CD ROM FAQ Hardware

Information in this page updated: 07 Jan 96


3. Hardware

3.1 single, double, triple, quad-speed and beyond

------------------------------------------------- Compact Disk Digital Audio (CDDA) is transmitted with 44100Hz on 2 channels using 16Bits each. So this comes down to 44100Hz * 2channels * 2Bytes and gives us a 172KB/sec transfer rate. On audio there can be some drop outs, but for digital information on CDs, a flipped bit is deadly. So some error correction codes (ECC) drop the rate for CDROM to 150KB/sec. That's what they call 'single'. 'Double' than is 300KB/sec, 'Triple' is 450KB/sec and 'Quad' or 'Quadro' is 600KB/sec. There are also drives that transmit a little bit more: 2.4times (Sony), 3.5times (Toshiba), 4.4 times (Sony) or even 6.7times (Toshiba).

Double is a must. You won't get decent rates on playing animations or videos from a single speed drive. And there are no single speed drive anymore. So Double and triple were state-of-the-art in 1994, in 1995 quad-speed and hex-speed were a good choice, oct-speed drives are in the making and will see the light in 1996. So look what you have to spend on the drive and get the best you can afford. More than oct-speed probaply wont happen, since technology moves on and should offers us new double- layered, doubelsided CDs with more than 10 gigabytes in 1996. These disks will use a differnt style of laser and electronic and you won't be able to read those on todays drives anyway.

You may also see in some program manuals the term 'sustained transfer rate'. If you require a STR of 300kb/s a double speed CD-ROM is not a real good choice. 300kb/s is the all time maximum transfer rate of such a drive and since there is a little overhead of your OS or driver you may never get 300kb/s out of a double-speed CD-ROM. For this reason you should buy a triple or better drive. Some manufactures offer drives with 2.2, 3.4 or 4.4times speed. these drives are able to compensate for the OS/driver overhaed and give you the STR you need without buying a drive of a higher class. To read a CD-I (which in my opionion is not a theme on the Amiga) your drive must be able to spin as a double, but most of the drives only support single (for audio playback) and the maximum spin rate. So watch it if CD-I is a point for you.

And consider another fact: For the Amiga the CD is merely a software archive. No company has released software that needs the CD-ROM drive for a large database or such. (not talking about games, remember!) So quad-speed will do the job for you.

