Though long frustrated in their search for a mass market for CD-Recordable technology, CD-R's proponents always believed CD-R could have been a contender; the appeal of a desktop CD writer for premastering and storage seemed so natural--indeed, so simple. The problem was that using CD-R technology and the software that drives it was anything but simple, especially for those users who had no interest in exploiting the medium's potential to premaster the vast range of CD formats. Loath to navigate the dense tangle of CD-R software's powerful, multifunction interfaces, these users--or these prospective CD-R users, anyway--simply wanted basic, bare-bones file transfer, or straightforward back-up and archiving functions, to write to CD-R as if it were any other storage device. And beyond a grin-and-bear-it few, users who might have chosen CD-R for such storage-oriented purposes have largely looked elsewhere.
Nineteen ninety-seven opened a new chapter in CD-R history with the real-world debut of packet writing, a technology designed to enable simple, transparent file handling and transfer. The promise of packet writing is now fulfilled in a handful of packet-specific tools that are making packet writing the hottest technology in all of CD recording--the key, perhaps, to CD-R's long-anticipated mainstream market breakthrough.
But although packet writing may be the hottest CD technology in 1997 and beyond, it is hardly new, and not just as a concept. Several packet writing solutions have been available for well over a year and a half, and packet writing-capable recorders have been around just as long. The Philips CDD 2000, the Sony CDU 920S, and the JVC XR-W2010 have been capable of packet recording for more than a year as well.
So what's all the fuss about, all of a sudden? Disc interchangeability between these various products and drives has been limited, to date; however, with the advent of Universal Disk Format (UDF), a new standard file system for optical storage adopted by the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) in 1996, these limitations may be eliminated. Although programs cannot interchange discs yet, the CD-UDF portion of the standard promises to allow packet writing schemes that use the CD-UDF format to be able to share discs without incompatibilities.
This is not to say that all current packet writing products are UDF-compliant--they are not. And whether universal UDF-compliance turns out to be the case in practice remains to be seen.
But other signs of change are clearer: buffer underrun--the long-time nemesis of all CD-R users--is almost eliminated because of the way packet writing works. According to the CD-UDF standard: "The file system is almost completely underrun-proof. The only parts that must be recorded without an underrun are the two volume descriptor sequences. As these structures are no more than five sectors each, this should not present a problem."
What's more, packet writing improves immensely on CD-ROM's first specification for multiple-write CD recording, multisession, which allowed users to write incrementally to discs at multiple sittings, but only by closing a write session each time. Because closing a session could take from 13 to 15MB of disc space, multisession is terribly inefficient from a casual, frequent-use storage standpoint. Today's packet writing schemes, by comparison, carry space overhead of as little as 3.5MB per disc. And the three most prominent emerging tools today--Adaptec's DirectCD, CeQuadrat's PacketCD, and Smart Storage's FloppyCD--also write variable-length packets, which means they avoid the storage space overhead associated with fixed-length packet writers, like Sony's CDRFS, which writes blocks of a fixed size--and consumes a comparable chunk of disc space--no matter how large the actual files being written in the block.
Current packet writing software achieves these various feats in a variety of ways; by purpose, rather than method, however, these tools break down into two basic categories: drive-letter access tools and backup products. As a single new genre in CD-R software, the various strengths and current shortcomings of these products give a good sense not only of what packet writing means today in the real world of CD-Recordable but also of what CD-Recordable may become in the real world of electronic data storage.
CD-Recordable users have long dreamed of finding and accessing their CD recorders as desktop storage devices, accessed via drive letters as they would any other such device. For many, the Holy Grail of CD recording has become the ability to use standard file copy commands and utilities such as xcopy, copy, and deltree in DOS, and the drag and drop capabilities of Windows. But until recently this dream for many has been a reality for few. Some attempts to create a driver that allowed direct drive-letter access have been made, most notably Moniker's Spira software, but despite its promise, the program was not terribly successful, partly due to the fact that, like traditional recording, using the machine for other purposes while the data transfer was taking place was difficult, if not impossible. Easier to use and less resource-intensive than premastering programs, Spira was, nonetheless, less flexible than users needed it to be, and still subject under certain conditions to buffer underrun.
