ASUS E960 User Manual

Welcome!

Thank you for buying the ASUS CRW-3212A Drive!

To ensure proper installation and use of this device, read the instructions and other important information contained in this manual.

Product Introduction

Specifications

The CRW-3212A has the following specifications.

• Speeds 32X, 24X, 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X writes

12X, 10X, 8X, 4X, 2X rewrites 16X~40X reads

• Interface ATAPI specification

• Technology support FlextraSpeed™ Technology

FlextraLink™ Technology Double Dynamic Suspension System II (DDSS II) Zone CLV Recording Technology

• Data buffer size 2MB

• Application discs 12cm or 8cm diameter, 1.2mm thick

CD-Audio, CD-ROM, CD-ROM/XA, CD-I, Mixed Mode CD-ROM, Photo CD, CD-Extra, Video CD, CD-Text, DVCD, CD-G, Karaoke CD, I-trax, Bootable CD

• Recording form Orange Book Part 2, 3

Disc-at-once, Track-at-once Session-at-once, Packet write, Overburn, DAO-RAW mode

• OS compatibility MS-Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP/NT

SCO Unix, Linux, Netware, OS/2 Warp

• Power supply DC 5 x (1 +/- 5%)V

DC 12 x (1 +/- 10%)V

• Dimensions 41.5 (h) x 149.0 (w) x 197.5 (d) mm

• Mass 997 g

NOTE:

Refer to the section “Technical Information” on page 26 for

detailed specifications.

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

Features

The ASUS CRW-3212A is a CD-RW drive with 32X-write, 12X-rewrite, and 40X-read capabilities. The drive complies with the AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) specification and comes equipped with the latest innovative technologies in CD recording.

Highlighting the major characteristic of ASUS CD-RW drives, the CRW-3212A strategically identifies the media quality at the beginning of the recording so that it can apply the appropriate writing speeds and ensure effective data storage. Thanks to the FlextraSpeed™ and FlextraLink™ technologies developed by ASUS.

FlextraSpeed™ increases accuracy and reliability when rewriting across a broad base of certified media, while FlextraLink™ prevents buffer underrrun problems to eliminate the creation of unusable discs. The following sub-sections describe these technologies in detail.

FlextraSpeed™ Technology

The ASUS FlextraSpeed™ technology provides the optimum solution to ensure quality recording when using discs that require flexible speeds. The CRW-3212A drive employs this technology that allows automatic recording speed adjustment based on the recording media.

In addition to the fact that there are low and high quality recording media, various other factors such as dye layer, temperature, humidity, dust, fingerprints, etc., affect the recording characteristics of CD-R and CD-RW discs. Due to these factors, some discs may not be able to stand the highspeed capabilities of the latest CD-RW drives. The FlextraSpeed™ technology solves this problem by automatic assessment of the disc quality and recording capability. The recording speed is based on these factors. If you use a high quality recording disc, you can maximize the recording capability of the drive and get the best quality output. If you use a low quality disc, the drive speed adjusts to the level that is most appropriate for the disc, still optimizing the disc recording capability.

The FlextraSpeed™ technology also helps maintain the CD-RW drive because of the controlled motor rotation speeds and reduced noise caused by spindle air, thus prolonging the drive motor’s life and ensuring high-quality recording.

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

FlextraLink™ Technology

The ASUS FlextraLink™ technology provides a seamless combination of flexibility and ultra-reliable recording quality.

FlextraLink™ incorporates a flexible strategy that prevents buffer underrun problems caused by an empty data buffer. This CD-RW drive technology allows continuous monitoring of the data buffer status during the write process. Once the available data drops to approximately 1% of the total buffer capacity, the drive stops recording and marks the last write position. When new data is received from the host, it is loaded to the data buffer, and the laser is repositioned to link the new data with the data already written. FlextraLink™ uses minimal system resources so that your PC remains fully operational throughout the writing process, and available for other applications.

The diagram below shows the advantage of the FlextraLink™ recording technology.

FlextraLink™ Technology Solution

Data

Data transfer

Conventional Recording

Data

Buffer

Write Data

Memory

Write Data

slows down

Buffer Memory

Write process continues

Data

Data transfer slows down

Buffer Memory

Write process stops; waits until there is enough data for writing

Recording with FlextraLink™ Technology

Write Data

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

Data

Buffer Memory Empty

Data

Write Data

Data transfer slower than write process

Bad disc results

Data transfer continues and fills buffer with sufficient data for writing

Buffer Memory

Write process continues until writing is complete

Double Dynamic Suspension System (DDSS II)

The DDSS II is an enhanced follow up to the DDSS anti-vibration system developed by ASUS. The DDSS CD-ROM technology is designed to reduce the vibration generated from spindle rotation of over 8900 rpm of 40X CD-ROM drives. The DDSS II improves this feature by handling up to over 10,000 rpm of the new 50X drives. In addition, the DDSS II stabilizes the pick-up head of the drive in both horizontal and vertical directions, making tracking and focusing even more precise.

Like the DDSS, the DDSS II vibration absoption structure contains a “dynamic mass” that can absorb the vibration caused by high revolution of spindle motor. However, the DDSS II moves the dynamic mass to be suspended to the chassis, thus providing more stability and accuracy when accessing data from the disc.

The following diagram illustrates the DDSS/DDSS II design structure.

DDSS / DDSS II Design Structure

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

Zone CLV Recording Technology

The Zone Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) recording method allows you to achieve a higher recording speed by using a different speed for each of the four zones partitioned from the inner to the outer area in a disc.

When using the Zone CLV, the recording in Zone 1 is 16X speed, then increases to 20X speed in Zone 2, after t1 time. In Zone 3, the recording reaches 24X speed, after t2 time. The recording speed reaches the maximum 32X in Zone 4, after t3.

Zone CLV Recording Method

Speed

32x

24x

20x

16x

Zone1

Zone2

t1 t2

Zone3

Zone4

Time

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

Front Panel

Recordable

Rewritable

High Speed

3 54

32x12x40x

7 8

1. Headphone jack

This jack allows you to connect a headphone with a stereo mini-plug.

2. Headphone volume dial

This volume dial allows you to control the volume of the headphone connected to the drive. Turning the dial to the left decreases the volume, turning to the right increases volume.

3. Disc tray

This tray holds the disc.

4. WRITE indicator (Red LED)

This LED flashes while data is being written on the disc.

5. READ indicator (Green LED)

This LED turns ON when you place a disc on the drive tray, and stays ON until you remove the disc. The LED flashes while data is being read from the disc.

6. Emergency eject pinhole

In cases when you cannot eject a disc from the drive using the eject button due to power failure or software problems, insert a pin or a paper clip into this hole to manually eject the tray and the disc.

7. PLAY/SKIP button

This button has two functions. If the drive is idle, pressing this button will start playing an audio disc (if one is currenly loaded in the drive) from the first track. While in the PLAY mode, pressing this button lets you skip to the next track on the disc.

8. STOP/EJECT button

This button has two functions. Pressing this button at any time ejects the disc tray so you can place or remove a disc. While in PLAY mode, pressing this button stops playing the disc loaded in the drive.

ASUS CRW-3212A User’s Manual

+ 12 hidden pages