Help.. I'm a newbie

[WallerMan]

Hi,
I just got my new external Plextor CDR and software here from MTU. It looks from the forums like I need to download the new ASPI as I have only been successful at making some Coasters for the trash... I am running Win98se... I'm connected via USB cable (USB 1 not 2)...
Can y'all give me some hints as I have burned plain audio cd's but this is all new.
One other thing.. When I go to copy a disc, it tries to bring up Windows media player....Do I need to disable that? Also when it starts to write the tracks to the blank cdr it tries to pull up my adaptec cd creator? Again do I need to disable that? also for the best quality burns what do ya'll recommend for read spped and write speed... I have a 633 pentium III with only 64k RAM (I know I need to take the time to order more mem)...
I am a KJ host and wish to make a set of copies of my CDG collection.
Any advice would be welcome!
Thanks!
Eric a.k.a The WallerMan...

[jim in ohio]

Item one do down load the new ASPI, and check your Direct X version 8 is recomended.

Second, follow the MTU directions to shut off your AIN, this will stop your media player from cutting in.

Third, I had to uninstall adaptec, it is too easy to reinstall when I need it, but it was a problem when installed for me.

Memory, e-gad with the prices dropping you should drop in a 128K card for about $30, that would give you 192K which is what I use wIth no problem.

Hope this helps!!:w :w

I don't work off anything but back ups!! My orgionals stay in the closet untill I trash the back up.

I wish this forum had spell check!!!!!!!!!!!!:t

[George]

Eric
I believe the DMA is to be turned on, but not until the installation is complete and you are ready to restart the computer. The Auto Insert Notification is to be turned off. I'd guess most of your problems are driver and memory related.

As thin as you're running on memory it's probably vital that you have no other programs running in the background when using Microstudio. Go to control panel, system, and performance. That'll tell you how much memory is being sucked up by programs running in the background. If the performancr level is say 70% then you only have somewhere around 44-45 mg ram available to operate with, on a 64 mg. system.

Haven't a clue as to why Media player and Adaptec are popping up on you. That's going to be one for support.I've no experience with the USB Burner.As far as write speed where CDG is concerned, although my inboard Plextor will write at 16X I'm not comfortable with speeds over 8X. You'll get 24 different opinions from 24 different people on that one, but at 8X with my Plextor I get completely 100% glitch free cdg's. No random crap on the screen, half shaded letters, etc. I go to the 16X for just plain audio cd's.

Jim,
If you are uninstalling and reinstalling Adaptec(you shouldn't have to do that), after each reinstallation you may have to go back into the device manager and make certain the Auto Insert Notification hasn't gotten turned back on. Adaptec turns it on automatically when being installed.

Take Care,

George

[George]

Eric,
Occured to me that if you haven't done it in some time a bit of p.c. maintenance might help. Run disc clean up, then disc scan, then disc defrag. Something may be not quite right in the os considering those odd Media Player and Adaptec problems you're seeing.

Hope this helps. Please advise either way so's support will know if you still need help.

George

[MTUSUPPORT]

It does sound like you need to update your ASPI drivers from: http://www.mtu.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=493

Also, check this in Microstudio. Go to the Drives Menu at the top, make sure there is a check beside Enable BurnProof. If not, then check this.

Let us know what happens.

[WallerMan]

Thanks for all the advice. Have not had much time free this weekend. 2 back to back Gigs.
I downloaded all the correct drivers. Burned another coaster at 4X... I am ordering some more memory this week.... I never had this much problem with burning plain audio CD's... Is it that much memory intensive to burn CDG's???
...Eric

[WallerMan]

Hi Y'all,
I updated all the drivers and followed all of your advice... I'm still burning coasters.... I get to about the 8th track on a disc and it locks up my system.. I am betting it's a memory issue so I just ordered another 128mb ram... Do Y'all think that will clear it up?
WallerMan..

[T.Wright]

Wallerman.
Have you tried burning at 1x..., sounds like something is not keeping up. I had a Yamaha drive that would only burn CD&G at this speed.
Hope this helps.

[WallerMan]

Not since I downloaded the correct drivers... I tried burning at 4x after I loaded the drivers... I will try 1x tonight as my new memory won't be here for a day or two..
Thanks

[jim in ohio]

I have never had a problem with memory, but I have always had more than I need, I have no experience with the USB burner, but the only coasters I have created with Micro Studio were with some bad media , and trying to write too fast. After you get the memory in try your 4X and go down in speed untill you get a good burn, if you get a good burn at 4X go up untill you start getting crap in your graphics then back off. I have a plex 1610 I read at max and write at 16X and get great backups if the origional was good, because I read so fast sometimes I get a better disc than the origional.
What I use:
Compaq 700mh Celeron
20 gig hard
windows 98 2nd edition
Plextor 1610
192 meg of memory
Micro Studio 2.312
and what ever is cheap media in spools of 100
I blow the burner out every 50 to 100 burns

I wish there was spell check on this forum!!!!!!