Other attempts at drive-letter access-based packet writing followed, and two resulting implementations, Sony's Compact Disc Recordable File System (CDRFS) and the CD-R Extensions element of JVC's CD Archiver package remain in limited use today. Sony's system is available for download and use with Sony recorders, and CD-R Extensions is still packaged with JVC drives.
But the most visible members of the new drive-letter access, packet writing pack have emerged elsewhere. In early 1997, Adaptec, Inc., whose FlexCD packet writing scheme was bandied about before the adoption of UDF, became the first to debut a packet-writing capable, drive-letter accessed, UDF-compliant software when they announced the availability of their new DirectCD for forthcoming bundles. Also promising drive-letter CD-R access, packet writing power, and UDF compliance in a new product was CeQuadrat, which announced PacketCD recently. And rounding out the packet writing field is Smart Storage, proprietors of the Gutenberg Systems technology implemented in JVC's CD-R Extensions. With FloppyCD, which uses a non-UDF-compliant packet writing approach, Smart Storage has also targeted the CD-R bundling market for spreading their own version of the drive letter-leveraging packet writing gospel.
Adaptec's DirectCD, the first UDF-compliant packet writing tool available to the CD-R public, began shipping in first quarter 1997 in various CD-Recordable bundles from several vendors, although Adaptec currently has no plans to sell the product as a retail package. DirectCD adheres to UDF specifications, and is designed to create discs in either the DirectCD UDF file format or the CD-ROM ISO 9660 Level 3 format, providing compatibility with current CD-ROM drives and drivers.
DirectCD installs transparently under Windows 95, inserting a small CD icon on the toolbar. Users can save files directly from the Windows 95 Explorer, or by using any "File Save" command or DOS copy commands or programs in a DOS window.
Loading its driver right after system boot, with an option to show or hide the driver-loading screen, DirectCD then presents "DirectCD Wizard, a welcome screen followed by a screen that shows attached recorders and the type of media inserted. Here there is a Properties button that displays a dialog with three tabs: General, Settings, and DirectCD Wizard. Under General, the program also shows the disc label, used space, free space, and total disc capacity. Settings allows you to set the recorder speed. The Direct CD Wizard tab allows you to set four options:
PacketCD, from CeQuadrat, the developers of the WinOnCD and WinOnCD To Go! recording programs, adheres to the UDF file format. Like other packet writing solutions, this new software writes information to the CD-R disc in small packets rather than in tracks or sessions. Using PacketCD, users can access a read/write CD-R drive just like they access a hard drive or a floppy drive.
PacketCD installs transparently under the Windows 95 environment and gives the user a single drive letter designation for an attached CD recorder. Like the other packet writing solutions, users can simply drag and drop files from Windows Explorer to the drive letter icon. The drive can also be accessed from within Windows applications, making use of a program's "save" and "save as" features. DOS commands like copy, xcopy, deltree, and other file handling programs will all work with PacketCD, just like with DirectCD.
The program detects the insertion of a blank disc in a CD recorder and brings up its no-frills main menu. The options on the menu are: Format the CD, Start WinOnCD, and Do Nothing. Formatting takes about 30 seconds and, once the disc is formatted, you can immediately begin to read and write to it.
Smart Storage's FloppyCD is a non-UDF variable packet writing program that allows users to write hundreds or thousands of "sessions" with minimal overhead and still produce a CD that should be readable in any CD-ROM drive. FloppyCD is targeted for inclusion in various CD-Recordable bundles, either independently or as a component of Smart Storage's network CD-R software. Currently, the product only ships with JVC drives; future bundles will be announced when appropriate recorder firmware is available.
FloppyCD is based on the packet writing technology implemented as CD-R Extensions in JVC's CD-R bundles and developed by Smart Storage subsidiary Gutenberg Systems. Using packet writing technology, FloppyCD avoids the overhead associated with multisession writing. FloppyCD keeps the overhead associated with implementing repeated packet writes under 0.5 percent, as compared to traditional multisession's 13 to 15MB per session.
