone: (317) 251-9833
------------------------------------
CDROMS Unlimited
P.O. Box 7476
Fremont, CA 94537-7476
1 510 795-4286 Call for catalog
------------------------------------
CD-ROM User's Group
Post Office Box 2400
Santa Barbara, CA 93120
805-965-0265
Bundle of 10 discs for $99.
------------------------------------
Compustuff
2759 Medina Rd., Plaza 71
Medina, OH 44258
216-725-7729
------------------------------------
Computer Man
18546 Sherman Way, Suite B
Reseda, CA 91335
818-609-0556
------------------------------------
Computers At Large
18728 Cabernet Drive
Saratoga, CA 95070-3561
(408)255-1081, (408)255-2388 - FAX
------------------------------------
Crazy Bob
ERM Electronic Liquidators
50 New Salem Street
Wakefield, MA 01880
Order line: 800-776-5865, 617-246-6767
------------------------------------
EBSCO Subscription Services (CD-ROM Handbook)
P.O.Box 325
Topsfield, MA 01983
508-887-6667 800-221-1826 508-887-3923 (Fax)
------------------------------------
EDUCORP
7434 Trade Street
San Diego, CA92121-2410
1-800-843-9497
------------------------------------
Faxon Co., Inc. (Access Faxon)
15 Southwest Park
Westwood, MA 02090
617-329-3350 800-225-6055 617-461-1862 (Fax)
------------------------------------
Knowledge Media
436 Nunneley Rd Suite B
Paradise, CA 95969
+1 916 872 3826, +1 916 872 3826 FAX, email: pbe...@ecst.csuchico.edu
Graphics software CD-ROM, Audio Resource Library CDROM
------------------------------------
MediaNet Technologies
3227 Sieber Way
San Jose, CA 95111
Tel : 800-688-6721 Fax : 408-229-9318
CD Titles, CDROM Drives, Sound cards.
Catalog (call or use ftp): ftp.rahul.net:/pub/medianet/medianet.inf
On-sale items: ftp.rahul.net:/pub/medianet/medianet.sales
------------------------------------
Mr. CD Rom
PO Box 1087
Winter Garden, FL 34777
800-444-MRCD, 407-877-3834 FAX
------------------------------------
NASA Space Science Data Center
Code 933.4
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD USA 20771
Phone (voice) 301 286 6695
req...@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
CDROMs of data from Voyager, Magellan and Viking for $6 each.
ftp: explorer.arc.nasa.gov in the directory /pub/SPACE
------------------------------------
Nautilus
7001 Discovery Blvd
Dublin, OH 43017-8066
1-800-637-3472
Provides a CD-ROM of the month subscription. 13 CD-ROM's for $138.
------------------------------------
Oxford University Press
2001 Evans Rd
Cary, North Carolina 27513
800 451-7556
Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM
------------------------------------
Pacific HiTech, Inc.
4530 Fortuna Way
Salt Lake City, UT 84124
(800) 765-8369, (801) 278-2042, FAX: (801) 278-2666
71175...@CompuServe.com, p...@applelink.com
Info-Mac Sumex-aim Macintosh CDROM
------------------------------------
PCJ Computing
323 TN Nursery Rd.
Cleveland, TN 37311
Voice (615) 339-0235 Fax (615) 479-1047 BBS (615) 478-2890
US Orders (800) 547-7817 douglas....@cld9.com
------------------------------------
Prime Time Freeware
370 Altair Way, Suite 150
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 433-9662, (408) 433 0727 FAX, p...@cfcl.com
UNIX-related freeware on CD-ROM
------------------------------------
ProComp Computer
12503 Sherman Way
No. Hollywood CA 91605
------------------------------------
Profit Press
2956 N. Campbell Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85719
1-800-843-7990, 602-577-9624 FAX, 602-299-0693 BBS
MEGA-Rom, 600+ meg MSDOS, $79
------------------------------------
Raynbow Software, Inc.
P. O. Box 327
Rapid City, SD 57709
(605) 394-8227, lo...@ce.ucsc.edu, CompuServe: 70410,413
5000 GIFs on CD-ROM with Search Engine for $55
------------------------------------
Reed Reference Publishing
Bowker Electronic Publishing
121 Chanlon Road
New Providence, NJ 07974
1-800-323-3288
908-464-6800, 212-645-9700, 1-800-323-3328, in...@bowker.com
"Books in Print" on CD-ROM, bi-monthly subscription $1095, w/reviews $1595
------------------------------------
ROM-BO
1300 Mohawk Blvd
Springfield, OR 97477
800-536-DISK
------------------------------------
Sound Electro Flight
4545 Industrial St. 5N
Simi Valley, CA 93063
800-279-4824
------------------------------------
TCM Computing (703) 439-8032
Rt. 2 Box 130 (703) 439-8237 Fax
Midland, Va. 22728 (703) 439-3060 BBS
ray.h...@channel1.com
Night Owl CD-ROMM
------------------------------------
TechCity
17706 Chatsworth St.
Granada Hills, CA 91344
------------------------------------
TigerSoftware
800 Douglas Entrance
Executive Tower, 7th FLoor
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
24-hour FAX: (305) 529-2990
------------------------------------
Updata Publications, Inc. (CD-ROM Guide)
1736 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-474-5900 800-882-2844 310-474-4095 (Fax)
------------------------------------
Walnut Creek CDROM
1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
1 800 786-9907, 1 510 674-0783, 1 510 674-0821 FAX, in...@cdrom.com
Snapshots of major internet archives on CD-ROM
------------------------------------
Wayzata Technology Inc.
P.O. Box 807
Grand Rapids MN 55744
1 800 735-7321 Call for catalog
------------------------------------
Yggdrasil Computing, Incorporated
PO Box 8418
Berkeley CA 94707-8418
(510) 526-7531, fax: (510) 528-8508, yggd...@netcom.com
Linux Operating system on CD-ROM
==========================================================================
1b. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Europe?
------------------------------------
Apex Software
PO Box 174
Battle
East Sussex
TN33 9AQ
International: +44-424-830025 (voice or fax), UK: 0424-830025 (voice or fax)
email: vin...@cix.compulink.co.uk
------------------------------------
BECO Link Ltd.
Jindrisska 276
530 02 Pardubice
Czech Republic
Tel/Fax: +42 40-518 566
------------------------------------
British Software Licensing
280 (T/L) West Princes Street
Woodlands
Glasgow G4 9EU
United Kingdom
+44-41-339-7264, Fax +44-41-334-1675, gra...@gimble.demon.co.uk
------------------------------------
CD-ROM Jacob
Aarstrasse 98
CH-3005 Bern
Switzerland
+41 31 21-34-11, FAX +41 31 21-30-55
------------------------------------
CD ROM (UK) Ltd
8 Sheep St, Highworth
Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 7AA
United Kingdom
44-0793-861146, 44-0793-765331 (Fax)
------------------------------------
directMedia Mail-Order GmbH
Gockelweg 14
D-1000 Berlin 47
Voice +49 30 6690022-0 Fax +49 30 6644112
mba...@comware.mhs.compuserve.com
------------------------------------
EBSCO Subscription Services
3 Tyers Gate
London SE1 3HX
United Kingdom
44-71-357-7516
------------------------------------
Faxon Europe, B.V.
Postbus 197
1000 AD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
31 (20) 565 93 00, +31 (20) 691 17 35 9 (fax)
------------------------------------
Micro Haus Limited
P.O. Box 149
Gloucester
GL3 4EF
United Kingdom
------------------------------------
Mountain Rose Multi Media
Kikkerveen 331
3205 XC Spijkenisse
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 1880 33083 / Fax: +31 1880 41551 / Email: ste...@sus.eur.nl
------------------------------------
Public Domain & Shareware Library
Winscombe House,
Beacon Road. Crowborough,
Sussex, TN6 1UL, United Kingdom
+44 892 663298, +44 892 667473 FAX
Libris Britannia, an entire library of PD/Shareware on CD-ROM
------------------------------------
STARCOM
International Computer Services
Limburggasse 45
A-9073 Klagenfurt-Viktring
Austria
+43 (463) 29 67 22, +43 (463) 29 67 24 FAX
------------------------------------
UNICA Ltd
39a Hall St, Stockport
Cheshire, SK1 4DA, UK
+44 61 429 0241, +44 61 477 2910 FAX
------------------------------------
WasaWare Oy
Harri Valkama
Palosaarentie 31
SF-65200 VAASA
Finland
Telephone +358 61 317 3365, Fax: +358 61 317 3025, Email: h...@uwasa.fi
==========================================================================
1c. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in the Mid-East?
ACTCOM - ACTive COMmunications Ltd
PO Box 5402, Haifa 31054, Israel
+972-4-676115, +972-4-676088 (FAX)
E-mail: off...@actcom.com
==========================================================================
1d. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Asia?
------------------------------------
Cache Computer
Shop 29, G/Fl., Golden Shopping Centre
146-152 Fuk Wah st., Shamshuipo
Kowloon
Hong Kong
Voice: (852) 361-9975, FAX: (852) 387-9935
------------------------------------
KPS
A5, UG/F
Far East Finance Centre
Admiralty
Hong Kong
------------------------------------
KPS
233 Ocean Galleries
Harbour City
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
------------------------------------
Pacific HiTech
1-18-16 Nomura Building 10F
Nishi Shinjuku
Tokyo 160 Japan
+18-3-3345-9215, FAX: +81-3-3345-9216
10122...@compuserve.com, p...@applelink.com
------------------------------------
Software Studio
Shop 217
Olympia Shopping Center
255 King's Road
North Point
Hong Kong
+852 510 7470 FAX
------------------------------------
Uniforce System Ltd.
Rm 1103, Asia Orient Tower
Town Place
33 Lockhart Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Voice: +(852)520-0552, Fax: +(852)441-8069 +(852)528-5238
unif...@hk.net
==========================================================================
1e. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Australia/New Zealand?
------------------------------------
CompuCD
GPO Box 1624
Canberra City
ACT 2601
Australia
fax: +61 06 2319771
------------------------------------
Ilb Computing
48 Nebo Drive
Figtree Heights
NSW 2525
Australia
+61 42 28 5827
------------------------------------
Logicware
1 Riverbank Off. Vil.
Cnr 1st St. & O'Shea Ter.
Katherine, N'rn Terr. 0850
Australia
fax: +61 89 72 3412
------------------------------------
PC Junction (NZ)
P.O Box 5197
Wellington
New Zealand
BBS: +64 4 566-2157 V32b, + 64 4 566-6728 V32b Fax: + 64 4 471-1941
Voice: +64 4 566-3601 david....@stargate.gen.nz
Over 500 CD-ROM Titles Available via Mail Order
------------------------------------
Shareware Distribution NZ
Freepost 3637
PO Box 2009
Wellington
New Zealand
BBS: +64 4 5642269 V32b (8 lines), cl...@actrix.gen.nz
Voice/Fax NZ Toll Free 0508 55 66 55, or +64 4 564-5307
==========================================================================
2. Can you recommend a good CD-ROM drive?
------------------------------------
The most highly recommended drive is the Toshiba TXM-3401. It is a very
fast and very reliable drive. It is reasonably priced, but you will also
need to buy a SCSI controller card if you don't already have one. This
drive will work with MSDOS, Windows, OS/2, Windows-NT, Linux, Unix,
Macintosh, and Amiga.
------------------------------------
The NEC CD-ROM drives 336,37,73,74,83, etc. have received many favorable
recommendations. NEC CD-ROM drive information can be FAX'ed to you. Call
NEC Fastfacts at 800-366-0476, and then follow the directions. You will
be prompted for a Catalog or Product Number. Catalog Number 2 is for
CD-ROM and Product Number 730101 is for the CRD-73M and 730100 is for the
CDR-73. Similarly for the CDR-37. No information was available on the
CD-74. You will be prompted for your 10-digit FAX number and your local
voice telephone number. If you haven't received your FAX with 30 minutes
try again. For international callers, the Fastfacts FAX number is
+1 708 860-9500x2621. You can get documents, and drivers, from the NEC
BBS at +1 508 635-4706.
------------------------------------
You can get information on Mitsumi drives by calling their US HQ at
(516) 752-7730. The Mitsumi office dealing with the SouthEast is in
Dallas. (214) 550-7300, FAX: (214) 550-7424. In California, call
(408) 970-0700. A FAQ on Mitsumi drives is available by anonymous ftp
from ftp.cdrom.com: /cdrom/drives/mitsumi.faq.
-----------------------------------
A FAQ on the Pioneer DRM-604X is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com: /cdrom/drm_604x.faq
-----------------------------------
Here is a matrix of information on a number of CD-ROM drives. Please
send me any additions or corrections.
Column
A. Manufactuer
B. Model Number
C. Internal/External/Both
D. Caddies N=No, S=Sony, P=Philips, X=NEC, O=Other
E. Seek time in milliseconds
F. Transfer rate in kilobytes/second
G. SCSI - N/Y/2-scsi 2
H. CDROM XA / PhotoCD compatable (N=No, S=Single-Session, M=multi-session)
I. OS/2 Compatible - Y/N
J. Windows NT Compatible - Y/N
K. MPC Compatible - Y/N
L. Quicktime Compatible - Y/N
M.
