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Official K-Probe Discussion (Tool for Scanning C1C2/PIPO)

General discussion about recordable CD, DVD and BD media and write quality testing.

Postby cfitz on Sun May 04, 2003 9:50 am

KCK wrote:However, could you specify how to implement your idea?

The ideas you described are essentially what I had in mind. I figured we could start a new thread to accept suggestions for improvements. After a reasonable number have been collected we would summarize the ideas and run a poll to rank them. Finally, we would post the ranked list to this thread with links back to the descriptions. Then repeat as required.

Obviously this isn't a perfect solution. For example, the polls on PHP only allow one vote, so each voter could only pick one feature he or she wants rather than rank them in order. And the dynamic nature of the give and take of suggestions can only be handled by periodically repeating the whole process. So I wouldn't advocate this as the only method for making suggestions. But I still thought it might be a useful adjunct to this thread because it could give Karr an idea of what is most wanted by most people.

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Postby abgm on Sun May 04, 2003 12:16 pm

karr_wang
Thank you for explanation of SmartBurn programs working mechanism.
If I understand correctly, when new disc with diffrent ATIP is inserted into the drive, command 3.Set CD Speed - it sets Max speed to drive sets new write speed with SmartBurn mechanism from firmware? And so command 4.Mode send 0x2A page - to get current drive write speed can this new speed for new disc return to program? Thats right?
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Kprobe 1.19 crashes system when checking Yamaha AAMQ discs

Postby Halc on Sun May 04, 2003 1:01 pm

I can confirm earlier reports that KProbe 1.19 hangs and totally crashes my system (power down necessary) if I try to check c1/c2 errors from a disc that was burned with Yamaha CRW3200 using Audio Master setting.

I did my checking with LiteOn 48246S with Adaptec ASPI interface installed under Windows XP.

CD Doctor 1.04 does NOT have the same problem and reports the number of C1/C2 errors without problems.

Is it possible to bypass/correct this incompatibility with AAMQ burnt discs and kProbe?

I find kProbe immensely useful and would like to offer my thanks to the author for work well done.

Best regards,
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Re: Kprobe 1.19 crashes system when checking Yamaha AAMQ dis

Postby cfitz on Sun May 04, 2003 2:41 pm

Halc wrote:I can confirm earlier reports that KProbe 1.19 hangs and totally crashes my system (power down necessary) if I try to check c1/c2 errors from a disc that was burned with Yamaha CRW3200 using Audio Master setting.

I did my checking with LiteOn 48246S with Adaptec ASPI interface installed under Windows XP.

There must be something more to this than simply KProbe, although it is interesting that CD Doctor can test AMQR discs on your system while KProbe doesn't.

I don't have much experience with AMQR, but I did burn a couple of test discs using AMQR on my Yamaha CRW-3200EZ (firmware 1.0d). I then tested these discs using KProbe 1.1.9 on my LTR-48246S (firmware SS0C - originally a Memorex 48MAXX). KProbe didn't have any trouble on my machine and completed the test successfully.

Here are some more details that might help pinpoint the difference:

IDE chipset: VIA VT82C571
IDE drivers:
atapi.sys - Microsoft (version 5.00.2195.5376)
pciide.sys - Microsoft (version 5.00.2195.4326)
pciidex.sys - Microsoft (version 5.00.2195.4664)
OS: Windows 2000 SP3
ASPI: Adaptec version 4.6 installed via ForceASPI
Burning software installed: Nero 5.5.9.17 and WinOnCD 5
Not installed: Nero Image drive, Nero Drive Speed, CloneCD, Alcohol 120%, daemon tools, etc.

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Postby rdgrimes on Sun May 04, 2003 3:02 pm

hangs and totally crashes my system

Sounds a lot more like an ASPI or driver issue. Kprobe is self-contained, so shouldn't affect the system stability.
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Postby Halc on Mon May 05, 2003 2:40 am

I do not think it as an ASPI issue.

Why?

Because all of the following programs run without a hitch (even on Audio Master Quality discs):

CD Doctor 1.04
Nero Burning Rom
Exact Audio Copy (Using both Adaptec ASPI and Nero Aspi)
Nero Mix
CDRWin
Alcohol 120%
Easy CD-DA Extractor
CDex
WinDac
ClonyXXL
Feurio!
Nero CD Speed (all tests)

I Use ASPI Layer on them all (Nero uses Nero ASPI, others use Adaptec ASPI from the system). Both 4.60 and 4.72 Adaptec ASPI layers have been *properly* installed and tested with.