FloppyCD writes in two modes: Backup and ISO 9660. The Backup mode allows users to write files of any size to the CD and gives the option of password-protecting the CD when finalizing the disc. In order to read the finalized backup CD, users must first run the FloppyCD unlock driver. This driver can be installed directly from the finalized backup CD, as it is written to each backup CD when the disc is finalized. The driver works with systems running DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
In the ISO 9660 mode, no special driver is needed to mount the CD. The discs, as ISO 9660 discs, can be read on DOS, Windows, UNIX, and Macintosh machines. ISO mode requires, however, that the volume file size--user-adjustable within the program--be as large as the largest file that will be written to the CD. The program includes a utility that will help the user determine the correct volume file size.
The main menu for FloppyCD shows the drive letters that are available for read and write access and information about each disc and recorder. This information includes volume label, status of the drive, access mode, free space, format type, naming standard, long filenames enabled/disabled, volume file size, number of directories allowed, and the SCSI ID and current speed setting of the attached and enabled recorder or recorders.
In the set-up menu, you can change the writing mode from Backup to ISO 9660, enforce ISO 9660 filenaming, set the volume file size and the number of directories, enable automount and set the Snapshot options. The Snapshot feature allows the disc to be read by a CD-ROM drive without the large overhead associated with closing a session.
The Smart Storage packet writing implementation creates completely self-contained, ISO 9660-compatible discs, which keeps them compatible with new and existing drives, recorders, and drivers. FloppyCD is available in both 16-bit and 32-bit versions and is available for DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95. A Windows NT version is expected soon, as are versions for various flavors of UNIX.
JVC's CD-R Extensions, which shares a common lineage with FloppyCD--in that it was first developed by Smart Storage subsidiary Gutenberg Systems-- has been available since late 1995 from JVC. Not widely recognized because the product only supports JVC recorders, CD-R Extensions is available to users of JVC recorders running DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95. Since the JVC CD-R Extensions was written by Smart Storage, there is much similarity between the screens of the new Floppy CD and the Windows 3.1 version of CD-R Extensions.
Like FloppyCD, JVC's CD-R Extensions is a variable packet writing program that writes in two modes, Backup and ISO 9660. The Backup mode allows users to write files of any size to the CD and gives the option of password-protecting the CD when finalizing the disc. Also like FloppyCD, CD-R Extensions is not UDF-compliant.
Sony's Compact Disc Recordable File System (CDRFS) is a fixed-length packet recording implementation that does not use UDF in its packet writing, and Sony makes no apologies for it.
According to Sony, CDRFS was developed to get packet writing technology implemented and out on the market, so they could sell more drives. The program installs on your system as a virtual device driver and is compatible with Sony's three most recent CD recorders, the CDU 920, CDU 924, and the CDU 926, as well as products from companies such as Optima, Olympus, and Smart and Friendly that use recent Sony drives as their recording mechanism.
Unlike the other programs in the drive-letter access category, CDRFS does not present itself in an integrated menu fashion. Instead, in the subdirectory where you installed the program, there are six separate programs, cdrfmt, cantumnt, cdrfrz, history, qfreeze, and qformat. Before writing to a disc, you must "format" the disc.
The format program, Cdrfmt, requests a volume label and lets you indicate whether or not you want to embed the file system driver on the disc. Qformat formats a new disc with the program's default values. Formatting takes about four minutes. Once a disc is formatted, users can proceed to use the drive as a read/write device. When formatting, CDRFS creates one session of data on the disc so that a CD-ROM drive can recognize it. When you select the "embed driver" option, CDRFS puts its installer and reader driver in this session of data as an ISO 9660 image. When the disc is placed in a computer that does not have the correct driver to read the disc, the installer will automatically install the CDRFS driver.
Cdrfrz and Qfreeze both perform the same function. They "freeze" the disc so that it can be read in a drive other than the one that created it. Freezing adds Lead-In and Lead-Out for the current session and creates the secondary volume descriptor for the next session. While Qfreeze will freeze the disc and eject it, Cdrfrz also allows you to close the disc permanently.
The History program allows users to assign a "tag" to each session on the disc. The tag identifies the session and allows you to mount different sessions on the disc as drive letters.
