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From: uhclem@nemesis.lonestar.org (Frank Durda IV)
Subject: Re: Support for IDE CD-ROMs?
References: <33lv2t$701@gold.interlog.com>
Organization: FDIV
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 1994 18:39:01 GMT
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Message-ID: <CvMBtG.E1J@nemesis.lonestar.org>
Lines: 55
[1]Jody (jody@interlog.com) wrote:
[1]Hmmm. Well, for starters... last I checked, there was no such thing as
[1]in IDE CD-ROM.
Actually, they do exist. They just came on the market this summer,
and many MPC computer models will have them this fall. They were
shown at trade shows as far back as March.
These new systems will usually have dual-IDE connectors, allowing up to
four IDE devices in the system. Some people call this "Enhanced IDE",
although that means some other things to other vendors.
Not all OSes support the second IDE connector, which I believe appears like
the secondary MFM controller in the PC I/O port mapping scheme.
Most IDE-CD drive systems will be configured for up to two hard disks and the
other IDE port will be connected only to the CD-ROM, with drivers that know
that the CD-ROM is on the secondary controller.
Motherboard
Primary IDE interface--->hard drive 1---->hard drive 2
Secondary IDE interface->IDE CD-ROM----->future use IDE device?
The computer makers are pushing IDE-CD so that they can change from
one drive vendor to another, based on whomever has the cheaper
prices that day (or availability), and they don't have to change
the interface cards or the drivers, which means new hard disk images,
CD-ROM pressings, etc.
The plan is that the same IDE driver should work on everybodys IDE drive,
right? (So far, this has proven false, even in the DOS world.)
The big problem with the IDE CD-ROM drives is that they are so new and
were clearly rushed to market, so they have bugs. Big ones. For example,
Sonys drivers don't seem to work well when the machine is in 32-bit-model
modes (croaks in Windows too), and they also have trouble reading data
on certain areas of discs. Other drive makers have their own problems.
Computer vendors are shipping these suckers despite the bugs, so beware.
I know Mitsumi, LMS (Philips USA) and Sony are also offering IDE CD-ROM
drives now. I assume Matshusita (Panasonic) has one also.
IDE-CD drives will probably be stable and reliable in about six months.
I'd wait until at least then to consider buying one and get one with
a December 1994 or later date code. The proprietary interface CD-ROM
drives will probably go down in price as vendors start to flush them in
favor of IDE CDROM drives. The industry predicts IDE-CD will be the
market leading interface in just a few months.
Frank Durda IV <uhclem@nemesis.lonestar.org>|"When Windows runs low on memory,
or uhclem%nemesis@trsvax.ast.com (Internet)| it gets very unstable."
...letni!rwsys!nemesis!uhclem | - Senior Engineer for
...decvax!trsvax.fw.ast.com!nemesis!uhclem | Microsoft Modular Windows