1. Videos on CD Don't Play Smoothly. Can I Fix This?
Reader: I can't get your video instructions to pay smoothly so I can understand them. Your voice skips and is shaky. I have QuickTime installed and also Windows Media Player 7. Can you help me?
Computer Doctor: The default QuickTime sound settings work for most computers. However, if you experience sound drop-out problems on your computer, here are some things you can try.
If DirectSound is available for your computer, make sure you have the latest sound driver and the current version of Direct X.
If you still experience sound problems, adjust the size of the sound buffer QuickTime uses. Larger buffers reduce the chance of drop-outs, but increase latency for interactive uses of sound.
Adjusting the size of the Sound Buffers:
1. Open the Control Panels window.
2. Open QuickTime Settings.
3. Select the Sound Out panel
4. Select the WaveOut or DirectSound device Depends on your computer configuration.
5. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the control panel.
6. Adjust the settings
7. Test the movie you were experiencing problems with.
8. Keep adjusting the settings until the audio problem is corrected.
DirectSound Settings:
The size of the sound buffer is set in milliseconds. Increase the buffer size until the drop-out is corrected.
WaveOut Settings:
There are two numbers to adjust, the number of buffers and the size of each buffer in milliseconds. Adjust the number of buffers until any drop-outs are corrected. If you hear a stuttering, increase the individual buffer size until the stuttering is corrected.
One place to check for latest drivers and Direct X is at Download.com: http://www.download.com/PC/FrontDoor/
Reader: I installed a sound card in my computer to replace the motherboard-based sound system. The new card works fine, except that the CD player still uses the old sound system for playing audio CDs. All the other sounds utilize the new card and new external speakers. Did I miss a step?
Computer Doctor: CD Audio is carried to the sound card from the CDROM via a separate 4-wire cable (usually very small). Follow this cable from the CDROM drive, in your system it is probably plugged into your motherboard (where your original sound card was located). Merely unplug the cable from the motherboard sound card and plug it into your new sound card, and you should be able to play audio CDs through the new card.
2. How Can I Change the Default DVD Region?
Reader: I've played a few imported DVD's, not realizing that the DVD system would set itself to that region. Now it won't play American DVD's anymore. Is there any way I can change the region setting or do I have to buy a new DVD?
Computer Doctor: If you are talking about a DVD-ROM drive in a PC which you have used to play movies with a software application, then in most cases you will have to remove and then re-install the player application, in which case it should lock the region to the first DVD you play after the installation. If you have certain models, you may be able to find a patch that can change the region code without reinstalling. See http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_dvdrom.htm for more information.
If you have a standalone DVD player, then they are normally preset to play only a certain region. Places like http://www.codefreedvd.com sell players that can work with multiple regions.
3. How Do I Get the Operating System to Recognize My CD-ROM Drive?
Reader: How do I get the operating system to recognize the CD-ROM drive on my computer? I'm confused about when to expect the CD-ROM drive to be auto-detected, and when changes to the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are needed.
Computer Doctor: Normally when running Windows 9x, you don't need a CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT at all. Windows 9x uses 32-bit drivers, which are automatically loaded through the Registry when Windows boots. These 32-bit drivers will function in Windows, and will even work in a DOS session, as long as it is under Windows. Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 use different types of 32-bit drivers than Windows 9x, but will handle CD-ROM drives by using 32-bit drivers. Windows comes with drivers for many different brands and models of CD-ROM drives, but you may need to load a new driver for a particular drive model in some cases.
The situation is different when you want to use a device under pure 16-bit DOS. Normally, you would not ever want to do this except when you are installing Windows 9x to a bare drive. In this case we need the CDROM drive to work so we can install Windows from the CD. The floppy drive and hard drive would always work under DOS since the 16-bit drivers for those devices are contained in the motherboard BIOS. Some newer motherboard BIOS now also include the CDROM driver for IDE CDROM drives, so in those systems you can actually BOOT from the Windows 98 CD (the Win95 CD is not bootable), and install directly from there.