Unfortunately, the CDRFS program does not integrate a help button into its menus, and users must open the help files separately to use the function. The help content itself is sparse but reasonable. There is a "What's This" help button on the menu that supplies some minimal information on the different program functions. Sony expects to release CDRFS for Macintosh soon and a Windows NT version of the program is scheduled for June 1997 release. CDRFS is available for free download at Sony's CDRFS home page. With the downloaded software, users also get some understandable and useful information on how it works.
Regular, reliable, systematic backing up and storing data is one application area where CD-R has generally fallen short of other storage devices competing in the back-up market. Some CD-R software vendors have made valiant efforts to alleviate CD-R's shortcomings as a back-up medium, but rarely have such attempts been made by companies who specialize in backup software.
A good back-up tool must do more than drag and drop all your files on drive C to an ISO image or make an xcopy to a packet-enabled drive letter. True backup must take into consideration such things as scheduling, media rotation, status of archived files, and handling procedure for in-use files. A back-up product must also be able to verify or compare after backup, provide backup of the Windows registry and other system files in Windows 95 and NT, and be able to back up system files in Novell Netware. Additionally, password-protection of back-up sets and virus scanning during or before backup can be implemented to protect the back-up medium and the files stored thereon, which for many companies represents the only way to guarantee recovery of critical data in the event of a catastrophic system crash, sabotage, virus infection, fire, flood, or other cataclysm.
Several vendors have offered CD-R back-up programs in their product line, either included with their premastering software or available separately. Young Minds SimpliCD suite includes with the CD-R backup program SimpliStore, Adaptec augments Easy-CD Pro with Easy CD Backup, and Pinnacle Micro has shipped RCD Backup with their recording software and drives. But suffice it to say that, other than the Pinnacle software, which allowed Microsoft Backup to write to the CD recorder, these programs are, at best, weak in the back-up features department. Even Microsoft Backup is not especially full-featured, and network administrators and other serious professionals would not consider any of these programs as an alternative to true back-up solutions offered by many vendors catering to the professional and network market.
Two recent products, however, manufactured by a pair of career back-up software vendors, have married packet writing capability with back-up know-how and provided much-improved solutions for CD-R-based backup. The new tools integrate packet writing technology, as do the drive-letter access tools, but behave and function in the manner of traditional back-up software. These products, Seagate Software's Backup Exec and Dantz's Retrospect, could join drive-letter-oriented tools in catapulting CD-R into unconquered--until now--application areas.
Seagate Software has an excellent back-up product in their Seagate Backup that ships with many PD drives. Using packet recording, Seagate has successfully added CD-R support to the product in the form of its Backup Exec for CD-R. Achieving speeds of up to 30MB per minute, this program is a must-have tool for users who want to use a CD recorder to meet their back-up needs. Keep in mind, however, that recorder support for packet writing remains weak through the first quarter of 1997.
Backup Exec for CD-R, which is as easy to use as any program you will likely ever see, opens with a window that has five large vertical buttons. These buttons are What, Where, How, When, and Start. The top of the window has five large horizontal buttons: Backup, Compare, Restore, Configure, and Quit. Despite the simplicity of the main menu, which may be all that some users will ever need, the program has many advanced features in its sub-menus, allowing the user to change such variables as data compression scheme, compression priority, disc append/overwrite, data verification, retry-on-busy files, back-up registry, password-protect, and others. There is a complete file display options screen and an easy-to-use file include/ exclude list.
Backup Exec for CD-R, like any good back-up program, can, of course, be run in the background, unattended and easily scheduled. However, it bears noting that with Backup Exec, as with other packet writing software, the speed of the data transfer decreases if other programs are run simultaneously.
For more than a year, Dantz, purveyors of back-up software for the Mac, have had packet writing support built into their Retrospect back-up program. Retrospect is a complete back-up solution for Macintosh systems that contains all the necessary functions for backing up to tape, hard drive, or removable media, including CD-R.
The CD-R driver kit comes on a floppy disk separate from the two install diskettes. Once Retrospect is installed, you drag the CD-R driver to the Retrospect folder. When you start Retrospect, the CD recorder appears as another back-up device to the program. Backup proceeds in the normal manner, with the back-up set being written to the CD instead of tape or other removable media.
One pleasing feature of Retrospect is that it can perform back-up operations reliably as a background function. Users can confidently run other programs during the backup without fear of buffer underrun.
