At 10:35 AM 3/16/00 -0500, Changhsu wrote:


>I'd like to know why does CD-ROMs (or CD-R) mount so fast on compaq
>computer (or maybe a few name brand too). Although the CD-ROM drive is
>rated only at 12X, but it takes a second or 2 to mount any CD-ROM. It takes
>at least 2 to 3 seconds to mount a CD on my 62X CD drive? Is there anything
>I can do to make mounting faster. There is no CD cache software for either
>system. No matter whether the CD is inserted to the CD drive the first
>time, the one on compaq just mount so much faster. I believe it's a SONY
>drive.
>
>
>Changhsu Liu

I believe the answer to this is that the faster drives take longer to spin
up to speed when they are accessed. I also think that I remember hearing
that 12X drives were the last ones that maintained a constant speed- the
"faster" drives waste time spinning up and down during accesses. The faster
drives also spin down when they are not being accessed momentarily. This
makes using the so called fast drives a real pain when trying to browse a
CD. They are great for quickly installing software, but not so great if you
want to look around on a CD.

I have a 12X drive that I saved from an older computer that I use
specifically for browsing CDs, and it is indeed faster than my 40X drive
for this purpose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rick Lindstrom
<[log in to unmask]>
Eugene, Oregon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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