3.2 List of CD-ROM drives

 Vendor/Typ             Interf. Speed   Cache   Mech.   Mount   Audio   DA      MS  CDG PCD VCD CDI CDA
                                        [KB]            h/v     [/mm]
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Mitsumi LU005          Mitsumi 1               Drawer  h               no      -
         FX001S         Mitsumi 1               Drawer  h               no      -
         FX001D         Mitsumi 2               Drawer  h               no      -
         FX300          EIDE    3               Drawer  h               no      *
         FX400          EIDE    4       128     Drawer  h       MPC     no      *           *
 Toshiba XM4101B        SCSI-2  2       64      Drawer  h/v     LGGR    yes     *   *   *   *   *   *
         XM3301B        SCSI    1               Caddy   h/v             yes     -   -   -   -   -   *
         XM3401B        SCSI-2  2       256     Caddy   h/v             yes     *   *   *   *   *   *
         XM5201B        SCSI-2  3.4     64      Drawer  h       GRL/2   yes     *   *   *   *   -   *
         XM5301B²       SCSI-2  2/4     256     Drawer  h       GRL/2   yes     *   *   *   *   *   *
         XM5302B²       EIDE    2/4     256     Drawer  (h/v)   GRL/2   yes     *   *   *   *   *   -
         XM3501B        SCSI-2  4       256     Caddy   h/v     RGL     yes     *   *   *   *   *   *
         XM3601B        SCSI-2  4.4     256     Drawer  h       RGL     yes     *   *   *   *   *   *
         XM3701B        SCSI-2  7.4     256     Drawer  h/v     GRL     yes     *   *   *   *   -   *
 NEC 2X                 SCSI    2               Drawer  h       LGR     yes
     2Xc²               SCSI-2  2               7 Changer               yes
     3X                 SCSI    3               Caddy   h/v     LGR     yes
     3Xp                SCSI-2  3.3             Top     h/v             yes
     4X²                SCSI-2  2/4             Caddy   h/v     RGGL    yes
     CDR-273            EIDE    4                                       no
     CDR-512            SCSI-2  6
     6Xi                SCSI-2  6
     CDR-727            EIDE    4                                       no
 Apple CD-150           SCSI-1  1               Caddy   h/v
       PowerCD          SCSI-1  1               Top     h/v
       CD-300           SCSI-2  2               Caddy   h/v             yes
       CD-300e PLUS²    SCSI-2  2               Caddy   h/v     RGGL    yes
       CD-600           SCSI-2  4               Caddy   h/v
 Sony CDU 561           SCSI-2  2               Caddy   h/v             yes
      CDU-8002          SCSI    ?               ?                       yes
      CDU-8003A         ?       ?               ?                       yes
      CDU-55S²          SCSI-2  2/2.4           Drawer  h       RGGL    yes
      CDU-77E           EIDE    4               Drawer  h               no
      CDU-76S           SCSI-2  4       256     Drawer  (h/v)   RGGL    (yes)
      CDU-76E           EIDE    4       128     Drawer  (h/v)   MPC     (yes)
 Sanyo CDR 254S         SCSI-2  4               Drawer
       CDR 254          EIDE    4               Drawer          no
 IBM CDRM00101          SCSI-1  1               Caddy   h/v             yes
 Panasonic CR-503B      SCSI-2  2               Drawer  h       GLGR    (yes)
           CR-504B      SCSI-2  4       256     Drawer  h       -       no
           CR-581B      EIDE    4       128     Drawer  (h/v)   MPC     yes
           PD System    SCSI-2  4       256     Drawer  h       MPC     no
 Hitachi CDR-6550²      SCSI-2  2               Drawer  h       GRL
         CDR-6750²      SCSI-2  2               Caddy   h/v     GRL     yes
         CDR-1950       SCSI    ?               ?                       yes
 Pioneer DR-U104x       SCSI-2  4               Caddy   h/v             yes
         DR-U124X       SCSI-2  4.4     128     Drawer  h       MPC     (yes)
         DR-UA124X      EIDE    4                                       no
         DRM602X        SCSI-2  2               6 Changer
         DRM604X        SCSI-2  4               6 Changer
         DRM624X        SCSI-2  4.4             6 Changer
 Texel 3024/5024        SCSI    ?               ?                       yes
 Nakamishi MBR-7²³      SCSI-2  2               7 Changer               yes
 Chinon CDS-525S²       SCSI-2  2               Drawer  h       RGGL
        CDS-535²        SCSI-2  2               Caddy   h/v     RGL
        CDS-545i        EIDE    4       128     Drawer  h       MPC     no
 Plextor PX 43 CS       SCSI-2  4               Caddy   h/v     RGGL
         PX 63 XCS      SCSI-2  6       256     Caddy   h/v     MPC     (yes)
         PX 43 CS+      SCSI-2  4.5             Caddy   h/v     MPC     (yes)
         PX-4XCE        SCSI-2  4       256     Caddy   h/v
 Teac CD 56E            EIDE    6       128     Drawer  h       MPC     yes
      CD-55A            EIDE    4                                       no
      CD-55E            EIDE    4                                       no
 Wearness CDD-120       EIDE    2
 Philips PCA42CR        EIDE    4       128     Drawer  h       MPC     no
 GoldStar R520B         EIDE    2                                       no
          R542B         EIDE    4                                       no
          R320B         SCSI    2
 Optics Stingray 8422   EIDE    8       256     Drawer  h       LGGR    no
        Stingray 8322   EIDE    6       256     Drawer  h       LGGR    no
 Lion Optics XC-600EI   EIDE    6       256     Drawer  h       LGGR    no
             XC-400EI   EIDE    4       256     Drawer  h       LGGR    no
 Vertos 400ETD          EIDE    4       128     Drawer  h       MPC     no

-----
¹all drives are able to spin single for audio playback
²CD-I compatible, spins double
³Needs a new WD00-08 SCSI controller chip if operated in an A3000
*out of production

3.3 CD-Changer

A CD changer acts just like a normal cd-rom drive. The only difference is the additional changing mechanism. As of this writing a know only one IDE 3disk changer but i do not have any further information on it. So the following will apply to SCSI disk changers only!

To access a disk tehre are two ways: first you can issue a special diskchange command via the scsi-bus, or - if the drive supports it - the disk are accessed via LUNs. AsimWare supports the mounting of all disks within a changer and you see all CDs as icons on your Workbench. If you open one, this disks becomes active.

The special diskchange command is a rare used method, LUNs are the better choice, but a lot of Amiga SCSI-controllers support the LUNs rather badly or not at all. So, befor you choose a disk changer as your drive, be sure your SCSI controller supports LUNs. Commodore adapter of the Ax091 series do, also the Octagon, but the Fastlane Z3 does not.

3.4 CD-Recordable

A CD recorder first acts as a normal (quad-speed) CD-ROM drive. Only with special software it will write empty golden or green colored CDR disks. CD recorder currently come only with a SCSI interface and the onyl software, that supports writing a CD is AsimWares MasterISO. (Do not fall for the NGMaster PD software on several boards, thats a pirate copy of an older MasterISO!) A real demo of the new program is on aminet and you can first check, if the CD recorder you are about to buy is supported by the software.

