Feurio Questions & Answers - Feurio! CD-Writer
general questions:
What about connecting CD-ROMs / CD writers to the
USB, parallel or PCMCIA port?
Question: I want to buy a external
CD writer (e.g. for my laptop) which is contacted via the USB, parallel, PCMCIA
or another interface. Are writers of this kind supported by Feurio!?
Answer:
In principle yes, however there are often driver problems.
To be precise: These are NOT different writers - as a general rules they are
"ordinary" IDE or SCSI-CD writers (or CD-ROMs) which are "just" equipped with
an additional adapter which then manages the conversion from USB, parallel, PCMCIA
or whatever to IDE or SCSI.
Therefore a corresponding driver is installed in the computer which connects
the corresponding port as an IDE or SCSI hostadapter.
So it all remains the same for Feurio! - Feurio! simply sends commands to LOGICAL
DEVICES (i.e. e.g. to drive E). For Feurio! in this case it makes no difference
whether the data is transferred directly to the drive via the IDE or SCSI-BUS
- or whtehr it first has to go via a USB, parallel or PCMCIA cable.
Theoretically therefore every writer supported by Feurio! should also work correctly
in the USB version.
Unfortunately this is often NOT the case!
Unfortunately we often find that many USB, parallel or PCMCIA drivers don't work
100% correctly - sometimes e.g. the status reports of the CD writers are not
returned correctly.
Unfortunately in most cases there is nothing we can do about it - the vendor
either has to correct his drivers or give us precise information how to control
the device precisely.
RECOMMENDATION:
You will find a list of the TESTED CD writers (i.e. those which work with Feurio!)
connected to USB parallel, PCMCIA or other ports e.g. on the Feurio! Homepage
(www.feurio.de). Select the "Writer database" here, start the search function
and select the required port.
For models not listed here, the following applies: TRY IT OUT! AS mentioned above,
it really makes no difference to Feurio! what physical interface a writer is
connected to, as long as Feurio! actually recognizes the writer.
AS soon as we receive data on the writer or a test model from the vendor, we
will of course check whether it will run with Feurio! and if necessary will install
correction routines.
CAUTION CPU-LOAD:
All writers connected to the USB, parallel or PCMCIA port which we have tested
so far have got a SIGNIFICANT disadvantage:
Operating the writer at the USB, parallel or PCMCIA port causes
a high CPU load!
Even when just burning at 4x (depending on the interface) we sometimes got to
capacity utilization of 50% (with parallel adapters even 100%) - and that was
using a 450 MHz Pentium III!
In contrast to the SCSI or IDE bus (with Busmaster
drivers), where the CPU is hardly utilized at all (the adapter carries out
the transfer itself), with these adapters the CPU would appear to still send
every byte "by hand".
This has the following effects: - continued processing with the computer is
sometimes not possible or doesn't work very well
- on-the-fly decoding of mp3's often doesn't work any more
- with Notebooks: the high CPU load means a) more power is used (battery power
time sinks) and b) more heat is produced - the ventilator which is often irritating
switches itself on more often!
For this reason we currently do not recommend using USB or
parallel writers! Only PCMCIA writers have proved to be
usable - see below!
OUR RECOMMENDATION: EXTERNAL SCSI-CD WRITER
If it is "just" a matter of connecting the CD writer externally: Just use an
SCSI-CD- writer in an external housing! You don't have to worry about any problems
here - the performance of the SCSI bus is also significantly higher than that
of the USB or parallel bus.
As a general rule, the CPU load in particular is very low!
You also have a SIGNIFICANTLY greater choice of writers here - every SCSI-CD
writer can be built into an external housing - just ask your dealer!
This way you can also connect up modern 12x high-performance writers externally
- with USB, parallel and PCMCIA possibilities currently end at 4x!
For NOTEBOOK owners: CAUTION! In "Does Feurio! run
on Notebooks" you really should read the section "PCMCIA SCSI cards"!
CAUTION:
CD-Writers connected to USB, parallel, PCMCIA or other ports as a general rule
require special drivers - it often happens that the vendors do not offer drivers
for all Windows versions.
Inform yourself BEFORE you buy a writer whether drivers are available for your
required operating system (e.g. there are NO drivers for USB writers under Windows
NT!)
SPECIAL NOTES ON THE INDIVIDUAL INTERFACES:
In the following you will find several comments on the individual interfaces:
- Parallel:
Advantage: - Present on every computer
Disadvantages: - Low transfer rate
- High CPU load.
- Problems with printing
The parallel port was never designed for data intensive applications such as
CD burning. Even burning at 4x is often NOT possible (depending on the configuration
of the parallel port). There asre also often problems with the various parallel
modes (EPP, ECP etc.).
With parallel sdapters it is hardly possible to work with the computer when a
buffer underrun occurring.
Parallel adapters also cause a high CPU load.
There are often also problems with connecting up the printer (with most devices
the paralle port is "dragged through"), if you try to burn while printing, a
buffer underrrun will usually occur or the system may even crash.
Summary: Not to be recommended
- USB:
Advantages: - Several devices can be connected
- Plug & Play
- Modern BUS
Disadvantages: - Low transfer rate
- Doesn't run under Windows NT.
The USB port was designed for use with various devices right from the start.
Unfortunately the transfer rates attained are not particularly high -- here burning
at 4x is often already critical. In our experience, when reading, the USB-Bus
often only attains a maximum of 6x, i.e. 6x is the absolute upper limit - you
can just about forget an 8x burner (this may be improved with the next USB generation).
If other devices are connected, it can happen that the other devices "steal"
too much of the transfer capacity and thus a buffer underrun also occurs ->
might be good to remove other devices while burning.
Summary: only conditional recommendation
- PCMCIA cards:
Advantages: - As a general rule acceptable transfer rates
- CPU load not quite as high as parallel or USB
Disadvantages: - PCMCIA-Slot is "blocked"
- "Island solution" - depends a lot on support from the vendor
- Writer can only be used with Notebooks (or PCs with a PCMCIA slot)
A general statement on PCMCIA cards can not be made as this depends greatly on
the individual PCMCIA card. A burner with 4x is possible as a general rule, the
maxium throughput rate on average is approx. 6x - we found one card which even
managed up to 16x!.
As already said, however, this depends on the card - with other cards this can
turn out to be significantly better or worse.
Refer to the Feurio! Homepage (http://www.feurio.de -> Cd-Writer-Database)
for precise statements on certain adapters.
Summary: In most cases probably the best alternative
On PCMCIA-SCSI cards see: "Does Feurio! run on Laptops?".
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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