Why does Adaptec DirectCD prevent Easy CD Creator from using my CD-RW drive?

Problem

When I try to use a CD-R or CD-RW disc in Adaptec Easy CD Creator, I get the following error:

This application is unable to use your CD Writer as it is currently being used by Adaptec Direct CD.

Discussion  

Each time a blank CD-R or CD-RW disc is put in the drive, Direct CD asks if you want to format the disc. If you choose Yes to format the disc, then the disc is only usable with Adaptec Direct CD. You will not be able to use Easy CD Creator to write to a disc formatted in Direct CD.

Solution

To use the Easy CD Creator software with a CD-RW disc, the disc must be erased using the CD Eraser tool.

NOTE: Only use CD Eraser with CD-RW media. Using it with CD-R media may render the CD-R disc useless.

To use CD Eraser:

1. Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Adaptec DirectCD, and then click CD-RW Eraser. The CD Eraser window opens.
2. Click the Erase button.

For problems ejecting a CD, refer to Dell Knowledge Base Article FA1030049.
If you receive a message that no supported CD recorders were detected, refer to Dell Knowledge Base Article HO1031540.

For help with specifics on your Dell system, or additional troubleshooting support, search the Dell Support Web site. Dell provides you with the troubleshooting tools necessary to resolve most any problem.

6-0-3: Reason to Disable DMA (?) and DMA, General Discussion

Disable DMA (Direct Memory Access) so that the IDE Chipset on your motherboard is functioning in Standard Single or Dual FIFO Mode. DMA can cause many problems in the recording process since it allows the Operating System to "thread" disk reads and writes. In Standard Single or Dual FIFO mode the IDE Chipset cannot be interrupted by the Operating System before it completes a read or write operation - it is a non - threaded operation.

DMA, General Discussion

I have found some information for you on the subject. I personally believe people should determine for themselves which setting works best for their system. If you can not "see" any difference then leaving DMA default setting should not matter but that's just my nickel.

6-0-4: Play.exe Errors (*Credit goes to Villanman*)

**If you do not want the Real Jukebox to be the default CD player, then, please remove the association of the CD files with the Jukebox, this should help you. To do this, please do the following.

1. Double-click the My Computer icon.
2. From the View menu, choose Options, and then click the File Types tab.
3. Scroll through the list of file types until you find the file type you want to change (CDA or AudioCD or CDAudio, please check the name correctly, as this could be different on different systems).
4. Select the file type by clicking it once.
5. Click the Edit button.
6. In the Edit File Type dialog box, click the Edit button.
7. Click the Browse button and locate the new program (in your case CDPlayer.exe which is under C:windows\)you want to use to open your files.
8. Click the OK and then Close buttons.

Windows will now use the selected program by default when opening any file types you changed (e.g. CD player).

If, for some reason you find that the steps above do not associate the file type with a specified program, please follow the steps below:

1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, and then Windows Explorer.
2. Locate a file whose file format association you want to change [For Example: the CD files, insert a CD, open the Windows Explorer browse to E: drive (usually the CD drive) select a file].
4. Select Open With from the shortcut menu.
5. In the Open With dialog box, select the program you want to associate the file format with. If the program is not listed, click the Other button, then locate and select the program you would like to use.
6. Select the Always Use This Program To Open Files of This Type check box.
7. Click the OK button.


************

please note that after doing the above, no program may launch when you insert the CD, but, you have the choice of selecting the program you want to play the CD with. Insert the CD, then open the program.

6-0-5: Drivers for CD-ROM & CD/RW

Note: I Have not tried this but was told  it is true. A Quote: As far as I know Win95/98 does not need any driver for CD-ROM. They should just detect it upon starting. You can always try a Add New Hardware in your control panel. Let it try to detect. If that doesn't help, you can still use the DOS driver. Win98 has a free one called "oakcdrom.sys" in windows/command/ebd. At your C: root directory, find "config.sys" and open it with any text editor. Make sure you got this line "device=c:\windows\himem.sys", then you can add this line "device=c:\windows\command\ebd\oakcdrom.sys /d:mscd000". Then add this line to your "autoexec.bat" file also at c:\ "lh c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe /d:mscd000". Now you have it.

