Problem With HP Drives and their supplied ASPI driver

[MTUSUPPORT]

The My CD2.0 software that comes with these HP drives loads an ASPI device driver such that My CD2.0 is the only program that can use it.

INTERNAL Drives
* HP 9140i
* HP 9150i
* HP 9340i
* HP 9350i
* HP 9500i
* HP 9510i
* HP 9600si(SCSI)

EXTERNAL Drives
* HP 8220e
* HP 8230e
* HP 9600se(SCSI)

If you have one of these drives, you will have to purchase and load Adaptec EZ CD Creator software on your computer so Microstudio can use the ASPI driver and run. You can purchase EZ CD Creator from: http://www.roxio.com/en/products/ecdc/index.html

How To Determine the Installed ASPI Driver Version on Your Computer

1. Go to the Start Menu/ Find/ Files or Folders
2. In the Look In field, select My Computer
3. In the Named box type in aspienum.vxd
4. Left click the Find or Search button, depending on your Windows version
5. When this file appears, right click the filename to see a menu, and click the Properties command
6. In the Properties dialog box that appears, click the in Version Tab
7. Microstudio requires this file to be Version 4.60 (1021)
8. If it is not, contact support@mtu.com for instructions.

[schubie]

The ASPI Layer can be updated to V4.60 without purchasing additional software.
Use the link below and download both ASPICHK and ASPI32.EXE from the Adaptec site to upgrade your ASPI Layer.

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/supporteditorial.html?prodkey=ASPI_Layer_Upkeep

MTUSUPPORT NOTE: This will work if you have EZ CD Creator V4.01 or earlier. If you have V4.02 or later, the link above will not update your system.

IF you have an Adaptec (no other mfgr) SCSI controller, this link will update your computer ASPI driver.

Adaptec has made it very difficult for PC computer users today! Sell their stock now while you can!

[jumpmaster]

I assume the above information was given specifically to fix "MY CD2" and it's worth mentioning again that some of the above recorders still do not read or write CD+Gs. I had enquired to HP as I had read that my HP 8200e drive would work with CDGs and yet my 8200 series would not work according to MTU. Isn't it funny how you can work on a problem for a couple weeks and when you finally come to the answer - it's amazing how simple it was all along? ... duhh ... yes it's in the 8200 series, but it's model number 8230! The 8230 will not work with CDGs. At any rate, I thought I'd put my two cents in and for reference here is the very fast (really!) response I received direct from HP Support:

"...
Compact Disc + Graphics (CD+G), part of the White Book standard, is an audio CD plus additional graphics and/or text information recorded in the R through W subcodes. A CD+G disc uses these six, normally blank and unused bits in each audio sector to store graphics information, which is interleaved with audio data. During playback, the graphic data is then de-interleaved, so it can be displayed on a television screen. Most audio CD players will ignore this additional information; therefore, the graphics do not affect the playback of the audio. CD+G discs can be played on CD-i, karaoke CD, and video CD players.


These [HP] drives currently support the CD+G format:


+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+
| 8100i | 8110i | 8200i | 8210i | 7500i | 7510i | 7500e| 7510e |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+


Note: The HP CD-Writer software does not support creating or copying CD+G CDs. Third-party software is available that allows CD+G discs to be backed up.
..."

It is also worth mentioning that the above response is a "claim" from HP and you would have to dig deeper and check with mtu to see if they have tested any of the above. From what I've read about adaptec and layers and other mysterious thingamajigs perhaps it's not even worth checking out at all ... mtu's price on their recorder and their guarantee are probably all one needs to know! :? :g

[schubie]

The whole copy process for CD+G is beyond me. Some stuff works... some doesn't. I have a Plextor CD Writer that (most of the time) works for CD+G. I get words that won't disappear and little blips that stay forever but... nothing is perfect.