Feurio Questions & Answers - Feurio! CD-Writer
general questions:
SCSI or IDE CD-Writer?
Question: Should I use an SCSI or
IDE-CD writer?
Answer:The answer is simple: WE
ONLY RECOMMEND SCSI CD-WRITERs/CD-ROMs!
SCSI CD-Writer / SCSI CD-ROMs cause SIGNIFICANTLY less problems than IDE-CD-Writers/CD-ROMs!
Advantages of SCSI CD-Writers / SCSI CD-ROMs are:- Several devices are
possible (better extendibility)
Up to seven devices can be attached to ONE SCSI Controller (16 with WIDE-SCSI)
(meaning only one interrupt is occupied), with a Dual-Channel IDE-Controller
4 devices can be connected - whereby 2 interrupts are necessary. - No problem
with Busmaster drivers
As described under Busmaster driver, there
are often problems with Busmaster drivers. SCSI-Controller are "actually" busmaster
capable, so that no special busmaster drivers are necessary and thus there are
nor problems. - Disconnect
One of the greatest disadvantage of the IDE bus is that the IDE bus does not
support "Disconnect" - without "Disconnect"
however devices connected in parallel get in each other's way - see "Disconnect". - External
devices are possible
Writers can also be connected externally - Lower CPU load
Without Busmaster drivers
IDE CD-ROMs cause a high CPU load; but with Busmaster
drivers the CPU load as a general rule is higher than that with SCSI devices.
This becomes particularly apparent e.g. when reading directly from a CD in mp3
format. - Higher quality
Often SCSI devices are higher quality than IDE devices. IDE
devices are often sold at "dumping prices" - where savings are often made at
the expense of quality.Before there is any misunderstanding here: THIS DOES NOT
MEAN THAT EVERY IDE DEVICE IS BAD (And also doesn't mean that every SCSI device
is good). Of course there are excellent IDE CD-ROMs. But OFTEN it is the case
that IDE devices (in particular IDE-CD-ROMs) particularly when reading audio
CDs do not provide particularly good results - also "special functions such as
reading index marks are often not supported by IDE devices!
The only disadvantage of SCSI-CD writers: An SCSI-Controller
is required. For SCSI CD writers a "simple" SCSI controller is sufficient, it
doesn't need to be a "high performance" model. Simple FAST-SCSI controllers for
ca. 50 EURO (e.g. Tekram DC 390) are plenty good enough.
Limitation: It really should be a
PCI SCSI controller - we expressly do NOT recommend an ISA SCSI controller -
see: "Why shouldn't I use an ISA SCSI card?".
Summary:
The IDE bus was designed to be a "cheap" interface to connect harddisks - and
is therefore not optimized for other devices. The IDE bus is well suited for
harddisks - connecting other devices however demonstrates the limitations of
the IDE bus.
The SCSI-BUS in contrast was designed to be able to connect all types of devices
right from the start.
In particular from the support questions we get, we can see that SCSI CD writers
cause significantly less problems than IDE CD-writers.
On CD writers connected to other interfaces (USB, parallel, PCMIA) see: "What
is the situation with CD writers connected to the USE/parallel/PCMIA port?".
See also:
Questions and Answers - Feurio! CD-Writer general
questions
Questions and Answers - Feurio! CD-Writer problem-solving
Questions and Answers - Main Page
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