[WallerMan]

Jim,
I have pretty much the same system and after I add the additional 128Mb of RAM I'll be at the same memory level.. I am using Cheap Memorex discs till I get this system down and working, I have a spool of Taiyo Yuden's I'll be using later for on the road so I can archive my originals...
Thanks!
...Eric..

[jim in ohio]

How close is your computer to mine, I have a Compaq Presario 5834, that would not burn anything untill Brian Corr on one of these posts told me to check Compaq's site for new drivers downloads, and fixes. I downloaded five that I thought might have something to do with my problem, and other problems and BINGO I've been burning from that point on.

For All Compaq owners having a problem go to:

Compaq.com click on downloads, drivers, and fixes then select the computer you have, they have great support and it is free.

If you don't have a Compaq, go to your manufacturers site and check for new downloads, and drivers and FIXES.

[WallerMan]

Hi,
Yeah I have a Compaq 5000 series as well.. 5BW130 with a 667 Celeron..
Yeah I will go to the compaq site tonight and download what I can in the way of drivers.. What all did you download....??
Eric, a.k.a Wallerman

[jim in ohio]

Compaq is now HP, but you can still use compaq.com and the drivers and downloads will be on the first redirected screen.

To the best of my memory I down loaded 5,

DVD Player Patch
Rom Update
CPQ Mixer Shutdown
DVD Driver Patch
Compaq softpak

I wish I knew for sure which one fixed the Micro Studio problem, but I had more than one problem I repaired with the fixes.

Read what they do and you decide. :g :g

[WallerMan]

Dangit, I have been working 12 hour days and have had no time to play with my home puter... Memory arrived and is sitting on the kitchen counter as I've had no time to drop it in... Can't wait till Sunday when I might actually have time to get this thing working...
I want to thank y'all for your ideas!
Eric... a.k.a The WallerMan
Waller, Texas

[jim in ohio]

Don't complain too much about the 12 hour days, I'm an out of work mechanical engineer, but not really out of work, my next project does not start untill the end of August, and I'm already bored of floating in the pool, and you can only stand so much Jerry Springer, my last project ended Feburary.
Go to Compaq's downloads, and drop the memory in, and you should be burning away:g :g

[WallerMan]

Okay... Got the memory in(192k)... downloaded 2 new drivers from Compaq, have all the correct ASPI drivers, reconfirmed all the drive settings.... And after $350.00 spent plus my time I'm still burning coasters...
Here's whats happening... reads the cdg just fine loading it to drive D... Then when I swap in the new cdr and start the burn it goes fine until the same place everytime... It locks up at track 8 65% (and I've tried other cdg's)... So it quits and I hit terminate...Then I get an error from Microstudio that reads Microstudio busy please try again. and the system locks up... I have tried every trick so far... even de-installed my old adaptec direct CD, I have all the updated drivers, I'm starting to think it's the Microstudio software... I am getting very frustrated at this point. Am I missing something????

[George]

Sorry you're having such a hassle. You probably did this, but it's easy to overlook. After the drivers have been installed per Support's post you have to go into Microstudio, click on drives, then ASPI drivers, then select default drivers. To become effective you have to exit the program and re-enter. If that all checks out, then it's something that Support is going to have to work with you on...Sorry:f

I know how frustrating it can get, having to re-format my h.d 5 times in 6 months.:m

George

Possible you might have gotten a glitch in the download, especially if you opened it to download instead of saving to disc then opening. have you tried completely uninstalling then going that route?

[WallerMan]

Hey Thanks for the advice... Yeah I've tried that a couple of times... I actually purchased the Microstudio disc and have reloaded it twice now.. And yes, I selected the default drivers and rebooted and rebooted, and rebooted...And then rebboted again.. I downloaded all the driver updates from Compaq for my firmware, I even sacrificed a chicken on my patio per the Microstudio instructions. Maybe I said the incantation wrong, but dangit I'm getting frustrated. Does support have PCanywhere? maybe if they could see what I'm seeing they could help..
Just burned another coaster.. system locked up faster this time...track 6... Checked resources... Got plenty of memory now...plenty of drive space.. correct drivers...Whats the deal? I think I must be missing something here...

[George]

Here's some more thoughts

Are you running Direct x8.0(or the newer 8.1) ? Microstudio requires it.

Barring that, it is looking more all the time like the burner is not keeping up with the data it's being sent, at least on the surface to this untrained eye.

What is the processor speed?

Also, in the device manager cdr/cdrw settings is the Sync Data Transfer on?

Is the screen saver off ? Is there an anti-virus program running?

Does the same thing happen at 1X drive speed ?

I'm really grabbing at straws now. Hope I'm not frustrating you even more.

Take care,

George

[T.Wright]

Wallerman,
Just a thought, have you still got adaptec direct CD loaded,
only I had problems with adaptec direct CD and microstudio on the same drive, If you have, uninstall adaptec reboot and then try Microstudio again,
Hope this helps.

[WallerMan]

Hi George,
Okay I'm running a Compaq Presario 5BW130... It has 192 MB memory, and a 667 Celeron Processor, OS is 98SE... I have 2 internal CD drives, one being a CDRW... I just purchased through MTU an external Plextor 40/12/40u CDRW drive... I'm running it through USB1...
I have confirmed all the ASPI drivers are correct, I'm running DirectX 8.1
On the 2 internal CD drives I have all of the correct settings toggled on.. On the New Plextor external drive(might this be the problem)It does not offer me a box to check DMA under device manager and drive properties... I have updated all the firmaware from Compaq, I have defragged my drive, deinstalled and reinstalled everything twice now...even the ASPI drivers...
As I mentioned, everythings cool while the disc downloads to my harddrive but when I go to make the burn, it locks about halfway through everytime... Got to be something we're missing... Never gas any problems burning audio or data cd's with adaptec... which by the way I deinstalled adaptec...
Thanks!
...Eric..

[George]

Sorry for not replying sooner, been at a family reunion all day. Just for kicks have you tried burning a cdg at 1X speed? (go watch a movie while it's doing it's thing.) Can't help but wonder if this isn't somehow a freeky buffer underrun problem. If it burned at 1X it certainly wouldn't curt the problem, but might help identify it.

It's moments like this that make me want to take a computer
tech course:f

Take care,

George

[WallerMan]

Hi and Once again thanks for the advice... Just burned another shiney coaster at 1x... Locked up at the same place... 8th track 65%...
I am beginning to think this is flawed software from MTU... I have loaded it and reloaded it off the cd they shipped me, and still no workey..
I am bummed out at this point and will not have much time this week to work on it... Hopefully Tech support will have something brighter to say than " Dude, did you load the aspi driver?"... That seems to be prevalent in most of their posts here...
...Eric a.k.a The WallerMan

[George]

Eric,
Do you still have the email they sent that contains the download link? If so, try downloading a fresh version. Uninstall the old first. if you have the same problem, that would cancel out the cd program as being flawed. If not, then it might be the cd, who knows?

For best results download to save, then open, don't run from location, but you probably already knew that.

Take care,

George

The rain that sat in Houston all day yesterday has visited us all day today.

[WallerMan]

Hey,
Okay I ordered the drive and the software cd together... Never got emailed a link to download the software.... There has got to be something I'm missing here... F'rinstance, the external plextor drive... Under device manager and properties, it does not have a box to check DMA... Is it because somethings wrong or is it because it's an external drive? Hmmm. I just don't know...

By the way, The rain is still here this evening... Keeps coming off the gulf... Kind of glad though, we have been very very dry this summer here outside of Houston...
Dern I want this thing to work... Never had this much trouble copying plain CD's... Took me five minutes to get Adaptec working... :m
...Eric aka Wallerman
PS: Sent a copy of DirectX diagnosis to customer support..

[George]

Sorry I wasn't able to accomplish much of anything for you over the weekend other that to give you some company. I'm glad I didn't bet any money on a memory or buffer underrun problem.
I'm not certain, but you might email support and see if they's email you a download link so's you can start fresh and determine if it might be in your cd.

Take care,

George

[T.Wright]

Wallerman.
Try downloading demo of clone cd, from there site, which also burns CD&G's. to see if you still have the same problem, if so its not the program.
http://www.ifind.freeserve.com/servlet/search/?qt=b&p=_home&q=clone+cd&s=a

[WallerMan]

Thanks for the advice.. I will try that tonight when I get home..
Thanks!

[kedmison]

Could someone please answer this? I'm planning on getting the Hoster program. Possibly with the laptop. My question is, is it the intent of MTU to run this program and Microstudio on XP? If they are I will make plans to update my home pc also.

Thanks,
Kelly

[MTUSUPPORT]

Wallerman,
The only thing that I can think of is that if you check to make sure under your Drives Menu in Microstudio, make sure that there is a check next to Enable BurnProof. If this is not checked this is your problem.

There should be no DMA checkbox for the USB External drives, as you said cause they aren't on the IDE chanell, which contains the DMA. It is possible that your USB drivers may be giving you some grief, or something is slowing your system down, and not allowing the drive to get the data fast enough, to burn it to the CD. Can you try using ONE of your Taiyo Yuden discs, just to see if it will work and make sure its not the Memorex discs?

The other thing you should try is this. Go to Plextors website and download the Latest firmware version for this 40x USB drive. You can get the latest firmware for that drive from: http://www.plextor.com/english/support/downloads/firm_4012.html

Eric,
I have just looked at your DXDIAG and everything looks fine. THe only thing that I do see is that you would have problems with your Video card that is installed as it is an Intel 810E chipset motherboard, with built in graphics. You wouldn't beable to run the Karaoke Home Producer on this system, because you only have 3.0 MB of Video memory, KHP requires 8.0 MB as a Min. This is not needed for the Microstudio though, so this would have no effect on that.

