Q:   when i play music cd's on my cd-rom drive, i can only hear the right channel, whether i use the headphone jack on the drive or powered mini-speakers through my sb64.  i've tried changing the sound card, the card cable, and now even the cd-rom drive itself, but i still hear only the right channel.  all computer-format files (wav, mp3, avi etc) sound fine, in stereo.  if it's not the card, the cable, or the drive, what the heck's the problem???

A:  If there's no right channel sound on the drive itself, the drive's bad. The sound in the front panel jack has nothing to do with the rest of the PC. specially if you tried it both with speakers and headphones, using two different jacks. You can test driver problems by booting into DOS and using a DOS CD-player. If the drive has play/skip buttons on it, you can test by using these buttons instead of any  software. You can further check the audio cable connections (with sb64 I don't think that a wrong connector could be used), reverse the IDE cable, but I still maintain the original opinion, that if a channel is missing when you use the  headphones jack, it's the drive itself that doesn't provide the signal.

 CD-ROM won't play!!!

Q: My PC can't recognize my CD-ROM. Whenever i access my CD-ROM  with window  explorer, it prompts " M: the drive is not accessible ".   However, the eject button is  working.  This shows there's power supply for the CD-ROM but it can't read any CD. The device manager of Window 95 shows the CD-ROM drive is working properly  though.

A: Is the CD-ROM drive of the kind that has play/skip buttons on the front? If so, can you insert a music CD and check if will start playing when these buttons are pushed, or, for that matter, if the CD-player works with it.

Again, does the CD-ROM work when you boot to DOS and use real-mode drivers?  Physical play of a music CD-ROM would indicate that you have driver problems,  whereas absolute failure would hint that the drive mechanism has died on you.  A possible reason for the CD-ROM failing on a Windows 9x system  is that the Ultra DMA has been enabled. Yet, did this thing really start all of a sudden, or can you relate the failure with something specific that has happened to your PC. New hardware, new software, a  system crash, moving house, change of system settings  (occasionally called tweaking) etc.
 
CD ROM access

Q: I have lost the ability to access my CD-ROM drive. What must I do to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to restore  access to the drive? Also, how do I make a bootable diskette  that allows access to the CD-ROM drive?
 
A: Many people "lose" their CD-ROM drives if they install Windows 95 from scratch and accidentally remove the DOS drivers for the  CD-ROM drive. Or worse, the Windows Registry or some old INI file goes  haywire and blows up Windows 95. You'd love to reinstall your operating system,  but if you can't see the CD-ROM drive, you're stuck.

The first solution assumes that your PC itself is still functioning properly. In other words, you can still boot your system from the hard drive. You need to get two key  files onto your hard drive: the DOS-level driver for the CD-ROM drive and Microsoft's MSCDEX (Microsoft CD Extension). If you have the installation diskette for your CD-ROM drive, you're ahead of the game. If you don't, you'll have  to start surfing the Web to find the right driver, provided you know who made your drive. If you can't tell from the drive's label, go to Drivers HeadQuarters (www.drivershq.com). This Web site helps people find and download drivers.  Almost any generic, IDE-based CD-ROM driver will work with most systems. The exception is older CD-ROM drives that use proprietary connections to sound cards.

Once you've located the drivers, install them on your hard drive. (With luck, the drives came with an installation or setup program to handle the process automatically.) You can remove the DOS drivers later by editing their command lines
out of C:\CONFIG.SYS and C:\AUTOEXEC .BAT files or uninstalling them from within Windows.

After the installation process, your CONFIG.SYS file should contain a line similar to:

                 DEVICE=C:\cdrom\CDROM.SYS /d:MSCD001

                 This is where the drive is identified by DOS. CDROM.SYS is the driver you
                 installed. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT file should contain a line similar to:

                 C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX /d:MSCD001

                 This is where the CD-ROM drive is assigned a drive letter. MSCDEX is the
                 Microsoft CD Extensions file.

The directory(s) where the CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX file are located are not  critical. The /d:MSCD001 parameter is more important; this is the only tie between the device driver piece in CONFIG.SYS and the DOS drive-assignment piece in

                 AUTOEXEC.BAT.

You can make a bootable diskette within Windows by putting an empty diskette in your floppy drive. (The boot files will take up nearly 1.44MB.) Double-click My Computer, right-click the A:\ drive, and select Format. Under Format Type, choose Full, and under Other Options, choose Copy System Files. Then click Start.

                 If you can't get to Windows, try the old DOS FORMAT command:

                 FORMAT A:\ /S

Another solution is to use Windows Explorer or the DOS COPY command to copy EDIT.COM, FORMAT.COM, SYS.COM, and FDISK.EXE from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder to a bootable diskette. Also copy
C:\CONFIG.SYS, C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT, the CD-ROM driver, and the MSCDEX program to the diskette. Once they're copied, edit the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on the diskette so they properly refer to the location
(A:\) of the CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX, as opposed to the C:\directory  references used for the C:\ drive installation.

