Setting speed on CD/DVD-ROM drives

Nero can specifically set the read speed on CD/DVD-ROM drives. This feature is primarily used to resolve problems when reading audio data (particularly the so-called "jitter effect"), the frequency of which also increases on many drives at higher read speeds. A lower read speed can often also give drives the ability to correct any read errors which occur by reading in sectors again. Sometimes noise can be avoided by reading more slowly from slightly scratched audio CDs. The significance of the effect of read speed on the error rate when reading from audio data is heavily dependent on the hardware being used.

Unfortunately the command used for setting various speeds is also dependent on the hardware. Such commands are specific to the manufacturer on SCSI-CD/DVD-ROM drives and are often not documented. In view of this and the many different CD/DVD-ROM drive types we have once again got out of this temporarily unrecognized command by using Nero's drive autodetection to set the speed. However it is not always possible to find the read speeds supported because firstly the read speeds of audio and data tracks are often different and secondly the read speed depends on the output data of the computer concerned and, finally, because many drives accept the setting of all possible and impossible speeds without complaining, so that it is often unclear what speeds are supported by the hardware. It is therefore possible, following autodetection of a drive, to be unable to select all possible speeds of a CD/DVD-ROM drive or not to have quite the desired effect. In this instance you should contact support@nero.com to ask whether any more information has become available on this drive in the meantime. In the worst scenario it may be that your drive supports no commands at all for setting speed or only Nero understands commands unrecognized by Nero. In this case the possibility of setting read speed will remain unavailable (shown in gray).

Renewed autodetection of your CD/DVD-ROM drive

If you are not satisfied with the settings available on your CD/DVD-ROM drive you can have your CD/DVD-ROM drive detected again with the newer version of Nero so that Nero also learns the commands to set the speed of your CD/DVD-ROM drive. To do this please proceed as follows:

  1. Determine the exact equipment name of your CD/DVD-ROM drive. This is possible in Windows under System Control > System > Equipment Manager > CD ROM. Note the exact description.
  2. Look for the file 'cdrom.cfg'. This is in the Nero installation directory.
  3. Open the file 'CDROM.CFG' using a text editor (for example 'Accessory > 'Notepad') and look for the entry for your CD/DVD-ROM drive with the name from Stage 1). When using another text editor ensure that the text is stored exclusively as pure ASCII text ("text only"). Storing e.g. in Word format (.doc) would render the file unusable!
  4. Annotate the former entry for your drive by preceding it with a semicolon (;). The effect of this is that the rows marked in this way will no longer be read. The entry might then look something like this:

    ;[DriveXXXX CD-ROM CT.778]

    ;TYPE=SCSI GENERIC_5

    ;COM=1

    ;CDRCAP_MAXREADSPEED=1800

    ;CDRCAP_MAXREADDASPEED=900

  5. Save and close the file and start Nero.
  6. Now you can have your CD/DVD-ROM drive detected once again. The new version of Nero will now also recognize the commands to set the drive speed and enter this in the Nero database. Of course, as before, we would appreciate receiving the parameters of the CD/DVD-ROM drive found in this way. The parameters thus found would then be included by us in the subsequent version of Nero and therefore be of benefit to all users of Nero. If you have any problems with the control of your CD/DVD-ROM drive using Nero (e.g. reading of audio no longer possible etc.) you may use the old settings again to remove the semicolons added in Stage 3.

    Nero DriveSpeed

    You can define such parameters as drive speed using the Nero DriveSpeed program which is a component part of the Nero Toolkit. You may find this useful because the noises it produces as drive speed increases had become louder and louder and we needed a program which could deal with this problem. If a program does not take long to load the noise level of the drive might not be an issue but with constant access to a CD this will be perceived as interference. However a brake can be installed simply by setting the read speed. If the use of Nero DriveSpeed gives rise to conflicts with the speed settings in Nero, Nero's settings predominate. Detailed information on the program can be found in the Section 'Nero DriveSpeed'.

    See also:

    Copying using an image file

    Copying using a fast copy (on the fly)

    Verifying audio read quality


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