MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

[dvdr]

Hi
a question for the batch-ripping pros....

I just got hold of a used MiniCubis. It's from a heavy smoker (who knows, how "dark" the lens of the drive already is and how much errors it will produce...), so for that and for quality reasons, I'd like to replace the built-in NEC drive with my Plextor PX-W1210A.
The tray of the Plextor also fully extends, but:

- is there any mechanical, electrical or electronical configuration needed (for example: positioning of the arm horizontally/vertically, certain commands given to the drive, the minicubis driver etc.)?

If there's anything to be configured, mind telling me how, what and where I need to change things?

Thanks and have a great christmas!

[Spoon]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

Nothing needs doing, the Plextor will either work, or not with the USB >> IDE adaptor they use.

[bhoar]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

Note also that older drives tended to be longer back to front.

-brendan

[dvdr]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

Thanks for the advice - I replaced the built-in NEC with a Plextor W1210A: though a bit longer, it still fit in the housing. Only thing I needed to do mechanically: adjust it a bit more to the back than the NEC, the tray extends a bit more, so the I had to shift it back to ensure proper placement and pickup of the CDs in the tray.

The only thing I note, that worries me a tiny bit: picking the CD's from the tray after ripping, the robot-arm presses against the tray, so that the tray bends down a bit. As to your experience, is that normal, and can I prevent that? That does not happen, when dropping the CD's into the tray upon loading. As far as I remember, that also was the case with the built-in NEC.

BTW: Funny thing happened, when I ripped old CD's from my collection (they are from the Birth-days of the format, beginning of the 80's...): they were so absolutely flat, and also varying in thickness, that the arm picked up two at once several times. Good, that I checked in between rips, since once, the Plextor actually had ripped a "double-CD" in the tray.... Any suggestions on how to prevent that?

[bhoar]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

BTW: Funny thing happened, when I ripped old CD's from my collection (they are from the Birth-days of the format, beginning of the 80's...): they were so absolutely flat, and also varying in thickness, that the arm picked up two at once several times. Good, that I checked in between rips, since once, the Plextor actually had ripped a "double-CD" in the tray.... Any suggestions on how to prevent that?

Probably best to ensure that you "interleave" older discs with newer ones so that no two older style discs are adjacent. I haven't seen that behavior with the baxter-type units, but I don't have a lot of very old discs so mine may have been naturally interleaved.

A related problem is why I've dis-recommended trying to use older RImage DTP-x000 units for cd ripping - those units have trouble even picking one disc if two very flat discs are adjacent.

In addition, the issue you are seeing might not be thinness per se but instead it may be two entirely flat surfaces being are much more likely to adhere due to static cling.

Documentation for older vacuum-based duplicators, such as the Mediatechnics Impact series, which had pickers that did reach below the top surface of the top disc, noted this problem. The docs suggested storing blank discs in the refrigerator to reduce static cling. They also suggested blowing canned air against the spindle of discs before starting the duplicator to reduce static buildup. Not sure how useful that is for your situation, just pointing out that static electricity (negative charge buildup) is a documented problem with stacks of discs.

-brendan

[dvdr]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

@ brendan

Thanks for the reply and your suggestions. I'll keep an eye on it. Looking at the situation with the knowledge from your post, I note: these old discs are completely flat on top and bottom up to the rim of the small hole in the middle. Newer discs do have a slightly engraved, lower region around the middle hole, so it's possible for the grabbing mechanism of the robot-arm to reach into the small slit, that is separating the discs there.
And: thank god, I am a Vinyl-audiophile - I still have one of those antistatic-pistols from back then, that I still use... I'll try that as well!

Any idea on the "robot-pressing against the tray when unloading"?

Thanks again!

[bhoar]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

The clamping ring and stacking spacers weren't part of the original compact disc standard, so there's no guarantee that they'll be there for audio CDs. However, all robots should be engineered to handle discs with and without them. I haven't looked at the baxter-type mechanism in a while, but it shouldn't have a grip space big enough for two slimmer discs to fit. I'm still leaning toward it being a static cling issue (which is more common with flat CDs than later disc types where some automation-friendly changes were made to the physical format to help prevent that - all disc *replication* machines that I've seen use vacuum pickers, so static cling is the reason for the spacers).

I'm not sure what an anti-static pistol is. If it's a positive-ion blower, that's probably ok. If it shoots liquid of any sort, that's not good.

Regarding the robot pressing the tray. IIRC, that's just how the baxter works. Some drive trays are more flimsy (lightly constructed) than others and it is more noticeable with them. And if you had to put your new drive further into the body in order to align the tray, then you also have a lever-related effect: the robot pressed a farther distance from the tray anchor point, so the same amount of pressure would bend the tray further down even if the new tray was made of the same density of material as the old drive tray.

-brendan

[dvdr]

Re: MiniCubis: replacing drive - any configuration needed?

Brendan

thanks for your explanation, it all makes more sense now.
You made me have a big smile, though, with your remark about my "antistatic pistol shooting liquid of any sort" - it just made my day :smile2:
No, it does not shoot any sort of liquid - I never would let any liquid close to my vinyl discs besides absolutely special cleaning fluid, which gets vacuumed away by a vacuuming record cleaner - deep cleansing, so to say (yes, these things exist, and they help a lot cleaning old and used LPs...) But that's another story...
That pistol is actually shooting some sort of ions, that help neutralize static build-up. So I'll try it with my CDs as well (funny, how something developed for analog audio is now helping me rip digital audio...)