Thread

CD Burner for my quadra?

68kMLA 68k 13 posts Aug 5, 2008 to Aug 6, 2008

#1 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 07:03 68kMLA

I'm just wondering if they exist. It sure would speed up my protools sessions. I'm running 7.6.1, Quadra 700, 68Megs ram.

Did one exist? Is the burner software even usable?

#2 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 08:58 68kMLA

Ayup, external SCSI ones work fine with toast, I've used a couple. A Quadra 950 I used with a LaCie one had no problems burning at 8x.

Dana

#3 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 09:39 68kMLA

I managed to find an internal SCSI CD-RW drive and my Quadra 840 was more than happy to take it. Then as Dana says, Toast is your friend...

#4 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 09:51 68kMLA

Some versions of Toast might need updates to support your particular SCSI burner, I had to get an update for 3.5? to use a Teac 8x CDR drive from what I remember.

I have burned disks from a IIfx, so you don't even need a Quadra class machine for that.

#5 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 09:54 68kMLA

Well, that's good to hear. Also found a copy of Toast 4.2. Awesome.

#6 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 21:15 68kMLA

Just fyi, even a Mac II can handle a burner. As long as there's an '020 or better under the hood/bonnet, you can burn away, although maybe not faster than 1x with the oldest machines...

#7 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 21:49 68kMLA

Speed only depends on how fast the internal SCSI bus and HD are since the CPU doesn't need to be bothered with SCSI transfers unlike with old IDE.

You should be able to do 1MB+ on most 68020+ systems, 8x cdr is 1.2MB/sec I think (150Kb/sec per X).

#8 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 - 23:53 68kMLA

Speed only depends on how fast the internal SCSI bus and HD are since the CPU doesn't need to be bothered with SCSI transfers unlike with old IDE.
You should be able to do 1MB+ on most 68020+ systems, 8x cdr is 1.2MB/sec I think (150Kb/sec per X).

Regrettably, data trumps your optimism. There's more than simple bus speed to consider -- there still is the question of driver interaction. Without SCSI Manager 4.3, burning faster than 2x is impractical. I am not speaking theoretically -- I have the coasters to prove it.

#9 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 - 00:30 68kMLA

I tend to burn at 1 or 2x anyway, even on my brand new computers, but a lot of that is because I can be doing other things while the burn occurs.

#10 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 - 02:23 68kMLA

I am pretty sure I have burned at 6x on my IIfx using the built in SCSI.

#11 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 - 07:42 68kMLA

My point is simply that knowing bus speed is not sufficient to deduce possible burn speeds. It only sets an upper bound. Generalizing from the exceptional case of the IIfx can't be relied upon to provide good guidance for other members of the Mac II family.

#12 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 - 07:49 68kMLA

A CDR costs less then a buck, won't kill you to try it out I guess. What machine did you use that could not do more then 2X? I have IIcx, IIci, IIsi to experiment with.

#13 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 - 19:50 68kMLA

I recall having tried pretty much all of those at one time or another. I had an overclocked IIsi set up for a long time burning audio CDs. Going faster than 2x led to coaster creation. If you've got the time and inclination, I'd love to hear what you discover. And if you have a CDRW disc hanging around, you can keep some coasters out of the landfill...

I've also burned CDs with an SE/30. I no longer remember if I could even burn faster than 1x, but I'm certain that faster than 2x was a no-go.

My PB540c also can't handle burning beyond 2x. Apparently, that's entirely to be expected:

http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/seagate/536/burningcds.html

There's also a nice discussion of SCSI Manager 4.3 (and how it differs from what went before) at

http://www.overnet.de/hhp/mte/manual/scsi_on_mac3.html

That author points out that the IIfx is indeed a special case (because of its support of SCSI DMA), which is why you were able to burn at 6x (*most* impressive!).