On the Macintosh and Windows 95 platforms, packet writing will make a strong showing this year, not just in drive-letter access programs, but in traditional recording programs and back-up solutions as well. The idea of writing to CD without the possibility of buffer underrun should bring experienced users a feeling of security unprecedented in the annals of CD-R.
Furthermore, the ease and simplicity of packet writing will open the market to millions of users who only need a simple and inexpensive back-up and archiving device. At last CD-R is equipped to play that role. And even with CD-RW just over the horizon, at least until multiread drives have achieved a widespread installed base, users of packet writing tools will find in CD-R the added benefit of being able to share and distribute their discs among the large existing base of installed CD-ROM drives.
One of the promises of packet writing is that it frees the user from ever-lurking fear of buffer underrun. So adding packet writing capability to a premastering tool will enable that tool--when writing in packet mode--to eliminate its susceptibility to buffer underrun. And furthermore, in this packet-within-premastering scenario, recording a real or virtual image in the background is, at last, possible.
NewTech InfoSystems (NTI)'s CD Maker software represents one implementation of state-of-the-art packet writing technology in a full-throttle premastering tool. It has its limitations, however. For one thing, the software does not currently use UDF as its packet recording format, and currently it supports only Sony recorders when in packet writing mode, although it has broad recorder support when discs are written in ISO 9660.
The visual manifestation of the packet capability is an extra item on the recording menu that allows you to choose between Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, and Packet recording modes. This item is only available when a Sony recorder is attached. NTI plans to include full UDF support in a future release of the program. n
Astarte has announced plans to introduce Toast Direct in early summer 1997. Toast Direct is a UDF-compliant Macintosh implementation of drive-letter read/write access to CD-R through packet writing. Astarte says that Direct will be able to mount CDs created by other UDF-capable packet recording programs, including Windows-based programs. The Toast Direct program begins by requesting a format of an inserted blank disc, just as if you had inserted a floppy disk. After the format query is completed, the drive letter is available for mounting, reading, and writing. Astarte expects to release the product with support for whatever CD-RW drives are available when Toast Direct ships.
Optima's CD-R Access Pro, planned for April shipping, adds a new twist to packet writing on the Mac. According to the company, Optima's proprietary "data boosting" technology increases CD capacity while increasing read/write speed, in addition to allowing recording from any device regardless of data transfer speed. CD-R Access Pro's data boosting process, Optima says, increases disc capacity to 1.3GB, while allowing read and write data at up to twice the normal speed.
Data boosting works as follows: first, unused space within a file allocation block is removed. A 3MB/sec high-speed compressor then further reduces the size of the file. The program then uses SCSI disconnect/reconnect to allow the compressor to run in the background, thus increasing the overall speed. When you insert a recordable CD, the program will initialize it. You can then copy individual files, folders, or entire volumes in 512KB blocks to the mounted recordable CD. The resulting discs can be read in any standard multisession-compatible CD-ROM drive, and can be read on a PC with Optima's Xchange Software for Windows 95/NT.
When a CD-R Access Pro disc is loaded into a Macintosh for the first time, the disc will automatically install the CD-R Access Reader into the system's operating system. After the installation, CD-R Access discs will immediately mount on the desktop when inserted.
A third upcoming tool comes from Charismac, who will soon be releasing Backup Mastery for the Macintosh, a packet-based back-up tool that presents a CD recorder as a mounted volume and works directly with CharisMac's Describe CD mastering software to back-up data to any supported CD-R drive in several CD formats. Like Seagate Backup Exec, Backup Mastery is a full-featured back-up program with multiple target support for tape, hard drive, and removable discs, in addition to its CD-R support.
Any device identified as a mounted volume by Backup Mastery can be backed up. The Charismac tool's unattended backup functions include the ability to start up and shut down. n
UDF-compliance may or may not play an important role in packet writing, depending on what tasks you are performing. Remember that the reason some companies are not in a hurry to implement UDF is that today, even if implemented, there are no reader drivers available that will allow a standard CD-ROM drive to read the UDF file format. In the meantime, reading your CD-UDF disc can only be done in a packet writing enabled recorder. If you want to read it in a standard CD-ROM drive, you can make the disc ISO 9660-compliant, and most of these programs make provision for this solution. Non-UDF packet-written discs can be read on standard CD-ROM drives, provided that you use the driver that is placed on the disc by the program that wrote it.
