Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

[IamNemo]

Re: My Sony do not respond anymore

I've had similar issues, but they have resolved themselves in one way or another, without any good explanation why or why not.

Oh, that's disturbing Porcus. My Sony was working so well after giving up on my Powerfile C200.

Has anyone here has ever had any problems with the FireWire connectors themselves at the back of the Sony units? I now suspect that just (carefully) unplugging/replugging the FW cable might have broken something of the FW controller board (cold solder?). :headbang:

Thanks for any help! Iam Nemo

[Porcus]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

I've had similar issues, but they have resolved themselves in one way or another, without any good explanation why or why not.

[IamNemo]

Re: Please HELP: my Sony does not respond anymore!

Nemo: Tried to unplug everything and leave it off for a day? Should not work, does sometimes nevertheless.

Thanks Porcus. That's exactly what I did today: no luck either. I tried to plug it to a notebook and it didn't work.

Open to suggestions... Thanks! Iam Nemo

[Porcus]

Re: Please HELP: my Sony does not respond anymore!

Nemo: Tried to unplug everything and leave it off for a day? Should not work, does sometimes nevertheless.

[IamNemo]

Please HELP: my Sony does not respond anymore!

My Sony VGP-XL1B(3) was ripping perfectly this morning. At the end of that batch I emptied it and moved it a few feet further away from my computer.

I then tried to use a 15ft FireWire cable but it didn't work (it works in my recording studio though). I had to move it back where it was before and reconnected everything with the original 6ft cable. It DOESN'T work now!:(

The drives are not seen under My Computer like before (I'm running XP PRO SP3), FreeChange doesn't see it and neither does Batch Ripper. I checked the RSM service and it's set to Manual and was not running: OK

I then tried 4 different 6ft cables to no avail. I tried both plugs on back and all the ones on my PC. No other change was made than described above.

The changer does its self-test when turned on and I can load/unload several discs.

Please help me! I'm running out of ideas. :cry: Thanks! Iam Nemo

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

Does anyone have a copy of the "Microboards driver" or "Kodak driver" that have been mentioned?

Also, does anyone know what model of DVD drive is used in the stand-alone DVD version of the MicroOrbit MLDV1000? All I've been able to find is that it's a Pioneer drive. I would think that this would pretty much be a drop-in replacement to allow the Kodak kiosk duplicator to do DVDs.

Drivers are on this page (you'll need to scroll down):

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/batch-ripper.htm

You can swap drives of course, but keep in mind that, in addition to the normal alignment of the drive to have the tray placement correct and the sometime necessary removal of the drive faceplate, you'll also need to cut matching notches in the tray for the lifter wings. Drives have a "track" for the tray open/close sprockets, and some have this track right at the edge of the tray (won't work), while others have it further in (will work).

Obtain a Kodak unit. Turn it upside down or on its side. Eject the tray. You'll see what I mean. Then just find another drive where the track is at least 3mm (or so, haven't measured) away from the tray edge and you're set.

-brendan

[jim7]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

Does anyone have a copy of the "Microboards driver" or "Kodak driver" that have been mentioned?

Also, does anyone know what model of DVD drive is used in the stand-alone DVD version of the MicroOrbit MLDV1000? All I've been able to find is that it's a Pioneer drive. I would think that this would pretty much be a drop-in replacement to allow the Kodak kiosk duplicator to do DVDs.

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

My experience is that this drive+bridge is inherently slow to recognize discs, taking about 45 seconds from tray pull in to disc seen mounted in explorer on my day to day laptop (haven't tried it on a clean workstation). Not sure if the issue is the drive or bridge, but it's likely the drive.

(replying to myself)

Though, I do have to say, the Teac CD-W552DA *does* appear to handle scratched discs pretty well (my setup: accuraterip + secure + ultra 1 minimum + c2 + 256KB cache guesstimate).

I was just ripping a scratched up Motown CD-R I have to return to my ex. Some tracks had over 100 frames to re-read. And so far I've only heard one click on the worst track (it was marked insecure, of course).

So, the kodak-bundled teac seems to handle good CDs in ~2 minutes and also seems to handle problem discs that take longer than 30 minutes pretty well.

-brendan

PS - I'll also note that, a year or two ago the very same units would suddenly disconnect their own USB connection when using dbpoweramp's cd ripper with C2 on when dealing with scratched discs...something about the access pattern drove them crazy. I think spoon's recent changes to make the drive IO somewhat friendlier to unreliable usb bridges has helped quite a bit.