6-0-6: CD Audio Path (*credit: Robin Keith*)

To find the path to your default CD player...open My Computer / View / Folders Options / File Types / look for and highlight "CD Audio Track" click Edit / Edit> / in the "application used to perform action".

6-0-7: Files written with CD/RW can not be read in CD-ROM

(A quote from Adaptec's site:)

Adaptec's UDF Reader for Windows 95/98/NT
posted Oct 21, 1999
filename: udfrinst_v102.exe (download 397 KB)

Enables some MultiRead CD-ROM drives to read UDF formatted CD-RW discs (such as those written with DirectCD) under Windows 95, 98 and 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or higher, and (since version 1.03, below) Windows 2000.

The UDF Reader 1.02 is included with DirectCD 3.0, so if you have 3.0 or later you do not need to download this file. DirectCD 3.01 will include UDF Reader version 1.03. (DirectCD 3.01 will soon be available as an online update to version 3.0)

Before downloading the Windows UDF Reader, check to see if it supports your drive by checking Adaptec's list of CD-ROM Drives Tested with the UDF Reader for Windows.

If you need Windows 2000 support...

Adaptec's UDF Reader for Windows 95/98/NT/2000
posted Mar 10, 2000
filename: udfread_v103_install.exe(411 KB)

6-0-8: Files Copied from CD-R Media are Read Only    ( from HP site Site )

When files are copied from CDR media back to the hard drive they retain the Read-Only attribute on the hard drive.

This will always be the case with CDR media as it is Read-Only-Media. This is actually one of the more important features of CD technology in that data is virtually incorruptible once its written to disc. It cannot be accidentally overwritten or erased when the disc has been closed. The most straightforward approach to resolving this problem is to change the attributes of the files after copying them to the hard drive. This is accomplished by individually or group selecting the files, right clicking the mouse button and choosing "Properties". The dialog box that appears will allow you to remove the "Read Only" attribute.

6-0-9: Why my Burned CDs Cannot be Read on Another Computer    ( from HP site )

QUESTION: Why my burned CDs cannot be read on another computer?

ANSWER: There are a few different issues that can affect what we call "disc interchange," or reading a burned CD on another computer system or CD device.

CD-R vs. CD-RW Media

CD-R discs are recommended for any CDs you wish to take to another computer system. CD-RW can be used, but some older CD-ROM readers will have problems accessing the information on these discs. If the CD-ROM reader has a Multi-Read icon like the one you see on the CD-Writer, then that drive will be able to read RW media.

Using Adaptec's Direct CD

If you are using a CD-R disc, formatted with Direct CD, there is an options window that appears when ejecting these discs. The window will ask you if you wish to leave the disc "open" for further writing, or "close" the disc to be read on other computers. Choosing the second option will place a Table of Contents on the CD that most CD-ROMs need in order to access the information. If you are using CD-RW discs, you will not see the eject options because these CDs cannot be "closed". Because of the specialized format that Direct CD uses, even after "closing" the disc to be read on other computers, many systems will not be able to read these discs. The reason for this is two-fold:

1. If the formatted Direct CD disc is not closed, either by choice, or by the fact that it is RW and cannot be closed, you must install Adaptec's Direct CD Reader software on the computer you wish to read the CD from. This will allow Windows to make sense of the UDF format, the file system Direct CD uses.
2. If the CD-ROM is not Multi-Read capable, you will not be able to read the CD, either with Direct CD Reader installed, or with the Direct CD disc "closed". This is because the data on a Direct CD disc is written in packets of information, rather than in tracks, like a standard CD. If the CD-ROM drive is not Multi-Read capable, then it also means that it is not packet-tolerant, and will not be able to access the information regardless of how it's prepared.

6-0-10: Why does the Windows 98 CD Player report the Error: "Data or no disc loaded" After inserting an Audio CD into my CD-ROM?

