WARNING! Smart and Friendly out of business!!!

[Lexman]

If you have purchased a Smart and Friendly product recently, be aware that the company is out of business and no longer providing any support. As some of us have CD-R drives by this company, this is an issue for the forum.

CD-Rs are used by many of us to make multiple copies of our favorite CDs for work, car, home, etc... So, I wanted to inform you guys so you don't purchase an obsolete product. Lack of driver support is a real pain in the ass with all the new OSs' out there!

I am burned on a Rocket Replicator myself, a 700 purchase, that I wanted to interface with my new 2000 via SCSI. Now, it appears, I cannot get compatible drivers or software tools, unless Adaptec provides support that could assist. Since they provided some of the original software.

AT LEAST, my Rocket Replicator is an independent CD-Writer that does work without a computer at all, as it has it's own hard drive with 5 partitions. You simply copy to the HD 1-5, and then copy to disc from the HD. Great for CD copies, and it's a real shame the product is now defunct. All I wanted was to interface it as well for CD-R backups and the like.

Consider yourself warned-

Lex

[ThomasW]

This shouldn't be a too big a service issue. S&F use CDR/CDRW drives made by the major mfgrs, Yamaha, Ricoh, etc. All S&F did was was bundle these in a standard aftermarket chassis in the case of external units. So the mfgr's can provide service if necessary. This however won't help with warranty matters.

You should be able to checkout the HD by putting it a PC, then try reading it with a DOS boot disk. Now if it's a Linux based system that's something completely different. You might be able to find answers at one of the many Linux support sites. Linux does support Adaptec SCSI devices

Lex, what specific problems are you having?

I assume you've done a search here:

http://www.adaptec.com/support/index.html

If the unit has a SCSI interface, what happens when you connect it to the PC?

The "quick and dirty" solution is to pull the burner itself and install it in your PC . There is no reason it can't function as a internal unit, unless you're out of drive bays. Plug-&-Pray should identify and install it.




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[Lexman]

Thomas, I own the S & F Rocket Replicator. This is a box with it's own hard drives, so it's an independent CD writer. No PC required.

Problem is, Windows 2000 is not supported by the software that supports the SCSI interface.

The CD-R seems to get a signal when booted, but that's as far as I can get with it.

when you pay 700 bucks for a piece, and no longer get driver updates and such, that's a real problem.

Lex

[ThomasW]

Lex

I understood it's a stand-alone box. My suggestions were based on that knowledge.

There has to be an OS for the box, either DOS, Linux etc. Hence my suggestions about trying to find the OS by placing the HD in a PC.

I have more than a casual knowledge of SCSI. The machine I'm typing this post on contains a SCSI CD-ROM, SCSI CD-RW, and a SCSI Magneto-optical drive.

I've used Adaptec 2940's, the Diamond FirePort 40. and had on board 7800 series Adaptec SCSI.

What software are you having the problem with? There may not be a solution but there maybe a work-around.

Are you interested in setting up a dual boot system and making your back-ups using DOS commands? Another possibility is dual boot into Win98 and using it just for back-ups. Either of these options are easy, using a program called "System Commander"

Using System Commander I created one harddrive that would run DOS, Win98, Linux and BeOS. So, if there is an OS where your box does work with the PC. You can create a multiple boot system, with the OS and appopriate software to make your back-ups, and not mess-up your Win2000 install. BTW the System Commander program retails for $30. And yes it's rock stable.

Are you using an Adaptec SCSI adapter for your other devices? If so which one? As I recall there is a utility that recognizes the SCSI devices on boot up. If so is it seeing the "Box"? Also Adaptec has program that determines the if you have the latest ASPI "layer".




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[Lexman]

Thanks Thomas, I will talk to you more about this when the evening falls. Right now at work.

Basically, the HD in the CD-R box has enough room for 5 650 mb partitions. In fact,that's how it's designed. You copy CDs to 1 of 5 partitions, and then copy to disc as many times as you want from that partition, until you overwrite it.

The CD-R box is being recognized, I discovered last night as an IBM HD! So, the Adaptec SCSI card thinks it's just a hard drive. Inside my 2000 Administrative Manager, I discovered that the disc shows as not being partitioned, and consequently doesn't show up to Windows as a usable drive. My concern is that I don't want to mess up the existing 5 partitions as they are seen from the standalone unit. Plus I don't want to delete what's on track 5 unless I have to.

Ideally I would be able to copy data or music from my PC HD to the HD in the SCSI device. Then, I could copy manually using the CD-R box. I don't care so much about a process from Windows to access only the CD-R drive using interface software. (that doesn't work anyway with 2000!)

So, in a nutshell, that's where I am at. Remember, I have zero support, so if I screw things up, I be screwed!

Lex

[ThomasW]

1)Could you do what you're wanting to do now, with any version of Win95/98? If not you won't be able to do it directally with Win2000.

2)If you could do what you describe with Win95/98, then the cheapest solution is to use System Commander, and create a dual boot system. You would install Win95/98 and boot to it when you want to make the backups. Otherwise by default you can set it to boot directally into Win2000. This may sound difficult but the process is actually quite easy.