Also an issue is the hadrdiskspace you need for the writer. CDrs are not useable as a removeable! Considerartions of bandwidth and sustained data transfer rates often force you to generate an "image" of the CD you are going to burn. (The CD recorder is not abble to cache the incomming data long enough to deliever a continous data stream to the writing mechanism, but a CDR can not be written in little peaces, but a session must be written in one cycle. If the harddisk filesystem can not deliver the data as fast as needed, the recorder will terminate the session or the whole CD. Therefor you will also need at least a 68030/25 and a good SCSI controller in your Amiga!

This file is build from the sources you enter, but to arrange a well done CD you must at least have a harddisk, that can be used as a pseudo CD. So in a worst case scenario you will need two time 700MB for arranging the CD and generating the write image. You can do with less space, but the written CDs are surely no product for mass market production.

 Vendor/Type            Write-  Read-Speed
 ----------------------------------------------
 Plasmon CDR F4102      2       4
         PD2000i        2       4
 Yamaha CDR-100         2       4
 JVC XRW2001            2       4
 Philips CDD20000       2       4

Compact disk digital audio (CDDA) is transmitted with 44100Hz on 2 channels using 16Bits each. So this comes down to 44100Hz * 2channels * 2Bytes and gives us a 172KB/sec transfer rate. On audio there can be some drop outs, but for digital information on CDs, a flipped bit is deadly. So some error correction codes (ECC) drop the rate for CDROM to 150KB/sec. That's what they call "single". "Double" than is 300KB/sec, "Triple" is 450KB/sec and "Quad" or "Quadro" is 600KB/sec. There are also drives that transmit a little bit more: 2.4times (Sony), 3.5times (Toshiba).

Double is a must. You won't get decent rates on playing animations or videos from a single speed drive. And there are no single speed drive anymore. So Double is it in 1994, but they say triple and quad will do in 1995. So look what you have to spend on the drive and get the best you can afford. More than quad-speed probaply wont happen, since technology moves on and should offers us CDs with more than a gigabyte in 1996. These disks will use a differnt style of laser and electronic and you won't be able to read those on todays drives anyway.

You may also see in some program manuals the term "sustained transfer rate". If you require a STR of 300kb/s a double speed CD-ROM is not a real good choice. 300kb/s is the all time maximum transfer rate of such a drive and since there is a little overhead of your OS or driver you may never get 300kb/s out of a double-speed CD-ROM. For this reason you should buy a triple or better drive. Some manufactures offer drives with 2.2, 3.4 or 4.4times speed. these drives are able to compensate for the OS/driver overhaed and give you the STR you need without buying a drive of a higher class.

And consider another fact: For the Amiga the CD is merely a software archive. No company has released software that needs the CD-ROM drive for a large database or such. (not talking about games, remember!) So double or triple will do the job for you.

 Manufacturer   Drive       Type    Speed¹  Mechanism
 -----------------------------------------------------------
 Mitsumi        LU005       Mitsumi 1       drawer
                FX001S²     Mitsumi 1       drawer
                FX001D²     Mitsumi 2       drawer
                FX300       ATAPI   3       drawer
                FX400       ATAPI   4       drawer

 Toshiba        XM4101B²    SCSI-2  2       drawer
                XM3401B²    SCSI-2  2.2     Caddy
                XM5201B²    SCSI-2  3.4     drawer
                XM5301B     SCSI-2  4       drawer
                XM5302B     ATAPI   4       drawer
                XM3501B²    SCSI-2  4       Caddy
                XM3601B     SCSI-2  4.4     drawer
 NEC            2x²         SCSI    2       drawer
                3x          SCSI-2  3       Caddy
                3xp         SCSI-2  3.3     Top-Loader
                4x          SCSI-2  4       Caddy
 Apple          CD-150²     SCSI-1  1       Caddy(?)
                PowerCD²    SCSI-1  1       Top-Loader
                CD-300²     SCSI-2  2       Caddy
                CD-300ePLUS SCSI-2  2       Caddy
 Sony           CDU 561²    SCSI-2  2       Caddy
                CDU-8002    SCSI
                CDU-8003A
                CDU55S      SCSI-2  2.4     drawer
 IBM            CDRM00101²  SCSI-1  1       Caddy
 Panasonic      CR-503-B    SCSI-2  2       drawer
 Hitachi        CDR-6550    SCSI-2  2       drawer
                CDR-6750    SCSI-2  2       Caddy
                CDR-1950    SCSI
 Pioneer        DR-U104x    SCSI-2  4       Caddy
                DRM602x     SCSI-2  2       6 CD mag
                DRM604x     SCSI-2  4       6 CD mag
 Texel          3024/5024   SCSI
 Nakamishi      MBR-7       SCSI-2  2       7 CD mag
 Chinon         CDS-525S    SCSI-2  2       drawer
                CDS-535     SCSI-2  2       Caddy
 Plextor        CD 43 CS    SCSI-2  4       Caddy
-----
¹Single-Speed is supported for CDDA CDs by all drives
²out of production

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