N. Approximate Street Price, in US dollars
O. Recommended #yes/#no (Send email to recommend either yes or no)
P. Phone #
Q. Comments
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0 P Q
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
Apple CD 150 E S --- 150 Y S - - - Y - 400 0/1 408-996-1010 buy CD 300
Apple CD 300 E S 295 300 Y M - - 2 Y - 400 1/0 408-996-1010 Sony 8003A
Apple CD 300i I S --- 300 Y M - - - Y - 400 1/0 408-996-1010 Very nice
Apple CD SC - S --- --- Y - - - - - - --- 0/0 408-996-1010
Apple CD SC+ - S --- --- Y - - - - - - --- 0/0 408-996-1010
CDRM Inc CR 1000i - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 303-231-9373
Chinon CDS-431 I - --- 150 - - - Y - - - --- 0/1 310-533-0274
Chinon CDX-431 E - --- 150 - - - Y - - - --- 0/1 310-533-0274
Chinon 435 E S 350 150 Y S - - Y Y - --- 0/0 310-533-0274
Chinon 435 I S 350 150 Y S - - Y Y - 369 0/0 310-533-0274
Chinon 431 - S 350 --- Y S - Y Y Y - --- 0/0 310-533-0274
Chinon CDX-535 E S 280 300 2 M - Y 2 Y - --- 0/0 310-533-0274
Chinon CDS-535 I S 280 300 2 M - Y 2 Y - --- 0/0 310-533-1727-fax
Denon DRD-253 - - --- --- - - - Y - - - --- 0/0 201-575-7810
Hitachi CDR-1700S - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Hitachi CDR-1702 E N 450 40 N N N N N N 200 0/1 415-589-8300 Obsolete
Hitachi CDR-1750S - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Hitachi CDR-1900 E S 280 307 N M - - Y - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Hitachi CDR-3600 - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0 P Q
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
Hitachi CDR-3650 I S 350 50 Y N - - N - - 300 1/0 415-589-8300 workhorse
Hitachi CDR-3700 I - 300 --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Hitachi CDR-3750 - - --- --- - - - Y - - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Hitachi CDR-6700 I S 280 307 N M - - Y - - --- 0/0 415-589-8300
Magnavox CDD461RS E N 700 --- - - - - - - - 329 0/0 ------------
Magnavox CDD462RS E N 400 --- - M - - Y - - --- 0/0 ------------
Matsushita CD-521 I S 390 150 N S - - - - - 299 1/0 ------------
Mitsumi - N 500 150 N - N N - N - 169 0/3 516-752-7730
Mitsumi CRMC-LU005S I N 350 150 N M - - Y - - 199 5/3 516-752-7730
Mitsumi FX-001-D I N 280 300 - M - - - - - --- 1/0 516-752-7730
MtOptech SI-680 - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 303-444-2851 Ruggedized
NEC 55J I S 400 300 Y M - - Y - - 299 1/0 800-388-8888
NEC CDR-25 E N 650 150 2 S - - Y - - 400 0/0 800-632-4636 Portable
NEC MultiS-38 E N 400 300 2 M - - - - - --- 0/0 800-632-4636 Portable
NEC CDR 36 - - 500 150 Y - - - - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000 Portable
NEC CDR 37 - - 450 150 - - - - - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000 Portable
NEC CDR-73 E S 300 150 Y - - - - - - 649 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-73M E S 280 300 Y - - Y - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000 Fast
NEC CDR-74 E S 300 300 - S - Y - Y - --- 0/0 508-635-4706(bbs)
NEC CDR-74-1 E S 280 300 2 M - Y - Y - --- 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-80 - X --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-83 I S 300 150 Y - - - - - - 599 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-83M I S 280 300 Y - - Y - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-84 I S 300 300 - S - Y - Y - --- 0/0 508-264-8000
NEC CDR-84-1 I S 280 300 2 M - - - Y - 519 0/0 508-264-8000
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0 P Q
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
NEC CDXG1 E - 500 --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 508-264-8000
Panasonic CR-533B I N 400 300 Y M - - 2 - - --- 0/0
Panasonic CR-562B I N 320 300 N M - Y 2 - - 250 1/0
Philips CDD-461 E N --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 615-521-4499
Philips CDI-601 E - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 615-521-4499
Philips CDI-602 E - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 615-521-4499
Philips CM205 I N 375 150 N N N - - - - --- 1/0 615-521-4499
Philips CM205 I N 375 150 N N N - - - - --- 1/0 615-521-4499
Philips CM206 I N 325 307 N M - - 2 - - --- 1/0 615-521-4499
Pioneer DRM-600 E O 600 150 Y S - Y - - - 925 1/0 408-988-1702 jukebox(x6)
Pioneer DRM-604X E O 300 600 Y S Y Y - - - 1.2 2/0 bbs4087482150 jukebox(x6)
Procom PICDL I N 375 150 N - - - - - - --- 0/0 800-800-8600
Procom PXCDL E N 375 150 N - - - - - - --- 0/0 800-800-8600
Sanyo ROM 3000 E S 650 40 N N N N N N - --- 0/1 801-225-6888 slow
Sony CDU-31A I N 490 150 N S - Y Y - - 250 0/3 800-352-7669 unreliable
Sony CDU-531 I S 380 150 N S - - - - - --- 0/0 800-352-7669
Sony CDU-535 I S 340 150 N S - - - - - 200 0/1 408-944-4335
Sony CDU-541 I S 380 150 Y S - Y - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644
Sony CDU-561 I S 300 300 Y M - Y 2 Y - --- 0/0 408-434-6644 on new Mac
Sony CDU-6201 E S 380 150 N S - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644 extrnCDU-531
Sony CDU-6205 - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644
Sony CDU-6211 - S --- 150 Y - - Y - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644
Sony CDU-7204 - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644
Sony CDU-7205 E S 340 150 N S - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644 extrnCDU-535
Sony CDU-7211 E S 380 150 Y S - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644 extrnCDU-541
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0 P Q
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
Sony CDU-8012 - S --- 150 Y S - - - - - --- 0/0 408-434-6644 SunCD
Talon TA-100 - - 360 150 - - - - - - - --- 0/0 ------------
Talon TA-200 - - 280 300 - - - - - - - --- 0/0 ------------
Tandy CDR-1000 I N 800 175 N N - - - - - 200 1/0 817-390-3700 Nice, Cheap
Texel DM3021 I S 340 150 Y - - - - - - --- 0/0 800-886-3935
Texel DM3024 I S 265 300 Y M - - 2 - - 439 1/0 800-886-3935
Texel DM3028 I S 240 335 2 M - - 2 - - 299 1/0 800-886-3935
Texel DM5021 E S 340 150 Y - - Y - - - --- 0/0 800-886-3935 extrn DM3021
Texel DM5024 E S 265 300 Y M - Y 2 - - 549 0/0 800-886-3935 extrn DM3024
Texel DM5028 E S 240 335 2 M - - 2 - - --- 0/0 800-886-3935 extrn DM3028
Toshiba TXM-3201A E S 350 150 Y N - - Y - - 250 1/0 714-455-0407
Toshiba TXM-3300 - - --- --- - - - - - - - --- 0/0 714-455-0407
Toshiba TXM-3301 - - 325 150 Y - - - - - - --- 0/0 714-455-0407
Toshiba TXM-3301B I S 325 150 Y M - Y Y - - 499 4/0 714-455-0407 Works great
Toshiba TXM-3301BC I S 325 150 2 M - Y - - - 499 1/0 714-455-0407
Toshiba TXM-3301E1 E S 325 150 Y - - Y - - - --- 0/0 714-455-0407
Toshiba TXM-3401 I S 200 330 2 M Y Y 2 - - 399 7/0 714-583-3000 Very fast
===== ======== = = === === = = = = = = = === === ============ ==========
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0 P Q
The NeXT CD-ROM is a Sony CDU-541.
The Sony CDU-6211 is the same as the Sony CDU-7211.
==========================================================================
3. Where can I get caddies?
Here are a few sources of caddies:
---------------------------------------------------------------
CD-ROM INC
1667 Cole Blvd
Suite 400
Golden, CO 80401
1 800 821-5245
Call for the latest price.
----------------------------------------------------------------
EDUCORP
7434 Trade Street
San Diego, CA 92121-2410
1-800-843-9497
$55 for 10
----------------------------------------------------------------
QB Products
1260 Karl Court
Wauconda, IL 60084
1 800 323-6856 +1 708 487-3333
Sony Caddies "Made in USA", 10 for $54, 1000 for $3900
----------------------------------------------------------------
Walnut Creek CDROM
1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
1 800 786-9907, +1 510 674-0783, +1 510 674-0821 FAX
Sony caddies "Made in Japan" - $4.95 each, $450 for 100
Philips Caddies - $4.95 each, $450 for 100
==========================================================================
4. Are there any good periodicals and publications on CD-ROMs?
------------------------------------------------------------
A catalog describing CD-ROM publications and the "Multimedia and Videodisc
Monitor" newsletter is available from
Future Systems
P.O. Box 26
Falls Church, VA 22040
Telephone 800-323-DISC or 703-241-1799
One of their books contains a list of about 1500 CD-ROM's.
------------------------------------------------------------
CD-ROM Professional is a bi-monthly magazine with product reviews,
technical articles, industry news, etc. This is a "must read" for
anyone in the CD-ROM business. $39.95/year
CD-ROM Professional Magazine
462 Danbury Road
Wilton, CT 06897
1 800 248-8466
------------------------------------------------------------
"CD-ROM Collecion Builder's Toolkit, 1992 Edition"
Paul T. Nicholls
Eight Bit Books, Weston, CT
ISBN: 0-910-96502-1
$39.95
------------------------------------------------------------
CD-ROMS IN PRINT 1992
An International Guide to CD-ROM, CD-I, CDTV & Electronic Book Products
Meckler Publishing
11 Ferry Lane West
Westport, CT 06880
------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups and mailing lists:
On the internet, the best source of information is the newsgroup
alt.cd-rom, which is linked to the BITNET list CDROM-L.
Those subscribing to CDROM-L may now choose to receive a daily digest
of CDROM-L postings or an index to the daily digest. From the index
one may easily request the full text of a posting.
To receive the INDEX, send the following note to listserv@uccvma or
list...@uccvma.ucop.edu (the subject is ignored):
set cdrom-L index
To receive the DIGEST, send the following:
set cdrom-L digest
***DO NOT*** send to cdrom-L. Because of the high noise level of
this list, I recommend that people try the index.
The newsgroup aus.cdrom provides a forum for discussion of cdrom
related issues to Australian users that are otherwise lost in the
morass of postings in the US based groups.
The internet newsgroup comp.multimedia is a good source of information
on multimedia topics.
CDROMLAN (available on usenet as bit.listserv.cdromlan) covers the
use of CD-ROM products on local area or wide area networks. You can
join the list be sending the following command to
LIST...@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU:
SUBSCRIBE CDROMLAN Your full name
CD-ROMs are in heavy use in libraries and government document
repositories, both for access to indexes and for distribution of
government data. The relevant lists are PACS-L
(bit.listserv.pacs-l) and GOVDOC-L (bit.listserv.govdoc-l).
Send to LIST...@PSUVM.PSU.EDU:
SUBSCRIBE GOVDOC-L Your full name
Send to LISTSERV%UHUPVM1...@VM1.NODAK.EDU
SUBSCRIBE PACS-L Your full name
Discussions of music on CD can be found in rec.music.cd.
--------
For those who are contemplating buying a CD-ROM drive or just getting
your feet wet, Tony Thomas wrote a pamphlet on the subject which he will
be glad to send you FREE OF CHARGE while supplies last.
To receive "GETTING STARTED WITH CD-ROM", send a self-addressed, stamped
#10 envelope with 29 cents US postage to:
Tony Thomas
4421 Granada Blvd. #415
Warrensville Heights, OH 44128
Topics covered include:
How to Buy a CD-ROM Drive
Different Types of Drives
What You Need
Setup
A list of suppliers of CD-ROM hardware and software is also included.
==========================================================================
5. Why are CD-ROM drives so slow?
Compact discs were originally designed for music. When you are
listening to "Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits", you are accessing the
data sequentially and at a very regular speed. The only time you need
to seek is when you decide to skip over a song, or back up and listen
to "Always on my Mind" one more time.
In order to fit as much music as possible onto the disc, the data
is recorded at the same linear density near the outer edge of the disc
as it is near the center, so there is more information in the outside
tracks than in the inside tracks. In order to deliver a steady rate
of data, the linear velocity of the disc moving under the head is
constant, so the angular velocity of the disc changes when the head
moves from the center toward the outside tracks. This is no big deal
when you are playing music, but when you are trying to do random access
to a CD-ROM, the need to accelerate and decelerate the disc is the biggest
obstacle to making it faster. Most magnetic discs spin at a constant
angular velocity, so the data density decreases toward the outside of the
disk, but seeks are faster.
