CompuServe Messages

Scott, Please, my dealer is fine–the problem is apparently with my note, because I'm a beginner with hardware and didn't realize that there was so much difference between the internal and external CDROM drive hookups. I have two external CDROM drives that both work with the SB Pro Basic audio card. One is a Sony Laser Library CDU 7205 (or Sony 535) that plugs into its own controller card. With this arrangement–SLL controller in one slot, SB Pro in another slot–my system will play anything supplied on a CDROM disc. That is, .avi, .mid, .wav, cd_track, animation, .gif, .dib, you name it! To get SLL audio CD output to desktop speakers, it is necessary to connect the CDROM external jacks to the SB Pro "plug" for an external CD player. (What do you call a female "jack", anyway?) The other external CDROM drive came with the SBPro External CDROM Multimedia Upgrade Kit. The kit contains a card with the "plug-in" for the CDROM drive, and a Sound Blaster Pro Basic card (which looks exactly like my stand-alone SBPro Basic card). The CDROM card does NOT need to be in an expansion slot, my dealer said. However, it is currently occupying a slot because the broad-band cable supplied in the kit is only 4" to 6" long, and is too short to stretch to one of the non-expansion slot openings in my tower case (about 12" away). I took BOTH cards out myself (and confirmed their relationships in the SoundBlaster Upgrade Kit documents), because I had to send my SBPro back to CL for the 486 "crystal patch." The SBPro/Panasonic CDROM definitely works when plugged into card #2; the SLL works when plugged into its own controller card; and I'm sure that the SLL would not work if plugged into card #2 from the CL Upgrade Kit! Lynne