How can I tell if the NT machine is seeing the hardware on the SCSI bus?

The simplest way to tell if Windows NT is seeing the drives is to go to:

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel

Then in Control Panel select SCSI Adapters and expand the Adapter that you have configured with your hardware. The drive(s) should be indicated here.

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 properly terminated and the cable length should not exceed 3 meters. Please check the Microsoft Windows NT Help Pages for information on how to add SCSI card drivers onto Windows NT.

to top

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 that the cable length is not excessive. Make sure that NT can see the drive itself. If Windows NT cannot see the hardware Archimedia 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 that are on your system do not conflict. It is also recommended to put a CD/DVD recorder on its own separate bus.

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.

to top

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

The passwords for all K-PAR drivers on Windows NT 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 Archimedia -> Setup Wizard -> Software Configuration -> Passwords tab to install the new password.

to top

Where should I look for error messages?

The system and application logs for Windows NT are located in:

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

Logged events related to Archimedia 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)

to top

I have problems reading the recorded 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 manufacturers' websites to see what media is compatible with your drive. Drive manufacturers regularly update the firmware for their drives, so that the latest CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW media can be used.

to top

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.

to top

Latest patches and updates from Microsoft.

Useful web sites for Windows NT patches and service packs include:

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

to top

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.

to top

Information on file system standards.

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

• http://www.osta.org

to top