• What's the ASPI?
  Windows 95/98 is "missing" the possibility to access SCSI or IDE devices directly. To enable direct access to SCSI or IDE devices, the ASPI driver has been invented.
  The ASPI-Driver is used for the hardware independent control of devices on the SCSI and IDE-Bus.
  ASPI stands for "Advanced SCSI Programming Interface", but is appropriate for IDE devices, too.
  
  To prevent misunderstandings:
  The ASPI-Driver is HARDWARE-INDEPENDENT, it does not depend on a certain SCSI-Hostadapter. The ASPI-Driver only "mediates" between application programs (e. g. Feurio!) and hostadapter drivers.
  
  As an example an ADAPTEC®-ASPI-Driver can easily access a NCR® SCSI-Hostadapter, if a NCR®-Driver is installed. (Of course this only applies if the ASPI-Driver is programed correctly. We've already found ASPI-Drivers, that do NOT work corrctly with certain controllers - however this is an error of the ASPI-Driver.)
  The ASPI-Driver can access devices on the IDE-Bus exactly the same way.
  The ASPI-Driver "only" passes on the commands to the appropriate hardware driver; it doesn't interpret or change commands.
  
  
• Why does Feurio! not access the hostadapter drivers directly?
  We are sometimes asked why an ASPI-Driver is needed at all and if Feurio! can't access the hostadapter drivers directly:
  1. The direct access of miniport drivers is not allowed to application programs. An auxiliary driver had to be installed - as is generally known some other "bad" burn programs use this method with known side effects: There are problems with other "good" burn programs, because the drivers installed by these "bad" programs can trouble the "good" programs under certain circumstances.We like to avoid this in any case - you shall still be able to use other burn programs besides Feurio! without fearing such problems.
     
  2. The addressing of "low-level" drivers under Windows 95/98 is fundamentally different from Windows NT. It's likely that it will be completely different under Windows 2000...For each new Windows version probably a complete new Feurio! version had to be developed - this is what we like to avoid.The access via ASPI-Driver is yet the same within all 32-bit versions of Windows (Windows 95/98/NT). There will probably be an ASPI-Driver for Windows 2000, too.
  
  
• Where do I get an ASPI driver?
  When installing Windows 95/98 a (quite old) ASPI-Driver is installed too. Under circumstances this driver may cause problems, however (depending on the system configuration) it works very well oftenly. Therefore you can can try it with the ASPI-Driver installed by Windows first. Only if this causes problems you should consider installing a newer ASPI-Driver. Usually you will get an ASPI-Driver from the manufacturer of your hostadapter. If no (or just an old) ASPI-Driver is included, a visit on the manufacturer's homepage may be helpful. You can also find some links to ASPI-Drivers of different manufacturers on the Feurio! hompage ( HYPERLINK "http://www.feurio.com/English/link.shtml" 00d0c9ea79f9bace118c8200aa004ba90b02000000170000002900000068007400740070003a002f002f007700770077002e00660065007500720069006f002e0063006f006d002f0045006e0067006c006900730068002f006c0069006e006b002e007300680074006d006c000000e0c9ea79f9bace118c8200aa004ba90b5200000068007400740070003a002f002f007700770077002e00660065007500720069006f002e0063006f006d002f0045006e0067006c006900730068002f006c0069006e006b002e007300680074006d006c000000http://www.feurio.com/English/link.shtml).
  
