This Guide is to aid people to configure their System, SCSI Host, and Software to work with their Ricoh CDRW MP6200S Drive. For some reason Ricoh didn't think it was important to tell us how the machine the CDRW was going to be installed into should be configured. If I could write CD's on my old 486 DX4 / 120 MHz machine it should be a piece of cake on your Pentium machine. I take no responsibility for this advice, it is at the readers own risk to follow this guide, but it worked for me, with help from certain people, organizations, and newsgroups.
My own setup is :
A Gigabyte Super 7 Motherboard
AMD K6 - 2 3D Now / 500MHz Processor
64MB SD RAM
10GB Quantum ATA 66 HDD
1GB Samsung IDE HDD
850MB Quantum IDE HDD
520MB Seagate IDE HDD
Tekram DC315U Ultra SCSI Host Adapter
Adaptec AHA1520B SCSI Host Adapter (Backup Card)
Ricoh MP6200S SCSI CDRW
Plextor PX40TSi ""
(Need I Say More!)
Plus the usual SVGA, mouse, modem etc.
Settings for Windows 95a/b (Not sure about '98)
To Begin With, you need to edit your System.ini file located in the Windows Directory using Notepad.exe or Sysedit.exe. Find the section [vcache] and add these next two lines underneath it (only if they don't already exist of course!)
[vcache]
MinFileCache=1024
MaxFileCache=4096
These two lines are very important. You will have great difficulty writing any CD's without adding them.
Make sure you have your Windows 95 settings as follows:
Control Panel\System\Performance\File System\
File System
32 Bit
Modify The Following Attributes:
Control Panel\System\Device Manager\CD Rom\RICOH MP6200s\Settings\
Auto Insert Notification
Disabled (Except for DirectCD see later)
Disconnect
Enabled
Control Panel\System\Device Manager\CD Rom\Other CD Rom Drive\Settings\
Auto Insert Notification
Disabled
Disconnect
Enabled
Control Panel\System\Performance\File System\Hard Disk\
Typical Roll Of This Machine
Network Server
Read Ahead Optimization
None
Control Panel\System\Performance\File System\CD Rom\
Supplemental Cache Size
Large
Optimize Access Pattern For
No Read Ahead
Control Panel\System\Performance\File System\Troubleshooting\
Disable Write Behind Caching For All Drives Enabled
Control Panel\System\Performance\Virtual Memory\
Min
0MB
Max
(3x System RAM, eg 3 x 16 = 48MB maximum
of 64MB)
Try to get hold of a copy of TWEAK UI (A control Panel Add-On).
Settings for Adaptec SCSI Host Adapter BIOS (AHA1520B) and probably others
Port Address
340-35F
IRQ
11
DMA
Disabled
SCSI ID#
7
Host Adapter BIOS
(Software Disabled)
Host Adapter BIOS Address
DC000-DFFFF
Parity
Enabled
Initiate Sync Negotiation (all ID's)
Disabled
Sync Transfer Rate (all ID's)
5MB
Disconnection (all ID's)
Enabled
Send 'Start Unit' Command (all ID's)
Disabled
ISA Plug'N'Play (PnP)
Enabled
PnP SCAM
Disabled
Termination
Auto
MP6200S
Upgrade to Firmware version
2.40
SCSI ID# (The Higher the better,
6
ID#7 is usually your SCSI Host Adapter)
Terminator
Connected (See Below)
SCSI ID#
| SCSI ID | Pin 2 | Pin 3 | Pin 4 | Note |
|
|
OFF | OFF | OFF | Ricoh Factory Default Setting |
|
|
ON | OFF | OFF | |
|
|
OFF | ON | OFF | |
|
|
ON | ON | OFF | |
|
|
OFF | OFF | ON | |
|
|
ON | OFF | ON | |
|
|
OFF | ON | ON | Ricoh Setting (Recommended) |
|
|
ON | ON | ON | SCSI Host Setting (Recommended) |
The easiest way to explain this is as follows:-
The SCSI bus needs to be terminated at each device on the furthest
ends of the SCSI cable (so only two of your devices will be terminated).
Even if you only have the Ricoh connected to the SCSI host adapter both
the Ricoh and the host adapter will need to be terminated. Terminating
the host adapter is usually done from its setup routine when you boot the
machine. Terminating the Ricoh is done by inserting two resistor packs
(they look like the head of a very small rake and are usually blue in colour
(see image below). Any other SCSI devices you have connected should not
be terminated.