I re-tried the reading of AMQ discs with KProbe three times and it would always hang with the message "VUCmd: Pause On/Off (0)". While my system remained responsive, the Kprobe application did NOT and there was no way I could kill it using task manager (tried everything and waited for several minutes). In the end, all programs that tried to access the IDE bus hung also and I could not even turn off the computer without pressing the reset button.

None of the other software above have even once hung my system. I pride myself in my system stability and I wouldn't tolerate that kind of behaviour :)

I think the fact that CD Doctor can repeatedly read the same AMQ burnt discs without any problems points to the direction of KProbe (and/or LiteOn drive) having problems with AMQ discs.

Of course, I can provide further information on this, just ask.

Please also read the following post by sambs0 at CDRInfo forums of the similar problem he is having:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7704&whichpage=2&SearchTerms=AAMQR

regards,
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Postby cfitz on Mon May 05, 2003 2:44 am

Have you tried disabling "Hide CD-R media" (or whatever it is called in Alcohol 120%) as well as all virtual drives? You aren't running IAA, are you?

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Postby cfitz on Mon May 05, 2003 3:02 am

I read the posts you linked. Are you burning ISO-9660 data discs with AMQR or CD-DA discs with AMQR? My successful tests were performed on CD-DA discs, but it looks like sambs0 is having trouble with data discs burned with AMQR.

Personally, I wouldn't get too worked up if the problem only happens on data discs burned with AMQR. Yes, it would be nice to know the source of the problem and how to fix it, but I wouldn't be upset if Karr concentrated his efforts on other improvements. After all, there aren't too many drives capable of burning AMQR discs out there anyway (relatively speaking) and the only ones that are out there were made by Yamaha, not LiteOn. Furthermore, I would imagine there are very few AMQR data discs circulating, since as far as I know Audio Master Quality Recording wasn't intended for burning data discs and would appear to cause more harm than good when burning data discs.

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Postby dolphinius_rex on Mon May 05, 2003 4:25 am

it would be nice to see the support added, but I have to agree that if it isn't a really simple thing, that it probably isn't worth the effort. Yamaha is no longer producing drives, and AMQR discs are pretty rare in general, and AMQE *data* discs are even more rare.
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Postby Halc on Mon May 05, 2003 8:20 am

cfitz,

No IAA running/installed. No virtual drive drivers installed (Alcohol driver deinstalled). All AMQ discs were audio.

The problem is with AMQ audio burnt discs and LiteOn drives with KProbe.

If you read all the posts by sambs0 at CDR Info carefully, you will notice that he has also problems with AUDIO AMQ discs with KProbe, not just data AMQ discs.

Again, to reinstate: CD Doctor has no issues on my system with AMQ Audio discs. Neither has Nero CD Speed on my system or sambs0's system with audio AMQ discs.

Kprobe also reports the length of the audio cd and the reading percentage of the cd to be checked incorrectly on AMQ discs.

Clearly there is *something* wrong with KProbe or the combination of Kprobe and LiteOn drives. Nero CD Speed has no problems reading the error data nor reporting correct cd length.

Whether this is important enough to warrant more investigation, well, that's up to Karr to decide. Maybe the issues showing up with AMQ audio discs are exacerbated by the AMQ burning and would show up on other discs as well?

I'm just passing along the information and will be using CD Doctor exclusively, untill I or somebody else finds a way to fix this problem.

Thanks for your help.

regards,
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Postby cfitz on Mon May 05, 2003 9:44 am

Halc wrote:If you read all the posts by sambs0 at CDR Info carefully, you will notice that he has also problems with AUDIO AMQ discs with KProbe, not just data AMQ discs.

My fault. I didn't see that there was another page (brain can't handle different forum software... :( :wink: ) and only read the first page where sambs0 said:

So, my conclusion(s) at this time:

1. Audio AAMQR disks are read by the Lite-On firmware just fine. Accordingly, both the CD Doctor and KProbe run Okay.

2. Data AAMQR disks are not read by the only drive in my posession that is supported by both the testing programs.

Rats. I was hoping that perhaps your problem was limited to AMQR data discs. In that case I was going to see if I could duplicate that problem.

Well, I am out of ideas at this moment, but if I think of something else I will post it.

