CD Writing Techniques

Software for writing data CDs

for Windows: Ahead Software's 'Nero - Burning ROM' (cost?)
http://www.ahead.de/

Software for writing audio CDs

for Windows: Exact Audio Copy (free)
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Hardware for writing audio and data CDs

if you're reading and writing audio CDs then Adaptec and Plextor are your friends. Plextor make probably the best quality audio readers and writers. if you can afford it, use a SCSI system - an Adaptec SCSI controller and Plextor SCSI CD-ROM and SCSI CD-RW. otherwise use a Plextor ATA (IDE) CD-RW

Hardware for reading audio CDs

Teac CD-540E (32 UK Pounds + VAT)
most Plextor drives

CD Media for writing audio and data onto

some batches of TDK CD-R74 CMEC, branded by TDK, made by The Taiyo Yuden Company
or anything by The Taiyo Yuden Company

http://www.cdmediaworld.com has lots of information on this sortof thing

CDs are made of a couple of different compouinds, with differing lifespans. some will last a couple of years, some decades. you can use media with a protective coating so that fingerprints and scratches don't affect the actual media, which can be most appropriate for audio CDs where the media is being handled more often, but can also be relevant for data CDs. Check the web site of your CD writer's manufacturer to see if they recommend media in particular

Potential Problem Areas With ATA (IDE) CD Writer Systems in Windows

the trick is to make the hardware and software systems as simple and error-free as possible, so that they remain stable whilst writing the CD writer

• Turn off ‘Auto Insert Notification’ for the CD writer (Start -> Settings -> ControlPanel -> System -> DeviceManager -> CDROM -> your specific CD device -> Settings -> Options -> Auto insert notification

• Have the CD writer on its own ATA (IDE) channel, i.e. 'secondary master', without a secondary slave connected

• Turn off most programs that are sitting in memory whilst you write the CD. as a minimum in Windows you need to leave ‘Systray’ and ‘Explorer’. programs offer a number of different means by which to close them down and/or prevent them from auto loading:

  • if they show up on the right hand side of the task bar (usually at the bottom of your desktop), a menu option might offer to close the program down (perhaps by right clicking with the mouse on the program's icon). this will stop it running until you re-boot the computer

  • removing from \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

  • removing an entry in the \Windows\system.ini file

  • removing an entry in the \Windows\win.ini file

  • making a choice somewhere in the program's options section to not auto load

  • turn off memory resident programs that don’t show up on the toolbar by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del and ‘End Task’ing the programs, but remember to leave ‘Systray’ and ‘Explorer’

  • a setting in this registry entry can auto load a program: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • ideally, create a dedicated ‘CDWRITER’ user profile in which extraneous software isn't loaded

• Be wary of Power Management settings that may switch the computer off if unattended for a set period of time, these can be configured both in the BIOS (when the computer first boots-up you get the option of viewing/changing BIOS settings) and within Windows itself (Start/Settings/ControlPanel/PowerManagement wants to be ‘disabled’ and/or times for monitor, hard disk, etcetera, set to never switch off)

• Physically remove a Local Area Network connection

• Don’t touch the surface of the CD before writing to it - a CD needs to be treated with as much delicacy as a photograph negative

• Make sure there is enough free space on the hard disk if it is being used for temporary space or for storing a CD image file (Windows95 and 98 want between 50MB and 100MB of free disk space to run healthily)

• Defragment the hard disk regularly (a good workaround for this is to have a seperate partition of perhaps 750MB set aside for CD-writing; copy data to that partition just for the period you write it to CD, then delete it, and that partition will remain unfragmented)

• Beware of scratches and dirt on the original CD. where a standard CD player might skip because of a scratch or dirt, on a copy this becomes short individual or intermittant bursts of crackle, or static-type hiss

CD Writers

(include 'FORMATS' and 'DATA FILE SYSTEM OPTIONS' and 'WRITING METHODS') which software tests for what?

• Adaptec Easy CD Creator tests support for DAE; average rate of DAE (reckons Wearns CD-RW supports 1098KB/sec)
• EAC

other characteristics:

• accurate stream

• Oak Technology
• Winbond

CD Writer software

(include 'FORMATS' and 'DATA FILE SYSTEM OPTIONS' and 'WRITING METHODS')

Blank CD media

Miscellaneous Advice

• "disks can be made of different materials, which last for differing amounts of time", "some only for about maybe 4 years"
• "disks only recordable at 2speed are made of something that if tried to write to faster causes skipping"
• "cheaper disks don’t always run the full time, with a disk for 78 mins, some might do 77mins, others 78"
• "unbranded CDs will lose small files when written to quickly (i.e. at 4X)"

CD Capacities

CD Data File System Options

Features: ISO9660 can be bootable

is XA ‘Extra’?

CD Formats

• Mixed-Mode
• CD-XA Bridge Disc

CD-R Writing methods

Explanations

ISO9660
Joliet
Mode 1 / CDROM
Mode 2 / CDROM XA

Thermal Re-calibration
"Many large capacity hard drives require frequent thermal re-calibration, an automatic adjustment which compensates for the fact that as a drive heats up, its disk surface expands at different rates. Thermal re-calibration is particularly important in high-capacity drives, where the density of data requires very close tolerances. Although the re-calibration process is very fast, typical re-calibration interruptions of from 400 milliseconds to 2 seconds are enough to disrupt the transfer of data to a CD-Writer.
Many drive manufacturers have responded to the thermal re-calibration problem by preventing the re-calibration cycle from starting if the computer is reading from or writing to the disk. However, many drives do not include this safeguard. If you suspect that thermal re-calibration is causing throughput problems during CD recording, power up the drive a few hours before you intend to use it. A cold drive will re-calibrate approximately once every 10 minutes; a warm drive will re-calibrate approximately once every hour.
If you are planning to purchase a drive specifically for the purpose of CD recording, please contact the drive manufacturer for assistance in identifying drive models which provide advanced thermal re-calibration controls."
©1996-1998 Padus, Incorporated

Cdrom reader: CR-585B
Interface: ATAPI
Manufacturer: Matsushita/Panasonic
Firmware revision: ZS18
Audio reading speed: 6x (inner part), 12x (outter part)
Reading offset: FIXED (+103 samples)
Accurate stream: supported
SPDIF output port: included, based on IEC-958
Cd recorder: CDD3610
Interface: ATAPI
Manufacturer: Philips
Firmware revision: 3.09
Recording speed: 2x
Audio reading speed: 6x (Constant Linear Velocity)
Writing offset: RANDOM (varies from +15 to +25 samples)
Accurate stream: supported
SPDIF output port: not included

Document ¤ Version: 2.0.2 | Licence: GNU General Public License | Copyright: © 1999-2001 Pete Boyd
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