When you have a bootable diskette or hard drive that allows you to access the  CD-ROM drive via a standard DOS drive letter, typically D:\, you can install   Windows 95 from its CD.
 
  IDE Adapter

Q: Why can't I run my Toshiba 5302b IDE CD-ROM drive off the IDE adapter on my Sound Blaster AWE-32 sound card? My CD-ROM drive only works when I connect it to my hard drive's IDE adapter. Windows 95 recognizes the sound card's IDE interface port.

A: Your sound card's IDE connector may not be configured as the secondary IDE interface (address 170h). Set the necessary switches or run the appropriate configuration software. Then make sure the CD-ROM drive is set as the Single or  Master drive when connected to the sound card.

Even though Windows 95 sees the sound card's IDE interface, you may have to load the DOS-level driver that came with the card to configure or make this interface  active.

FYI: Although some sound cards have 40-pin drive connectors, they may not be IDE interfaces. You can damage a CD-ROM drive or the card if the two are mismatched. Verify all drive and interface types in the documentation or call the  respective vendors before connecting anything.
 
error message

Q: I have a problem with Windows 95. When I select  Start*Run and type SysEdit, the AUTOEXEC.BAT window is
 empty and I get the message, "SYSTEM CONFIGURATION EDITOR C:AUTOEXEC.BAT cannot open this file." But an AUTOEXEC.BAT must exist, otherwise my PC wouldn't work, right?

A: Contrary to popular belief, Windows 95 doesn't need AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, or SYSTEM.INI files to do its thing. The first two are only necessary to load DOS-level device drivers and parameters for old or unique hardware Windows 95 can't deal with. The INI files are there for any Windows 3.1  (16-bit) applications you might be running, such as Corel 5 or Winword 2.x.  Windows 95 keeps this kind of crucial data in its Registry. For instance, what if you need DOS-level drivers to install Windows 95 from a CD-ROM? Once Windows  95 restarts and realizes it can support your CD-ROM drive, it will remove your old drivers from CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. About the only thing you might need to reference in CONFIG .SYS is HIMEM.SYS, which Windows 95 needs to access your PC's RAM. But Windows 95 can usually find and load this file just fine.

In fact, if you're loading DOS device drivers or terminate-and-stay-resident  programs via CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, you may be inhibiting Windows  95's performance. The solution is to remove the relevant statements in these two  files. Then use Windows 95's Add New Hardware function to find the devices and install its own drivers for them. If that doesn't work, get Windows 95-specific drivers from the manufacturer and use Add New Hardware. This time, click No when asked to let Windows 95 detect the device. Then click the Next button and pick the device         type from the list. In the next dialogue box, click the Have Disk button, stick the vendor floppy in the drive, and follow the instructions. If this procedure goes successfully, you'll probably have to remove the commands that load the device's
drivers from AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG .SYS. Then restart the system.
 
 Error message

Q. I've had my CD-ROM drive running for about a year and a half now, and I've  never had any trouble with it. But now when I run any CD, the drive spins for a long  time before responding. Sometimes it doesn't even respond & emdash;it just shows an  error message. What's the problem Mr. Hardware Guy?

A. Before I go too far, let's check the basic things. Did your problem occur after  adding any new software or hardware to the system? If so, you may have a conflict on your hands. The hardware or software you added may be interfering with the  CD-ROM or driver. Take out that new hardware or disable your new software and   see if the problem goes away.

But based on the tone of your question, I'd say you've got a real problem with your CD-ROM drive itself&emdash;it's probably very close to failure. Normally you'll find  brief delays when accessing any CD (even the new 12X and 16X models), but when  the drive simply "winds out", there is probably a fault in the drive's optical tracking.

If you are comfortable opening your PC, take a peek inside and check the signal  cable running between your CD-ROM and controller board. If the signal cable is loose, insert it tightly. If the cable is frayed or appears damaged, try a new signal  cable. If your drive problem still does not go away, you'll need to replace the  CD-ROM drive outright. Of course, if you're not happy with the thought of your PC  in pieces, you should take the PC to your nearest authorized service center.
 
CD-R Labels

Q: I'm using the Hi-Val CD-R drive, and it rccords great.  The problem is disc labeling.  My boss tells me I can't put labels on the CD-R discs, but I don't want to use felt-tip pem.  Are labels OK'

A: Not always.  There we several potential problems with adhesive labels that you should be aware of.
The first is balance.  Labels don't weigh much, but when you put one on a CD and spin it at a couple thousand  RPM, the extra weight can throw the CD-ROM drive's spindle out of whack and affect disc, tracking.  If the label isn't round (and doesn't cover exactly the same area radiating out from the center of the disc), the effect is even more pronounced.  If you pop that disc into a really fast (24x or 32x) drive, the excessive vibration caused by an unbalanced CD can even shorten the drive's working life.