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Postby KCK on Mon May 05, 2003 10:36 pm

Edited May 11, 2003: changed S16, added S19 and S20.
Edited May 8, 2003: changed S2, added S14 through S18.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

cfitz:

I have compiled a list of suggestions for improvements. The list given below is quite rough, and only intended to start the ball rolling.

I believe it would be best if you maintained a single "official" list. If you agree, you could start by rewriting this list so as to make it more precise and easy to understand for Karr.

You could decide later whether to keep your list in this thread or in a new thread devoted to further suggestions.

Here is the list itself. Note that it is restricted to the "Write Strategy" tab and CD-R/CD-RW discs (not DVD discs).

S1. Ticks on the time axis:
When a whole CD-R/CD-RW disc is tested (with the "Dics Size" option), the numerical values below the time axis should be given as multiples of 10 minutes (e.g., 0, 10, 20, ..., 80 for an 80min disc), with tics at 1min intervals. This would yield less cluttered outputs (similar to those of CD Speed and Q-Check) in graphic files that are posted most frequently (since usually they concern whole discs). Alternatively, add an option in the configuration dialog to mark whole minutes on the time axis.

S2. Subticks on the vertical logarithmic scale:
The current subtics (corresponding roughly to 3.2, 5.3 and 7.6) are somewhat strange. The tics should be at intervals of 1 for the first decade (10 for the second one, etc.), and they should be made more visible - either longer or fatter.

S3. Starting error value for logarithmic scales:
The starting value of 0.1 over-emphasizes low error rates when displayed logarithmically, and wastes some space on graphs. Replacing 0.1 by 0.8 (or possibly 0.9) might produce nicer pictures. Alternatively, add an option in the configuration dialog to input minimum y-values for log scales (e.g., "Auto Y-Axis Min.", similarly to "Auto Y-Axis Max.").

S4. More standard default colors:
Change the default colors to: green (C1), yellow (C2), red (other errors), to make them more consistent with CD Speed and Q-Check.

S5. Auto-scale the unreadable error value:
In the Setup window, replace "Error Value" by "Auto Error Value" preceded by a check box like for "Auto Y-Axis Max.". When this check box is ticked, set the error value to 25% of the (possibly auto-scaled) max y-value; otherwise, use the error value specified.

S6. Always display reading/seeking errors:
Ensure that samples with reading/seeking errors are visible in the graphs, since allowing such errors to sneak through unnoticed is very bad thing. For details, see

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 2094#62094

S7. Report the number of sectors with reading/seeking errors if nonzero:
Add a summary count of the total number of sectors skipped due to reading/seeking errors. It would alert us to situations where a chart fails to show such errors.

S8. Introduce one or more indicators for sampling coverage:
Report the total sampling fraction (i.e., 75 times the number of samples without reading/slipping errors, divided by the final block number), and perhaps other indicators for the initial and final portions of the disc; for details, see

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 3385#63385

S9. Increase the size of Setup window:
On high-resolution displays, the Setup window is too small to show all items, and it is hard to resize. Apparently increasing its default size by about 25% would eliminate this inconvenience.

S10. Increase spacing between C1/C2 Total and Avg:
On CD-s with many errors, it is difficult to tell where one number ends and the other begins.

S11. Incorporate Lite-On's program SmartBurn:
Add the features of SmartBurn into KProbe, so that both programs report the same information.

S12. Handle CD-MRW discs in a special way:
When run on CD-MRW (Mt. Rainier) discs, KProbe displays quasi-periodic patterns of C2 errors which seem to originate from special data structures rather than from "physical" errors; for details, see

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 2860#62860

S13. Improve support for AMQR discs:
On some systems, KProbe 1.1.9 may hang on discs produced with Yamaha's Audio Master Quality Recording (both CD-DA and data discs), whereas CD Doctor doesn't have such issues; for details, see

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 4298#64298

S14. Use a separate text file for ATIP/manufacturers relations:
If the ATIP -> manufacturer relations were specified in an external file, users could download only changed versions of this file instead of recompiled versions of KProbe.exe. The contents of this file are of independent interest to some users.

S15. Ouput the summary test information into a text file:
All textual information from the header and captions of the graphic file should be optionally output to a summary file. Selected items from the "Disc Info" tab (e.g., ATIP Lead In/Out and disc size) should be output as well, even if absent in the graphic files. This summary file should summarize the test results so that they can be processed by other software.

S16. Include more disc info in the output:
Display ATIP lead in/out and nominal capacity in saved images and the info panel.