3)Remember DOS and it's variants will only recognize 1 "active" partition. So there maybe a primary conflict right from the start. I assume Win2000 is like Win98 in only recognizing the primary active partition as where the OS is stored.

4)The S&F box is essentially a standalone "computer" with a currently unknown operating system. So it maybe necessary to treat it as such, and try to "network" it to your main PC. It's possible that the cost of doing this, would equal or exceed the cost of buying a new burner for the PC.

I understand your not wanting to mess up the box. So just go slow.

Also just sort of a heads up, I don't have a significant working knowledge about NT/Win2000. For purposes of what you want to do that shouldn't pose a problem.




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[Lexman]

I understood it's a stand-alone box. My suggestions were based on that knowledge.

Good.

There has to be an OS for the box, either DOS, Linux etc. Hence my suggestions about trying to find the OS by placing the HD in a PC.

Ahhh, physically moving the HD. Well, booting from it could be a neat trick. But Windows cannot recognize the drive partitions as is. As yet, I have not tried disasembly. I did get the drive "accepted" in the storage management section of the Administrative Manager through the SCSI interface. I now know it's a 4.?? gig drive. (forget odd hundreths) The space shows as unallocated. I am concerned about reformatting the drive according to PC standards. It could render the box useless as a seperate device. However, the box does provide a mechanism for reformatting and changing partitions. So maybe, just maybe it could work after formatting.

I have more than a casual knowledge of SCSI. The machine I'm typing this post on contains a SCSI CD-ROM, SCSI CD-RW, and a SCSI magneto-optical drive.

Cool.

I've used Adaptec 2940's, the Diamond FirePort 40. and had on board 7800 series Adaptec SCSI.

In forget which Adaptec I have, can check tonight.

What software are you having the problem with? There may not be a solution but there maybe a work-around.

The problem is, the CD-R isn't recognized, and none of the software suite for the Rocket Replicator seems to work in an NT(2000) environment.

Are you interested in setting up a dual boot system and making your back-ups using DOS commands? Another possibility is dual boot into Win98 and using it just for back-ups. Either of these options are easy, using a program called "System Commander"

Well, with a dual hard drive setup, that could be interesting, just change the boot drive, and use the second HD to boot from for Windows 98. Might not even require a boot manager in that case. Ideally, I would like for this box to remain a dedicated 2000 system. Dual boot sometimes can introduce new problems, and problems is something that I don't need. I have enough of those already, lol.

Using System Commander I created one harddrive that would run DOS, Win98, Linux and BeOS. So, if there is an OS where your box does work with the PC. You can create a multiple boot system, with the OS and appopriate software to make your back-ups, and not mess-up your Win2000 install. BTW the System Commander program retails for
$30. And yes it's rock stable.

But rock stable for 2000? 30 bucks is certainly reasonable enough.

Are you using an Adaptec SCSI adapter for your other devices? If so which one?

Yes, I use it for a Jazz drive, which is working perfectly. I have the CD-R second in a daisy chain setup that is properly terminated.

As I recall there is a utility that recognizes the SCSI devices on boot up. If so is it seeing the "Box"? Also Adaptec has program that determines the if you have the latest ASPI "layer".

Yes, the boot utility that recognizes the SCSI card works great, and in fact does show me the Jazz drive, and the "IBM drive" on seperate channels. You see, the 2000 installation sees the CD "device" as a hard drive. NOT as a CD-R. If the software worked properly, it would see it as a CD-R drive. The hard disc would become a moot point in the auxilary device. Yes, I am aware that it's basically a computer in a small box. HD, plus HD, plus menu driven system, plus power supply and SCSI interface, all says, this is a computer!

Lex

[ThomasW]

I am concerned about reformatting the drive according to PC standards. It could render the box useless as a seperate device. However, the box does provide a mechanism for reformatting and changing partitions. So maybe, just maybe it could work after formatting.

I'm not suggesting you reformat the S&F HD. Just put the HD in an "empty" PC. Use a generic DOS boot floppy to see if you can simply read the FAT. If you can't that tells us it's probably using an OS other than DOS

But rock stable for 2000? 30 bucks is certainly reasonable enough.

Yes, all it does is create a small HD area that is read first. This loads on boot up and offers you the choice of what OS you want to run. System Commander is the utility that is distributed with the Linux/BeOS programs(note some of these use a PowerQuest dual boot program that does the same thing). That way people can dual boot their original OS as well as Linux. Now understand SC isn't related to Linux, It's a pure DOS program.

You see, the 2000 installation sees the CD "device" as a hard drive. NOT as a CD-R. If the software worked properly, it would see it as a CD-R drive. The hard disc would become a moot point in the auxilary device

To do this you would need to unplug the connecting wiring between the the S&F HD and it's burner. Then see if Win2000 can find just the CDR alone. Win2000 won't find just the CDR when it's still wired to the HD.




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio