PlexTools®
Installation and Operation Manual
15/04/2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 System Requirements. 1
2 Installation. 2
3 How to … 3
3.1 ... launch the software. 3
3.2 ... select an adapter and a drive. 4
4 PlexTools® functions. 5
4.1 General information. 5
4.2 Changing drive settings. 8
4.3 Drive Information. 11
4.4 Retrieving CD/DVD Information. 16
4.5 Using Multimedia Player. 18
4.6 Audio CD P l ayer: 21
4.7 Extracting audio tracks. 22
4.8 Changing advanced settings for Digital Audio Extraction. 25
4.9 AudioCD Maker. 30
4.10 CD-ROM Maker 35
4.11 Copying a disk. 41
4.12 Changing advanced options for CD Copy. 43
4.13 Erasing a CD-RW / DVD RW disc. 46
4.14 Customising general settings. 47
4.15 Customising freedb settings. 49
5 Test Functions. 52
5.1 CD Test. 52
5.2 Read Transfer Rate Test: 53
5.3 Write Transfer Rate Tes t. 55
6 Extra Features. 57
6.1 Options. 57
6.2 Help. 58
7 Glossary. 59
8 Error Messages. 61
9 Tips & Tricks. 64
10 Contacting Plextor Technical Support. 66
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual i
PlexTools® software allows you to control the most important functions of your Plextor CD-ROM drive(s) or CD-Recorder(s) with an easy-to-use interface.
This software provides powerful functions for your Plextor drive(s), running under the
Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT or Windows XP Operating System.
It permits drive identification and control, the display of Compact Disc information,
Digital Audio Extraction, CD copying, and more…
Additional features include the retrieval of the SCSI / ATAPI system information and
logging of Digital Audio Extraction or CD writing activities.
This manual will guide you through the setup and operation of the software, and will
give a brief description of its functions.
Updates and translations are available on Plextor’s website (http://www.plextor.com
).
Disclaimer:
Plextor S.A./N.V. reserves the right to revise this manual and to make changes in its
contents withou t the oblig ation to no tify any p erso n or or ganisa tion of such revisi on or
change.
This utility is freely available for all Plextor customers to be used under the conditions
of the End-User License Agreement.
The PlexTools user is encourag ed to respect appl icable copyright laws and not to use
this software f or any illegal acti ons or purposes.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual ii
Credits:
Microsoft Windows is a trademark of Micro soft Corporation.
Acrobat Reader is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
MPEG Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed from
Fraunhofer IIS and T homson Multimedia.
Monkey’s Audio is Copyrighted by Matthew T. Ashland.
(http://www.monkeysaudio.com)
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual iii
1 System Requirements.
PlexTools® software runs independently and requires that your system is properly
setup and fully functioning.
System requirements:
IBM compatible Personal Computer, preferably Pentium II or higher.
Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT or
Windows XP Operating System installed.
Operational SCSI controller (installed with all necessary drivers) when Plextor SCSI
devices are installed, or operational IDE interface when a Plextor ATAPI device is
used.
Installed ASPI layer (with updated 32-bit device drivers for Windows) when Plextor
devices are installed.
Correctly installe d and configured Plextor CD-ROM drive or CD-Recorder.
For more information on the SCSI Controller device driver or the ASPI layer, please
refer to the manufacturer of the SCSI controller.
For more information on the IDE drivers, please refer to the manufacturer of the IDE
chipset or mainboard.
For information on the installation and configuration of the Plextor drives, please refer
to the Operation Manual for your drive.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 1
2 Installation.
The latest version of PlexTools® is shipped on CD-ROM.
Updates will be made available on the Plextor Website ( http://www.plextor.com )
To install PlexTools®, insert the CD-ROM in your drive.
If the AutoRun feature of your system is enab led, the insta llation procedure will launch
automatically. Please follow the instructions shown on the startup menu.
In the other c ases, start the installation by executing the setup program on the disc .