S17. Save more selected features in the registry:
Save the selected drive and scan speed in the registry (in addition to the Setup options, such as scaling, colors, etc.) to avoid having to reselect them every time KProbe is started.

S18. Improve file extension handling in the save dialog:
In the save dialog, remove the extension from the full file name to make it easier to use the same main file name when switching formats (e.g., for saving xyz.png and then xyz.csv).

S19. Add jitter testing:
Add a jitter measurement function.

S20. Incorporate Lite-On's program CD Media Info:
Add the features of CD Media Info into KProbe, so that both programs report the same information. (This is an alternative to S11.)
Last edited by KCK on Sat May 10, 2003 9:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby cfitz on Mon May 05, 2003 10:59 pm

Wow, very nice list KCK! :D You always put a lot of good effort into your posts, and it shows.

You've covered most if not all of the suggestions people have already made. If you want me to, I can start a new thread where we collect some more suggestions, add them to your list, and then vote on them. However, you've already gotten off to such a good start that I don't want to divert your momentum. If you want, please feel free to run the first KProbe suggestion thread yourself. Your diligence would make you a good candidate for doing so. If you don't want to organize the thread, I will do so, but I certainly wouldn't object to you taking the lead.

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Postby dolphinius_rex on Mon May 05, 2003 11:52 pm

KCK: Excellent list!

I have only 1 extra suggestion:

S14: A seperate (possibly comma seperated value) file listing the ATIP -> manufacturer relations. This will make it easier for updating, and possibly leave it open for us to make our own changes and then submit it to Mr. Wang.

Also, I disagree with your S11 suggestion. I don't think that K-Probe should conform with SmartBurn, as it is more likely for K-Probe to be more accurate, or to become more accurate in the future. If SmartBurn itself were to be integrated then I believe it would actually hinder the progress of K-Probe.
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Postby KCK on Tue May 06, 2003 12:21 am

Thanks for your kind words, cfitz! :D

I still believe it would be better if you took over the list. First, several suggestions might need clarifications for Karr. Second, I'm quite biased: I'm not sure how much democracy (i.e., voting to rank suggestions) is really needed here, since polling could be difficult, the current list is not too long, and Karr could shorten it by pointing out infeasible suggestions. Third, my forum activities may (or rather should) be limited in the near future due to other pressing duties.
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Postby KCK on Tue May 06, 2003 12:36 am

dolphinius_rex:

Could you explain your S14 suggestion in more detail? It's meaning is not obvious, at least to me.

As for S11, it was listed for completeness only. My own (fairly negative) feelings on S11 were expressed in the message to Karr Wang:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 4230#64230

which essentially agress with your opinion. :)
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Postby abgm on Tue May 06, 2003 12:56 am

cfitz
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Maybe it is necessary to replace S11 on: "Add SMART-BURN max speed limit for each disc"? :)
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Postby dolphinius_rex on Tue May 06, 2003 1:36 am

KCK: What I mean is,

There is obviously a list within K-Probe itself, which relates ATIP lead-In and Lead-Out numbers to different manufacturers. What I am suggesting is that this list is made a seperate file from the K-Probe .exe. This way, whenever the list is updated, we only have to replace the list file with the new one from Mr. Wang, instead of him having to recompile a new version of K-Probe everytime.

Additionally, that would give us the oppurtunity to make our own modifications to the list, or perhaps a completely different list. If this is done, then we could add in extra info like maximum overburn limits, or possibly an average of C1/C2 errors reported by K-Probe

for example:

You test a CD-R with ATIP Lead-In 97m 32s 19f and ATIP lead-out: 79m 59s 74f. This is a SmartBuy 32x CD-R made by Prodisc. So when the test is completed, you are asked if you want the information stored in the database or not. If you say yes, something like the following could be stored:

ATIP Lead In:
97m 32s 19f
ATIP Lead Out:
79m 59s 74f
C1 Max/Total/Average:
21/9084/1.520 (I'm making *these* numbers up BTW)
C2 Max/Total/Average:
0/0/0.000 (I'm making *these* numbers up BTW)
Unreadable Sectors:
0
Number of discs tested:
1
Maximum Disc Capacity using Overburn:
82:53 (this would likely be added manually later on)
Description of Disc:
Smart Buy 32x Certified 80min CD-R

Everytime you test the same type of disc, you could have it add the C1/C2/CU errors to the already stored data, and then divide the average by the total number of discs tested (of that type). This would give you an idea of the overall quality of that media type as well. You would of course have the option to not include the test data, if for instance the disc is physically damaged by a scratch or other mark, and the data would throw off the average unfairly.