Everything else looks good, in the system.

Let me know what happens with the Firmware from Plextor.

[WallerMan]

Hi,
I do have burn proof checked in the MTU software... I mostly plan to use this to copy my discs for my KJ show... I will go to plextor's site and see if there are any other upgrades for that drive... I will try another brand of disc as well.. Just kind of wierd that it would lock up same place every time...I'm betting it's got to be a firmware issue with Plextor, thats the only thing I haven't looked for new drivers on.. Thanks! I'll give that a try tonight...

[MTUSUPPORT]

Yea, You've got me. I am not sure what else would cause this unless you just happened to get a Plextor that has an older Firmware version or something, but thats all I can think of off hand right now.

The other things is try burning a CD using the Adaptec EZ CD Creator, just doing Audio and make sure it works. If not then there is a problem with something in your USB drivers talking to the system correctly. Or some other type of hardware error. This could be a sanity check, to make sure were not banging our heads on a brick wall, and that its not only our program.

[WallerMan]

Bryan,
downloaded the new firmware... could not open it. was telling me I needed wnaspi32dll?????? I am not sure what the heck that means...
I am not a happy camper right now... I have spent a buncha money and still can't copy a dern thing... Give me some more ideas...
Tried reinstalling Adaptec... That worked fine... copied audio no problem...
De Installed it again... What is the deal.. stopped dead same spot.. Killed an expensive Mitsui disc this time...
Not Happy.... Need this to work...


Help!! About to throw this stuff out in the cow pasture...
...Eric... WallerMan

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eric,
You must upgrade the ASPI drivers from: http://www.mtu.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=493

This should fix the problem. If not then I will also email you an ASPI driver for the USB, but you will need to make sure you have updated the drivers above first to make sure this other drive would work.

[WallerMan]

AllRighty... I have already updated the drivers to your specs... Checked and confirmed them again... Could be the USB driver... Good possibility... However when updting the firmaware for the Plextor, I got that error about wnaspi32.dll? I am not that technical so what is that? That error wouldn't let me update the firmware in my Plextor?
Look I know I sound frustrated but I know these things happen with software etc. thanks for your help..
Eric aka The Wallerman

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eric,
As you said, if your getting that error when trying to install the Firmware updates, there is a missing piece on your system. This is definately your problem for everything. You must install the file that I am going to email you to the exact location that it states in the email, and it should ask you if you want to overwrite and say yes. If this still doesn't fix the problem with you being able to update the Firmware, I would try calling Plextor and see if they can tell you what is wrong. There website is www.plextor.com.

[WallerMan]

Bryan,
I didn't receive the file you emailed me... Also as I bought the drive and the software from MTU perhaps you should call Plextor on my behalf. I am kind of busy this week and I would very much appreciate it...

[WallerMan]

Never got the file you said you emailed me... Never was able to update the firmware on the plextor.. Checked all ASPI's for the tenth time they are the correct version. Checked the version of DirectX again for the tenth time... Am now getting a new error... While trying to update the firmware for this $269.00 Plextor paperweight, I'm now getting a firmware data error code 04-40-fs.... Do you have anybody on staff that can advise as to why this stuff will not work... Also, Your software when the system locks up during the burn at exactly the same spot (track8 65%) every time regardless of the brand of media which I have wasted a bunch of... Is now causing a complete lock up of my system and sometimes is causing exception errors... To say I am dissatisfied at this point tonight is mild... I need this system to work.. I never had any trouble copying audio cd's or data cd's....
Do y'all Test these Plextor drives to see which edition of the firmware they come with before you ship them? The version that came with it was from 99.... Does that mean this box was sitting on your shelf for two years? I am about out of patience and ideas at this point...I also don't have this kind of time to waste on this...I am asking you to call Plextor and get some advice from them as well as a reason why the firmware update will not work.. Have downloaded it multiple times and it says it can't find the drive... I also dowloaded the USB drivers from their site.... Let me know what you find out..

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eric,
Plextor will need the person with the drive there to call them, due to them wanting you to try things while you are on the phone. They have an 800 number so you won't be charged for calling them. The number is: 1.800.886.3935 . We support the drives no problem with our software, but you are having a problem, which seems to be hardware related. Please call them ASAP, that way we can make sure nothing is actually wrong with the drive.

Yes we test everyone of these drives. We don't upgrade the firmware, we leave whatever Plextor has shipped with, because 99% of the time we don't have any problems with what they ship with. These drives have not been sitting on our shelves for more than a week. We have a very high turn around so they come in and go out usually within a week.

This is a problem that no one here would be able to diagnose. Plextor will need the drive in front of the person so that they can try to diagnose it.

Please also try to burn just an audio CD from the Adaptec EZ CD Creator program. See if that works or if you get errors with that also.

When you informed me you have Windows 98, I did not send the file as is only for Windows 2000 or XP. This is why it wasn't sent.

