How can I tell if the 2000/XP machine is seeing the hardware on the SCSI bus?

The simplest way to tell if Windows 2000/XP is seeing the drives is to go to:

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel

In the Control Panel, select SCSI Adapters and expand the SCSI Card that has the library connected to it. The library and its drive(s) should be identified. As well, go into Windows Device Manager and make sure that the device(s) are not being claimed by Windows, hence under CD/DVD drives, the drives should be disabled (red X on them).

If the SCSI card is not being seen, begin by checking to make sure that you have the latest drivers for the SCSI card, check to make sure that the drives are appropriately terminated and the cable length should not exceed 3 meters. Please check the Microsoft Windows 2000/XP Help Pages for information on how to add SCSI card drivers onto Windows 2000/XP.

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The SCSI bus that I have the CD/DVD recorder connected to is not being seen by the DVDcreation program.

Check the termination of the SCSI bus and make sure that the cable length is not excessive.

• Make sure that Windows 2000/XP can see the drive itself. If Windows 2000/XP cannot see the hardware, DVDcreation will not be able to make use of it. You can make sure that Windows is seeing the hardware by looking at the SCSI BIOS screen during boot-up.
• Make sure that you have the most updated SCSI card drivers as well.
• Also, make sure that the IDs for the devices do not conflict.
• It is also recommended to put a CD/DVD recorder on its own separate bus, if you have multiple drives.

Please check K-PAR's supported device list, it may simply be a case that the device(s) is not yet supported in the current release.

If you have purchased new hardware and have not upgraded the software, it is likely that the software drivers do not support the new devices in that release. Please contact sales for details on upgrade pricing. If you have a valid maintenance agreement, please contact K-PAR, quoting your KPM/KPS reference number (Maintenance Contract number) for an upgrade.

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Where is the password for the CD/DVD-R device driver held on the system?

The passwords for all K-PAR drivers on Windows 2000/XP are held in the registry.

In order to alter the password after installation you will need to be logged in as administrator, or have administrator privileges.

Go to:

Start -> Programs -> K-PAR DVDcreation -> Setup Wizard -> Software Configuration -> Passwords tab to install the new password.

It will correctly install the password into the registry. A reboot is required after setting up the password, for the drivers to reload and recognize it.

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Problems reading discs in other drives.

It has been noticed that not all CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW media are compatible with all CD/DVD drives. Check the drive manufacturers' websites to see what media are compatible with your specific drive. Drive manufacturers regularly update the firmware for their drives, so that the latest CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW media can be supported.

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Where to look for errors.

The system and application logs for Windows 2000/XP are located in:

Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer

Logged events related to DVDcreation can be from the following sources:

• KPAR
• scsi_cdr

If in doubt about any of the error messages, please save the event logs and contact:

us-support@k-par.com (for the Americas)
support@k-par.com (for Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East)

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Why do I keep suffering from buffer underruns?

This means that the data throughput to the drive is not sufficient to ensure a continuous flow of data to write the track.

There are several possible causes for this:

• The SCSI bus may have too many other devices that need to use the bus too resulting in the data flow being interrupted. A CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW drive should ideally be on a separate bus from other system devices. If a staging area is being used on a separate hard disk then ideally these should be the only two devices on the bus.
• A heavily utilized CPU may not be able to allocate enough system resources to the burn. In this case try burning the CD/DVD as root, as a higher priority can be allocated to the burn process.
• Make sure that the image file or drive where the image will get generated is not highly fragmented. Check for fragmentation and de-fragment accordingly.

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Latest patches and updates from Microsoft.

Useful web sites for Windows 2000/XP patches and service packs include:

• http://msdn.microsoft.com
• http://www.microsoft.com

At present K-PAR has fully tested the software for Windows 2000 upto Service Pack 4, and for Windows XP upto Service Pack 1. Please contact K-PAR for further details on newer Service Packs released by Microsoft.

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Latest drive firmware from manufacturers.

Try following the links to the relevant CD/DVD manufacturers' web sites in order to download the latest firmware. Usually the firmware can be found under technical/support/downloads at the manufacturers' web sites.

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Information on file system standards.

A useful web site for Information on file system standards is:

• http://www.osta.org

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