Older systems do not have the 16-bit CDROM drivers in the BIOS, and the 32-bit drivers are only loaded as a part of Windows 9x, so if we want to install Windows, we need to load 16-bit CDROM drivers from the floppy (or hard disk if you like) before the drive will be recognized. This is accomplished via TWO 16-bit drivers. One is the actual 16-bit CDROM driver, which you should have received with your drive. The other is a driver called MSCDEX.EXE, which is the Microsoft CDROM extension driver. The first driver is a BIOS level driver which talks directly to the drive, while the MSCDEX driver is an extension to DOS which assigns the drive letter and which lets DOS talk to the first driver.
Your CDROM driver will have various names, and always installs in the CONFIG.SYS file (which is a text file you create with Notepad or the DOS Edit program in the root directory of the boot drive) as follows:
device=cdrom.sys /D:MSCD000 /V
Replace the "cdrom.sys" name with the actual name of your driver, but leave the other parts as they are shown above. The /D:MSCD000 assigns an internal name to the driver, so MSCDEX can "find" it later, and the /V means verbose, which causes more information to display as the driver loads (not necessary but I like to see it). Note that this driver must be in the root directory as the line above is written. If you don't have this driver, there are generic ones available for downloading over the web.
The MSCDEX.EXE driver is an executable driver, which means it should be loaded via AUTOEXEC.BAT (also a text file that you create with Notepad or DOS Edit and place in the root directory of the boot drive). The line should read as follows:
MSCDEX /D:MSCD000 /M:10 /V
This driver should also be copied to the root directory. The /D:MSCD000 matches the name listed in the CDROM driver install line, and allows MSCDEX to "find" the driver in memory to talk to. The /M:10 sets up 10 sector buffers, you can use more or less, but 10 is generally recommended for maximum performance. The /V is verbose, which lists additional information to the screen when MSCDEX loads. This is not necessary, but I like to see this information.
The Windows 95 startup disk does not include these drivers, mainly because there were a variety of different CDROM types on the market back then and Microsoft couldn't know which ones you might have. Thus it was up to you or the people who built your system to customize the startup floppy to include the proper drivers and the proper lines in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to load them.
With Windows 98 things are different. Microsoft has included 9 different CDROM drivers for IDE, SCSI and even proprietary drives, all of which are loaded in succession as you boot from the disk. The idea is that one of them will "hit" and work with whatever drive you have. The AUTOEXEC.BAT is also pre-configured to load MSCDEX.EXE as well.
The beauty of this is that no matter what type of CDROM is installed in your system, all you have to do is boot the Windows 98 startup disk and it will be recognized, allowing you to install from or read from the Windows CDROM. Note that the CD you install from can even be a Windows 95 CDROM. I now carry a copy of the Windows 98 startup disk with me and use it even if I am installing Windows 95.
4. Does the Color of CD-R Media Have Anything to with Whether My CD-R Drive Can Read It?
Reader: I have a CD-ROM drive which can read all CD-R media colors except for green ones. What is the relationship between between the color and reading the disk ?
Computer Doctor: The color of the CD-R disc is related to the color of the specific dye that was used in the recording layer. This base dye color is modified when the reflective coating (gold or silver) is added. Some of the dye-reflective coating combinations appear green, some appear blue and others appear yellow/gold. Visual differences between various media types are irrelevant from the standpoint of their actual operation. At 780 nm, where CD-R recorders and CD-ROM readers function, the media are, for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from an optical recording standpoint. They all theoretically "look" the same to the devices.
The gold-colored CD-R uses the PhtaloCyanine pigment and a gold reflection layer. As the pigment is transparent, the golden reflection layer shines through the bottom side giving the golden look. Compared to the other colored media, the reflection contrast of the golden medium is the highest and the durability of such CD-Rs is said to be over 100 years. As the golden medium's reflective property is the highest, if you have problems reading data from any other burnt media, try using the gold medium CD-R.
The green CD-R, the cheapest of the three, uses the Cyanine pigment. By itself, the pigment is blue in color, but together with the gold reflective layer, the bottom appears green. However, cyanine's ability to maintain reflectivity is poor giving it a life span of about 10 years. It also delivers the weakest reflection contrasts and thus can cause read errors when run on old CD-ROM drives. Lately cyanine formula has been altered which results in a much higher life span (20 to 50 years). The gold reflection layer has also been replaced by a silver reflection layer this make the color of the bottom appear blue.