Problem
Normally when you insert an Audio CD into the CD-ROM, the Windows CD Player will launch and begin playing the CD. In this case, when an Audio CD is inserted, the Windows CD Player does not appear, and when it is run manually, it produces the message "Data or no disc loaded."

This problem can occur if the CD Audio Media Controller Interface (MCI) is corrupted or damaged.

Solution

To resolve the problem, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start | Settings | Control Panel | Multimedia | Devices.
2. Expand the Media Control Devices section.
3. Click on CD Audio Device (Media Control).
4. Click Properties | Remove.
5. The system will prompt you with: Are you sure you want to remove this driver?
   Click Yes.
6. Click OK, and then OK again.
7. If the computer prompts you to restart, do so. If not, click Start | Shut Down | Restart | OK.
8. Once the computer restarts, Click Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add New Hardware.
9. Click Next | Next | No, I will select my hardware from a list | Next.
10. Select Sound, Video, and Game Controllers | Next.
11. Select Microsoft^� MCI from the Manufacturers list, and select CD Audio Device (Media Control) from the Models list.
12. Click Next | Finish.
13. At this point, Windows will copy files from the Windows 98 CD or the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs directory on the hard drive, if there is one.
14. Click Yes when prompted to restart the computer and the computer will restart, and the MCI Device will be reinstalled and initialized.

Place an Audio CD in the CD-ROM

6-0-11: Problems Reading Recordable CDs, Home, Car, etc..( from Adaptec )

Problems Reading Recordable CDs

If you have successfully written a CD but have problems reading it, there are a number of possible reasons:

If the CD can be read on the CD-R or CD-RW drive but not on a standard CD-ROM drive, check in Disc Information under the Disc menu to make sure that the session containing the data you just wrote is closed. CD-ROM drives cannot read data from a session that is not closed.

If your CD is ejected, or you receive an error message, or you have random problems accessing files from the CD, the problem may be that your CD-ROM drive is not well calibrated to read recordable CDs.

If you recorded the CD using the DOS filenames option in the File Names tab, but there are difficulties in reading back the CD on DOS or Windows 3.1 systems, you have an older version of MSCDEX (before version 2.23) on your system.

Making a CD that Plays on a Home or Car CD Player

If you want to hear all your music on a home or car stereo, you must record all the tracks in a single session—home and car CD players only play audio tracks recorded in the first session—and you must close the session when you are finished recording all of the tracks. If you wish to record a few tracks at a time, you can choose to leave the session open, and when you finish recording all the tracks you want on the CD, you can then close the session. See Closing an Audio CD below.

How to Make an Audio CD

Note: Easy CD Creator is designed to assist you in reproducing material in which you own the copyright or have obtained permission to copy from the copyright owner. Unless you own the copyright or have permission to copy from the copyright owner, you may be violating copyright law and be subject to payment of damages and other remedies. If you are uncertain about your rights, contact your legal advisor.

To make an audio CD, you can record songs from:

n Tracks on an existing CD (Each time you write to CD, you create at least one track and any session may contain one or more tracks. For audio CDs, each track is usually a separate piece of music.)

n Wave files stored on your hard drive (*.WAV, a standard Windows format for sound files)

n A combination of Wave files and tracks

Closing an Audio CD

To listen to your audio CD on a home or car stereo, the session in which you have recorded the audio tracks must be closed. To close the session:

1 Select Disc Information from the Disc menu.

The Disc Information tab appears.

2 Click Close Session.

3 Click OK.

Easy CD Creator closes the disc after recording the songs to the CD.

6-0-12: When starting Drive Image in MSDOS system locks up looking for Iomega Drive letter? (credit: Tim Kessler)

Problem / Description:

I have been trying to back up my C drive with DriveImage by Power Quest. It came with my Sony CRX140E-RP 8x4x32, in a CD ROM software package DP5PC Revision PC1.2
When I start Image Drive it tries to go to MS DOS but locks up looking for an Iomega Drive Letter.

Solution: (credit: Tim Kessler)
You will need to know the appropriate DOS lines for installing your CD/RW drive to have access to your burner when Drive Image goes to DOS

Drive image in your program menu is actually a DOS mode shortcut. Go to the selection in Start/Programs, right click Drive Image, and select properties.

