CDDA Driver - Copyright ©1997 Peter Urbanec

Purpose

The CDDA Driver will let you read digital audio data from your SCSI-2 CD-ROM drive. This gives the highest possible quality for audio input, since the data is bit perfect. The driver also supports standard SCSI-2 CDDA playback.

Version

This is Demo 2.01 of the CDDA Driver.

Changes

From Version 1.04 to Version 2.01:

From Version 1.03 to Version 1.04:

From Version 1.02 to Version 1.03:

From Version 1.01 to Version 1.02:

From Version 1 to Version 1.01:

Requirements

To use the CDDA Driver you will need a machine running AA:PR version of BeOS. You will also need a SCSI CD-ROM drive which supports CDDA transfers over the SCSI bus. The driver should work with the following CD-ROM drives, but will probably work with many others.

Brand Models
Pioneer DR-U12X, DR-U124X
SONY CDU-55S, CDU-56S, CDU76S, CDU561
Apple CD300, CD600
TEAC CD-56S
Plextor PX-4xCH, PX-4xCS, PX-4xCE, PX-6xCS, PX-8xCS, PX-12CS, PX-12TS
where x can be any digit
Toshiba XM-3501B, XM-5301B, XM-3601B, XM-2701B, XM-5401B, XM-3801B, XM-5701B

If you have a CD-ROM drive which works, please feel free to e-mail me the details of your drive. If you find that a certain CD-ROM drive does not work, let me know too. I can be reached as peteru@null.net

Limitations

The CDDA Driver is a shareware product. This demo version is limited to accessing only the first five minutes of the CD, otherwise it is fully functional. You also don't get any programming documentation to use the driver in your own software. See below on how to register.

Performance

The CDDA Driver will read data at the maximum rate supported by your CD-ROM drive. For example, under DR8, using a modified version of the CDPlayer application which ships with BeOS, I was able to save the entire first track of Tubular Bells II CD by Mike Oldfield in 1 minute and 21 seconds. The track is 8 minutes and 7 seconds long. The machine used for testing was a BeBox 133, copying from a Pioneer DR-U12X CD-ROM drive to a Quantum 1080S hard disk. That gives roughly a six fold speed increase over playing audio and then sampling it in. The quality of the resulting sample is also much better.

Please note that Toshiba drives do not allow for CD-DA transfers any faster than 150k/s. From the Toshiba documentation:

Note that [speed] setting is ignored for ... CD-DA transfer over SCSI mode. That is, the CD-ROM operates at normal speed during audio [based operations]
Text in [square brackets] is inserted by me and replaces technical terms with plain english equivalents.

Contact Details

I can be contacted via e-mail: peteru@null.net

If you must use snail mail:

Peter Urbanec
PO Box 752
Randwick NSW 2031
AUSTRALIA

By phone at home: +61 2 9398 3456

License

The Demo version of the CDDA Driver is freely distributable with the following restrictions:

  1. The entire package must be distributed. This means that the CDDA executable, the CDDA.html file and the Version command must always be distributed together.
  2. The package must either be distributed as a gzip compressed tar file or a directory containing ONLY the distribution files. A zip archive format is not acceptable because unzip is not a part of the standard BeOS software installation.

Installation

To make use of the CDDA Driver you will need to move the file named CDDA to /boot/system/drivers

Shareware

The CDDA Driver is shareware. That means that you will need to pay in order to obtain the full package.

There are three pricing structures:

End User The End User license will get you a personalised driver which will enable you to access the entire contents of a CD.
Programmer The Programmer license will get you a personalised driver which will give you access to the entire CD. You will also get the header files so that you can call the driver from your own code. But wait, there's more. The programmer license will also get you sample code to show you how to call the driver.
Publisher The Publisher license will get you a special version of the driver, which only your code will be able to call. You will have the right to distribute the special driver with your product. You will also get the header files as well as sample code.

Note that the End User or Programmer licenses do not give you the right to redistribute the personalised driver. This driver is only for your use. If you would like to distribute a product that makes a use of the CDDA driver and wish to bundle the driver with your product you need the Publisher license.

Pricing

The following pricing structure applies until further notice. Please check http://www.zip.com.au/~peteru/CDDA/ for any changes to these prices and the payment methods before sending any money.

End User Programmer Publisher
US$5 US$20 Negotiable

All prices are for e-mail delivery. Other forms of delivery can be arranged, but prices may vary.

Ordering

Right now you have three choices as far as payment goes:

  1. Put the correct payment in US bank notes (bills) into an envelope, together with your full name and e-mail address and air mail it to me. Air mail takes about 10 days to get to me from most parts of the world. Then it takes about 1-2 days for me to compile a personalised version of the driver for you and e-mail it to you.
  2. Australian residents ONLY, can mail an Australian Postal Money order or a cheque drawn on an Australian bank. Include your full name and e-mail address with the payment and make cheques payable to "Peter Urbanec" The registration fees converted to Australian currency are AUD$7 for End User license and AUD$27 for Programmer License.
  3. Check the CDDA Driver web page for the status of my credit card merchant facility. When I am capable of accepting credit card payments there will be a link to let you purchase the driver using your credit card.

Do NOT send any other currency except for US Dollars. Also note that I will not be liable for any payments lost in the mail. It is in your best interest to disguise the cash you are sending.

If you would like to make alternative payment arrangements send me e-mail so that we can figure out the details.