===== SCSI Cable
* Terminate Device
Ricoh*
Other (or nothing)
*Host
[]=====================[]======================[]
or
Other*
Ricoh
*Host
[]=====================[]======================[]
or
Other*
Host
*Ricoh
[]=====================[]======================[]
Picture of one of the terminating resistor packs
General Advice
For CD writing it is important for the process not to be interrupted by screen savers, power management, or any applications. The Ricoh has a 1MB buffer so writing at 2X (300KB/sec) it can't be interrupted for more than 3 seconds. Please only run your CD writing software when writing cd's. If copying data to your HDD for burning onto a cd make sure the HDD has been Defragmented. In actual fact most applications now provide their own larger buffers in memory, which means you can do other stuff while burning, just don't interrupt the SCSI bus with too much other traffic, ie scanning a large colour image while viewing an AVI file! You can probably get away with Wordprocessing or surfing the Net.
DirectCD by Adaptec (For UDF compliant CD's)
Your Ricoh drive (with the right firmware) is capable of incremental
packet writing (UDF), which means it can write relatively small amounts
(or packets)of data to the disc at a time. Why is this any use to me, you
might ask? Well it means that you can use DirectCD which allows you to
use your Ricoh as a rather large floppy drive. If you use DirectCD with
a CDRW disc you can add and erase files at will. On erasing a file you
immediately regain the space used up by that file. If you are intending
to use DirectCD2, make sure it is build (120) 2.0a and not (083). Build
(083) apparently is for Yamaha Drives (According to Ricoh Tech Supp), and
doesn't work well with the Ricoh (Not in my case anyway!). An upgrade patch
is available from Adaptec DCD20AUP.EXE, although I recommend downloading
it from a mirror site, eg a local University, it will be a much faster
download. DirectCD2.5a update is out now. It is supposed to be faster at
access, and have a scandisc utility for your DCD CDRW discs. Also For DirectCD
Auto Insert Notification is required to be Enabled.
(This is mainly so DirectCD recognises a UDF disc on insertion, and to
allow it to read long filenames correctly) Please note that for audio discs
DirectCD is of no use whatsoever.
GIVE ADAPTEC UDF READER TO YOUR FRIENDS SO THEY CAN READ YOUR CDRW
DISCS IN UDF FORMAT ON THEIR MULTI READ DRIVES-AVAILABLE
FROM ADAPTEC
There are also other vendors supplying UDF software.
Cequadrat PacketCD
Ahead Software Nero
VOB Software CD Wizard
Prassi abCD (it's as easy as abc d, I assume, although I haven't
seen it yet! Seriously though, Prassi write some of the most professional,
compact code I have come across)
CD Mastering and Copying Applications
As with most other fields in computing there are the big boys and the small guys. Adaptec are the "Microsoft" of the CD-R world. This doesn't mean that they are the best, just that they have the influence and money to flood the market with their products. All mastering applications are able to perform copy tasks and DAE(Digital Audio Extraction).
Adaptec "Easy CD Creator"
This is an extremely well featured package, capable of creating most
types of CD. It also has components to edit and sample in audio from the
line in on the soundcard ready for writing to a CD. You can create Video
CD's and Photo CD's. Also comes with a Session Selector program. The help
files are very good. This is ideal for the beginner or experienced user.
Adaptec - "Easy CD Pro"
This is very simple to use, many people swear by it for audio and data
CD's.
Prassi - "CD Rep"
This is one of the most professional packages I have seen. It performs
bit by bit copies retaining the original disc geometry (their words!) It
also optimizes the ISO format for Data CD creation for faster access. It
has the ability to write to many CD writers at once (depends on the version
as to how many) It does a very tidy Install/De-install.
VOB Software - "CD Wizard"
This is great, my favorite. This copies virtually everything. It is
very straightforward to use, but has enough settings to keep even the most
furious twidddlers and tweakers happy. It looks professional and VOB have
written their own optimized ASPI layer - ASAPI.
Ahead Software - "Nero"
This is almost as popular as Easy CD Creator. I have to admit I haven't
had much luck with it. More often than not I get buffer underruns while
using it. If you can get it going it does all the usual stuff, but is apparently
very processor intensive, and doesn't seem to repaint the screen very well
when selecting files by dragging a box around them, maybe it's just my
machine! Anyway, you can Download a free Demo from www.ahead.de
Padus - "Discjuggler"
This is just for copying. Plenty of settings. Supposedly copies anything,
but I have come across a few PSX discs it had problems with, well when
I say problems I mean it copied ok, but the PSX couldn't read it. Can write
to many CD Writers.
There are many more worthy applications than the ones I have listed
including Elektrossons Gear, NTI CD Maker, Goldenhawk CDRWin (Apparently
the best PSX copy prog!) and more, but I have never tried them. I have
tried to be honest, but I like what I like and for my money CD Wizard or
Prassi CD Rep are the best.