Call Plextor and in a few minutes they can tell you either what is wrong with the drive, or what is causing this.

I called Plextor for you and talked to tech support. They said the same thing I did; make sure that the ASPI drivers are updated correctly. They want you to call them so they can figure out what is wrong. They also said to download the firmware again to make sure it was not a bad download.

I got case number 34656 for you to give Plextor Tech support. They can see the information that I gave them, that you gave me in this forum and through emails.

[WallerMan]

Hi,
Can burn audio cd's just fine with adaptec installed.. But I'm not burning them on the plextor...
The problem has to be Plextor related... I will call them but I'm getting frustrated at this point. will keep you posted.

[admin]

You emailed the following to webmaster@mtu.com who never provides product support:

"This is very frustrating Bryan. Plextor support is only open during the day. I am not able to work on my Home computer until I get off work. Look, I spent $300.00 with you guys and the best y'all can do is turf me to Plextor? You guys sold me the system, now I suggest you get the answers from Plextor or else get them to help me after hours. I have done everything the way you have asked me too. The ASPI drivers are correct, the DirectX stuff is 8.1 It has to be a firmware related issue with the Plextor... I need this to work before August 1st. Otherwise I am going to box all of this up and ship it back to you..
Now how can we rectify this?"

Your problem is being handled in this Forum. Please do not email to different people at MTU. That is not the way to receive continuous support and solve your problem.

Let me start by clearly stating that we ship USB CDR drives with Microstudio every day. They work. There is nothing wrong with our product.

Having said that, we now believe that your 24x USB Plextor CDR drive is in an unknown state. Thus, as soon as you can, send the drive back to us. We will perform the Flash update and verify the drive is working. We will then ship the drive back to you. We do not take drives back, so that is not an option.

Using the original drive box packaging, and the external shipping carton, ship it to:
Micro Technology Unlimited
6900 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC, 27615
Voice: 919-870-0344 x204

If you have any questions about packing the drive for shipment, please call extension 203 or 204 for instructions.

Based on what you continue to report, the problem as we and Plextor's tech support can discern is that your ASPI driver is not properly installed on your Windows 98SE operating system.

If you have installed the ASPI per our directions 5 times, then your Windows installation on your computer has a problem. We have seen this before when "normal fixes" don't solve a rare problem. We have never seen your problem before.

Therefore, we believe your Windows and all application programs must be installed again. From what you say, you will need someone else to do that for you. :r

[emwalter]

RE: problem with your copying

I was just wondering if you are using the same CDG to copy from? If you are, try a different disk, some of the CDG's have corrupt tracks to foil your copy attempts. This sounds like such a situation. I have found that Sound Choice disks sometimes have problems. I also have found that a lot of the Music Maestro disks are oversize, 700Mb instead of the normal 649Mb, this will also cause a problem. I also discovered that Plexmanager will also copy CDG's, problem is, of course, you do not have the ability to burn individual tracks, but will copy the whole cd. I have also discovered that Plexmanager tends to err on the side of caution when copying and may drop to a slower speed copy. I personally don't use Plexmanager, due to some of these limitations, but you may want to try it, to verify that it CAN copy a CDG. This will at least tell you that the drive is working correctly or not. Be patient, though, it might take a while.

[WallerMan]

This does not satisfy me. The fact that you are complaining because I emailed your organization because I am a dis-satisfied MTU customer is quite sad from a customer service perspective. Your inability or rather your lack of wanting to support what you have sold me has definitely soured me on your company.
Also just for the record it is a USB 40X Plextor, not a 24X and This is the only problem I have with my computer so a deinstall of Windows shouldn't be the problem. I had planned on converting my Karaoke system to computer and purschasing that system fro you.
I will buy it from a competitor now as you aren't even willing to support a CDG Burner that you sold me. The Plextor should have been flashed and tested before it was shipped to me. The box had been opened by somebody as the sealed tape on the Drive box clearly showed it was opened. I thought it was opened and tested by MTU.
You know, I only wanted to get this thing working. Now I want to get this thing working and move on to another vendor that cares about it's customer base.

[George]

Wallerman,
Speaking from a purely objective viewpoint, I'd have to say that five pages of posts mostly from you and support trying to get at the heart of this problem certainly indicate a sincere effort on the part of MTU to solve it.. They are not magicians. There is something in your O.S. that is not communicating with the burner, and as a last ditch attempt they are asking you to send them the burner so's they can make certain that the firmware has not become corrupted. If after that was done, if the problem still exists, it's time to call in a qualified P.C.tech. MTU cannot be held responsible for the actions of your P.C., and diagnose an off the wall problem from a thousand miles away.

Admin wasn't complaining that you emailed the webmaster, he was simply advising you who is in a position to give you support, thus hoping to prevent you further aggrivation. At least that's the way I read it.