A few other reasons that CD-ROMs are slow: Optical disc heads tend to be
heavier than magnetic disk heads, so they have more inertia, and take
longer to stablize onto a new track. Many CD-ROMs contain too much data
to make effective use of RAM caches.
As time goes by, CD-ROM drives will get a little faster, but don't expect
any miracles.
==========================================================================
6. Is it important to have a fast CD-ROM? Does 300ms vs 700ms really matter?
It depends on what applications you will be using. Many CD-ROMs
are just big archives of stuff, and you can copy individual programs
to your hard disk before using them so speed is not really very
important. But if you are going to be using large ramdom-access
databases, or any kind of interactive multi-media applications, then
the speed difference is very noticeable.
==========================================================================
7. Is it important to buy a fully SCSI compatible drive?
Several CD-ROM drives only support a sub-set of SCSI, and usually
come with their own semi-SCSI controller card. Full SCSI compatible
drives usually cost more, but are better if you already have a SCSI
controller and want to daisy chain several devices, or if you want to
be able to use the drive on different machine types.
==========================================================================
8. Where can I get information on SCSI controllers for CD-ROM drives?
Many SCSI drive vendors recommend the Adaptec 1542-B SCSI Card.
The phone number for Adaptec is 800-959-7274 or 408-945-2550.
BusLogic (formerly BusTek) makes a very extensive line of SCSI cards for
ISA, EISA, MCA, and VL bus systems. Their ISA, EISA, and MCA cards are
register compatible with Adaptec's boards and hence have excellent driver
support. Their number is (408)492-9090.
All modern Macintosh computers have SCSI built-in. Macintosh users should
insure that the CD-ROM drive they intend to buy is supported on Macintosh
machines by the vendor; many vendors recommend "FWB CD-ROM Toolkit", which
can generate high-performance drivers that include cacheing (see [50]) for
a modest price.
Trantor has a BBS at 510-656-5159. Set modem to 8 bits data, 1 stop
bit and no parity. You can get product information, and their latest
drivers there.
[ If anyone sends me info on other scsi controllers, I will include
the info here. ]
==========================================================================
9. How much does it cost to make a CD-ROM?
You can get a master made for about $1000, and then about $1 per disc
for duplication. So to make 1000 discs, it will cost you about
($1000 + (1000 * $1)) = $2000. Publishers often have `first-timer'
specials with steep discounts off the list price. For instance, DMI
recently had a special of mastering, 50 discs, and two hours of tech
support for $750.
If you only want a few discs, you can have single ISO-9660 `one-offs'
made for about $200 for the first disc, and $100 for additional copies.
==========================================================================
10. I have a great idea for a CD-ROM but no money. What can I do?
You can author a CD-ROM, and have someone else publish it and pay you
royalties. One company that does this is Walnut Creek CDROM. Their
author guidelines are available by anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com in the
file /pub/cdrom/author.txt.
==========================================================================
11. Where can I get a CD-ROM published?
I have used both of these companies, and highly recommend either:
Digital Audio Disc Corporation
1800 North Fruitridge Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47803
812-462-8100, 812-466-9125 FAX
Disc Manufacturing Inc.
4905 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville, AL 35810
800-433-DISC, 205-859-9042, 205-859-9932 FAX
DADC is a subsidiary of Sony, and DMI is a subsidiary of Philips.
A more detailed list of 25 publishers in 8 countries is available via
anonymous ftp in ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/publshrs.
There are now over 10 manufacturing facilities active in CDROM in North
America, and another growing collection of write-once service bureaus.
These are listed in MFG.TXT in Lib #8 of the Compuserve CDROM Forum.
If you only want to make one disc, or just a few copies, there are
several companies that offer this service:
North America:
Catalogic
2685 Marine Way, Suite 1220
Mountain View, CA 94043
voice: (415) 961-4649 fax: (415) 964-2027
email: sa...@catalogic.com
Client Services
OptiScribe Corporation
110 Pleasant Street
Marlborough, MA 01752
voice (508) 481-7255, fax (508) 481-7455
Data Conversion, Multimedia, CD-ROM Production Services
Compact Disc Services Inc.
1821 Saratoga Ave.
Saratoga, CA 95070
(408) 741-4770, (408) 867-0518 FAX, cd...@netcom.com
The One-Off CD Shop MidSouth, Inc.
109-C Jefferson Street N
Huntsville, AL 35801
(205) 534-3050 FAX (205) 539-9238
Prices range upwards from $115.00 for less than 40 MB delivered on a
single item of input media (i.e., one tape, or one Syquest disk, etc.)
to $230 for 650 MB also on a single item of input.
Optical Media International
San Jose, CA
(408) 376-3511, 408-376-3519 FAX, o...@applelink.apple.com
ISO-9660, Mac HFS, Call for price
PRU
10310 Main St. #361
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-354-8377
Special prices for sysops
Young Minds Inc.
1910 Orange Tree Lane, Suite 300
Redlands, CA 92374
909 335-1350, 909 798-0488 FAX, yngmnds!ayo...@ucrmath.ucr.edu
Rock Ridge (Unix)
Europe:
Information Inception
6 Gravel Road
Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6JJ, UK
tel: (0252) 371118, fax: (0252) 513050, 10011...@CompuServe.COM
ISO-9660, MAC HFS, call for price
==========================================================================
12. Where can I find equipment to make my own CD-ROMs?
If you want to do single copy `one-offs', or low volume CD production,
there are recorders announced by JVC, Philips, Sony, Yamaha, Pinnacle
Micro, and Ricoh.
JVC Personal ROM-Maker $12500 (complete system, including software)
Philips CDD-521 $5500 (+ $1900 for software)
Pinnacle Micro $3995 ISO 9660 and HFS software for Macs
Ricoh $3895
Sony CDW-900E $10000 (???)
Yamaha $5000
Kodak remarkets the Philips drive as their PCD Writer 200.
Several people have complained about the Pinnacle Micro product being
unreliable and hard to use.
Here are some phone numbers you can call for more info:
Kodak 1-800-CD-KODAK (1-800-235-6325)
JVC Product Information: +1 714 965-2610
Philips Consumer Electronics: +1 615 475-8869
Pinnacle Micro 1 800 553-7070, +1-714-727-1913 (fax)
Ricoh +1-408-432-8800, Japan: +81-45(477)1594
Ger: +49-2131-669004 Aus: +61-28946033
Sony Computer Peripheral Products: 1 800 352-7669
Yamaha, Systems Technology Division +1 408/437-3133 Fax: +1 408/437-8791
You can buy the Philips drive with CDGEN software for ISO-9660
discs from DataDisc (1-800-328-2347, FAX: +1 703-347-9085) for $7895.
They recommend that you use it with the Adaptec 1542 SCSI Card.
Optical Media International (1-408-376-3511, o...@applelink.apple.com)
has Macintosh HFS premastering software for the Philips CDD-521. The
program is called "QuickTOPiX" and the cost is $2500.
The JVC drive comes with software for making ISO-9960, Apple HFS, and
hybrid ISO-9660/HFS discs. [ If anyone knows anything more about these
hybrid discs, please let me and I will include the information here.]
Additional third party integrators are: Meridian Data 408-438-3100;
CD-ROM Strategies 714-733-3378; and Interactive Support Group 818-709-7387.
Here is a list of software vendors
CD-ROM Strategies CD-GEN 1 714 733-3378
DataDisc CD-Gen 1 800 328-2347
Dataware Technologies, Inc. CD Make 1 510 942-3111
JVC RomMaker 1 714 965-2610
Meridain Data CD Publisher 1 408 438-3100
OnLine Business Systems CD-Formatter ? ??? ???-????
Optical Media International Topix 1 408 376-3511
PoINT Software and Systems CDWRITE ? ??? ???-????
Young Minds, Inc. CD Studio 1 909 335-1350
Authoring Software:
Authorware, Inc. Authorware pro 1 612-921-8555
Dataware Technologies, Inc. CD Author 1 510 942-3111
Dataware Technologies, Inc. ReferenceSet 1 510 942-3111
Electronic Text Corporation WordCruncher ? ??? ???-????
Executive Technologies, Inc. Search Express 1 205-933-5494
Executive Technologies CD-Author 1 205-933-5494
Folio Corporation Folio Previews 1 800 228-3934/801 375-3700
Hewlett-Packard Laserretrieve 1 800-752-0900
I-MODE Retrieval Systems, Inc. I-SEARCH ? ??? ???-????
Image Storage/Retrieval Systm ISRS App Dev 1 800-524-0897
Knowledge Access International KAware 1 415-969-0606
Nimbus Information Systems Romware ? ??? ???-????
OnLine Business Systems CD-Build ? ??? ???-????
Quantum Access, Inc. Quantum Leap 1 713-622-3211
Reference Technology 1 303-449-4157
Retrieval Technologies, Inc. re:Search ? ??? ???-????
Textware Corporation Textware ? ??? ???-????
TMS, Inc. Innerview 1 405-377-0880
There are several usenet groups dedicated to CDROM publishing:
comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
comp.publish.cdrom.software
comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia
The November issue (I think) of New Media magazine is their 1994 Tool Guide.
One section is devoted to cd-rom recording systems, and has information on
about 20 systems covering the Mac, PC, and Unix platforms.
The October issue of the New Media had an article about recordable CD
technology. The February 1993 issue of Byte magazine also had an article
on that subject. That might be easier to find at your local library.
"The CD-Recordable Bible: An Essential Guide for Any Business" is available
for $24.95 plus $3 postage and handling (US/Canada) from Eight Bit Books,
462 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897-2126.You can call in your order to
(800) 248-8466 or FAX it to (203) 761-1444.
=============================================================================
13. Where can I get blank media for my CD-ROM recorder?
The blank discs for CD Recorders are not the same as a normal CD. The
metal data surface is gold instead of aluminum. The recorder uses a high
powered laser to modify a dye layer which is between the gold and the
plastic. This dye is somewhat photo sensitive so write once CDs should be
stored in a dark place. They should be stored in an area that does not
rise above 40 Celsius (104 F). It takes about half an hour to burn each
disc.
The blanks come in two sizes. 63 minute, and 74 minute. The time refers
to the amount of digital audio that can be recorded. Since DA is read
from the discs at a constant rate of 150 kb/sec, it is easy to calculate
the amount of data they will hold. The 63' discs will hold about 580 meg,
and the 74' discs will hold about 660 meg.
Here are several sources for blank discs:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opti-Mag Inc. +1-302-738-2903, FAX: +1-302-738-2904
TDK 74 minute CD-R Qty Price
50 $17.00 each
100 $16.50
200 $16.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Athana sells 74' media for $17.50. 63' media is about a buck less.
+1-310-320-4581, FAX: +1-310-212-5458.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser Resources sells Mitsui Toatsu CD-R blanks:
1-9 10-99 100-999 1000+
63' $18 $17.50 $16.50 call
74' $20 $18.50 $17.50 call
Phone +1-310-324-4444x16, ask for Mike.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DataDisc (1-800-328-2347, 1-703-347-9085 FAX). 74 minute $27 quantity 10.
63 minute $19 quantity 25.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The One-Off CD Shop MidSouth, Inc.
109-C Jefferson Street N
Huntsville, AL 35801
(205) 534-3050 FAX (205) 539-9238
QTY CD-R 63 CD-R 74
1-9 $23.00 $25.00
10-49 $22.75 $24.75
50-99 $22.50 $24.50
100-499 $20.75 $22.75
500+ $19.50 $21.50
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DataWare (1-510-942-3111, ask for Jeff Caplan). 74 minute (650 meg) blanks
for $31 quantity ten, $29 quantity 100, and $27 quantity 500.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonic Solutions 415-485-4800. Their April 1992 price list shows CD-R74
quantity 100 as $27.50, CD-R63 quantity 100 as $25.00.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. sales office for DIC (a Japanese ink and chemical company) can
be reached at 201-224-9344. DIC claims a useful life in excess of
75 years for their discs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
APDC sells blanks discs, magneto-optical disks, 8mm and 4mm tapes.
800-522-7232, ask for Susan Bradley.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kodak also sells them. Call 800-242-2424. Prices aren't very good for
small quantities, but they are a pretty good deal if you buy in bulk.
Kodak media will not work with many recorders.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knowledge Access, $170 for 10 kodak CD-R disks
$300 for one "One-off"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitsui Toatsu: The product name for their disks is Airy. Their
advertising literature claims that the accelerated aging tests
indicate a life of up to 240 years assuming storage at 25C. The Warranty
on the jewel case is for 1 year from date of purchase.
Japan 03-3592-4774
United States 212-867-6330
Germany 211-320458
U.K. 71-976-1180
==========================================================================
14. I have 10000 paper documents that I want to put on a CD-ROM. Who can help?
There are several companies that will do large scale scanning, OCRing,
and data entry.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Compact Disc Services Inc.