Another problem is heat.  Over time, heat generated by the CD-ROM drive can break down the label's adhesive.  The label can shift position as the disc spins, further throwing the disc out of balance.

Finally, the adhesive used in some labels can eventually eat through the disc's thin lacquer outer layer and damage the data layer below. If you must use labels, get circular labels specifically designed for CDs and make sure they're property centered.
 
Direct CD

Q.- I'm thinking about adding a CD- RW drive to my system, but I'm not sure about this DirectCD stuff.  What is
DirectCD, and why is it important?
 
A: DirectCD refers to the software application that manages the CD-RW drive.  DirectCD software uses the new Universal Disc Format (UDF) and the latest packet-writing technology to rewrite an RW disc.  But this ability to rewrite comes at a price: An RW disc formatted with DirectCD can only hold about 493MB, whereas an ordinary CD-R disc (which you can also master on a CD-RW drive) can store up to 650MB.

But if you plan on using the RW mode of a CD-RW drive, you need some form of DirectCD software.  Fortunately, most CD-RW drives include some version of DirectCD, so you won't have to buy it separately.  To use CD-R discs in a CD-RW drive, your need CD-R mastering software, such as Adaptec's Easy CD Creator, which is also often bundled with drives.

Note: You may not be able to read RW discs written with DirectCD on ordinary CD-ROM or CD-R drive.  The UDF file system is not directly compatible with the ISO 9660 file system used by many contemporary CD-ROM and CD-R drives.  You need a CD-ROM drive that is MultiRead compatible as well as a UDF reader utility.  Your DirectCD vendor typically offers a UDF reader,

Don't Play

If you don't want a CD to start playing as soon as you pop it in, disable  AutoPlay by pressing the Shift key.
 
Speedier CD

You can speed up your CD-ROM by telling Windows the drive is more capable than it  really is. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Performance  tab, the File System button and then the CD-ROM tab. Move the Supplemental Cache Size sliding bar all the way to the right (toward Large) and select "Quad-speed or  higher" from the "Optimize access pattern for" drop-down menu, regardless of your  particular drive's speed. This tells Windows to create a larger cache for your CD, so it will run faster.
 
 
The Need for Speed

 Q:  I just set up a new computer, and the CD-ROM drive keeps stopping and  restarting. This is especially vexing when I am playing games either in DOS or  Windows 98. Everything works fine for a while, but then the game locks and  will not respond to the keyboard or mouse. After a pause of up to 50 seconds,  play resumes normally. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the system pauses  again. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?

 A:  The new high-speed CD-ROM drives do a wonderful job of transferring large amounts of data from a CD-ROM, but this speed comes at a price. Basically,  these drives take time to spin up to full speed, and as a result, the pauses you  have encountered are a drawback inherent to their design.

 First, understand that most of the high-speed drives are named for their  maximum data transfer rate. The original CD-ROM speed was based on the  transfer rate of a standard audio CD, 150K/sec. A single-speed CD drive
 actually turns at different speeds. The data is recorded with the same density  over the entire disc, so the drive has to turn faster for the disc's inner tracks,  then slow down as it progresses toward the outer tracks. This means that the  same amount of data gets read per second, which is what you want when  playing music. This approach is called constant linear velocity (CLV).

 When reading computer data from a CD-ROM, data doesn't need to flow at a constant speed. Drive makers started spinning the disks at a constant angular  velocity (CAV), which meant that data on the inner tracks would be read more  slowly than data on the outer tracks. As a result, drives rated at a maximum of  24x or 32x actually read the inner-track data much more slowly than the  maximum rating, and you achieve the maximum speed only when reading the  outermost track on a CD.

 To save wear and tear on the drive motors and reduce the heat they generate,  the drives spin down to a stop after a short period of inactivity. There can be a  noticeable lag while waiting for the high-speed drives to reach their operating  speed. You do have a few options. First, you can leave an older 8x drive installed for your games, and you'll probably get the same game performance as with the faster drive, but without the annoying pauses. If you have a need for the faster drive--perhaps you have some data applications where you need to transfer large amounts of data from CDs--then you may want to consider having both drives installed at once. I have two drives that can read CDs in my main system, and I find it to be a convenient arrangement.

 A third possibility would be to install an extra hard drive of at least 1GB capacity, and to copy the contents of your game CD-ROM to this "spare" hard drive when you want to play.

                                                              SOURCE:  Zdnet and Computer Currents