Part 1 of this article examined the preliminaries--choosing the best hardware, software, and discs for reliable CD burning. Part 2 describes how to configure and prepare your system for maximum reliability.
The most important rule when installing an IDE CD writer is this: put the CD writer on a different IDE channel from the source drive. In the most common configuration (an IDE hard disk, an ATAPI CD-ROM drive, and an ATAPI CD writer), you should install the hard disk as Primary Master, the CD-ROM drive as Primary Slave, and the CD writer as Secondary Master.
Many say that it's no longer important to keep the source and the destination drives on different channels. To an extent, they're right, but only in the sense that newer, faster systems and CD writers are more forgiving of marginal conditions. The flip side of that coin, though, is that newer drives burn much faster, and burning a CD at 12X is much more demanding than burning one at 2X or 4X. It's worth noting that the manual for the Plextor 12/10/32A--certainly the most robust IDE CD writer available-still recommends putting the CD writer on a different IDE channel than the source drive(s). (See "Choose the Right CD-R Drive" in Part 1.)
Also note that some CD writers are particular about how they are configured when they are sharing the channel. Some CD writers, for example, work properly when configured as Secondary Slave with any other ATAPI device as Master. Others are happy as Slave only, if the Master is an IDE hard disk (not an ATAPI device such as another CD drive, DVD drive, or tape drive). Still others insist on being Master on the channel.
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For some CD writers, the proper configuration depends on what other device is connected to the channel. For example, we frequently receive reports from readers about conflicts when running an Iomega Zip Drive on the same channel as a CD writer. Some CD writers work on the same channel only if the Zip Drive is configured as the Master. Others, only if the Zip Drive is configured as the Slave. Still others refuse to work properly on any channel that has a Zip Drive installed. Several readers have also reported similar conflicts when attempting to use an ATAPI tape drive on the same channel as a CD writer. So if you encounter problems, take the time to experiment by swapping devices between channels until you arrive at a stable configuration. But, as always, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Note: Check the IDE cable as well. If it is old, tangled, or crimped, replace it. Although a bad cable usually causes a complete drive failure, we have seen situations where an IDE CD writer worked intermittently, when connected to a marginal cable. If you do replace the cable, use a good quality one, not one of those you'll find for $1.95 in the sale bin at the computer store. Generally, the cable supplied with the drive is of decent quality.
DMA (Direct Memory Access) is a mechanism by which devices can communicate without requiring CPU intervention. In general, configuring an ATA/ATAPI device to use DMA provides faster performance at much lower CPU utilization. For example, one drive we tested showed 80 percent sustained CPU utilization in PIO (Programmed I/O) mode. When we reconfigured that drive to use DMA, sustained CPU utilization dropped to about 1.6 percent, or about one-fiftieth as high. Low CPU utilization contributes to reliable burning, so it's usually a good idea to enable DMA, if your hardware supports it.
Microsoft has historically mistrusted DMA, not so much because of any defect in the technology itself, but because of the tremendous variety of computers upon which Microsoft operating systems are installed and run. The capabilities and quality of the IDE interfaces, cables, and drives installed on those systems varies so much that it is impossible to know in advance whether a particular configuration can use DMA safely. Accordingly, Microsoft generally takes a conservative approach, disabling DMA by default in many circumstances.
The only way to know whether DMA is enabled or disabled on your system is to go and look. If DMA is currently enabled, it is likely that the set-up program tested your hardware during installation and found that it supports DMA properly. In that case, it is likely that DMA is safe to use with your configuration. If you find that DMA is disabled, however, that does not necessarily mean that your system cannot use DMA safely. Not all versions of Microsoft operating systems test for DMA. Even those that do test for DMA do not do so under all circumstances. For example, Windows 98 tests DMA during a fresh installation, but does not do so when it is installed as an upgrade on a Windows 95 system that has DMA disabled.
To enable DMA, mark the DMA check box, restart the system, and then redisplay the Settings page. If the DMA checkbox remains marked after the restart, DMA is enabled for that device. If the DMA checkbox has been cleared again, Windows considers that device incapable of supporting DMA.
For each device, the Current Transfer Mode list box displays the transfer mode currently being used for the device. The Transfer mode drop-down list determines how Windows 2000 will attempt to configure the interface the next time it is restarted. If Transfer Mode is set to PIO Only, Windows 2000 does not attempt to use any DMA mode. If Transfer Mode is set to DMA if available, Windows 2000 tests the interface, drive, and cable, and sets the transfer mode to the fastest supported DMA mode.
To enable DMA mode, simply set the drop-down list for the appropriate device to DMA if available and restart the system. After restarting, view this dialog to determine which DMA mode, if any, Windows 2000 has decided is appropriate for the device.
Windows NT 4 always disables DMA by default. To view DMA status, download the most recent version of the file dmachcki.exe on the Microsoft Web site. (We won't give the URL because Microsoft constantly moves things around.) Running dmachcki.exe extracts the dmacheck.exe utility. Run dmacheck.exe to display the ATAPI DMA Support dialog, as shown in Figure 3.
For any channel that has ATA/ATAPI devices installed, the option button is set to Disabled by default, and the status box tells you that DMA is not in use for that channel. To enable DMA for that channel, mark the Enabled option button and then click OK. Windows displays horrifying warnings about the dangers of running DMA. Once you acknowledge those, the system restarts. After the restart, run dmacheck.exe again to display current DMA status. If Windows determined that DMA could be used safely on that channel, the status box informs you that DMA is in use. If Windows decided for whatever reason that using DMA on that channel was not safe, the status box continues to display the DMA not in use message.
In general, firmware updates fix bugs, improve performance and reliability, and add support for newly available media types. For example, we just downloaded and installed the latest firmware upgrade (1.02) for our Plextor 12/10/32A CD writer. If there can be said to be such a thing as a "typical" firmware upgrade, this is one. It includes the following enhancements:
There are two schools of thought about firmware updates. The first is the always wise "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." According to these folks, if you update firmware on a system that had been burning CDs reliably, you may find that problems start cropping up with the updated firmware. In our experience, that doesn't happen often, but it does happen. The second school says you should install the latest firmware update as soon as it is released to take advantage of bug fixes and new capabilities.
We think both views have some validity, so we combine the two. Our normal practice is to install firmware updates immediately, but to keep a copy of the previous firmware at hand. That way, if the update breaks something, we can always revert to the older firmware revision.
Now that you have the right components and have configured them properly, you're ready to burn some CDs. We'll cover that in Part 3: Burning CDs Successfully.
Robert Bruce Thompson is coauthor of PC
Hardware in a Nutshell. He built his first computer in 1976 from
discrete chips. It had 256 bytes (not kilobytes) of memory, used toggle
switches and LEDs for I/O, ran at less than 1MHz, and had no operating
system. Since then, Robert has bought, built, upgraded, and repaired
hundreds of PCs for himself, employers, customers, friends, and clients. He
is the author or coauthor of many online training courses and computer books.
Robert maintains a personal online
daily journal
page, as well as a Web site devoted to PC Hardware in a Nutshell.
Barbara Fritchman Thompson is the coauthor of
PC Hardware in a Nutshell. She worked for twenty years as a librarian
before starting her own home-based consulting practice,
Research for
Authors. Barbara, who has been a PC power user for fifteen years,
researched and tested much of the hardware reviewed for the book. Barbara
spends her working hours doing research for authors and her leisure hours
reading, working out, and playing golf.
Robert and Barbara Thompson's Web site is HardwareGuys.com.
O'Reilly & Associates recently released (October 2000) PC Hardware in a Nutshell.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.