How well do parallel-port, USB, and 1394 recorders work?
(2002/10/15) In computer terms, hardware is the stuff you can hit with a baseball bat, and software is the stuff you can only swear at. Firmware is software that lives on your hardware. In more concrete terms, the firmware on your CD recorder is what controls the operation of the device, and handles everything from decoding CD-ROM sectors to writing the disc table of contents. Sometimes there are bugs or missing features that are added by updates. Firmware upgrades have been used to add features like disc-at-once recording and fix bugs like reversed left and right audio channels. Sometimes the upgrade will inadvertently add bugs, causing the recorder to work improperly. Firmware can be stored in an umodifiable form, such as a ROM chip, or in a rewritable form, such as “flash” ROM. In the former case, firmware upgrades are accomplished by physically removing a chip from inside the device, and replacing it with a new one. Devices with “flashable” firmware, on the other hand, can be upgra
By all accounts, they work just fine. Most such drives are IDE devices with a converter (e.g. an enclosure with a parallel-to-IDE converter). Parallel-port drives require an ECP/EPP parallel port, which most (all?) machines have. Some BIOSs allow you to switch between ECP/EPP and “standard” mode; if you’re having trouble, be sure it’s set correctly. Some people who have bought off-the-shelf parallel-to-IDE converters have found that writing at 4x doesn’t work very well. This may account for why all drives that ship with parallel port support are 2x writers. USB recorders work fine at 4x when connected directly to the computer. You may need to reduce speed to 2x if you use a hub. Some people have reported that their Windows systems were crashing until they turned auto-insert notification off (see section (4-1-1)). Windows users should be running Win98 or later — Win95b may or may not work. Be warned that some USB SmartMedia readers install drivers that interfere with the ASPI layer; if
(2002/05/04) By all accounts, they work just fine. Most such drives are IDE devices with a converter (e.g. an enclosure with a parallel-to-IDE converter). Parallel-port drives require an ECP/EPP parallel port, which most (all?) machines have. Some BIOSs allow you to switch between ECP/EPP and “standard” mode; if you’re having trouble, be sure it’s set correctly. Some people who have bought off-the-shelf parallel-to-IDE converters have found that writing at 4x doesn’t work very well. This may account for why all drives that ship with parallel port support are 2x writers. USB recorders work fine at 4x when connected directly to the computer. You may need to reduce speed to 2x if you use a hub. Some people have reported that their Windows systems were crashing until they turned auto-insert notification off (see section (4-1-1)). Windows users should be running Win98 or later — Win95b may or may not work. Be warned that some USB SmartMedia readers install drivers that interfere with the A
… technologies.com/ ) resells these drives. Subject: [5-1-36] Micro Solutions (1999/02/26) See http://www.micro-solutions.com/ Models are: 190100 (6x2x2/1MB;Parallel, based on the Ricoh MP-6200) 190120/190126 (6x4x2/?MB;Parallel, based on the Yamaha CRW-4261) 190127 (8x4x2/2MB;Parallel, based on the Mitsumi CD-4802TE) All products are standard recorders combined with Micro Solution’s parallel-port interface. Subject: [5-1-37] Pacific Digital (2001/10/28) See http://www.1pdc.com/ Models are: 224ei (24x2x2/2MB;IDE, based on the …