Generally, if a program is to be used in-house and the discs exchanged between users who have compatible hardware and software, UDF is not a requirement and some of the non-UDF solutions offer some additional features. If discs are ultimately to be read by those with standard CD-ROM drives, then the embedded driver approach is a good one. For example, DirectCD discs in ISO 9660 format are ISO Level 3; consequently, a system running DOS will not be able to handle long filenames on the disc if they are used. FloppyCD, on the other hand, can produce ISO 9660 level 1 and 2 discs, which can be accessed on any platform. Even given this current area of flexibility allowed by non-UDF software, Smart Storage joins in the consensus--at least among current packet tool vendors--that all drive-letter access programs will eventually be UDF-compliant.
On the back-up side, UDF-compliance may not matter at all. Assuming that a program writes a back-up set rather than individual files, as is the case with Seagate Backup Exec for CD-R, the user has access to individual files only through the Seagate software itself, not directly from the operating system. In this case, whether the software conforms to UDF does not matter. It is the packet writing that makes the software perform quickly and resist buffer underrun, not the file format.
Microsoft is expected to include CD-UDF support in its next release of Windows, now called Memphis but likely to be called Windows 97 upon its projected mid-1997 release. Theoretically, a UDF disc written with one UDF-compliant program can be read and written again in another. In practice, this does not necessarily hold true. Adaptec has been encouraging other software developers to exchange discs with them with the goal of finding and correcting UDF incompatibilities, wherever they appear.
For the end-user, it is important that these discs be interchangeable between programs and it is likely that ultimately a UDF disc will be a UDF disc, until, of course, someone finds a way to tweak it to do this or that better or faster. If this becomes the case, proprietary packet writing formulas may again become popular. n
Files can be copied from any local or network storage device. While the initial release is not packet writing enabled, that functionality should be included in the software shortly. Cheyenne is also examining coupling its drive letter CD access technology with its well-known Cheyenne Backup for Windows, or incorporating the Zap for CD capability into the program itself.
The software is almost identical in look and feel to the Spira software from Moniker, which Cheyenne acquired in 1996. While Zap for CD is a solid, non-packet writing implementation or drive letter access without packet writing, it may not meet the goal of making CD writing transparent to the user. Long waits as the program copies to the hard disk track buffer and writes to CD are the norm. Implementation of packet writing capability should make Zap a competitor with the other packet-enabled products. n
Early recorders were single-purpose machines. Recording was done at 1X, in Disc-at-Once mode, and anything beyond a standard CD-ROM needed to be created specially, many times with much low-level work. CD-R discs were used mainly for prototyping and testing titles to be sold. A second use of the technology was by Fortune 500 companies and government agencies who needed to make small quantities of discs that contained highly sensitive or proprietary information which could not, by rule, policy, or procedure, be allowed to leave the site where the data was created or stored; CD-R could also be used to prototype these applications in addition to keeping the underlying data safe and in-house.
Only the affluent could afford the first generation recorders, which cost $25,000 to $100,000. "Service bureaus" were available to make one-off discs for those without the necessary equipment but the cost was about $400 for the first disc and $100 each for subsequent copies made from the same image. This was indeed a far cry from the situation today, where many users can easily afford their own recorder and service bureaus charge as little as $50 to create a single disc and $15 for each copy of that disc.
And early on, not only was the price of recorders and outsourcing recording prohibitive, but the functionality of the equipment was limited. It cost the same to produce a 65MB disc as it did to produce a 650MB disc. Small datasets were expensive and it seemed a waste to use only ten percent of the disc capacity when the media cost $40 to $50 per piece. Soon, multisession recording and 2X speed became available, albeit still at a premium price ($5000 to $10,000) and users were able to make more sensible use of disc space. If you think buffer underruns are a nuisance now, in those days a 64KB buffer was the norm in recorders and any recording at 2X was truly a risky proposition.