These are just some ideas I've had :D

Oh yeah, don't forget about jitter testing :o
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Postby Halc on Tue May 06, 2003 3:59 am

I really like the S14 suggestion, especially if it's doable :)

Would it be possible to add (via user input) to each burnt disc data the name/model/firmware of the burner along with the burn speed.

As we know, there is no single 'good' cd media and c1/c2 error rates vary wildly depending on which burner/firmware/speed was used on a particular media.

With a tool like this we could start building our own personal database of cd-media/cdrw compatibility.

Example. I could test the following (based on what I have on hand right now):

Yamaha CRW3200 (sans AMQ for now)
LiteOn 48246S
LG 4480B
Plextor 121032TSi (this will soon change to Plex Premium)

with the following media:

Mitsui Gold Ultra (Mitsui)
Kodak Ultima Silver+Gold 80 24x (Kodak)
Philips CD-R 80 Silverspeed 32x (Ritek)
Fuji CDR-74 24x (Fuji)
Ricoh CD-R 80 (Ricoh)
Hi-Space CarbonSound 80 min (MPO)
TDK Reflex Ultra 32 X (Tayio Yuden)
Verbatim DataLifePlus Super Azo 32x (Mitsubishi)
Verbatim Crystal Azo 40x (Mitsubishi)
Infiniti 32x 90min (Ritek)
TDK Speex-X 48x (TDK Corp.)
TDK Reflex-X Ultra 40x (Tayo Yuden)
Sony 48x (Acer Media)
Imation 48x (Moser Baer India)

We could then on our own build a tool that parses these separate files each user has made and makes one big database out of them. This database we could publish on the web.

Now I think that CD Doctor and esp. KProbe are immensely useful, but the data gathered with them is spread all over the network in various forums and hundreds of threads.

Imagine what we could do if we could compile at least 10-20% of these tests into a single database?

This big database would be immensely useful for people with a brand X burner helping them to pick proper media/burn speed/firmware for best quality results.

So, I'm not proposing adding ALL of the above functionality to KProbe, but just the one that makes it possible for the user to identify burner make/model/firmware/speed with each tested disc.

The rest we can do by ourselves, I think.

regards,
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Postby dolphinius_rex on Tue May 06, 2003 4:16 am

Brilliant Halcyon! Simply brilliant!
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Postby Halc on Tue May 06, 2003 1:08 pm

One more thing... maybe this is going overboard and perhaps not many users would not use it, but...

Pio2001's comments and my own experience have shown that different discs age differently. Some develop new additional errors (even if there are no new additional scratches/dirt on the surface) much faster than other discs.

As an example, I just tested an old Sony (Tayo Yuden disc) disc burned at 2x (or perhaps 4x, can't remeber) in '96. It was almost perfect with very low C1 rate.

Then I checked another Fuji disc from '02, which had been burned at 12x. It had developed a lot of new C1 errors, even though it had been kept in a relatively temperature/humidity controlled environment without any use at all.

So, If the user could also input the age of the burned disc to the database, that is the time that has elapsed between when the disc was burned and when it was tested for c1/c2.

We could then (if we had sufficient data) plot the aging and error accumulation of various discs as a function of time. That is, we could see clearly which discs start to detorierate quickly within the first year.

For me, this would be immensely useful feature (assuming people would be willing to test their discs at various dates and keep track of their age).

I know this is probably a fringe feature, although a small one, but very interesting to me personally. It wouldn't add much to the program, although I'm not convinced many people would be willing to input this data (or to ensure the data is accurate).

What is lacking in the world of cdr storage is even semi-reliable statistical data about how different discs age and which can be relied for long term storage of sensitive data.

I know that there are millions of people doing back ups, storing important copies of their files or doing archival work, who would kill to have information like this at their fingertips. Even if it wasn't 100% conclusive, totally accurate or based on 10 years of accumulated data. Now the best we have is guesswork and anecdotes.

regards,
Halcyon

PS I hope we are not flooding poor Karr with ideas and feature requests. Whatever he does, even if it means none of our ideas, I'll be very grateful for this software and his efforts. Thanks for the work well done.
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Postby KCK on Tue May 06, 2003 10:57 pm

dolphinius_rex:

As for your S14 suggestion, I wouldn't mind if KProbe worked with an external text file listing the ATIP/manufacturers relations. Downloading an updated list alone would be quicker, yet Karr Wang wouldn't save much time by avoiding recompilations. However, Lite-On might decline to release such proprietary information.

