Bill,

I have BH6, Celeron 300A@450 mhz/2.3v., WD 8.4 on primary IDE
channel. Recently installed Samsung SW-206 4x4x CD-RW as master on
secondary IDE channel with BTC 40X CD-ROM as slave. I'm
running NT WS 4.0 sp6a.

The Samsung manual made no recommendation as to
master/slave config.

Running Adaptec software, I've copied audio CD's (direct)
done data transfers from HD to CD-R and CD-RW. Maybe 2
coasters out of 11 burned CD's, and I suspect the
coasters had to do with copy protection.

I haven't tried everything, but the CD-RW device is
testing OK so far. And my 40x CD-ROM will read the
CD-RW's (evidently does Multiread)!

Previous to the Samsung CD-RW, I tested a Phillips
device. It came with Phillips software. I installed,
set it to 1x, it copied an audio CD OK at about 2x.
When I set it to 4x (max rated CD-R speed), it
made a coaster and Committed Suicide. Couldn't
even remove the CD. After re-boot I couldn't
even find the drive with Explorer.
My little NT crashed a time or 2 and I un-installed.

I mention this to emphasize that a new IDE CD-RW can
be volatile/unpredictable. I've heard the SCSI
devices are more "well behaved". I've also heard
that certain name-brand media "work poorly" with
certain name-brand devices. Its possible that
it would make sense to purchase a CD-RW from
a retailer with a liberal return policy. And
proceed very carefully.

Oh yes. And you may find that the software
doc. sets a new standard for "Dereliction
of Documentation". Still, its usable as
a starting point.

Hope this helps a bit ...

  Zalut,
  David

**********************************************************************
** David Nasser                     **     [log in to unmask]    **
** Univ. Mo. St. Louis              **     St. Louis, MO            **
**********************************************************************;

"I don't believe you really, really love me ...

 You just like the way my music sound."

      - John Lee Williamson, maybe 1937

> Date:    Sat, 8 Jan 2000 11:46:18 -0500
> From:    Bill Nussbaumer <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Which IDE channels to use: CD-ROM/RWs and 2 HDs
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm about to purchase a CD-R/RW and wanted a little clarification and
> information.  First, while I don't exclude the possibility of
> wanting to
> make direct CD-ROM to CD-R burns (the time will surely come),
> my main focus
> in this purchase is for a reliable backup and archive removable media
> solution.  This would mean that I'll primarily use it for backing up
> e-mail, saved games, finance files, documents and the like on
> a regular
> basis and also archiving multimedia files like mp3's and
> pictures on a less
> regular basis.

 ---- snip ----

> My questions are these.
>
> Given my Abit BH6 motherboard has 2 EIDE controllers
> on-board, I need to
> use all available positions with 2 Hard Drives, and both the
> CD-ROM and
> CD/RW.  On which channels should I position each drive to
> address a primary
> concern of reliability and a secondary concern of speed?
>
> Is the above statement incorrect or outdated? The article was written
> almost 2 years ago and I've found conflicting opinions and information
> during my research so now I'm confused.
>
> Cost is a consideration, but, I'd rather spend more money to
> buy a quality
> product than less money to buy a door stop.  Does anyone see
> the need to
> invest in a SCSI solution (plus an add on SCSI card) or is
> EIDE going to be
> reliable enough for my needs under Windows98?
>

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