I can fully appreciate your frustration having had my p.c.
crash and be re-formatted 5 times in 5 months to finally overcome what turned out to be a hardware problem(crappy AMD processor). You have no idea what frustration is until you get into that kind of a loop, for that length of time.

Hang in there, guy, things can only get better, but lashing out at the hand that's trying to help you won't accomplish anything.

Edited by MTUSUPPORT

You'll also find if you take the time to read through the forum posts by people that have abandoned almost every other CDG program around to come over to Microstudio and Karaoke Home Producer that you'll really be spiting yourself to move on.

Take care,

George

Sincerely hope you take this post in the friendly manner in which it is intended.

[emwalter]

Wallerman,

I understand your frustration, completely. However, the reality is that MTU as evidenced by the emails going back and forth, is trying to help you resolve your problem. Quite frankly, they are really bending over backwards to help you. There are so many possibilities for the reason you are having problems, it could be something as simple as an old legacy driver, (left over from past installs, or from past hardware) that is causing your problem. You might even have an IRQ problem. Some cards do not like to share IRQ's, some do. You may have a sharing IRQ problem. Quite often, a complete install with fresh install with the latest drivers will solve all your problems. I ran a repair center in Phoenix, Az for a couple of years, and believe me, you find some strange things. Also, one other point I wish to make, and this is important, as a repair center, we also sold product to customers, who wanted to install themselves. These items were basically sold as is. We would exchange the product, only if WE determined there was a physical problem with the product, but only within 15 days. After that, they would have to deal with the manufacturer. My point is, if you buy to install yourself, you CANNOT hold the retail seller responsible, for your inability to use the product. You can only, really expect support beyond just a cursory suggestion on what could be the problem, if WE install it, which of course, you usually will pay an installation fee. This way, you bring the PC to us, we verify it is working correctly, and you have a recourse if you have a problem within 30 days. After that, you will need to pay additional fees for our time.

It looks like MTU is really trying above and beyond the normal call of duty to help you. To expect anthing more, is unreasonable on your part. Sorry, it sounds a bit harsh, but you must be reasonable.

Again, you will most likely have better luck by having someone who knows what they are doing, re-install your windows version and re-install the latest drivers, and your problems should disappear. If not, you have more problems than what you can expect MTU to resolve, especially for free.

One other thing, that may shed some light, I bought a Book PC (that is the brand name) and everthing worked fine, until I tried to print to my HP Deskjet, I would get a few lines to print, then it would say cannot find printer, it had a problem sending data. I discovered that the cable that came with the printer was the problem. This cable worked fine on other computers, only not on the Book PC. I happened to have another heavily sheilded and much shorter USB cable and tried that and it worked fine. Conclusion: the usb onboard chipset and the design of the Motherboard allowed too much crosstalk, and because of the speed of data being sent along the longer, less well sheilded cable, it is basically an antenna and broadcasting RF (Radio Frequenc) waves back into the PC. With the better sheilded cable and being shorter, it solved the problem. You might have a similar problem. Try finding a shorter better sheilded USB cable, before you blame the recorder.

Hope this helps to put your problem in perspective, and may provide a solution.

[admin]

Wallerman, the reason I posted you had a 24x is that is what you ordered and paid for in our accounting system. However since you have a 40x it is clear that we shipped you a superior product to meet your order when we were out of 24x stock.

Our honored clients are trying to give you guidence. However you seem to still think that we are not helping you, which is incredible with the massive support time we have invested in you.

Since you did not accept my prior offer to return the drive to MTU for us to upgrade the flash ROM, here's my last and final offer.

Send us the 40x drive back and we will give you a full refund on Microstudio and the drive. The shipping address is:

MTU
6900 Six Forks Road
Raleigh,NC 27615
Voice 919-870-0344

I trust that will be acceptable to you. You are not willing to follow our directions to resolve the problem, so my only remaining option is to end the problem. I am sorry that we could not resolve it any other way.

I wish you the best and hope you find another vendor you will be satisfied with. If you find that maybe we weren't so bad after all, you are welcome to return to MTU as a client, assuming you will then be ready to follow our directions when there is a problem.

Respectfully,

David B. Cox
President

[WallerMan]

David,
Understand my frustration at this point. I merely want this thing to work. I have followed all of your technical support's directions which mostly involved Checking the ASPI drivers multiple times, Checking the Direct"X" Version multiple times... And then, "well it's Plextor's problem call them". and lastly, well you need to take down your whole machine and reformat. I did everything up to the reformat the drive. That is very time consuming and I have applications and data that must be backed up before that is done. Also this seems to be a drastic step that may need to be done, but as a solution of last resort.
I did not appreciate your Tech, Bryan's attitude regarding supporting this. Frankly, in reading through many many of the posts in this forum, there have been multiple issues that were solved by your honored clients rather than by your company's technical support team. I have followed the advice of your honored clients and your limited technical support advice, and I am offended that you would take the position that I didn't.
David, I just want this thing to work and as you discourage very clearly in your product documentation handling any technical support "live" real time, this is apparently the only venue left open to try to resolve this amicably. Also if you read back through some of the latest posts you will see that apparently I am not the only client who feels your technical support teams attitude towards resolving issues is somewhat lacking. Perhaps you should take note of that . Feel free to call me to discuss this as I'm sure in your files you have my phone number.
Eric A. Osterhout

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eric,
Were you able to contact Plextor? If so can I ask what did they say when they got you to run through their diagnostics? Did they find anything out?

