#CD cache in ext RAM
11 messages in this thread
Hello.
Ihave a Sony CD-ROM drive, just like the one that DAK sells, although I
didn't get it from DAK.
I run Windows and attach to a NetWare server.
I'm looking for either a general purpose CD-ROM cache program, or else a
replacement for the MSCDEX that comes with this drive that will allow cache
to be placed in extended memory.
I tried a product from Bloc publishing, but I couldn't get it to work and
their tech support said it wasn't compatible with a LAN.
Any responses would be appreciated.
Les…
Les,
I don't know why the people at BLOC told you Speedway won't work. If you
still have it, let me know your configuration, and I'll get it working for
you.
Reese.
We are the developers of CD Speedway.
Reese,
I, too, am having problems making CD Speedway load when LANtastic is
installed on my machine. It loads fine if I don't load the LANtastic
drivers. What can I do to make it work?
Also, if I load CD Speedway, I can no longer get the control program
for Mutimedia Audubon's Mammals (DPSG.EXE) to load. It tells me the
floating point is not loaded and aborts. If I then unload CD
Speedway, it works fine. Any suggestions on this?
–Bob
Yes Bob, I do have some ideas…but before I respond, please e-mail me
copies of your config.sys and autoexec.bat files. Give me info as to your
computer brand, memory, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Reese.
Reese, I've been unable to get Speedway to load in a Dos session under
Windows 3.1 in Enhanced mode. Message says Speedway can't find Mscdex. I've
tried loading mscdex in the dos seesion in which I want speedway to work
but still no go. Any ideas? Thanks. Brian Hinkle, Anaheim, Ca
Brian,
What specifically is the error. I can load it easily by defining a PIF.
For more info, e-mail me your PIF info, and I'll look at it for you.
Reese.
here's the PIF information you requested:
My PIf file for DOS sessions is pretty generic:
Video Memory = Text
KB req = 128 Kb desired =640
Ems req = 0 Desired = 3072
XMS req = 0 Desired = 1024
Display = full screen
Execution = Neither Background or Exclusive
Close window on exit = yes
Background priority = 50 foreground= 100
Memory options all blank
Emulate Text mode =yes
allow faste paste = yes
everything else = No.
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[Continued]
Here's the message I get wheneve I try to load CD
Speeway under Windows 3.1. As you can see Mscdex
is loaded and in fact I have no problems accessing
it with anything ohter the Speedway
MSCDEX (or its equivalent) is not installed.
Press any key to continue . . .
+———————————————+
& Region Area Size Status &
& 1 B000 – B249 9.1K Used (MVSOUND) &
& 1 B24A – B5CA 14K Used (ASWCDNEC) &
& 1 B5CB – B660 2.3K Used (ASPIDISK) &
& 1 B661 – B664 0.1K Used (SUPERPCK) &
& 1 B665 – B75C 3.8K Used (PCKKEY) &
& 1 B75D – B7FE 2.5K Used (UMB) &
& 2 C800 – C943 5K Used (ASPI4DOS) &
& 2 C944 – D047 28K Used (STACKER) &
& 2 D048 – D08F 1.1K Used (RAMDRIVE) &
& 2 D090 – D0B2 0.5K Used (MOUSE) &
& 2 D0B3 – D491 15K Used (MSCDEX) & <—–
& 2 D492 – D594 4K Used (DOSKEY) &
& 2 D595 – D741 6.7K Used (PCACHE) &
& 2 D742 – DAB2 13K Used (MOUSE) &
& 2 DAB3 – E6C8 48K Used (SUPERPCK) &
& 2 E6C9 – E7FE 4.8K Used (UMB) &
& 3 FD00 – FD22 0.5K Used (UMB) &
& 3 FD23 – FDBD 2.4K Used (FILES) &
& 3 FDBE – FDFF 1K Used (UMB) &
+———————————————+
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Brian Hinkle, Anaheim, Ca
Brian,
Check your e-mail for the technical explanation as to why TSR's can't do
this. I've put the work-around in your box.
P.S. The error message is a small bug. As you might have seen, Speedway
certainly does work under WINDOWS 3.1…however, the MSCDEX not installed
is fixed and will be in the update.
Reese.
I am interested in cd speedway. I have read the letters here and on AOL
but as of yet have not made up my mind. I have 8 meg of ram, running a 386
40mz and windows 3.1 with about a 2 meg pctools cache (one meg for windows
cache.) Will I notice any improvement? send
Steve,
One of the most interesting concepts behind Speedway vs. it's competitors
is that it can be cached to the hard disk. Being a "file" caching device,
Speedway needs to fit the whole file in cache, or the file will be ignored.
Not much of a problem for 256K files, but 6 Meg. files are more difficult
with a cache of only 6 Meg.
My recommendation, (having personally only 4 Meg. of memory on my CIS
machine) is set up Speedway as follows:
1) Set aside some free space on your hard disk as the CD cache
2) Set it to between 6 Meg. and 20 Meg. (depending on free space)
I use 8 Meg.
3) Because CD caching will go to hard disk, use Smartdrv or one of
the latest third party disk caches (like FAST!, or your PCTOOLS)
to cache the hard disk. I would recommend a 3 Meg. cache rather
than your 2 Meg. (I use 1500 because of the 4 Meg. restriction).
You should see very close to the same benefit as someone who uses a RAMdisk
for caching. The key is the better the hard disk cache, the better your
performance from the CD cache out on the hard drive. This will utilize
your memory better and offer much better results than giving away all your
free RAM to our competitor's products.
Reese.
disk files in memory (