snoopy@ixos.UUCP (Snoopy Schmitz) (01/08/90)
Dear Net,
I had posted this article before Christmas. Unfortunately our net link broke
two days after I went on holiday and hence I have probably missed lots of
replies...please be so kind and repost your reply to me if you have sent me one.
I am very sorry about the hassle this causes. Thank you very much.
---- original posting follows ----
Dear Net,
we are a small software company in W. Germany and we have just completed
a NFS compatible server for CD-ROMs (that is the CD-ROM file system
looks like a UNIX one to the rest of the world).
I hope these groups are right for posting: its a bit difficult with these
interdisciplinary things...
We have some questions regarding CD-ROMs:
1- Who makes CD-ROM mastering software ? Is there any under UNIX ?
1a - What format do CD-makers want as input for the mastering of the CD-ROMs ?
Can I give them a tar/cpio tape and they will make High Sierra out of it ?
Which are the relevant standards ? Do the de facto standards differ ?
2- where can we find a list of *all* currently available CD-ROMS ?
(i.e. is there something analogous to "Books in Print" ?)
3- A lot of the CD-ROMs come out of the MS-DOS world...consequently
a lot of files are kept in the ARC format. Is there any PD implementation
of a program able to understand the .arc files and unpack them under
UNIX ?
4- Which are good CD-ROM readers ? We have heard the Toshiba one is meant to
be the fastest (whatever that means). Is this true ? Can you recommend one ?
4a- Are there any CD-ROM jukeboxes ? (We need a SCSI interface for all devices).
Please mail me -
I will gladly summarise to the net if there is enough interest...but I will be
away over Christmas (Dec. 21st until 8th January 90), so please
a) don't fret if I do not reply by e-mail in the interim
b) be patient with the summary.
c) please don't post your reply to the net - I will surely miss it...
Thank you in advance for all your help.
Have a merry X-mas and a phenomenal new Year,
Love,
Snoopy
--
uunet!unido!ixos!snoopy -or- snoopy@ixos.uucp
"Every passing hour brings the solar system 43,000 miles closer to globular
cluster M13 in Hercules - and still there are some misfits who insist that
there is no such thing as progress." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.blob@apple.com (Brian Bechtel) (01/11/90)
In article <388@ixos.UUCP> snoopy@ixos.UUCP (Snoopy Schmitz) writes: > I had posted this article before Christmas. Unfortunately our net link > broke two days after I went on holiday and hence I have probably > missed lots of replies...please be so kind and repost your reply to > me if you have sent me one. > I am very sorry about the hassle this causes. Thank you very much. This is my reply, now posted instead of mailed. In article <385@ixos.UUCP> snoopy@ixos.UUCP (Snoopy Schmitz) writes: > We have some questions regarding CD-ROMs: > > 1- Who makes CD-ROM mastering software ? Is there any under UNIX ? I believe that Reteco, a Canadian company, makes CD-ROM premastering software that runs under Unix. > > 1a - What format do CD-makers want as input for the mastering of the > CD-ROMs ? > Can I give them a tar/cpio tape and they will make High Sierra out of it? This will depend upon the pressing plant. Contact Philips, MPO (Paris), or Disctronics (London) for more specific information. Yes, it IS possible to send them such a tape and get ISO 9660 from it; you will probably not find anyone very willing to do this, because they won't have the appropriate expertise. Of course, you will pay extra for such services. > Which are the relevant standards ? Do the de facto standards differ? ISO 9660 is the international standard. It's also known as ECMA-119 in Europe. High Sierra is the older, obsolete format used before an international standard was agreed upon. > > 2- where can we find a list of *all* currently available CD-ROMS ? > (i.e. is there something analogous to "Books in Print" ?) No. > > 3- A lot of the CD-ROMs come out of the MS-DOS world...consequently > a lot of files are kept in the ARC format. Is there any PD implementation > of a program able to understand the .arc files and unpack them under > UNIX ? Yes, comp.sources.unix has had such programs in the past. Look in the standard comp.sources.unix archives. > > 4- Which are good CD-ROM readers ? We have heard the Toshiba one is > meant to be the fastest (whatever that means). Is this true ? Can > you recommend one ? Fastest is not a very good word for describing a device with average seek time of more than 300 microseconds. Toshiba, among others, makes a fine CD-ROM drive. There are no particular winners. > > 4a- Are there any CD-ROM jukeboxes ? (We need a SCSI interface for > all devices). Panasonic has announced and is shipping in Japan a 6-CD CD-ROM drive, based roughly on their audio CD changer of the same name. Kodak has a multi-disc unit as well, but I don't have any further information about it. --Brian Bechtel blob@apple.com "My opinion, not Apple's"
papowell@attila.cs.umn.edu (Patrick Powell) (01/11/90)
In article <6104@internal.Apple.COM> blob@apple.com (Brian Bechtel) writes: >> 4- Which are good CD-ROM readers ? We have heard the Toshiba one is >> meant to be the fastest (whatever that means). Is this true ? Can >> you recommend one ? > >Fastest is not a very good word for describing a device with average seek >time of more than 300 microseconds. Toshiba, among others, makes a fine >CD-ROM drive. There are no particular winners. I would call 300 microseconds "Access Time From Hell". Perhaps 300 milliseconds? Patrick Powell Prof. Patrick Powell, Dept. Computer Science, EECS 4-192, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612)625-3543/625-4002