Once again, efficient use of disc space was an issue, as closing a session consumed 13 to 15MB of disc space. Writing ten sessions to a disc, not an unreasonable number, could decrease disc capacity by 150MB--20 sessions and you would have used half the disc capacity for overhead.
Inefficient or not, many users found multisession writing useful and usable, despite the learning curve required by CD recording programs. Understanding such concepts as Disc-at-Once versus Track-at-Once, multitrack, finalization, and characteristics and readability of closed versus unclosed sessions and discs were all necessary to take full advantage of the multisession capabilities of recording software and the recorders. n
The only recorder models that support packet recording, at least outwardly, as of the February 1997 announcement of the Adaptec, Smart Storage, and CeQuadrat tools are the Sony CDU 920, 924, and 926; the Philips CDD2000 and CDD2600; and the JVC XR-W2010. Although the Philips CDD2600 is on the supported list of many vendors, there have been several reports of buggy firmware. The new Philips is apparently not as compatible as the old. The new line of Yamaha drives will support packet writing, but users have no guarantee that the older models of many drives, those that may still be on distributor and retailer shelves, will have a firmware upgrade available in the future.
This is not to say that the manufacturers have no plans for upgrading firmware in the future; it means only that if you buy a non-packet writing recorder, so it will remain until a firmware upgrade is available, if at all. The best advice for recorder buyers is to make sure, if you want to take advantage of currently available packet writing software, to note the model number and firmware version of the recorder that you are considering for purchase and to check those numbers against the approved drive list available from the developers of the packet writing software that you choose. n
Adaptec, Inc. (DirectCD)
691 South Milpitas Boulevard,
Milpitas, CA 95035;
800/934-2766, 800/442-7274; Fax 408/262-2533;
http://www.adaptec.com;
Astarte (Toast Direct)
1044 Adams Avenue, Suite 331,
Huntington Beach, CA 92646;
714/963-7030: Fax 714/963-0529;
http://www.astarte.de;
CeQuadrat USA, Inc. (PacketCD)
1804 Embarcadero Road, Suite 101,
Palo Alto, CA 94303;
415/843-3780; Fax 415/843-3799;
http://www.cequadrat.com;
CharisMac Engineering (Backup Mastery)
66 'D' P&S Lane,
Newcastle, CA 95658;
800/487-4420, 916/885-4420; Fax 916/885-1410;
http://www.charismac.com;
Cheyenne Software, Inc. (Zap for CD)
3 Expressway Plaza,
Roslyn Heights, NY 11577;
800/243-9462; Fax 516/465-4000;
http://www.cheyenne.com;
Dantz Development Corporation (Retrospect)
4 Orinda Way, Building C,
Orinda, CA 94563;
510/253-3000; Fax 510/253-9099;
http://www.dantz.com;
JVC Information Products (CD-R Extensions)
5665 Corporate Avenue,
Cypress, CA 90630;
714/816-6500; Fax 714/816-6579;
http://www.jvcinfo.com;
NewTech InfoSystems (NTI CD Maker)
2081 Business Center Drive, Suite 250,
Irvine, CA 92715;
714/622-6970; Fax 714/622-6978;
http://www.ntius.com;
Optima Technology Corporation
(CD-R Access Pro)
17062 Murphy Avenue,
Irvine, CA 92614;
714/476-0515; Fax 714/476-0613;
http://www.optimatech.com;
Seagate Software (Seagate Backup Exec for CD-R)
19925 Stevens Creek Boulevard,
Cupertino, CA 94014;
800/327-2232; Fax 408/342-4772;
http://www.seagatesoftware.com;
Smart Storage, Inc. (FloppyCD)
100 Burtt Road, Suite 214,
Andover, MA 01810;
508/623-3300; Fax 508/623-3310;
http://www.smartstorage.com;
Sony Electronics, Inc. (CDRFS)
3300 Zanker Road,
San Jose, CA 95134;
408/955-5121; Fax 408/955-5111;
http://www.sel.sony.com:80/sel/ccpg/support/cdrfs/cdrfshome.html;
Robert A. Starrett is a contributing editor for EMedia Professional, co-columnist for The CD-R Writer, and an independent consultant based in Denver, Colorado. He is the co-author of CD-ROM Professional's CD-Recordable Handbook.
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