Do you have a Dial Up modem, DSl, or Cable modem? If you have Cable or DSL, then I could come into your computer through PC Anywhere. With this program I can see first hand everything in your system and have control over it. This might allow me to see your problem. I will need you to let me know this, but without the drive or the system in front of me, there is not much that I can try. Since I am not in front of the computer, you have to be my eyes and my hands, to follow what we have asked you to try.

I have asked you to try making an Audio CD, with another program such as Adaptec, with the Plextor drive. You stated that you did this, but not with the Plextor. Please do this with the Plextor drive and lets see if it works, if it doesn't then it sounds as if your drive could have been damaged in shipping. I need to know if this will work, and make sure it is done with the Plextor USB drive.

All the drives from MTU are opened and tested. We have never upgraded the firmware in the past. Since this problem we have chanaged our policy, so that we upgrade the firmware to the latest version when the drive is tested. We have made changes to our way of operation due to your problem. This was my suggestion, as to the time and trouble that we have had trying to fix your problem. We are taking everything into consideration trying to eliminate this from happening again. If you will ship the drive back to us, I will get it running and then make sure that it does work here then we can send it back. If it gives the same types of problems here then I can get you a working drive.

It seems that my hands are tied as to what I can and can't do, so I am doing my all, but you have to help me on you end.

[WallerMan]

Bryan,
Thank you. I am at my office right now so I won't be able to give much feedback from your ideas till the weekend. I appreciate the time you are giving this issue as well as the fact that this new problem has caused you to adapt your business practices as a result of this.
Believe me, this is not my idea of fun either.. I much rather would have installed this, fired it up and copied my discs by now... Okay, now I just have very slow dial-up at the house...I can probably get a copy of PC anywhere here at the office...
I will be travelling this weekend but hopefully will have some time Sunday evening..
Eric Osterhout

[WallerMan]

Hi,
For some reason while updating my Motherboard Firmware... I killed my puter... Now it won't power up at all...No signs of life... I am going to buy another box... My question now is... To buy the right system that will work no problem, What machine should I buy...
Pentium , celeron or AMD chipset? or does it matter?
Whats OS works best? is XP okay?Or ME?
What system will work best for this stuff.. Primarily I want this box for CDG burning and audio CD burning...
...Eric

[George]

Hi Eric,

Sorry for the crash,but good hearing from you again. Can't say what you should or shouldn't buy, but here's what happened to me recently. Got my p.c upgraded in January. They sold me an "all aboard" type mother board and an AMD processor. Kept having wierd problems leading to 5 formats in as many months. They kept screaming"software", so I finally went elsewhere with it, the software being no different than before the upgrade.

We Junked the 5 month old motherboard and AMD processor. Had a good motherboard installed, separate sound card, video card, and an Intel Pentium 4 processor. Bye Bye problems.

I've always believed in having some local build me one instead of buying "package deals", and have always had good luck until this experience where they used what turned out to be inferior components. May cost more, but worth it.

Just last week or so upgraded to XP, and consider it a good move.

That's the only input I have. Hope it helps.

Take care,

George

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eric,
We can build you one that will work if you would like. This way you know what it will work 100%. Please call us at 919-870-0344 Extension 201 for sales and talk to Douglas he can give you a quote on a basic computer to do all this.

[jim in ohio]

Eric,
Did you ever get it to work?? If so what was the problem??

Jim

[WallerMan]

Haven't got it to work yet.. Have not had much time to focus on the system... Plextor USB CDRW still sitting there, like an expensive paperweight... have not bought a new computer yet either... did reinstall the adaptec software so I can at least burn on my internal CDRW audio disks, as I have a wedding coming up that I need background tunes for... It works just fine... Just the external USB Plextor that doesn't work.. I am hoping to have some time in the next three weeks to and/or upgrade my OS to W2k or replace my system entirely... Looking at an HP 1.2Mhz Celeron system.... Running WINXP... hopefully that will work with the Plextor and MTU software...I'll keep you posted.... Once I get off the road, hopefully I can get a free weekend to mess with all of this...

[kedmison]

George,

A while back you tried helping me figure out what was wrong with my computer. Lots of crashes; freezes and the sort. It was the motherboard along with a bad CPU fan. They replaced everything at their cost! Yea!! Back up and running wonderful. Thanks for your help though. Now my question? I see where you stated that you are now using WIN XP. I am currently using 98 2nd Ed. Would I bennift by going to XP and also what changes would I have to make to allow MTU to work?