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

I am running a batch right now that seems to be working. The first few test batches I did were with about 5 discs. I think that when the spindle gets lighter, it doesn't always sit down far enough for the "finger" to eject the discs. I'm on disc 5 of about 40 right now. I'll let you know if I have problems as I get down to the last 5 disks.

Yeah, that points to a placement issue. I *suspect* you won't have problems once it gets started correctly, even with the last five.

What might be happening is that the extra weight of a half to full spindle helps the settle-in-place process, whereas a small number of discs may kind of catch in a non-optimal position without the additional weight to push them into place.

You might also consider using three or four fingers to gently (gently!) press down evenly on the platter after loading. Just recognize that if you press and shift, or press too hard, you may cause discs to fall out.

On another note, do you have any suggestions on how to speed up the post-load/pre-MetaData lookup wait time? Using the Kodak robot, I seem to be waiting a couple of minutes before the MetaDat lookup occurs. Note: I have turned off all AutoPlay functionality in the Vista control panel.

For this issue, perform some tests with all of the metadata options turned off, just see what the "only accuraterip" baseline is.

My experience is that this drive+bridge is inherently slow to recognize discs, taking about 45 seconds from tray pull in to disc seen mounted in explorer on my day to day laptop (haven't tried it on a clean workstation). Not sure if the issue is the drive or bridge, but it's likely the drive.

This is one reason I've asked spoon to allow the disc recognition time in the batch ripper to be user-adjustable, so that it won't inadvertantly reject discs from slow to mount drives. For now, I'm just going to ensure that the load command for the kodak units either waits for the disc to be recognized internally or includes a long delay after load before exiting and return control to the batch ripper.

Of course, one could always try swapping bridges or drives...but the latter inherently risky (have to cut notches in the tray and alignment matters a lot).

-brendan

PS - there's also a similar delay in the unload/reject command between the pick+tray-close and the drop. this is currently in place to ensure that the pick worked and the tray closed. i may release a version that uses timing only, instead which could speed this up but be at slightly added risk for dropping the disc with the tray open (bad) or moving (horrible due to possible picker/tray collision).

[hofftodd]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

On another note, do you have any suggestions on how to speed up the post-load/pre-MetaData lookup wait time? Using the Kodak robot, I seem to be waiting a couple of minutes before the MetaDat lookup occurs. Note: I have turned off all AutoPlay functionality in the Vista control panel.

[hofftodd]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

Brendan,

I am running a batch right now that seems to be working. The first few test batches I did were with about 5 discs. I think that when the spindle gets lighter, it doesn't always sit down far enough for the "finger" to eject the discs. I'm on disc 5 of about 40 right now. I'll let you know if I have problems as I get down to the last 5 disks.

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

Yep. I figured out that the arrow pointed forward on my own . My problem seems to be fine adjustment problem. Hopefully I can solve it with a couple sheets of paper under the back end of the unit. I'll let you know.

It's been almost 21 hours! I am beside myself with anticipation!

-brendan

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

I'm examining the mechanism on one of mine at the moment.

Try placing the bottom of the stack (when in the unit) at about eye level and watch from the side. If you have the upper ring of the spindle/stack placed correctly, the front of the stack is slightly tipped about 2 CDs width lower than the back of the stack and the back of the stack is caught on the ~45 degree arc of black plastic, which keeps the rear slightly elevated and in-line with the push lever.

Takes practice, and always watch the first few discs to make sure they are a) dropping and b) dropping singley. If they do, then the rest of the stack should be OK.

-brendan

[hofftodd]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

One silly question: you are putting the spindle in place with the arrow pointing forward and fully aligned with the three hex screws on the top of the hopper?

It's a silly question because I think it'd fail 100% of the time if you had it rotated to one of the two other possible positions.

-brendan

Yep. I figured out that the arrow pointed forward on my own . My problem seems to be fine adjustment problem. Hopefully I can solve it with a couple sheets of paper under the back end of the unit. I'll let you know.

[bhoar]

Re: Discussion of Automated CD Loaders

Brendan, thanks for the quick reply. I'll try your suggestions tonight and do some more investigating. I'll report back what I find.

One silly question: you are putting the spindle in place with the arrow pointing forward and fully aligned with the three hex screws on the top of the hopper?

It's a silly question because I think it'd fail 100% of the time if you had it rotated to one of the two other possible positions.

-brendan