Select 'Start/Run' and type 'D:\setup.exe' where <D> stands for your CD-ROM drive
letter or start the 'Windows Explorer', select your CD-ROM and double-click on the file
'setup.exe'.
In order to be able to read the PlexTools® manual you need to install the Adobe Acrobat Reader . Sele ct one of the lang uages and both A crobat Reader a nd the PlexTools®
manual will be installed accordingly.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 2
3 How to …
This section shows you how to execute the most frequently used functio ns .
3.1 ... launch the software.
PlexTools® can be started by selecting it in the 'Start/Programs/Plextor' menu , or by
double clicking the System Tray icon (to change startup settings, see 4.14 Customis-
ing general settings.)
The application will start and will scan all your SCSI and ATAPI devices to retrieve
information about connected devices from them.
After a short time, the retrieved information will be displayed.
The program will show three windows: the upper left window will show the SCSI and
ATAPI hardware, the lower left window will show the available functions, and the right
hand window will show function-dependant information.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 3
3.2 ... select an adapter and a drive.
Selecting an ada pter and a dr ive i s don e in the same way as in th e Window s Expl orer
program. Just click on the desired adapter in the hardware window, and you will see
General Information ab out this a dapter a ppear in th e righ t hand wind ow (as shown o n
the previous page).
When you click on a device (using the left mouse button), you will see the general
information about that drive in the right window and the other options in the lower left
window.
Different icons will indicate hard disk drives, empty CD-ROM drives and any CD-ROM
drives with discs inserted. The currently selected device will be highlighted.
Right clicking (right mouse button) on a d evice will allow options such as: refresh,
refresh all, eject, load, retrieve CD from freedb and status.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 4
4 PlexTool s® functions.
4.1 General information.
To find more information about a Plextor drive, select the drive and choose the General Information option.
Some of the information found in the General Information window:
For SCSI drives only:
• Jumper Settings: gives a visual indication of the settings on the selected drive
• SCSI ID, Termination & Parity: shows the SCSI ID, th e status of termination and
the parity for the selected drive.
• Serial Number: shows the drive’s serial number.
• Buffer Capacity: indicates the drive’s buffer memory capacity.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 5
For ATAPI drives only:
• Jumper Settings: gives a visual indication of the settings on the selected drive
• IDE Setup: shows if the drive is connected as master or slave on the IDE bus
• Serial Number: shows the drive’s serial number.
• Buffer Capacity: indicates the drive’s buffer memory capacity.
Note: CD-ROM drives and peripherals from other manufacturers will also be shown in
the hardware li st if they are supported and fun ctional, but only for Plextor dr ives all
information will be shown.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 6
For Adapters:
• Host Adapter Type: shows the type of the selected adapter.
• ASPI Manager: shows the installed ASPI manager.
• Adapter number: shows the number of the selected adapter.
• SCSI ID: shows the adapter’s SCSI ID.
• Max Ta rgets: shows the maximum numb er of devices that can be connect ed to this
adapter.
• Port Driver: shows the name of the driver file.
• Provider: shows the provider of the driver file.
• Description: shows more information regarding the driver file.
• Location: shows the location where the driver file is stored.
• Version: shows the version of the driver file.
• Date: shows the driver file date.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 7
4.2 Changing drive sett ings.
To change a drive's reading speed, spindown time or audio output settings, click on
the drive settings command and then select and change the desired value.
To save these settings, select 'Options' in the toolbar, select 'Preferences' and check
the 'Save settings on exit' checkbox in the 'General' tab.
• Basic:
•
• CD Read Speed Setting: Changes the reading speed to the selected value.
• DVD Read Speed Setting: Changes the reading speed to the selected value.
(available speed settings depend on the inserted DVD type)
• Spindown Time: Changes the spindown time of the drive.
• Audio Output Settings: adjusts the audio output volume of the drive.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 8
• Advanced:
• Auto Insert Notification: enables/disables Auto insert notification for th e current
drive.