The blue media is made of Azo pigments. Like cyanine, it is blue in color but unlike the green CD-R it uses a silver reflection layer which gives the blue color. Manufacturers claim blue CD-Rs are as durable as golden ones.
While the reflectivity is supposedly the same, I have seen problems where some drives don't read certain dye types well. In that case you either have to change the type of disc you are using or get a more compliant drive.
5. Are the controllers for an ATAPI CD ROM on the device or motherboard?
Reader: Just for clarification: For IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM and tape drives, are their respective controllers on the devices itself or on the motherboard? Also, a book I read at the library mentioned that you must have an ATAPI driver when installing a CD ROM drive. Is this true?
Computer Doctor:IDE = Integrated Drive Electronics. The controller is on the drive, the host adapter/interface is on the motherboard. ATAPI is the name for the driver interface used by non-hard disk devices such as CDROM, tape, floppy, etc. The motherboard BIOS driver normally only supports hard disks, so any other IDE devices will require an ATAPI driver.
6. Why isn't my SCSI drive visible to my computer?
Reader: I originally planned to connect a SCSI system (CD-R & Hard Disk) to my Laptop for flashing CDs. For that, I bought an APA 1450A Slim SCSI for my Laptop. Now that the hard disk are properly partitioned, I expected everything to run smooth, but on the laptop: - the SCSI hard disk is once again not visible on the Explorer.
Computer Doctor: I'm afraid you purchased the WRONG SCSI adapter for your notebook!! You should have bought the 1460 or 1480 (cardbus) cards instead of the 1450. The card you have will only support tape and other removable storage drives, it doesn't include proper drivers for hard disks and other devices. Return it and get one of the two other Adaptec SlimSCSI cards I recommended, both of which include the necessary Adaptec EZ-SCSI driver software and which will support ANY SCSI devices.
7. Why won't my CD ROM drive read some CDs?
Reader: I have a problem with my CD Rom Drive that has bugged me for a long time. That is, my drive has trouble reading CDs that my friends have no problem reading on their CD ROM drives. The strange thing is that I get no error messages. While reading the CD, it just stops, tried to read again and stops. Generally, I hear an awful noise and the drive just quits. This problem is even more odd in that it only happens with some CDs. Help me, please!
Computer Doctor: It sounds like your drive has a dirty lens or is out of alignment. You can try cleaning off the lens, but if it is an alignment problem you would be better off replacing the drive, as it is not worth repairing.
8. Why is my hard drive not recognized after installing a new SCSI controller, a CD-R drive and a hard drive?
Reader: I installed a SCSI controller, a new CD-R (ID 3), and a hard drive (ID 6). Both drives are detected during the boot phase of the computer and the screen shows "SCSI BIOS installed successfully". I can see also both devices and their properties if I open Start/Control Panel/System. However, while the CD-R is depicted in the Explorer and is available, the hard drive remains invisible! What's going on?
Computer Doctor:You have not yet partitioned the drive. Until it is partitioned, Windows Explorer will not recognize it as it doesn't yet have any drive letters assigned. You have to partition the drive (use FDISK), and the perform a high level format (use FORMAT) on each of the logical drives or partitions created. Then they will be visible to both DOS and Windows Explorer.
9. How should I set the master/slave jumper for my CD ROM if it is connected to the second IDE port?
Reader: What should I set the Master/Slave jumper on the back panel of the CD-ROM drive to if I connect the CD-ROM drive to the secondary IDE port? My friend said to set it to Slave (the default) as the system will go looking for a slave device if it is set to Master, while Creative Labs said to set it to Master, as it is the only device on this port and it will run marginally faster. Who is correct?
Computer Doctor:The first IDE device on an IDE port should always be set to Master. If a second device is added it should be set to Slave.
10. What does cable select mean?
Reader:The Master/Slave jumper on my CD ROM has 3 sets of pins, namely: CS (which is reserved and should not be used according to the manual), SL (slave), and MA (master). What would CS be used for?