Click the program tab, then the advanced button.

Make sure the "specify a new MS-DOS mode" button is selected, then take a look at the config.sys and autoexec.bat for this shortcut.

Take a look at the "device=....cdrom" line in config.sys and the "mscdex.exe /d..." line in autoexec.bat in the gif below. These are the lines that load my DOS drivers for my CD/RW. You'll need to enter similar lines. Make sure the line for your zip drive is not in the autoexec.bat here; if it is, delete the line.

If you don't know the DOS driver lines for your CD/RW, you may be able to find them in the autoexec.bat and config.sys files in the root folder, or in the dosstart.bat file in the Windows folder.

For more directions on creating and editing shortcuts, including info on what some of the stuff is in the shortcut's autoexec and config, click the FAQ link below.




http://members.home.com/dtfaqs/faq_o.html#001

6-0-13: Device Settings are hard to find in Windows 2000

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to configure the direct memory access and programmed input/output (DMA/PIO) settings for a device on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer, you do not find the settings in the Properties dialog box for the device, nor does Help provide their location.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the DMA/PIO settings are configured for each controller instead of for each device.

RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, click Administrative Tools, and then follow these steps to configure the DMA/PIO settings for a controller:

1. Click Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
   
   
2. Click System Tools, and then click Device Manager.
   
   
3. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
   
   
4. Click the specific controller for which you want to configure DMA/PIO settings.
   
   
5. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
   
   
6. In the Transfer Mode box, click either PIO Only or DMA if available.
   
   

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 2000.

6-0-14: Finessing Auto-Play for Music Match JB (Author: Cherokee)

I hope this information will be beneficial to other MMJB users, trying to achieve the same goal.

6-0-15: How do I Eject a CD/RW disk from my drive when the Adaptec Direct CD software or other software for Microsoft Windows has locked the drive for use? (Dell FA 1030049)

How do I eject a CD-RW disk from my drive when the Adaptec Direct CD software or other software for Microsoft^� Windows^� has locked the drive for use?

Problem

You are unable to eject the CD-RW disk from the CD-RW drive.  

Discussion

It is possible that the Adaptec Direct CD software has locked the CD-RW drive in preparation for use of the CD-RW. The Adaptec Direct CD software loads automatically when your computer starts. If you do not use the Direct CD application, you can configure the software not to load at startup. To do so, perform the following steps.

1. Click the Start button, click Run, and then type Msconfig in the Open box.

2. Click OK. The System Configuration Utility window appears. 

3. Click the Startup tab.

4. Click to uncheck DirectCD.

5. Click Apply, and then click OK.

6. If prompted, restart the computer.

Direct CD will not load when Windows restarts.

Solution

To eject the CD-RW disk, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the Direct CD icon in the system tray (next to the computer clock).
2. Click Eject on the pop-up menu.
   The Adaptec Direct CD Wizard appears.
3. Click Finish.
   The CD-RW disk should eject.

If the CD-RW disk fails to eject, perform the following steps:

1. Press the <Ctrl> <Alt> <Delete> keys at the same time.
   The Close Programs window appears.
2. From the list of programs, click Directcd.
3. Click End Task.
4. If an End Task window appears, click End Task again.
   The lock on the CD-RW drive should be disabled, and you will be able to eject the CD-RW disk.

If the CD-RW disk still fails to eject, perform the following steps:

1. Click the Start button, click Shutdown, click Restart The Computer, and then click Yes.
2. When the computer is rebooting but prior to Windows loading, eject the CD-RW disk with the manual eject button on the front of the CD-RW drive.

If the CD-RW disk still does not eject, the issue is probably not related to the Direct CD software. It is possible that the disk is physically jammed or the drive damaged. Refer to Dell™ Knowledge Base Article: FA1037998 for instructions on emergency eject procedures.

E-mail Dell

For more troubleshooting assistance, you can communicate by e-mail with a Dell Technical Support representative. Navigate to the following link and select the option that best describes your problem:

http://support.dell.com/us/en/emaildell/