  If you own an ADAPTEC® hostadapter, you can download a very good ASPI-Driver under: " HYPERLINK "http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/driverdetail.html?cat=/Product/EZ-SCSI_4.03&filekey=aspi32.exe" 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://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/driverdetail.html?cat=/Product/EZ-SCSI_4.03&filekey=aspi32.exe".
  NOTE: This ASPI-Driver runs without any problems under Windows 2000 or Windows me.
  (If this page doesn't exist any longer, go to: " HYPERLINK "http://www.adaptec.com/" 00d0c9ea79f9bace118c8200aa004ba90b0200000003000000e0c9ea79f9bace118c8200aa004ba90b3000000068007400740070003a002f002f007700770077002e0061006400610070007400650063002e0063006f006d002f000000http://www.adaptec.com/" and click on "drivers", "EZ-SCSI4" or search for the keyword "ASPI".)
  As mentioned above, the ADAPTEC® ASPI-Driver also runs with SCSI-Controllers of other manufacturers - however during installation it's checked if either an Adaptec® hostadapter is present or the software "EZ-SCSI" is installed on the system.
  
  No ASPI driver is needed for Windows NT / Windows 2000!
  
  
• Why is no ASPI driver included in Feurio!®?
  Unfortunately we are not allowed to.
  The background:
  As mentioned ASPI is a standard interface for accessing SCSI or IDE devices. Using the ASPI interface is even suggested in Microsoft's development reference for accessing SCSI or IDE devices. From that point of view Microsoft would be responsible for an update of the ASPI driver.
  The ASPI driver has been developed by Adaptec.
  
  Unfortunately ADAPTEC seems to use the ASPI driver to put the screws on to "eliminate" unwelcome rivals.
  
  An extract from from the ASPI developer FAQ:
  Q: How does my company license ASPI for redistribution?
  A: Although ASPI is delivered with Windows 95, it is not delivered with Windows NT. Furthermore, the version delivered with Windows 95 is older and does not have all of the latest features. If you want the latest version of ASPI to be delivered with your application for either Windows 95 or Windows NT, then you must license ASPI for redistribution from Adaptec. Licensing ASPI is fairly easy, and assuming you qualify, it is free. First, you should contact Diane McGee in the Adaptec Legal Department. She can be reached via e-mail at mailto:dmcgee@corp.adaptec.com, and she will ask you to fill out an ASPI Distribution License.
  
  We have done this.
  This is the answer we received from ADAPTEC:
  Thank you for your request to received an ASPI Distribution License from Adaptec. Unfortunately, your product is in direct competition with certain Adaptec products and as a result, we are unable to grant you the requested license
  
  In other words: ADAPTEC did first make sure, that their interface is inlcuded in the "Windows standard" and now forbids others to use this interface.
  
  
• Why don't you develop your own ASPI driver?
  EACH driver installed on the system is a risk. Many programs install their own ASPI driver - as a result different programs impede each other.
  If e. g. 6 different programs install their own ASPI drivers, there are 6 different drivers afterwards that try to independently access the SCSI/ IDE interface - it's obviously that this is bound to go wrong.
  In our opinion that is not the job of the exercise - after all there is this standard interface.
  Because it is VERY important for us, that Feurio! does NOT impede other burn programs or even damage the system, we have decided NOT to develop an ASPI driver of our own.
  
  
• Tricks for installing the Adaptec ASPI-Update:
  As mentioned Adaptec's ASPI update can normally only be installed if an Adaptec hostadapter is present in the system. This has no technical background - it is just harassment.
  Normally we would not write instructions for getting round another programs restriction. Because Adaptecs behaviour is not fair (see above), we have decided to publish a method how it should be theoretically possible to install the Adaptec ASPI driver on a system without an Adaptec hostadapter
  
  • Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Hardware -> Hardware Wizard
    
  • Don't seach for present hardware, but select the hardware directly
    
  • Select "SCSI Adapter" from the list of hardware categories
    
  • : Manufacturer"Adaptec", select controller "AHA-1510", press "Next".
    
  • Ignore warning.
    
  • Start aspi32.exe (source see above)
    
  • Answer "NO" to the "Reboot system" question
    
  • Delete the SCSI adapter under Start -> Settings -> System -> Device Manager.
    
  • Reboot computer.
  
  Of course this is completely hypothetical - installing the Adaptec ASPI update with no Adaptec hostadapter installed might violate the law or copyright of someone.

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