1821 Saratoga Ave.
Saratoga, CA 95070
(408) 741-4770, (408) 867-0518 FAX, cd...@netcom.com
Will do very large scale scanning, OCRing, and data entry and modification.
Also scanning in the graphics and doing cutting and pasting on almost each
page. They can handle 10000 pages per week.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agro Computer Systems can process several thousand pages a day,
and claims an error rate of less than 10E-6. The standard price is 55
cents per 1000 characters, or $550 per megabyte. For more information
contact
Mr. G. M. Mahindra
Agro Computer Systems
28 Lalbagh (Mission) Road
Bangalore 560 027
India
Phone: +91 812 235083, FAX: +91 812 2241158
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Innodata does data entry, scanning, SGML or custom coding, indexing,
abstracting, and programming. They work with any kind of source, incl.
microfile and microfiche.
Innodata Corporation Innodata Corp.
180 Salcedo St. 2600 Cabover Dr.
Legaspi Village Hanover, MD 21076
Makati, Manila 1-718-625-7750
Repuplic of the Philippines 1-718-522-7624 FAX
==========================================================================
15. Are there any organizations of CD-ROM Publishers?
The Optical Publishing Association is a non-profit trade and professional
organization for CDROM and other digital media publishers. They have been
around since 1988, publishing newsletters and backgrounders for publishers,
and promoting profitable practices for the business.
OPA, PO Box 21268, Columbus OH 43221 USA, 614/442-8805, 614/442-8815 (fax)
CIS address 71333,1114, 71333...@compuserve.com, AppleLink r.bowers.
==========================================================================
16. Where can I get more information about CD-ROM publishing?
Subscribe to CD-ROM Professional Magazine, 1 800 248-8466, $39.95/year
There is a mailing list devoted to CD-ROM publishing. For more information
send a message to Mail-...@knex.via.mind.org with the word "HELP" in
the body of the email text. The cdpub digest archives are available by
anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/cdrom/cdpub.
There are several files pertaining to CD-ROM publishing available for
anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com.
There is a book called "PUBLISH YOURSELF ON CD-ROM" by Fabrizio Caffarelli
and Dierdre Straughan. It includes a cd-rom with a copy of EasyCD, a
cd-rom formatter that runs under Windows.
For Macintosh, read "The Apple CD-ROM Handbook", Addison-Wesley, 92,
(144 pages). A guide to planning, creating, and producing a CD-ROM.
==========================================================================
17. How much information will fit on a CD-ROM?
It depends on the drive. Almost all CD-ROM drives will handle up to
620 megabytes with no problems. Many newer drives can read discs with
over 700 megs.
The CD-ROM Users Group (see above) has a diagnostic CD-ROM that
will tell you how much information your drive can handle.
==========================================================================
18. Why doesn't MSCDEX work with DOS 5.0?
You must use SETVER with MS-DOS 5.0, to make MSCDEX 2.20 work properly.
Otherwise you will get an incorrect DOS version message. See the MS-DOS
5.0 documentation on how to use SETVER. MSCDEX 2.21 works with MS-DOS 5.0
without SETVER.
==========================================================================
19. Where can I get the latest version of MSCDEX?
Call MS BBS at 206-936-4082. Choose F for file library, S UPDATES, F to
list files, then D MSCDEX.ZIP to download the file. (Microsoft may have
deleted this file.)
You can get the latest version of MSCDEX (2.21) in a self-extracting zip
archive via anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/cdext.exe.
It is also available in the MSL library on CompuServe, as CDEXT.EXE.
==========================================================================
20. I bought a used drive at a garage sale. Where can I find a driver for it?
Many CD-ROM manufacturers maintain BBS's where you might be able to find
drivers for their drives:
NEC BBS: +1 508 635-6328
Philips BBS: +1 719-593-4081
Sony BBS: +1 408 955-5107
Pioneer: +1 408 748 2105 (9600/HST/8N1)
==========================================================================
21. What is the difference between `High Sierra' and ISO-9660?
Not much. When the standard was first proposed, it was given the name
"High Sierra'. Later it was adopted as an offical standard, with a few
minor modifications, and was designated ISO-9660. Usually when someone
says "High Sierra", they really mean ISO-9660.
You can get a copy of the High Sierra Spec from the author for $30.
Howard Kaikow
65 Spring Cove Road
PO Box 1333
Nashua, NH 03061-1333
USA
voice: +1 603 889 8616
fax: +1 603 880 1319
email: kai...@standards.com
Howard is also the principal author of ISO-9660. He is available for
consulting.
==========================================================================
22. Where can I get a copy of the ISO-9660 standard?
You can order a copy of the ISO-9660 standard from
ANSI
Attn: Sales
11 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
212-642-4900
Cost to US destinations is $50, plus $6 shipping. They now accept Visa/MC
orders over the phone.
Another source of a wide variety of standards documents is Global
Engineering. Their service is often faster than ANSI, but they charge
more ($104 for ISO-9660). They also have offices in Europe and Asia.
Global Engineering Documents
15 Inverness Way East
Englewood, CO 80112-5704
(800) 854-7179 (same)
(303) 792-2181
fax (303) 792-2192
ISO standards may be purchased from a country's national standards
body. In the USA, this is ANSI, in the UK it is BSI (British Standards
Institute in London), in Switzerland, SNV (in Zurich), DIN in Germany,
AFNOR in France, JSA in Japan, etc.
==========================================================================
23. What is an HFS disc?
HFS is the Macintosh's Hierarchical Filing System. It is unrelated
to High Sierra and ISO-9660 formats. Most CD-ROMs intended for the
Macintosh are created in the HFS format, since HFS supports the Mac's
resource and data forks and file information.
The freely distributable filing system AmiCDROM is able to read HFS
disks on an Amiga. AmiCDROM is freeware, and is available by anonymous
FTP from any Aminet site, including ftp.cdrom.com in the directory
/pub/aminet/disk/cdrom. The Aminet archive is also available on CDROM
for $29.95 from Walnut Creek CDROM, 1-800-786-9907, in...@cdrom.com.
There are drivers made by AsimWare (AsimCDFS) and Xetec that allows HFS
discs to be read on an Amiga. There is a list of differences that the
drivers contends with, such as non-standard characters and 32 character
filenames (Amiga supports only 30).
------
"New Inside Macintosh: Files" published by Addison-Wesley,
has the most complete description of HFS format.
Inside Macintosh: Files
By Apple Computer, Inc.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
ISBN 0-201-63244-6
In Chapter 2, the section on "Data Organization on Volumes" pages 2-52 to
2-76 contains as complete a description of HFS as is available.
This book can be ordered from APDA (Apple Programmers & Developers
Association) or any bookstore.
APDA
P.O. Box 319
Buffalo, NY 14207-0319
1-800-282-2732 U.S.
1-800-637-0029 Canada
(716) 871-6555 International
(716) 871-6511 Fax
AppleLink APDA
America Online APDA
CompuServe 76666,2405
Internet AP...@applelink.apple.com
==========================================================================
24. Can you give a short explaination of ISO-9660?
ISO-9660 is an international standard that defines a filesystem for
CD-ROMs. Almost all systems support ISO-9660.
Level one ISO-9660 is similar to an MS-DOS filesystem. Filenames are
limited to eight single-case characters, a dot, and a three character
extension. Filenames cannot contain special characters, (no hyphens,
tildes, equals, or pluses). Only single case letters, numbers, and
underscores. Directory names cannot have the three digit extension,
just eight single-case characters.
All alphabetics are in UPPER case; some software maps this to lower case.
Either the file name or the extension may be empty, but not both ("F."
and ".E" are both legal file names).
There is a "File Version Number" which can range from 1-32767, and is
separated from the extension by a semi-colon. The file version number
is ignored on many systems.
Here are some examples of legal and illegal filenames:
Legal Illegal Why
TEST_1C.TXT TEST-1C.TXT hyphen
TEST1C.TXT TEST 1C.TXT space
TEST.1C TEST.1C.TXT more than 1 period
README Readme not single case
Subdirectories are allowed to nest up to eight levels deep.
Level two ISO-9660 allows longer filenames, up to 32 characters.
But many of the other restrictions still apply. Level two discs
are not usable on some systems, particularly MS-DOS.
==========================================================================
25. What the heck does `Red Book', `Yellow Book', etc. mean?
"Red Book" is the common name of the "Compact Disc Digital Audio
Standard". When a disc conforms to the red book standard, it will
usually have "digital audio" printed below the "disc" logo. Most music
CDs conform to this standard.
"Yellow Book" is the standard for CD-ROM. When a disc conforms to the
yellow book, it will usually say "data storage" beneath the "disc" logo.
"Green Book" is the CD-I (compact disc interactive) standard.
"Orange Book" is the standard for write-once compact discs.
"Blue Book" is the standard for LaserDisc. **
You can get the Red Book and Yellow Book from
ANSI
Attn: Sales
1430 Broadway
New York, NY 10018
(212) 642-4900
Red Book: CEI IEC 908
Yellow Book: ISO 10149:1989
You can get the Green Book from
American CD-I Association
11111 Santa Monica, Suite 750
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(213) 444-6619
The Orange Book is still proprietary to Philips and Sony, and available
only to their licensees.
[If anyone can tell me where the other standards are available, I will
include that information here.]
** [ "Blue Book" may be apochryphal. Pioneer reportly has a pre-mastering
guide that may or may not have a blue cover, but it is not a statement
of the LD standard.
The only standards found so far are IEC-857 (NTSC) or IEC-856 (PAL).
In the US, the only reliable source for these is Global Engr Documents.
They aren't cheap.
'857 only covers the analog portions of LD. It does not include
digital audio, TOC, LD-ROM, LD+G, CDV-5 or anything peculiar to
Laser Karaoke. ]
==========================================================================
26. What is CD-I?
CD-I means "Compact Disc Interactive". It is meant to provide a standard
platform for mass consumer interactive multimedia applications. So it is
more akin to CD-DA, in that it is a full specification for both the
data/code _and_ standalone playback hardware: a CD-I player has a CPU,
RAM, ROM, OS, and audio/video/(MPEG) decoders built into it. Portable
players add an LCD screen and speakers/phonejacks.
If you want information about Philips CD-I products, you can call these
numbers:
US: Consumer hotline: 800-845-7301
For nearest store: 800-223-7772
Developers hotline: 800-234-5484
UK: Philips CD-I hotline: 0800-885-885
"Discovering CD-I" is a book available for $45 from:
"Discovering CD-I"
Microware Systems Corporation
1900 NW 114th Street
Des Moines, IA 50325-7077
1-800-475-9000
There are three books by Philips IMS and published by Addison Wesley:
"Introducing CD-I" ISBN 0-201-62748-5
"The CD-I Production Handbook" ISBN 0-201-62750-7
"The CD-I Design Handbook" ISBN 0-201-62749-3
Lex van Sonderen periodically posts a CD-I FAQ to comp.multimedia. The
latest version of this FAQ is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com: /cdrom/cdi.faq.
Elektroson provides software for producing CD-I titles.
North America: tel +1-215-660-9038, fax +1-215-667-9387
Europe: tel 31-40-515065, fax 31-40-514920, Ele...@sci.kun.nl
==========================================================================
27. What is CD-ROM/XA?
CD-ROM/XA is an extension to the Yellow Book Standard. A track on
a CD-ROM/XA disc can contain computer data, compressed audio data,
and video/picture data. Many CD-ROM drives do not support CD-ROM/XA.
CD-ROM/XA extends CD-ROM by adding some of the CD-I disc features (such
as using Mode 2 tracks with interleaved compressed-audio and other data).
Thus CD-ROM/XA (eXtended Architecture) is often called the "Bridge" format
between CD-ROM and CD-I... though the relationship is mostly the sector
types. CD-ROM/XA applications still require specific code for each target
platform.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CDROM-XA specifies a `bridge format' so that a CDROM-XA disc can be read
on a CD-I player as well as on a PC under MSCDEX (provided that you use
a conforming (.SYS) driver. On a normal yellow-book CDROM, a data track
contains only mode-1 data sectors. On a CDROM-XA, a (the) data track
contains only mode-2 data sectors. A mode-2 sector can be of two formats,
form-1 and form-2. A form-1 sector contains 2048 bytes of user data,
together with EDC and ECC bytes. A form-2 sector contains 2324 bytes of
raw data (e.g. ADPCM audio or video data). If the device driver delivers
2048 bytes of data when MSCDEX asks for it, regardless whether the sector
is mode-1 or mode-2/form-1, the PC is CDROM-XA compatible.
==========================================================================
28. What are the Rock Ridge extensions?
The Rock Ridge extensions use some undefined fields in the ISO-9660 standard
to allow full Unix-like filenames, symbolic links, and deep directories.
"Rock Ridge" is named after the town in the movie "Blazing Saddles" for no
particular reason.
The latest revision of the RRIP/SUSP is 1.10; the draft version of these
documents is available by e-mail from cd...@ymi.com or ftp at
ftp.cdrom.com (/pub/rockridge/new).