Kelly

[George]

Hi Kelly, glad you're sailing on smooth waters.

Went to XP mainly because my p.c. guru convinced me it was the most stable program around. I'm sure some of that was simply his preference, but since he stood to gain nothing by me changing I figured he must be sincere.

I also believe history repeats itslf and 98SE is probably doomed from the standpoint of receiving MS supoort, and a diminishing availability of software that will support it. That's probably some time down the road, so don't let that be a determining factor, but I believe it will come to pass.

I still have 98SE on my other computer and probably will for some time.

I had no problems with any of the MTU products that I have(Microstudio, KHP, Keyrite, Vogone) when I installed XP other than the fact they had to be re-installed. Right at first I didn't like the XP format until I noticed you can change many of the screens to the same format I was used to in 98SE. That's a cosmetic preference.

I'd hate to influence you in any way to change or not change. I was happy with 98SE, and elected to have both platforms available for me to test with, at least for the time being, so I only changed one p.c..

Hey, if you're happy with that horse, ride it as long as conditions determine it is still for you.

Take care,

George

[MTUSUPPORT]

George is correct. Windows XP Rocks. I am slow to migrate to the newer Operating systems, but XP is all we ship now. It blows 98 out of the water for Stability and usability.

[WallerMan]

Okay sounds like XP is the way to go... Any problems with Celeron chipsets with XP and MTU software with Plex drives? I may just wipe my machine and install XP... Or a I may just order a new box like that HP I'm looking at with the Celeron.... Thoughts, opinions?

[T.Wright]

Hi,
Dont know if this will help but
I upgraded to XP from 98, and have never regretted it.
The only advice I can offer as far as XP goes is before you upgrade.

1. Make sure all your hardware will work under XP,
( Printer / Scanner / Modem ) You can find out on the net. I had to get a new Modem and scanner. ( they were quite old as far as computer equipment goes any way)

2. Also check that all your existing programs will upgrade to XP.
Some might not.

One of the best things I have found most usefull is the reset Point.
If everything is working well with your computer you can add a reset point which stores all settings and data at that point,
( always best to do this if your loading a new program ) then if you have any problems after that you can go back to the reset point and your computer will start again from that point with no problems and remove anything added after the reset point.
(Very handy if your beta testing.)
Hope this helps.

[kedmison]

George!...MTU!...Somebody....HELP!!

Have taken the leap to XP PRO. Microstudio worked fine with 98 2nd ed. Not so since I upgraded. Cannot find the the exact post to tell me what to do. I am using the current issue of Microstudio. I believe I'm going to like this XP; but got to get my MTU back up and running. Appreciate any help. Tried reinstalling but ended up unistalling. Went back to site am now downloading demo. Is this right?

Kelly

[George]

Hard to tell what's happening. You need to go through program manager and uninstall Microstudio before attempting to re-install. Try re-booting after you uninstall, then start fresh installing. Assuming you saved your download link into a folder when you purchased Microstudio, you should only have to click on that link . It's good for 8 downloads. Best to download "save to disc" into the Micro Technology Unlimited folder(default) and open it from there. Then you'll have access to it right from your p.c when ever needed. If you did that the first time then go to the Micto Technology Unlimited folder and double click on Microstudio to start installing. It should still be there.

George

Also if you save it to disc instead of opening it in the download, you can make a back-up to a data cd, then you'll have it in safekeeping for sure

[T.Wright]

Kelly,
If your running the current issue of Microstudio 2.315 the demo will be no different, tell us exactly what's happening and we will try to sort you out, Microstudio works well with XP so that's not your problem.

[kedmison]

Tel,

Apparently, I never saved the down link file because I lost everything regarding MS 2.315. In fact until seeing George's comment I didn't realize it ever existed. I still have copies of my original order and SN# but no program. I went and down loaded the demo thinking there might be a place on there to register. Sort of like CDRWIN. But I see no place to do that. So basically I have XP PRO on my computer but do not have a trace of MS 2.315. Where do I go from here?...Thanks.

Kelly

[T.Wright]

Kelly,
You will have to contact MTU and get another download link
which you might be charged for. Go to the MTU main page and look under Contacting MTU, Customer Support, you'll find what you need there. But you must save everything like that to floppy disc or cd, especially download links, serial numbers and the downloaded program.
Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[WallerMan]

Hi Y'all,
My faith is renewed. It's taken almost a year But I'm up an copying successfully. I finally trashed the compaq and just became the proud father of a Dell 2350 with P4 2 with WinXP. Took me five minutes after I loaded the software and the drivers. The software executes flawlessly! Copies are Beautiful!! I am now a satisfied MTU user.
I am convinced that the problem was with my Motherboard on the compaq. If I was going to make a recommendation, I would definitely go with Pentium class as opposed to Celeron. I would also definitely get away from Win98SE... XP rocks and rolls with this stuff..
Once Again my faith is renewed and I apologize for my frustration.
...WallerMan