[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference noted::ibmpc-95

Title:	IBM PCs, clones, DOS, etc.
Notice:	Intro in 1-11, Windows stuff in NOTED::MSWINDOWS please
Moderator:	TARKIN::LINND

Created:	Mon Jan 02 1995
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3023
Total number of notes:	28404

2954.0. "Problems with an NEC CD-Changer and NT v4.0" by BULEAN::BANKS (Saturn Sap) Wed Mar 19 1997 09:53

I just tried to install an ATAPI CD-ROM changer last night.  It's a
relabelled NEC 6x 4 disc changer.

Connected as the master on the IDE bus, slave to an existing ATAPI CD-ROM
drive (Toshiba), or just sitting by itself on the bus, all works the same.

"Works" defined as follows:

Under Windows-95, shows up as a 1 disc drive, until I install their changer
software.  No sweat.  Either way, it works.

Under Windows/NT, it fails to work.  System boots normally, login normally,
no errors or service failures.  The first program to try to create a list
of disk drives (most notably, explorer and Disk Administrator) hang for
about a minute or two, followed by a BSOD claiming an unexpected Kernel
trap.

Calls to the vendor (Hival) reveal that they don't want to support NT.

Am I stuck with this ruling, or is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2954.1		LEFTY::CWILLIAMS	CD or not CD, that's the question	`Wed Mar 19 1997 10:34`	11
	You're probably stuck, as far as NT is concerned. There is no real standard for ATAPI changers, so a driver -must- be written to run the changer. W95 will attempt to connect a generic driver. NT won't do that - if it does not recognize the device, it won't connect it. SCSI changers work OK under NT. ATAPI changers usually don't. Chris
2954.2	Dual drive IDE cdrom deal	PTOSS1::MATSCHERZ		`Wed Mar 19 1997 10:34`	3
	I've got a Dual drive Packard Bell that doesn't see the second drive under Win95. It works fine under Win 3.1 . I'm assuming that there is a Win95 problem here. Anyone know?
2954.3		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Wed Mar 19 1997 10:57`	7
	.1: Well, that was the sort of information I was looking for, if not exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks. There is a reason why I keep paying extra for SCSI devices, and this probably should have been one of those times.
2954.4		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Mar 20 1997 13:47`	3
	Well, I just called CDW, and ordered the same drive, but in SCSI trim. This time, SCSI's costing me $110 extra. Then again, I presume it'll work.
2954.5		LEFTY::CWILLIAMS	CD or not CD, that's the question	`Thu Mar 20 1997 14:35`	23
	Yes, it will work. You may not be happy with -how- it works, though.... Every time you start the system, fire up explorer, or get a disk/file browse menu, the drive will cycle thru all the disks in the changer, one by one, to verify that nothing has changed. It gets even uglier if auto-insert is turned on for the drive(s) - turn it off for each drive letter that shows up. You can lose a lot of time waiting for the changer. I hear there is a way to convince explorer to not even look at the drive letters created by adding the changer, so this does not happen, but I have not been able to do it. Note that programs installed to a particular CD drive letter will work regardless of Explorer, so the drive is still useful, if you do the above. Chris
2954.6		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Mar 20 1997 15:25`	6
	I'm aware of that one. The propaganda on CDW's page says that the drive caches the directories of the disks in question, so this shouldn't happen. We'll see.
2954.7		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Mar 20 1997 15:27`	14
	As in: The Hi-Val 8x4 external CD-changer is a four disc changer so compact it fits into the same space as a single-disc drive. In fact, its like having four separate drives-up to 2.7GB of CD-ROM data on tap- except you need only one half-height bay and one SCSI ID. Loading a disc couldnt be simpler: just insert a CD-ROM directly into the drive and the patented mechanism will swiftly and gently draw it into one of the four internal slots. To eject a disk , just press one of the four front panel buttons. You dont have to remove an entire cartridge just to replace one of the loaded discs. Moreover, table of contents information is always retained for discs remaining in the drive. Thus, unlike cartridge-type changers, you dont have to wait for all discs to be re-indexed every time you reload.
2954.8		LEFTY::CWILLIAMS	CD or not CD, that's the question	`Thu Mar 20 1997 16:06`	7
	Let me know if it works. We have one in the lab - the last time we tried this, it did not. Note that this is a Nakamichi 8x4 SCSI - that's the only one being built. NEC bought the mech's from Nakamichi for the ATAPI units. Chris
2954.9		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Mar 20 1997 16:38`	1
	Gotcha. Thought the two were pretty similar looking.
2954.10	My NEC 4X4 works under NT4.0	TIFINY::FRAN		`Tue Mar 25 1997 13:31`	11
	Hi , I have a NEC 4X4 IDE CDROM drive running just fine under WNT 4.0 . I installed the drive while running NT 3.51 and was never able to get the CD to be recognized. Upon installation of NT4.0, it found the CD loaded the Std ATAPI CD driver and I now see 4 CDROM letters under explorer. There has to be an easier way to add the drive to NT, but I never figured it out.. Fran
2954.11		LEFTY::CWILLIAMS	CD or not CD, that's the question	`Tue Mar 25 1997 13:33`	6
	That's news.... Thanks. We'll have to try this again. Chris
2954.12		BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Mar 27 1997 08:33`	9
	Hmph. The ATAPI CD driver seems to be exactly what's falling over on my 6x4. Someday, I must re-install NT 4.0 (for other reasons). On the brigher side, the Nak SCSI 8x4 works just fine. SCSI roolz.