Note that S14 refers essentially to an input file for KProbe.

In this context, consider yet another suggestion.

S15. Ouput the summary test information into a text file:
All textual information from the header and captions of the graphic file should be optionally output to a text file. ATIP Lead In/Out should be output as well, even if absent in the graphic files.

Here the idea is that this additional summary file should summarize the test results in a form that could be processed by other software.

Halc:

Of course it would be nice to gather results from users employing KProbe into a single database. What you really need from Karr Wang is additional "digestible" output as suggested in S15 above; the rest should be done via specialized database software.

In particular, KProbe can't guess how a particular disc has been created. Hence relevant information should be input via other software (instead of trying to pass it through KProbe) before submitting it to the database. For instance, once you input the burning date for a disc, the "Create Date" in KProbe's summary file would allow for computing the disc's age.

I don't want to discourage you from the ambitious database project; I'm just trying to streamline our requests to Karr Wang. 8)
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Postby MediumRare on Wed May 07, 2003 4:09 pm

Looks like this is the thread to post the wish lists. 8)

My wishes have already been covered (for the most part) by KCK's summary. I have a comment to clarify one point and some additional items that I didn't mention previously in the forum (they're minor items and really not that important). For the most part, these apply to displaying results or to file handling and not so much to basic program capabilities.
  • S2: the ticks on a logarithmic should be at intervals of 1 (like in CD Doctor). The alternative I mentioned (2,4,8 ) has equal spacing on the logarithmic axis, but that is not the way people normally look at these values.
  • There was also a wish to have the ticks more visible- either longer or fatter.
  • Show ATIP and nominal disc size on saved images and info panel as well as the manufacturer
  • Save selected drive and scan speed in the registry from run to run (as well as scaling, colour etc.). Maybe the captions too. My burner is the secondary slave and I have to reselect it every time I start the program.
  • Remove the extension from the file name in the save dialog. I have saved a lot of CSV file the last while in addition to PNGs and usually use the same file name. I have to manually remove the extension when switching between formats (otherwise I get asked if I want to replace xxx.PNG when saving xxx as CSV).
As to "S14" which has been batted about a bit, I'm essentially with KCK (esp. S15). I don't think it is appropriate to put this information in a diagnostic tool. It would be better to set up an independent data base with burn quality and feed it with results from K's Probe (or CD Doctor or WSES or PlexTools). If someone is willing to organize it and can find an appropriate home, I'm sure they will find a great deal of support (including any information I can add).

There are (at least) 2 further points to consider here:

1. Don't forget that the error count depends on more factors- at least on the drive doing the reading and on the scan speed.

2. The ATIP and nominal length are not uniquely correlated with the brand of CD(R) as suggested in your example. For example, I had a number of disks from at least 4 resellers manufactured by CMC (none particularly good) with identical numbers but rather different quality.
As has been repeatedly mentioned (e.g. by rdgrimes) this information is coupled to the stamper, and what dye (or other coatings) are used are not accessible from ATIP/nominal length. Unfortunately, we don't have much other information, so we have to make do with this. :o

G
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MediumRare
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Disc Type codes

Postby MediumRare on Wed May 07, 2003 4:15 pm

In addition to the saved scan image, the manufacturer is also shown on the "Disc Info." tab, together with the disk type. This is sometimes followed by a letter and +-, e.g. for the TDK Metallic 40x:
Code: Select all
Disc Type = CDR (A-)
Manufacturer = Ritek Co.

Does anyone know what this letter means? If it is a quality ranking, I don't necessarily agree (esp. CMC). Among others: TY and Mitsubishi rate (A+), CMC are (A-), MBI (B-).

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Re: Disc Type codes

Postby cfitz on Wed May 07, 2003 7:37 pm

<edit>This post does not correctly answer your question, although it contains a link to some material that is interesting in its own right. For the actual answer to your question, please skip forward to here. </edit>

MediumRare wrote:
Code: Select all
Disc Type = CDR (A-)
Manufacturer = Ritek Co.

Does anyone know what this letter means? If it is a quality ranking, I don't necessarily agree (esp. CMC). Among others: TY and Mitsubishi rate (A+), CMC are (A-), MBI (B-).

http://www.mscience.com/faq504.html

I've seen more on this as well, and will try to find and post.

cfitz
Last edited by cfitz on Wed May 07, 2003 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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