Auto Insert Notification is required to be Disabled for all the above applications, but if you have TWEAKUI, you can leave it Enabled, and change these settings to:
Control Panel\Tweak UI\Paranoia\Things That Happen Behind Your Back\
Play Data CD's Automatically
Disabled
Play Audio CD's Automatically
Disabled
TweakUI is useful if you have both DirectCD and any other CD Mastering application, eg Easy CD Pro, installed on your machine. If you have DirectCD and another package, you can disable DirectCD to use the other package by following the next section. Please note Ctrl-Alt-Del and ending DCD task does not disable it, if you try it you will find you can put a UDF disc in your drive and it will still be running!
Blank Media
I currently use Samsung Silver/Blue which work perfectly for all the types of disc application, Data, Audio and Playstation(PSX). Having said that I have never had a problem with media and the Ricoh, but my Plextor CD ROM does not like Dysan Silver /Light blue discs.
METHOD FOR DISABLING DirectCD
Click START \ Run
Type REGEDIT.EXE <RETURN> (This runs the Registry Editor)
Click My Computer \ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
Double click Adaptec DirectCD
Delete the Info in the Value Data Edit box. (By deleting this, windows will no longer run DCD at startup. If you need DCD just click on it in the Start Menu) This method works, allowing you to use other mastering applications like Prassi CD Rep Pro without it conflicting with DCD!
Click Registry Menubutton
Click Exit (Done!)
Reboot your machine.
****Since writing it I have found that the above
method for disabling DirectCD does not work. The only way to stop DirectCD
is to uninstall it.
Digital Audio Extraction is a method of taking the audio tracks from an Audio CD, digitally instead of using your sound card to sample the tracks as they are played. The advantages are obvious, no extra analogue noise is introduced into the recording. Most CD Drives now do DAE with varying degrees of success. Your CD Drive may well be a 32X Max, but DAE is generally much slower. For those of you that don't know what 1x, 2x, 32x etc. is, an audio CD is played at 1x (single speed) and a CD can store 74 minutes of digital audio upon it. If you are extracting at 4x, because it is four times faster it will only take a quarter of the time ie, 18 minutes.
Your Ricoh MP6200S does do DAE at about 5x, but a bad disc surface / poor DAE software / old firmware will reduce this speed. You may wish to use a separate CD Rom Drive especially if you wish to backup CD's on the fly (on the fly means straight from original to recordable cd directly.) If you have a Plextor / Panasonic / Pioneer CD Rom Drive use that for DAE because they are fast and accurate (8x plus at least). Most CD Mastering Applications do DAE, but I tend to use Windac141 (Evaluation copies are available all over the net - approx 290kB zip file) Windac has the ability to do Sector Synchronisation so even with a poor drive or a very bad disc you should get a reasonable copy. More on this in the future, and links to the evaluation progs, when I can find lasting links.
The Ricoh has been criticised for poor DAE, but I haven't found this
to be true. Using Windac141 I extracted track 14 (You only live twice/Nancy
Sinatra/The Best Of James Bond 30th Anniversary Collection) with the Ricoh
and the Plextor PX32TS. The results were identical using the DOS file compare
utility.
Pro's
Supported by all major CD recording software
Accepts virtually all brands of CDR/CDRW media
Available as Internal/External/SCSI/Atapi/Tray/Caddy versions
Supports UDF packet writing (DirectCD compatible)
1 Megabyte internal buffer (Tray model, 2MB for Caddy version)
Dustproof design
Low heat emission
Can Write to 80 minute CD's
Cons
Only a 2x writer
Manuals could be better
Models built in August/September 1997 have a lubrication problem
Poor DAE (See Above!)
Can't overburn (create CD's bigger than 74min on a 74 min CD)
I must extend my thanks to:
Tom Varghese, whose
web site "The Unofficial Ricoh CDRW Page"
(much larger and more informative than this, dedicated to the Ricoh MP6200
CDRW Drive), and usenet postings were invaluable.
email
URL
Adaptec Support,
Yes it does exist, I've got an email to prove it!
URL
Ricoh Support (Very
Helpful, pity the manual with the drive was so lacking!)
URL
Mike Richter, who
is a general Troubleshooter with most CDR/CDRW problems on Usenet, he also
has an informative "CDR Primer"
on his web site. Please read through the primer site before emailing him
with any problems, as more often than not a useful answer is contained
within. He has an MP6201S.
email
URL
Updated addresses and URL's can be found on usenet newsgroups
alt.comp.periphs.cdr
comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
(or search for "cdr" in the group list of your newsreader, NewsXpress etc) or email me gadget@comports.com
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Created: March 10th 1998
Last Updated: April 28th 2000
By D. Jamieson (UK) gadget@comports.com