CDBurn Frequently Asked Questions
=================================

V1.02, 2000-10-18

written by Steffen Huber



Overview of Questions
0.) What is the purpose of this FAQ?
1.) When recording an audio CD, there are audible "clicks" or "pops"
    between tracks which did not occur in the used samples. Why is this,
    and what can be done?
2.) CDBurn uses its own "filer-like" display for image creation. Why was
    this way chosen, and not an image filing system implemented?
3.) Why is writer XYZ not supported?
4.) I have a Philips CDD2000 drive. When trying to write a large image
    (> 400 MB), it stops during writing with "Hardware Error" or
    "Buffer Underrun". What is wrong here?
5.) CDBurn crashes my system completely when writing to a CD. Why?
6.) I want to record a live audio CD. However, I always get a pause between
    tracks. Why is that, and is there a cure?


0.)
Q: What is the purpose of this FAQ?

A: While doing support, it turned out that some questions are asked again
   and again, therefore it seemed sensible to produce this document.

1.)
Q: When recording an audio CD, there are audible "clicks" or "pops"
   between tracks which did not occur in the used samples. Why is this,
   and what can be done?
    
A: The "clicks" are due to the writing method called "track at once".
   With this method, the writer writes one
   track after another, with possible interruptions between tracks.
   To allow the writer to continue writing after an interruption, it
   records so-called "link blocks" after the tracks, so it can find the
   position to start writing again. These link blocks are audible on
   some Audio CD players.
   
   Because of this, CDBurn also supports disc-at-once for some writers.
   If you exhibit problems with clicking, try if CDBurn supports
   disc-at-once with your writer.

   Please note that only a few Audio CD players actually exhibit this
   "clicking" behaviour.
   
   Due to a bug in CDBurn versions earlier than 1.48, MMC and Sony drives
   always added a "click" between tracks - the bug corrupted the first
   few bytes of the audible part of an audio track which resulted in
   something which could be described as "click".

2.)
Q: CDBurn uses its own "filer-like" display for image creation. Why was
   this way chosen, and not an image filing system implemented?

A: There are many things in favour and against CDBurn's approach. Here is
   a list (far from complete...)
   Pro:    - all code written in Ada 95 and therefore much more maintainable
             and easier to debug than C or assembler needed for a ImageFS
             module, leading to more stable software
           - ability to have a different menu structure to cope with
             the specialities of the ISO9660 format
           - RISC OS 3.1 users get an auto-resizing filer to view
           - better possibility to add user-proposed features
           - possibility to use ISO9660/Joliet specific view or sorting modes

   Contra: - a little less optimized code, leading to slower display (mainly
             noticeable on slower machines)
           - filer extensions or new filers like e.g. FilerPro cannot be used
           - some things from the Acorn filer are missing, i.e. it is not
             a 100% copy

   All these pros and contras where considered against each other, before
   the decision was made.

3.)
Q: Why is writer XYZ not supported?

A: Most probably because the manufacturer won't give out any docs on
   programming the drive. CD-R and CD-R/W devices sadly do not have a
   common standard (like e.g. SCSI CD-ROMs have), so every
   model has to be supported specifically.
   
   There is also the slight possibility that writer XYZ is actually supported,
   but we do not know about it. This could be because there are basically
   only a few "real" manufacturers of drives, and a lot of companies buying
   drives to rebadge and sell them under their own name (so-called
   "OEM drives").

4.)
Q: I have a Philips CDD2000 drive. When trying to write a large image
   (> 400 MB), it stops during writing with "Hardware Error" or
   "Buffer Underrun". What is wrong here?

A: The Philips drive was one of the first CD writers shrinked into a
   5.25" half height standard form. This resulted in thermic problems,
   which sometimes lead to a decalibration of the laser tracking, which
   in turn results in above mentioned error. It is a hardware problem,
   and Philips are aware of this. It is common practice that Philips
   fixes such problems for free.
   
   
5.)
Q: CDBurn crashes my system completely when writing to a CD. Why?

A: CDBurn is a very stable product, and it is very likely that fatal
   hangs and crashes are due to incompatibilities between drive
   and SCSI card. Sometimes it helps to play with the sync transfer
   and the disconnect/reconnect settings.

   The SCSIConnect/Connect32/Yucani F1 is a special case. Intensive
   testing has shown a very strange behaviour of locking up the whole
   machine. The only know workaround (which is also device dependant,
   so be careful!) is to set the "continuously read/written blocks"
   setting in the advanced configuration to "16".
   
6.)
Q: I want to record a live audio CD. However, I always get a pause between
   tracks. Why is that, and is there a cure?

A: CDBurn has a configurable pause between tracks. You can either set the
   default value to anything (including 0) in the advanced configuration,
   or you can edit the length of the pause for each audio track by hand
   by double clicking on an audio track in the Create Audio CD window.

   However, there is one important thing to notice. These settings only have
   an effect if you write the CD with the "Disc at once" writing method.
   "Track at once" needs to record link blocks between tracks, so you will
   always get a pause between tracks.
   
   Please note that currently not all drives are supported in Disc at once
   mode. Most importantly, there are currently no IDE drives supported in
   that writing mode.