• Enable Buffer under run proof: enables/disables the use of Buffer under run
proof. (see s ection 8 –Tips & Tricks for more information)
• Disable PoweRec: With PoweRec enabled (default) the Plextor drive will write
discs at the optimised speed determined by PoweRec. With PoweRec disabled
the Plextor drive will write discs at the speed setting selected by the user.
ARNING: IF THE DISC IS WRITTEN FASTER THAN IS RECOMMENDED BY POWEREC,
W
YOU MAY EXPERIENCE WRITE ERRORS, OR THE RESULTING CD MAY HAVE PLAYBACK
DIFFICULTIES IN SOME CD DRIVES.
• Enable DMA: enables/disables the drive’s DMA se tting in the registry.
• Enable Single Session: when enabled, only the first session on a CD will be
shown. (this option must be enabled before inserting a CD).
• Hide CD-R media: this function prevents/permits an application from recognising
a CD-R as such.
• Enable SpeedRead: This option allows you to 'boost' the read speed for certain
drives and disc's.
WARNING: SINCE ENABLING THIS OPTION CAN LEAD TO EXCESSIVE VIBRATION, NOISE
AND READ ERRORS, AND EVEN DAMAGE TO THE DRIVE AND DISC, PLEASE GIVE PREF-
ERENCE TO THE DEFAULT SETTING.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 9
• VariRec:
This function allows you to change the lase r power when writing CD-DA on CD-R
at 4X. (TAO or DAO)
The default setting reflects an optimised laser power with lowest jitter. Changing
this setting will result in a change of sound or sound quality and an increase of
playability or compatibility with existing players.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 10
4.3 Drive Information.
This function allows you to see more information about your Plextor drive.
General:
The drive’s read and write capabilities ar e shown here.
• Interface: shows the interface type of the selected Plextor drive.
• Access Time: shows the average access time for your Plextor drive.
• Current Firmware: shows the current firmware of the selected Plextor drive.
• Latest Firmware: shows the latest firmware available for your drive at the time the
PlexTools version was released.
• Audio read offset: The Audio read offset is shown here.
• Audio write offset: The Audio write offset is shown here.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 11
CD Read:
Shows all possible read speeds for each type of CD.
• Note: shows additional information regarding these features.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 12
CD Write:
Shows all possib l e write speeds for each type of CD.
• Note: shows additional information regarding these features.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 13
DVD Read:
Shows all possible read speeds for each type of DVD.
• Note: shows additional information regarding these features.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 14
DVD Write:
Shows all possib l e write speeds for each type of DVD.
Note: shows additional information regarding these features.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 15
4.4 Retrieving CD/DVD Information.
CD/DVD Info shows more information about the inserted disc.
For CD’s this information comprises:
• Type, Label: indicates the CD type and label.
• Capacity: shows the capacity of the disc in sectors, MSF (Minutes, Seconds,
Frames) and MB's (Megabytes).
• Tracks/Sessions: indicates the number of tracks/sessions.
• CD-R(W) Manufacturer: prints the name of the CD-R(W) manufacturer.
• LBA/MSF: Changes between indication in logical blocks (LBA) or minutes, seconds, frames (MSF).
• CD TEXT : shows th e CD TEXT inf ormation on th e disc (if you r drive is capab le of
reading it).
A right-click on the CD Info window opens the option to print or save the disc information.
The standard info rmation prints a brief content of the disc. The advance d information
prints a detailed description of the contents of the disc.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 16
For DVD’s this information comprises:
• Type, Label: indicates the DVD type and label.
• Capacity: shows the capacity of the disc in sectors and MB's (Megabytes).
• Copyright protection: shows the copyright protection being used on the DVD.
• Track Path: possibilities are OTP and PTP (for more info see 6. Glossary)
• Layer(s): shows the number of layers.
• Disc Region: shows the region code.
PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual 17
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