Computer Doctor:CS is for Cable Select, which is documented in my book. It relates to pin 28 of the ATA interface standard. With a specially modified cable (pin 28 is cut before the last connector), both drives can be set to cable select and then the master/slave setting is determined automatically depending on which cable connector you plug the drive into, thus simplifying installation.
11. Why isn't my SCSI drive visible to my laptop?
Reader:I originally planned to connect a SCSI system (CD-R & Hard Disk) to my Laptop for flashing CDs. For that, I bought an APA 1450A Slim SCSI for my Laptop. Now that the hard disk are properly partitioned, I expected everything to run smooth, but on the laptop: - the SCSI hard disk is once again not visible on the Explorer.
Computer Doctor:I'm afraid you purchased the WRONG SCSI adapter for your notebook!! You should have bought the 1460 or 1480 (cardbus) cards instead of the 1450. The card you have will only support tape and other removable storage drives, it doesn't include proper drivers for hard disks and other devices. Return it and get one of the two other Adaptec SlimSCSI cards I recommended, both of which include the necessary Adaptec EZ-SCSI driver software and which will support ANY SCSI devices.
12. My CD-ROM driver sometimes loads, and sometimes not.
Reader: When my computer boots, it loads a CD-ROM driver. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not. If I shut down again and reboot, the driver loads properly. If the office is warm, there seems to be no problem. I have checked connections, etc. to no avail. The drive always seems available in Win 98.
Computer Doctor: Sounds like the drive is failing. If that's the case a replacement will be the only solution. You could also try re-seating the cable connections (unplug and plug back in) which may also help. If not, then replace the cable, and if that doesn't work then replace the drive.
13. How do I clean the lens of my CD-ROM drive?
Reader: I am troubleshooting a CD-ROM drive for a friend. It will read some CD's and not others. Once in a while the system displays the "drive not ready" error message. I do not know how to clean the lens on a CD-ROM drive. What is the correct procedure?
Computer Doctor: Depending on what type of drive you have, the laser lens may be difficult to access. As a first step, try a cleaning CD sold in music departments. A cleaning CD has a series of soft brushes on the data side which can sweep away dust from the lens. If this doesn't work, you'll need to remove the drive from the system, then manually open the tray. The lens (optical pickup) mechanism should be visible. The lens is made of clear plastic and should be cleaned very gently. Don't try to move it, and don't touch it with your fingers. Use a very soft cotton swab dipped in pure isopropyl alcohol as a cleaning solvent. Be careful as stronger solvents can damage the plastic lens. When you finish cleaning the lens, it should be perfectly clear and shiny. Make sure there is no cotton lint left behind. Then close the tray, reinstall the drive and test it. If this doesn't help, the drive will likely require replacement.
14. I've installed a new hard drive and need to access my D: drive, how do I do this?
Reader: I installed a new hard drive into my AMD 450Mhz computer and cannot get to the D: drive to install the OS. How can I access the CD-ROM drive? The system seems to recognize it in the initial screen that reports memory and such, but from the A: drive I can't get to D:\.
Computer Doctor: You need a bootable floppy with the real mode (DOS based) CD-ROM drivers on it and properly configured to load. The simplest solution is to obtain a Windows 98 or newer startup floppy (even if you are installing Windows 95, this will work), and boot from it. The Windows 98 startup disk contains a generic set of drivers which will work with most ATA or SCSI CD-ROM drives on the market. If you are installing Windows 2000, you can create the four (4) startup disks needed by viewing the contents of the CD-ROM on a system running Windows 9x or Me. Go to the Bootdisk folder and run the Makeboot program to create the startup disks, which will provide CD-ROM support when they are loaded.
15. How do I re-assign drive letters to new hardware?
Reader: My system has a CD-ROM drive installed as drive E: I just added a CD-RW which was installed as drive F:. The problem is that the network is also using drive F: Now that the CD-RW is loaded, when I click on the icon for the network, I get a fatal error that says the drive is unavailable. Can I change the drive letter for the CD-RW drive to something beyond F: and correct the problem?
Computer Doctor: You can use Disk Administrator with Windows NT or Windows 2000 to change the drive letter assignments to eliminate that conflict. If you are using Windows 9x or Me, use the System Properties sheet to select a different drive letter for your CD-RW drive to eliminate the conflict.