Any comments regarding the Rock Ridge or System Use Sharing Protocol
documents should be addressed to cd...@ymi.com.
For information on Rock Ridge at Sun, try rri...@Eng.Sun.COM or
cdg...@fantasy.eng.sun.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Youngdale has written a Gnu-ware ISO-9660+Rockridge formatter.
It has been tested on both Linux and SunOS 4.1.3. You can ftp it
from ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/cdrom/mkisofs-1.00.tar.gz.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kodak's Build-It product, which is basically a system for authoring Portfolio
Photo CDs, can also author non-Photo-CD ISO 9660 discs, with or without the
Rock Ridge extensions. It runs on SunOS 4.1.3, and requires a SPARCStation 2
or SPARCStation 10 with at least 64 megs of RAM. It requires the Kodak
PCD Writer 200, and a second SCSI port for the writer.
Information about Build-It can be obtained by anonymous FTP from the Kodak
FTP server, ftp.kodak.com, in the directory photo-cd/portfolio.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Young Minds Inc. has Unix based Rock Ridge premastering software:
Young Minds Inc.
1910 Orange Tree Lane
Suite 300
Redlands, CA 92374
909 335-1350
909 798-0488 FAX
yngmnds!ayo...@ucrmath.ucr.edu
==========================================================================
28b. Which systems support Rock Ridge
OS Version
=== ====
Linux 0.98
FreeBSD 1.0
386BSD ???
BSDI BSD/386 V0.9.3
SunOS 4.1.2
Solaris 1.0
NeXT 3.1
SVR4.2
DG/UX 3.00
The "Version" is the first version that included official support for R.R.
Please let me know any other systems that include R.R. support. I am
also interested in any plans to support R.R. in the near future.
------
Under Novell NetWare 3.11, Micro Design's SCSI Express (Version 1.3.0)
supports mounting Rock Ridge CD-ROMs as standard NetWare mountable
volumes. Then through NetWare NFS, any UNIX client can access the
CD-ROMs (including access to the RockRidge attributes). Also DOS, OS/2,
and MAC clients can access the same CD-ROMs.
==========================================================================
29. What is ECMA 168?
ECMA 168 is a volume and file format standard for write-once CD and CD-ROM.
It was approved as a European standard by the ECMA General Assembly in June
of 1992. It provides for full Orange Book functionality, including
multisession recording, track-at-once recording, and packet recording.
When used with an Orange Book writer, this will allow write-once CD to
be used more like a general-purpose storage peripheral than is possible
using ISO 9660. ECMA 168 also incorporates the functionality of Rock Ridge:
the ability to use Unix-style filenames, Unix permissions, and deep directory
hierarchies. Much thought was put into character set issues, and ECMA 168
accommodates multiple-byte character sets such as ISO 10646. Although
ECMA 168 is not upward-compatible with ISO 9660, it is possible to write
a "conformant disc" containing both sets of volume and file structures.
If such a disc is Yellow Book compatible (a CD-ROM or a CD-WO written
disc-at-once), it could be read on either an ISO 9660 system or an ECMA
168 system. There are many common elements between ECMA 168 and ECMA
167, which is a new standard intended primarily for WORM and erasable
optical disks. Hopefully this will encourage developers to support both
standards.
The title of the standard is "Volume and File Structure of Read-Only and
Write-Once Compact Disc Media for Information Interchange". This standard
expands upon the ISO-9660 CD-ROM standard.
At the current time, I do not know of any companies which support ECMA 168
in their products.
A new draft international standard on CD-ROM/CD-WO format:
ISO/IEC DIS 13490 Volume and File Structure of Read-only
and Write-once Compact Disc Media for Information Interchange
is currently undergoing letter ballot process and voting may
end at end of August, 1993.
DIS 13490 is also the ECMA Standard 168, which is derived from
the Frankfurt Group proposal. Copies of this draft standard
should be available at the ANSI or ECMA office.
DIS 13490 is designed to support both the CD-ROM (yellow book) and
CD-WO (orange book) conforming media. In addition, DIS 13490 removed
many unnecessary restrictions of ISO 9660, and is compatible
with ISO 9660 at the directory and file structures level.
DIS 13490 conforming discs can also be made to be read
by both ISO 9660 and DIS 13490 conforming receiving systems.
The ECMA 168 specification is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com in the directory pub/cdrom/ecma168.
==========================================================================
30. Is a short technical introduction to these standards available?
The file ftp.apple.com(130.43.2.3): /pub/cd-rom/cd-rom.summary gives
a short techie introduction to compact disc technology.
----
There is a good short general article on CD-Rom and its's many
variations (CD-XA, CD-I, CDTV, PhotoCD) called MULTIMEDIA IN A MUDDLE
by Barry Fox in the New Scientist (London, ISSN# 0262-4079) vol. 131
no. 1787 (Sep 21, 1991) pp.35-38
----
There is a very good article by Bill and Lynne Jolitz "Inside the
ISO-9660 Filesystem Format" in the December 1992 Dr. Dobbs Journal.
Detailed source code examples are provided. They are planning followup
articles covering Rock Ridge, CDI and CDROM-XA.
----
The SAMS book "Principles of Digital Audio" by Ken C. Pohlmann (ISBN
0-672-22634-0) deals primarily with audio CDs but there are sections
dealing with CD-ROM, CD-I, DVI, CD-V, CD-WO, Erasable CD, CD + G and
CD + MIDI.
----
There is a good brief explaination of all these standards in the paper
"Compact Disc Terminology"
Nancy Klocko
Disc Manufacturing Inc.
1409 Foulk Road, Suite 202
Wilmington, DE 19803
1-800-433-DISC
Here is some information from the paper:
Standards:
Red Book == CD-Audio
Yellow Book == CD-ROM
Mode-1 is for computer data
Mode-2 is for compressed audio data and video/picture data
CD-ROM/XA == an EXTENSION to Yellow Book and defines a new type of track.
CD-ROM Mode 2, XA Format, is used for computer data, compressed audio
data, and video/picture data. A CD-ROM / XA track may interleave Mode 2
compressed audio and Mode 2 data sectors. Additional hardware is needed
to separate these when playing the disc. The hardware is programmed to
separate the audio from the data, decompress the audio and play it out
through the audio jacks. At the same time, the hardware passes the data
to the computer.
NOTE: Additional hardware is needed to play a CD-ROM / XA disc. Several
vendors offer an XA interface board that will allow an existing CD-ROM
drive to play CD-ROM / XA discs.
Green Book == Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I)
Orange Book == Recordable Compact disc Standard
Part I - CD-MO (Magneto Optical)
Consists of optional Pre-Mastered (READ-ONLY) area and a Recordable
(re-writable) user area.
Part II - CD-WO (Write Once)
Orange Book Part II also defines a second type of CD-WO disk called
a "Hybrid Disc". This disc consists of a Pre-recorded Area and a
Recordable Area. The Pre-recorded area is a READ ONLY area where
the information is manufactured into the disc. (This area is written
per the Red, Yellow, and Green Book specifications, and can be played
on any CD-Player.) The Recordable areas are where additional
recordings can be made in one or more sessions. Only the first
session on the disc is readable by todays CD-Players; additional
software will be needed to read the additional sessions.
A TOC (Table of Contents) is written during each recording session.
Disc will have multiple TOCs, one for each recording session.
Photo-CD is an example of a "Hybrid Disc".
CD-Bridge Disc
The CD-Bridge Disc defines a way to add additional information in
a CD-ROM / XA track in order to allow the track to be played on a
CD-I player. the result is a disc that can be played on both a
CD-I player connected to a TV set and on a CD-ROM / XA player
connected to a computer.
An example of a CD-Bridge Disc is the new Photo-CD disc. The
Photo-CD disc will be playable in CD-I players, Kodak's Photo CD
players and in computers using CD-ROM/XA drives.
Photo-CD
The Photo CDs will be Mode 2 Form 1 sectors per the CD-ROM / XA
specifications. The disc will be written per the Orange Book Part
II "Hybrid Disc" specifications. This will allow photographs to be
written to the disc in several different sessions. Additionally,
the disc will use the CD-Bridge disc format to allow the disc to be
readable by both CD-I and CD-ROM / XA players.
The photographs written to the disc in the first session will use
the ISO 9660 format. These photographs will be readable with the
existing CD-ROM / XA players connected to a computer running new
software written for the Photo CD picture structure. Additionally,
the photographs will be displayable on CD-I Players and Photo CD
Players connected to a TV set.
Photographs written to disc after the first session will be
displayable on CD-I Players and Photo CD players. New software
and/or firmware will be needed to read these additional photographs
with existing CD-ROM/XA players.
==========================================================================
31. Who comes up with these standards? Can I have any input to the process?
In the case of the colored books, they have been developed by engineers
within Philips and Sony. Few people outside these companies have input into
the process.
The file format standards (ISO 9660, Rock Ridge, and ECMA 168) have all
been developed originally by ad-hoc groups of interested people from
various companies in the industry, then have been submitted to established
standards organizations (ECMA, ANSI, ISO) for further work there.
The CD-ROM Architecture Working Group is an official Standards working
Group under the auspices of the IEEE Computer Society by way of the
Standards Committee for Optical Disks and Multimedia Platforms (SCODMP)
chaired and sponsored by Dr. Lawrence Welsch, PhD. Mike Rubinfeld is
presently the Chair of the working group. They are working in accordance
with a Project Authorization Request (PAR) for the development of a CD-ROM
architecture profile that hopefully will be made into an international
standard. The PAR was approved by the Standards Activity Board (SAB) of
the IEEE/CS last June and the Architecture Profile will probably be ready
for balloting by August, 1993.
For more information, contact:
Mike Rubinfeld
NIST
Bldg. 225, MS:B266
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
(301) 975-3064
Email: mi...@mml.ncsl.nist.gov
==========================================================================
32. Are there any ftp sites with good stuff related to CD-ROMs?
A couple of sites with cdrom related stuff are
ftp.cdrom.com (192.153.46.2): /cdrom [ This site is maintained by me. ]
Get the file cdrom/README for a list of files.
cs.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4): /pub/cdrom
==========================================================================
33. How do I write an MSDOS program that can access a cdrom using MSCDEX?
The MSCDEX interface documentation is available on the Microsoft Programmer's
Library CD-ROM. This also has detailed specifications for drivers that talk
to MSCDEX. It even provides solutions to a number of sticky problems.
The file mscdex21.zip contains Microsoft's info on how to talk to the
CD-ROM extensions (MSCDEX.EXE) and a sample DOS application which is crude
but effective in playing audio tracks. This file is available via
anonymous ftp from ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/pub/pc/win3/uploads/mscdex21.zip
or cdrom.com:/cdrom/mscdex21.zip.
MSCDEX programming information can be found in INTER31?.ZIP. Ralf Brown's
interrupt bible. The information is very complete. The interrupt list
is available via anonymous ftp from Simtel20 (wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) or
from the mirror site wuarchive.wustl.edu: /mirrors/msdos/info/inter31?.zip.
There is a book by Ray Duncan (Microsoft Press) detailing all extensions
to Dos (XMS, LIM EMS, MSCDEX etc..) which should be available in book
stores. The title is "MS-DOS EXTENSIONS" ISBN 1-55615-212-4.
==========================================================================
34. How do I mount an ISO-9660 disc on a Sun?
a. SunOS 4.1.x:
Su to root and run this command,
# mount -r -t hsfs /dev/sr0 /cdrom
or even better, put the following line in your /etc/fstab
/dev/sr0 /cdrom hsfs ro 0 0
and then run
# mount /cdrom
Don Trimmer, of Delta Microsystems, has written a program that allows
safe mount/umount operations without requiring super user permissions.
You can get his program by anonymous ftp from cdrom.com:/cdrom/mount.c
b. Sun Solaris 2.2 and later
Just insert the CD-ROM in the drive. If it's a HSFS format disk, it
will get mounted automatically (under /cdrom). If it's a UNIX fileystem
format, it will also get mounted automatically. It it's an audio disk,
nothing will happen UNLESS you have enabled audio CD's, by uncommenting
or adding this line to the end of /etc/rmmount.conf and restarted "vold":
action cdrom action_workman.so /bin/workman
(changing /bin/workman to wherever workman or some other Audio CD player
program is located). Actions are being developed for other types of CD's.
==========================================================================
35. How do I use a cdrom with OS/2?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CD-ROM Players Directly Supported by OS/2 2.1 GA:
CD Technology T3301
Hitachi CDR-1650
Hitachi CDR-1750
Hitachi CDR-3650
Hitachi CDR-3750
IBM CD-ROM I
IBM CD-ROM II
NEC 25
NEC 36
NEC 37
NEC 72
NEC 74
NEC 82
NEC 83
NEC 84
NEC Multispin 38
NEC Multispin 74
NEC Multispin 84
Panasonic CR-501
Panasonic LK-MC501S
Pioneer DRM-600
Pioneer DRM-604X
Sony CDU-541
Sony CDU-561
Sony CDU-6111
Sony CDU-6211
Sony CDU-7211
Texel DM-3021
Texel DM-5021
Toshiba 3201
Toshiba 3301
Toshiba 3401
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Other CD-ROM Players that work with OS/2 2.1 GA but are unlisted:
Apple CD-300 (uses Sony CDU-561 driver?)
