[stripping linux-smp since horribly off-topic there]
* Joe (josepha48@yahoo.com) [000418 22:48]:
> I am curious why Linux uses a generic IDE/ATAPI for almost all
> cdroms (IDE/ATAPI) and Windows requires new drivers or seperate
> drivers for each drive?
Since ATAPI is an amendment to ATA (ATA Packet Interface), and ATAPI is
pretty well standardized, that's fine. I assume Windows drivers are
there to circumvent firmware bugs and to bring the vendor's name on the
screen.
> If a cdrom is IDE/ATAPI is this a standard and if so why do some
> IDE/ATAPI drives work better than others?
A matter of product quality. There's always good stuff and less good
stuff.
> Also is it normal for a 32x or 52x cdrom to make noise when it
> spins up? I had a 32x and it seems to be dead now, and now I
> have a 52x and both sound like little turbines every time they
> spin up. Is this normal?
Get drives with long warranty periods, if you seem to be unable to get
one, try a SCSI CD-ROM drive (as a big plus, there are drives that are
not 52x but only 32x) with a cheap SCSI card such as Symbios Logic,
Tekram, DawiControl or something. These cards are EUR 30,- and up in
Germany (EUR 50,- for booting cards), the drives around EUR 75,- (Teac
CDR532S) and up. Find out if you have the slots for the SCSI adaptor
and if you want to give it a try. As to my experience, SCSI stuff is
usually smoother, particularly in respect to CPU load.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 23 2000 - 21:00:15 EST