Toshiba 4101 (uses Toshiba 3401 driver)
....
Note: The new NEC 3x drives reportedly use the Multispin 74/84 drivers.
Someone please confirm this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional CD-ROM Players supported via external drivers:
Apple CD-150 CDU8002A.ZIP
Chinon 431 CHINONCD.ZIP
Chinon 435 CHINONCD.ZIP
Chinon 535 CHINONCD.ZIP
Mitsumi FX001D MITFX.ZIP
Mitsumi LU002 MITLU002.ZIP
Mitsumi LU005S MITLU002.ZIP
Panasonic 562 SBCD2PAN.ZIP
Panasonic 563B SBCD2PAN.ZIP
Philips CM-205 LMS205.ZIP
Philips CM-206 LMS206.ZIP
Sony CDU-31A SONY31A.ZIP
Sony CDU-31A-2 SONY31A.ZIP
Sony CDU-531 SONY535.ZIP or CDU535.ZIP
Sony CDU-535 SONY535.ZIP or CDU535.ZIP
Sony CDU-8002A CDU8002A.ZIP
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OS/2 now also has excellent driver support through Corel SCSI and Corel
SCSI Pro. The Corel package supports most CD-ROM, CD-Recorders, WORM and
MO drives for both DOS and OS/2.
Comput-ability seems to have Corel SCSI on perpetual sale at around $65.
==========================================================================
36. Which CD-ROM Drives will work with Microsoft(r) Windows NT(tm)?
This section of the Usenet alt.cd-rom FAQ lists the SCSI host adapters,
SCSI CD-ROM drives, and multimedia audio adapters which are supported by
Microsoft Windows NT. This information is a subset of the document
"Microsoft(r) Windows NT(tm) Beta March 1993 Hardware Compatibility List
Update"; the complete version of thie document is available on
Compuserve, in either WinNT forum library #1 or MSWin32 library #17.
These adapters and peripherals have passed Windows NT compatibility
testing as of May 1993. This list is a subset of the hardware we expect
to support in the final product and was current at the time it was
published. If your hardware is not listed below, contact your hardware
manufacturer for more information. We have not tested every computer
and/or device in all possible configurations.
While we have endeavored to supply as complete and accurate a list as
possible, MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE
COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY OF THIS LIST. This list does not constitute an
endorsement of any particular manufacturer.
Microsoft and BallPoint are registered trademarks, and Windows and
Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other product names
and trademarks are property of their respective owners.
SCSI(r) Host Adapters
---------------------
The following SCSI adapters have been tested with the following drives
(except as noted): CD Technologies CD Porta-Drive T-3301, NEC Intersect
CDR-74, Micropolis 1924, Peripheral Land Infinity 88, ArchiveST 4000
DAT.
Adaptec(tm) AHA-1510
Adaptec AHA-1520
Adaptec AHA-1522
Adaptec AHA-1540B [2]
Adaptec AHA-1542B [2]
Adaptec AHA-1542C
Adaptec AHA-1640
Adaptec AHA-1740 [3]
Adaptec AHA-1742 [3]
Adaptec AHA-1740A [4]
Adaptec AHA-1742A [4]
Adaptec AIC-6260 [5]
BusLogic BT-542B
BusLogic BT-545S
BusLogic BT-640A
BusLogic BT-646S
BusLogic BT-742A
BusLogic BT-747S
DPT PM2011b (incl. cache)
DPT PM2012b (incl. cache)
Future Domain MCS-600 (Future Domain's phone number: +1-714-253-0400)
Future Domain MCS-700
Future Domain TMC-845 [6]
Future Domain TMC-850
Future Domain TMC-850M(ER)
Future Domain TMC-860
Future Domain TMC-860M
Future Domain TMC-885
Future Domain TMC-1650
Future Domain TMC-1660
Future Domain TMC-1670
Future Domain TMC-1680
Future Domain TMC-7000EX
IBM PS/2 Microchannel SCSI Host Adapter [7]
IBM PS/2 Microchannel SCSI Host Adapter (with cache)
Maynard 16-Bit SCSI Adapter [8]
NCR 53C700 SCSI Adapter
NCR 53C710 SCSI Adapter
NCR 53C90 SCSI Controller [9,10]
NCR 53C94 SCSI Controller [11]
Olivetti ESC-1
Olivetti ESC-2 [12]
Trantor T-128 [13,14,6]
Trantor T-130b [13,6]
UltraStor 14f [15]
UltraStor 24f [16]
UltraStor 34f
UltraStor 124f [17]
Native SCSI adapter on MIPS ARC/R4000 systems from ACER, MIPS and Olivetti
SCSI CD-ROM Drives
------------------
The following CD-ROM drives have been tested with the following
adapters: Adaptec AHA-1542b, AHA-1640 and AHA-1740A; Future Domain
TMC-1670 and TMC-850M; IBM PS/2 Microchannel SCSI Host Adapter (with
cache); UltraStor 24f.
CD-Technology CD Porta-Drive T-3301 Toshiba TXM-3301-based
CD-Technology CD Porta-Drive T-3401 Toshiba TXM-3401
Chinon CDX-431 [18]
COMPAQ DualSpeed Sony CDU-561-based
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro sound card with a proprietary
interface to Panasonic CD-ROMs
DEC RRD 42-DA Sony CDU-541-based
Denonr DRD 253
Hitachir CDR-1750S [19]
IBM 3510
IBM Enhanced Internal
CDROM II Drive 32G2958 Toshiba TXM-3401-based
IBM Enhanced External
CDROM II Drive 3510005 Toshiba TXM-3401-based
IBM PS/2 CDROM II Drive Toshiba TXM-3301-based
Matsushita CR-501B Panasonic
Matsushita CR-521 Panasonic
Matsushita CR-561 Panasonic
NEC Intersect CDR-73M
NEC Intersect CDR-83M
NEC Intersect CDR-74
NEC Intersect CDR-84
Panasonicr CR-501B [18]
Philips CM-215
Pioneerr DRM-600 [20]
Procom Technology MCD-DS Toshiba TXM-3401-based
Sony CDU-541 [21]
Sony CDU-6211
Sony CDU-7211
Texel DM-5021 [18]
Toshiba TXM-3201 old model, replaced by TXM-3301
Toshiba TXM-3301
Toshiba TXM-3401
Multimedia Audio Adapters
-------------------------
The following audio adapters have undergone preliminary testing.
Creative Labs SoundBlaster(tm) 1.x
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Pro(tm) [26]
Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum [26,27]
Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum-16 [26,27]
Media Vision Thunder Board [26]
Microsoft Windows(tm) Sound System
Native sound adapter on MIPS ARC/R4000 systems from ACER and MIPS
Relavent footnotes (2-21,26,27)
-------------------------------
2 Tested with firmware revisions 3.10 and 3.20.
3 This adapter must be configured for 5 MB/second asynchronous I/O to work
with listed CD-ROM drives from NEC.
4 This adapter must be configured for 5 MB/second asynchronous I/O to work
with listed CD-ROM drives from Chinon, Hitachi and NEC.
5 Tested with Unisys PW2Advantage 3256 (Flemington).
6 To use this adapter, at least one device on the bus must provide
termination power.
7 This adapter does not support 4mm DAT drives.
8 The Maynard SCSI Controller can be used as a general purpose SCSI
controller for all tasks except CD Setup. To install Windows NT with
this adapter, use the WINNT.EXE Setup method.
9 Tested with NCR System 3000 Model 3320 and Compaq Portable 486c.
10 The NCR System 3000 Model 3320 with this SCSI controller does not support
tape backup.
11 Tested with NCR System 3000 Model 3350.
12 This adapter must be configured for asynchronous I/O to work with NEC
Intersect CDR-73(M) and Pioneer DRM-600 CD-ROM drives.
13 This adapter is supported only on IRQ 5.
14 This adapter does not support tape drives.
15 Contact UltraStor for an upgrade if you encounter CD-ROM problems.
16 Contact UltraStor for an upgrade if you encounter tape drive problems.
17 The UltraStor 124f is a RAID controller. It supports hard drives and
removable media drives only.
18 CD audio is not supported on this drive.
19 Soft (recoverable) errors may occur when used with Future Domain 8xx
series adapters.
20 The Adaptec AHA-1640 only supports a single compact disc when used with
this CD-ROM drive.
21 CD Audio is not supported on Sony CD-ROM drives when used with the
Adaptec AHA-1640.
26 Supported in SoundBlaster 1.x emulation mode only.
27 The external MIDI connector on this adapter is not supported.
==========================================================================
37. How do I read an audio cd track as digital data?
Most CD-ROM drives cannot decode audio information. There are
firmware and data path reasons why it doesn't work.
The following drives have can do digital audio extraction over the SCSI bus:
Apple 300, 300i (Sony CDU-8003, CDU-8003A)
Apple's "New" CD (Matsushita CR-8004)
Chinon CDS-535 (note: needs v2.0 firmware "Q20" or "R20")
NEC CDR 500, CDR 510, CDR 600 (MultiSpin 3x series)
NEC CDR 400 (MultiSpin 3xp portable)
NEC CDR 900 (MultiSpin 4x Pro quadruple speed)
NEC CDR 84-1 (74-1) only with special new firmware upgrade from NEC
Sony CDU-561
Toshiba XM 3301TE (Silicon Graphics version)
Toshiba XM 3401TA, XM 3401B
Toshiba XM 3401TE (Silicon Graphics, and Sun versions)
Toshiba XM 4101TA
The Hitachi 6750S might, if the rumors prove true
On an Amiga, you may use the program 'cddarip' to extract audio
data from a Toshiba TXM-3401 drive. The program 'PlayCDDA' reads any
audio track from an audio disk in a Toshiba TXM-3401 drive and
reproduces the digitized sound on the Amiga's internal loudspeaker.
Both programs are freely distributable, and can are available via
anonymous FTP from any Aminet site, e.g. ftp.cdrom.com in the
directory /pub/aminet/disk/cdrom.
On a Macintosh you can put the CD into an Apple 300 CD-ROM, and using
QuickTime 1.6, record the music (at 44KHz) to your (hopefully very large)
hard drive as a QT soundtrack. At that point there are a number of tools
available to edit and massage the sound, and change the file format into
something else.
For the Toshiba drives, you issue a MODE SELECT command with density
code 0x82 and then all read's with an lba inside a digital audio track
will return 2352 bytes audio samples / block.
There are several ways to read digital audio from Sony CDU 561
and Sony CDU 8003 mechanisms. Note that the technique of merely
setting the density (0x82) using MODE SELECT SCSI command as on
Toshiba TXM-3401s will not work.
Here are three ways to read digital audio Red Book standard
audio track data across the SCSI bus into your computer complete
with all sound processing already performed (For example the
CIRC routine already run and the output is LRLRLR pairs of 16
bit digital audio samples 2352 bytes per CD-ROM block.
Method 1 : READ CD-DA scsi command 0xD8
Byte 0: D8
1: <LUN stuff> 0
2: <4th most significant byte of logical block address>
3: <3rd byte>
4: <2nd>
5: <1st, lowest of the address>
6: <4th most significant byte of transfer length
7: <3rd byte>
8: <2nd>
9: <1st, lowest of the number of contiguos blocks to transfer>
10: <special sub code selector> (0 == normal 2352, other values
are 01, 02, 03)
11: <control>
Method 2 : READ CD-DA MSF scsi command 0xD9
byte 0: D9
1: <LUN stuff> 0
2: 0
3: <starting minute in binary not BCD>
4: <starting second in binary not BCD>
5: <starting frame (75th of a second) in binary not BCD>
6: 0
7: <ending minute in binary not BCD>
8: <ending second in binary not BCD>
9: <ending frame (75th of a second) in binary not BCD>
10: <special sub code selector> (0 == normal 2352 each, other
values are 01, 02, 03)
11: <control>
For this one you will need to remember how to convert MSF to
logical (LBA) address to set the SCSI transfer length correctly
to avoid the Mac SCSI manager reporting a phase error. to
calculate the number of bytes total you will get use the formula:
((Me-Ms)*60*75 + (Se-Ss) * 75 + (Fe-Fs)) * (2352)
Method 3 : MODE SELECT (6) 0x15
This is a very complex topic to discuss, but if you know how to
use the SCSI mode select page commands the third more direct
(and jitter filled) method to get digital audio across the SCSI
bus on the new SONY devices is to set the block length of the
volatile settings in the 6th 7th and 8th bytes of the Block
descriptor section of a MODE select list with 0 or more pages
(12 bytes for none) to a setting of either 2352, 2368, or 2448.
You want 2352, but I have not tried this technique and Sony
recommends the special streaming commands.
WARNING: for high quality use large transfers but QUICKLY
reissue another command as soon as a command is completed. The
head must never come to a rest for 100% pure results.
-------
The format of a CD-DA sector, that the Toshiba TXM-3401 returns, is not
too complicated: each sector contains 2352 bytes, these are devided
into 588 16-bit signed stereo samples of 4 bytes each. The 16-bit
samples are returned in 'low byte first' (i386, ...) byte order. The
16-bit samples in the sector are intended alternating for the left and
right channel, starting with the left channel.
struct cdda_sector {
struct cdda_sample {
char left_channel_lsb;
char left_channel_msb;
char right_channel_lsb;
char right_channel_msb;
} samples[588];
};
-------
If you want to do low-level SCSI programming, call Toshiba Direct at
1-800-678-4373. The document is entitled "Toshiba CD-ROM, SCSI-2 Interface
Specifications, Ver. 6.0, Issued Jul., 1992". The cost is $7.64 + $4
shipping. Note that this is extremely technical material, and won't be
useful to the average user.
==========================================================================
39. Why do all the bundle deals require me to buy a drive? What if I
already have a drive?
Many disc producers sell outdated or surplus discs at steep discounts
to be bundled with new drives. The theory is that the new drive owner
will find the discs useful, and order the latest version at full price.
There are some bundle deals that do not require you to buy a new drive.
For instance, the CD-ROM User's Group (see above) has a bundle of ten
discs for $99.
==========================================================================
40. Are alt.cd-rom archives available anywhere?
Starting in January 1994, the archives for the following newsgroups
are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com in the directory
/pub/cdrom/usenet:
alt.cd-rom
aus.cdrom
aus.computers.cdrom
bit.listserv.cdrom-l
bit.listserv.cdromlan
comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia
comp.publish.cdrom.software
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.cd-rom
de.alt.cdrom
unibase.bitnet.cdromlan
You can retrieve old alt.cd-rom articles via email:
For a list of files available, send the message
INDEX CDROM-L
as the first line of your e-mail message to:
LIST...@UCCVMA.BITNET
or the Internet form of address:
LIST...@UCCVMA.UCOP.EDU
To retrieve an archived message, send the e-mail message
GET CDROM-L LOGyymm
or SENDME CDROM-L LOGyymm as above
where yymm is the year and month of the archive wanted.
e.g. LOG9110 = Log of October 91 messages.
==========================================================================
41. What is the shelf-life of a CD-ROM?
If a CD-ROM is not manufactured properly, the lifetime can be very
short, perhaps only a few years. This can happen if the edge of the
disc is not properly sealed, and oxygen reaches the metal surface.
If the disc is manufactured properly, it will last a very long time.
Most CD-ROMs should last for more than a human lifetime.
Philips has proposed new standards for testing CD-ROMs that are expected
to result in discs that will enjoy a life span of more than a thousand
years. For more information see Fox, Barry "CD Makers Perform in Unison
to Stop the Rot" New Scientist 134(1815) (April 4, 1992):19.
The laser used in a CD-ROM drive is very low power, and does not
harm the disc in any way. Reading the disc will not shorten
the lifetime.
==========================================================================
42. How should I handle my CD-ROMs? How do I clean them?
Wash your hands before contact with the disc. If available, wear
lint-free cloth gloves, finger cots, or talc-free latex gloves.
If you must wipe the disc, do so with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth in
a radial motion- that is from the inner to the outer hub- not in a
circular motion around the disc like you might do for a phonograph
record. The most devastating scratches are those which occur along a
circular arc of the disc which can obscure a long stream of pits.
Certain cleaning agents and solvents can damage the discs. Some of
these include: gasoline, paint thinners, benzine, acetone, carbon
tetrachloride, chlorinated cleaning solvents, ammonia, and household
detergents which contain ammonia. Do not clean with a water soaked
cloth. The use of Isopropyl alcohol, the ingredient in many
commercial CD cleaning products, as well as certain waxes and acrylic
liquids, is still questionable.
Do not clean the label side of the disc.
Use of a CD-ROM caddy is highly recommended during transport and
operation. Limit the amount of physical contact with the disc.
Always handle the disc by the outer edge and/or the inner (hole) edge.
Never touch the data surface.
Discs like to "live" in the same conditions that people do; that is:
They don't like to be manhandled
They don't like exposure to temperature extremes
They don't like exposure to excess humidity
They don't like exposure to high intensity UV light
==========================================================================
43. Which drives will work with Kodak Photo CD?
The following drives offer full Multisession Photo CD Support:
----------------------------
Apple 300, 300i (Sony CDU-8003, CDU-8003A)
Apple PowerCD (Philips CDF080)
Chinon CDS-535
MDI LaserBank 600CDX
NEC CDR-38
NEC CDR-84-1 (CDR-74-1)
NEC CDR 400 (MultiSpin 3xp portable)
NEC CDR 500, CDR 510, CDR 600 (MultiSpin 3x series)
NEC CDR 900 (MultiSpin 4x Pro quadruple speed)
Philips/LMS CM 215
Philips CM 4xx
Philips CM 44x
Sony CDU-561
TEAC CD-50
Texel DM-5024 (DM-3024)
Texel DM-5028 (DM-3028)
Toshiba XM 3401TA (XM 3401B)
Toshiba XM 3401TE (Silicon Graphics version, Sun version)
Toshiba XM 4101TA
The NEC CDR-74/84 works fine with PhotoCD. Older models that have a
firmware revision of 1.0 should be sent back to NEC for a FREE refit,
that upgrades the firmware to 1.0a, and may update some other components.
NEC should be called at 1-(800)-388-8888 follow the recorded messages to
get them to sent the info required for the refit (or hit 6 then 1 to get
there instantly). You will get your drive back in 3-4 business days.
The Kodak Information Center is maintaining a file on the compuserve CDROM
forum of compatible drives, and it has become quite extensive. They also
specify compatible SCSI boards, drivers, and cable configurations. There
are also a couple of subtle issues in compatibility that are still being
worked out. For example, the NEC drives are single session compatible, but
not multi. There are also drives which have been certified as compatible
which are not XA, and there is some indication that this makes them useful
for pictures alone, but not for mixed media Photo-CD productions in the
future.
==========================================================================
44. What is a multisession CD drive?
A CD has an "index" area which contains track details; this is what is
read when you first stick an audio CD into a player. Photo-CDs have a
separate index area each time they are written (because it is impossible
to "update" the index area). A multisession drive is one that knows to
look for multiple index areas. The full details are contained in the
Philips/Sony/Kodak "Orange Book" standard for writable CDs.
==========================================================================
45. How does Photo CD work?
In a nut shell, 35mm film (negative, slide, B&W, internegative) is scanned
by an image scanner and transfered to XA-formatted CD-ROM discs. These
discs are manufactured by burning (writing) -- not by pressing.
Each scanned image on the disc is kept in five resolutions. These five
resolutions are called: Base/16, Base/4, Base, 4Base, and 16Base. As
examples, Base/16 is one sixteenth the resolution of the "Base" image, and
16Base is sixteen times the resolution of "Base". (These are not simply
larger picture elements. There are in increased number of scan lines.)
The 4Base and 16Base images are are compressed using Huffman encoding. You
need the decompression software to pull the higher resolutions out of the
image. You would typically need these higher resolutions if you want
enlargements or if you intend to use an HDTV as a display device.
==========================================================================
46. Where can I get some information about the Kodak Photo CD?
To learn more about Photo CD products or other KODAK desktop color
imaging products, contact Eastman Kodak Company at 1-800-242-2424 Ext 51
or 716-724-1021, ext. 53.
Or send inquiries to the following address:
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Kodak Information Center
Dept. E. 343 State Street
Rochester, NY 14650-0811
Information about PhotoCD is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/photo_cd, and from ftp.kodak.com:/pub/photo-cd.
There is an excellent article on PhotoCD in the Sept 92 issue of
Photographic Magazine.
Eastman Kodak Co recently released Photo CD Access, which is designed
to allow users to integrate CD images into any Windows or Macintosh
Application. Requires a CD ROM XA (Extended Architecture) drive.
Most popular image formats are supported, including TIFF, GIF, TARGA
and PICT. Kodak sells the software directly. $39.95, 1-800-242-2424.
A developer's kit is available for $695 and includes source code as well
as object for PC/MAC.
--------------------
Dick Phillip's Photo-CD application for NeXTs is now loaded in the
pub/next/submissions directory at sonata.cc.purdue.edu. The following
files are available:
pCD0.3.4..README
pCD0.3.4.tar.compressed application
README.pCD
photo_cd.tar.Z test data - simulated photo-CD
photo_cd.tar.Z.README
--------------------
The maximum resolution is 3072 X 2048, 24 bit color.
==========================================================================
47. What are the lowest prices for getting my photo's put on Photo CD?
In the U.S. you can put photos on Photo CD for $0.59 per image from
"LazerQuick" in Beaverton, OR. 1-800-937-9196, 1-503-644-9196.
Fedco stores (LA area) charges $14.99 to develop a 24 exp and create a
new photo CD. To add developed negatives to an exsisting CD it's
$0.56 each negative. Ritz Camera is slighty higher.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In Germany:
Photo Porst
Falbenholzweg 1
91126 Schwabach
Germany
phone: [+49](9122)793-1
fax: [+49](9122)793-259
DM 16,- for the CD
DM 4,95 for the production
DM 1,39 for < 49 photos
DM 1,29 for 50-74 photos
DM 1,19 for > 75 photos
For a complete Photo CD with 100 photos this gives a price of DM 139,95
which would be about US $ 84.
==========================================================================
47. Where can I get maps of the US on CD-ROM?
The USGS is producing a series of cds that contain 1:100,000 scale
digital line graph (DLG) data. Presently, only Florida is available.
Also, 1:2,000,000 DLG cd is available for the US. Call 1-800-USA-MAPS
for more info.
You can also get topo data (with AVHRR coverage) on CD-ROM for $32. This
is DEM (30" elevation data) for the whole US. Contact: EROS Data Center,
Sioux Falls, SD 605-594-6507, or 6511
The Digital Chart of the World (DCW), produced by your Defense Mapping
Agency, is generally acknowledged to be the best data set providing
world-wide coverage. It is at a scale of about 1:1 000 000, and it is
unlikely that you will find data at a larger scale for much of the world.
At $200.00 for the set of 4 CD-ROMs and viewing data, it is considered to
be a steal by most professional users, though it might be a bit of an
overkill for domestic use. You can obtain it from:
U S Geological Survey
Distribution Center
Building 810
Box 25286
Denver, CO 80225
==========================================================================
48. How do I put a CD-ROM Drive on a Novell network?
---------
1. SCSI Express. Corel Corp. SCSI drives only, NLM only.
2. OptiNet by OnLine in Germantown, MD. Both NLM and separate CD-Server.
Any type of drive supported. Up to 128 drives per server.
3. CD-Net by Meridian in Colorado. Software only version of the Meridian
CD-Server. Used to be limited to 21 drives, but may have been upgraded.
Not sure if NLM version is currently available.
Also, CBIS has a hardware/software solution that supports up to 21 drives
per server. No NLM.
All the packages run about $700 for 8 users or less.
[ If anyone has used any of these products, and would like to recommend
yes or no, please let me know.]
---------
Corel sells a SCSI driver package that include NLM's to put
worm drives, CD-Roms etc on a 3.1+ server. The package also includes dos
drivers for just about every device you would want to connect to SCSI.
Only costs about $70.
==========================================================================
49. Are any CD-ROM Jukeboxes available?
There is a Pioneer DRM600 CD-ROM jukebox. It will hold 6 CD's in a
cartridge, costs around $900-$1000, but has a slow drive. Pioneer also
has a new drive coming out in December that is the same 6-CD changer,
but with a 340ms, 600K/Sec drive in it. That will be more like $1400.
It is available from:
Kintronics Computer Products
3 Westchester Plaza
Elmsford, NY 10523
914-347-2530 or 800-431-1658 attention Neal Allen
It is also distributed by Peripheral Solution, in Santa Cruz, 408-425-8280
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A jukebox that handles 240 discs is available from
Kubik Technologies Ltd.
200-3900 Viking Way
Richmond, BC V6V 1V7
604-273-0400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a German firm called NSM that sells CD-jukeboxes for bars,
etc. They have their fast 100-disk changer also available for consumer
purposes and a CD-ROM version. In Holland it is sold by:
LaserMusic Nederland
Leeuwenstein 44
2627 AM Delft, the Netherlands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lotus CD/Networker can have up to 28 CD-ROM drives installed in it.
Lotus Development Corporation, 55 Cambridge Parkway, Cambridge, MA 02142.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Todd Enterprises has a box that can have up to 64 CD-ROM drives mounted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another jukebox is available from Microboards (MBi of America), 308
Broadway, PO Box 130, Carver MN 55315, 612/448-9800, 612/448-9806 (fax),
contact Kathleen Davies
==========================================================================
50. Can I speed up my CD-ROM by using a cache?
There are several programs that cache information from the CD-ROM onto
your hard disk. Since magnetic discs are often more than 10 times faster
than a CD-ROM, this can result in dramatic improvements under some
circumstances.
Most of the programs cache the directory information, so you can traverse
subdirectories quickly. They also cache the most recently accessed blocks
of data. So if you use the same files over and over, or access the same
records in a database, your CD-ROM will seem much faster. But when you
access the information for the first time, it will be just as slow as
ever.
SpeedCache+ from Future Systems has been recommended as a pretty good
caching program.
Future Systems, Inc
0420 South 500 East
Bluffton, IN 46714
(219) 824-4963
------
On the Macintosh a prescanning (Directory, file atrributes, icons, etc)
cache to accelerate the Mac with CD-ROMs exists from two companies
SpeedyCD 1.22 and FWB CD-ROM ToolKit 1.0. FWB seems much faster than
SpeedyCD and can prescan any type of CD-ROM volumes (ProDos, Mac HFS,
MS DOS, ISO9660, PhotoCD etc.) It prescans in the background.
==========================================================================
51. Do you have any info about the CD-ROM filesystems for Amigas?
AmiCDROM
This CDROM filesystem allows an Amiga with SCSI port to access
any ISO 9660, Rockridge or Mac HFS disk. CDTV disks are also
accessible. Contains support for AudioCDs.
AmiCDROM is freeware, and is available by anonymous FTP from any
Aminet site, including ftp.cdrom.com in the directory
/pub/aminet/disk/cdrom.
The following information is taken from the Winter '93
"AC's Guide to the Commodre Amiga" (pages 112, 253, 262, 149)
AsimCDFS
This CD_ROM FIleSystem allows an Amiga/CDTV to access any ISO9660,
HighSierra, or Mac HFS formatted disc. CDTV discs also accessible.
Comes with FishMarket, a disc containing Fred Fish disks 1-637,
and AsimTunes, an intuition-based AudioCD controller program with
ARexx capability. Includes a manual and a painless install procedure.
Supports a number of CD-ROM drives. Requires SCSI controller
compatible with Commodore SCSI-Direct Standard. For 68000,010,020,
030,040 processors. Minimum 512K, more recommended for buffering.
AmigaDOS 1.3/2.0 compatible. $79.00
Asimware Innovations, 101 Country Club Dr,
Hamilton, Ontario L8K 5W4, Canada, (416) 578-
4916 FAX(416) 578-3966
CDx Disk Set
All software needed to attach a SCSI CD-ROM drive to most popular
SCSI controllers, plus a printed manual and two CD-ROM discs (Fish &
More Vols. I and II). Software consists of: CDxFileSystem for access
to ISO 9660, High Sierra, and Mac HFS discs, CDTV emulation software
to run most CDTV titles (1MB chip RAM recommended), audio CD player
software, an assembly/C/Arexx-compatible device for developers, and
more. NTSC/PAL compatible, Requires SCSI controller, SCSI CD-ROM drive.
AmigaDOS 2.0 compatible. $50.00
Xetec, Inc., 2804 Arnold Road, Salina, KS 67401,
(913) 827-0685, FAX(913) 827-6023
CDROM-FS
CDROM-FS version 702 enables Amiga owners to connect most SCSI CD ROM
drives to an Amiga with a SCSI interface. This software provides support
for industry standard ISO 9660/High Sierra format CD ROM discs. It comes
with clear concise instructions, making it easy to install and use.
Requires A590, A2091, A3000, Microbotics Hardframe or GVP. $49.95.
Canadian Prototype Replicas, P.O. Box 8, Breslau,
Ontario, Canada N0B 1M0, (519) 884-4412
==========================================================================
53. What are some good references to CD-ROM reviews?
Reviews of many CDROMs are available by anonymous ftp from ftp.cdrom.com
in /pub/cdrom/reviews.
---------------------------------------------------------
Drive reviews:
"PC-Computing" December 1992
"Macworld", October 1992
"PC-Computing", October 1992
"Computer Shopper", October 1992
---------------------------------------------------------
CD-ROM LAN Server reviews:
"LAN Times", January 11, 1993
"PC Magazine", December 31, 1991
---------------------------------------------------------
Jan Schwenk, the president and CEO of Resource International, runs a BBS
containing many CD-ROM reviews. The number is (817)-582-0672 at 8N1.
Admission is free.
==========================================================================
54. How do I put a CD-ROM Drive on a Ethernet by using a unix system
(e.g. a SUN ) as a server and PCs as clients.
Edmund J. Sutcliffe <edm...@york.ac.uk> writes:
If you mount an ISO format CD-ROM on you sun using the commands previously
mentioned in Question 34 and export it to the network using
# exportfs /cdrom
It is then made available for mounting using NFS to other devices.
The PC can mount the CD-ROM using any NFS Client including Sun's PC-NFS.
(This is the product we use) Most PC search software requires the presence
of MSCDEX to work with the CD-ROM. Daniel Churchman of Digital Solutions
Pty Ltd, of Queensland Australia wrote a simplistic MSCDEX faker called
MXSUB in May 1990 which they release under GNU Public License in January '92.
This work well with early versions of the search software.Colin Ian King
<c...@ukc.ac.uk> wrote a small quantitiy of C code which fakes the MSCDEX
extensions required by many PC packages. He also produced a list of which
search software used which MSCDEX functions. This code is released under
GNU Public license and is available from ftp.york.ac.uk in /pub/cd-rom,
via anonymous FTP. This faker can work with an Microsoft Compatible Network
which can see CD-ROMs.
It is also necessary sometimes to set the volume label of the NFS mounted
drive. "Malcolm E. Sherrington" <msh...@rpms.ac.uk> in an article in the
proceeding of the UKUUG confernce of January '93 talks about the problems
in doing this. He wrote a program call NFSLABEL to label PC-NFS mounted
Network Drives. However, this code was slow to be release and Robert
Turner <Robert...@brunel.ac.uk> wrote similar code called LABELNFS
which is available in source form. All this code is available from
ftp.york.ac.uk in /pub/pc-nfs. This code has been sucessfully used with
BRS/Search SilverPlatter and WilsonDisk search software.
The only CD-ROM search software which has been made available to me for
testing purpose, on the Macintosh is SilverPlatters SPIRS. We have a
GatorCS/Rack running GatorShare, an Apple Filing Protocol to NFS convert.
(For more info mail sup...@cayman.com) This allows the Macs to see NFS
file store as Appleshare Volumes. To mount CD-ROM to the Mac you must do
the following:
1) mount the CD-ROM on a Mac using a local CD-ROM. This
will give you the Volume Name of the CD-ROM as seen to the Mac.
2) mount the CD-ROM on the NFS server.
3) Using GatorKeeper, the management software for GatorShare create a
new AppleShare Volume called the same name as the volume when the
CD-ROM was mounted locally.
This volume should mount the CD-ROM exported from the NFS server but the
DESKTOP file should be create on some other section of NFS disk as it
cannot be created on the CD-ROM. GatorKeeper will confirm the volume
creation and then uses can mount the Volumes using the Chooser as usual.
The user community can now mount the CD-ROM over the network to their Mac
just like any other network volume and the SPIRS search software can us it.
It is possible to Automate this mount and search software to make it
transparent to the user and so limit usuage.
It should be noted that it is important to license approriately copies
of the CD-ROMs before exporting them generally over the network. You might
also want to restrict access to appropriate netgroups. Also license
locking the search software satisfies certain companies, but not all.
==========================================================================
54. How do I read the UPC (universal product code?) from a CDROM?
The precense of the UPC on a CD is optional, although all the audio
CDs have one. CDROMs might not have a UPC, however.
There's an MSCDEX function to get the UPC (int 2F, AX=0x1510,
CX=<CDROM drive letter>, ES:BX=<Addr Request Header> with the
request header filled with the IOCTL INPUT command 14 (get UPC)).
The MSCDEX documentation (chapters 10 and 11) will give you more
information.
==========================================================================
55. How do I Put a CD-ROM driver on the Ethernet by using a unix system as
a server and make it available to the PC and Mac.
Edmund J. Sutcliffe <edm...@york.ac.uk> writes:
If you mount an ISO format CD-ROM on you sun using the commands previously
mentioned in Question 34 and export it to the network using
# exportfs /cdrom
It is then made available for mounting using NFS to other devices.
The PC can mount the CD-ROM using any NFS Client including Sun's PC-NFS.
(This is the product we use) Most PC search software requires the presence
of MSCDEX to work with the CD-ROM. Daniel Churchman of Digital Solutions
Pty Ltd, of Queensland Australia wrote a simplistic MSCDEX faker called
MXSUB in May 1990 which they release under GNU Public License in January '92.
This work well with early versions of the search software.Colin Ian King
<c...@ukc.ac.uk> wrote a small quantitiy of C code which fakes the MSCDEX
extensions required by many PC packages. He also produced a list of which
search software used which MSCDEX functions. This code is released under
GNU Public license and is available from ftp.york.ac.uk in /pub/cd-rom,
via anonymous FTP. This faker can work with an Microsoft Compatible Network
which can see CD-ROMs.
It is also necessary sometimes to set the volume label of the NFS mounted
drive. "Malcolm E. Sherrington" <msh...@rpms.ac.uk> in an article in the
proceeding of the UKUUG confernce of January '93 talks about the problems
in doing this. He wrote a program call NFSLABEL to label PC-NFS mounted
Network Drives. However, this code was slow to be release and Robert
Turner <Robert...@brunel.ac.uk> wrote similar code called LABELNFS
which is available in source form. All this code is available from
ftp.york.ac.uk in /pub/pc-nfs. This code has been sucessfully used with
BRS/Search SilverPlatter and WilsonDisk search software.
The only CD-ROM search software which has been made available to me for
testing purpose, on the Macintosh is SilverPlatters SPIRS. We have a
GatorCS/Rack running GatorShare, an Apple Filing Protocol to NFS convert.
(For more info mail sup...@cayman.com) This allows the Macs to see NFS
file store as Appleshare Volumes. To mount CD-ROM to the Mac you must do
the following:
1) mount the CD-ROM on a Mac using a local CD-ROM. This
will give you the Volume Name of the CD-ROM as seen to the Mac.
2) mount the CD-ROM on the NFS server.
3) Using GatorKeeper, the management software for GatorShare create a
new AppleShare Volume called the same name as the volume when the
CD-ROM was mounted locally.
This volume should mount the CD-ROM exported from the NFS server but the
DESKTOP file should be create on some other section of NFS disk as it
cannot be created on the CD-ROM. GatorKeeper will confirm the volume
creation and then uses can mount the Volumes using the Chooser as usual.
The user community can now mount the CD-ROM over the network to their Mac
just like any other network volume and the SPIRS search software can us it.
It is possible to Automate this mount and search software to make it
transparent to the user and so limit usuage.
It should be noted that it is important to license approriately copies
of the CD-ROMs before exporting them generally over the network. You might
also want to restrict access to appropriate netgroups. Also license
locking the search software satisfies certain companies, but not all.
-------
I hope the above is of use to you. I have been working on this problem
for 18 months on and off and finally I have got round to documenting it as
above. All the code mentions is Public Domain. If you wish to mirror it
please feel free as we only have limited Internet access. New updates
appear about every 2 or 3 months.
=============================================================================
56. Where can I find a full text retrieval engine for a CDROM I am making?
Here is a list of Full-Text Retrieval Engines from the CD-PUB FAQ.
ROMWARE: Nimbus
800.782.0778 US (0600) 890682 UK for Europe
804.985.1100 US
FTR: Sony PDSC
408.372.2812 US
re:Search MicroRetrieval Corporation
617.577.1574 USA Fax: 617.577.9517
Dataware Dataware Technologies
617.621.0820 US Fax: 617.621.0307
Views 3.0 Folio Corporation
801.375.3700 US Fax: 801.374.5753
FullText SDK Fulcrum Technologies
613.238.1761 Canada Fax: 613.238.7695
I-SEARCH I-Mode Retrieval Systems
914.968.7008 US Fax: 914.968.9340
WorldView Interleaf Corporation
617.290.0710 US Fax: 617.290.4943
KRS Knowledge Set Corporation
408 738-3400 US Fax: 415.968.9962
OptiWare Online Computer Systems
301.428.3700 US Fax: 301.428.2903
WPL Personal Library Software
MacPL 301.990.1155 US Fax: 301.963.9738
MasterView TMS Inc
405.377.0880 US Fax: 405.377.0452
MicroKey MicroKey Inc.
800.521.3575 US Fax: 714.258.3215
=============================================================================
57. Is there any *FREE* CD-ROM mastering software, with full source code?
Eric Youngdale has written a Gnu-ware ISO-9660+Rockridge formatter.
It has been tested on both Linux and SunOS 4.1.3. You can ftp it
from ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/cdrom/mkisofs-1.00.tar.gz.
It is also on the Yggdrasil Linux CDROM, which sells for $49. You can
call Yggdrasil at +1 (510) 526-7531.
=============================================================================
John Bunting
>There used to be a CD-ROM FAQ. Can someone post it to this group? Or post it to
John Bunting jobu...@delphi.com Quincy, IL