CHKCDROM Version 0.A1 - This is the first public release of CHKCDROM
(c) Computall Services 1996
Homepage:  http://web.ncf.ca/aa571

CHKCDROM - What is it?
---------------------
CHKCDROM is a DOS command line utility that runs in a DOS window
under Win95 and attempts to check for the bug in the Oak Technologies
OTI911 chipset.  We am not aware of any other programs like this,
and in fact we are not aware of anyone else identifying the bug.

What is this bug?
-----------------
It appears that there is a bug in the OTI chipset that causes the
data output by the drive to be randomly set to zeros.  This only
appears to happen when reading digital audio. Enclosed in this zip 
file is a JPEG file called badaudio.jpg showing an example of what 
goes wrong.

What can I do if my drive has the bug?
----------------------------------------
First of all, there is no way to fix the drive.  The only option is
to use a new version of CDDA32 which has a number of new pieces
of code that work to try and patch the screwed up data.  

As well, it might make you feel better if you contact your cdrom
manufacturer and vent off a little steam.

Where can I get the most recent version?
----------------------------------------
You can find pointers to the most recent versions of all our software
on our homepage:
http://web.ncf.ca/aa571

Acknowledgements
----------------
There certainly is no thank you to Oak Technologies.  We have been
in touch with them, and have supplied them with this program, but
they now do not return phone calls or email messages.  We can only
assume that we have found something they would rather noone know
about.

What drives are supported by this program?
------------------------------------------
This program is designed to test only ATAPI drives under Win95.
As far as we know the chipset bug does not appear in any SCSI drives.

How do I use this program?
--------------------------
All you have to do is to run the .EXE program in a DOS window
under Win95.  It will automatically go out and find all the 
CDROM drives and test all the ATAPI ones.

The following is an example of what is displayed if the program
thinks it has found a 'bad' drive.
------------------------------------------------------------------
CHKCDROM (Alpha Ver. 0.A1, Build 0x0001)
ATAPI CD-ROM Chipset Bug Identification Program
(C) Copyright 1997, Computall Services
Win32 Windows Version 4.00, Build 950
D:\WIN95\SYSTEM\WNASPI32.DLL, Version: 4.00c2 (970)
Number of CDROM/CDR drives found: 1

Drive #: 1, Type: SCSI, HA:ID:LUN 0:2:0
Number of tracks: 0x0b, Vendor: GOLDSTAR, Product: CD-ROM 8160

This drive likely has the Chipset Bug!
Mismatch errors: Correctable: 14, Uncorrectable: 4

CHKCDROM completed successfully
------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is an example of what is displayed if the program
thinks it has found a 'good' drive.


CHKCDROM (Alpha Ver. 0.A1, Build 0x0001)
ATAPI CD-ROM Chipset Bug Identification Program
(C) Copyright 1997, Computall Services
Win32 Windows Version 4.00, Build 950
C:\WIN95\SYSTEM\WNASPI32.DLL, Version: 2, 0, 0, 0
Number of CDROM/CDR drives found: 1

Drive #: 1, Type: ATAPI, HA:ID:LUN 0:0:0
Number of tracks: 0x0d, Vendor: TOSHIBA , Product: CD-ROM XM-5602B , Rev: 1156
Buffer Size: 256 KB, Drive Speed: 1411 KB/s, Capabilities: 71752903
This drive doesn't appear to have the Chipset Bug!

CHKCDROM completed successfully


Copying and Registration (does this mean it costs $$$?)
-------------------------------------------------------

We are allowing full freedom to copy this program.
It IS a fully functional version.
It is NOT Crippleware!
There is NOT a pro version available for an unreasonable sum of money.
There is no registration fee.
There will never be an another update.

The zip file may be freely redistributed, only as long as all the files are
kept together and unchanged in the archive and no additional files are 
placed in the archive.


How to get hold of us for help.
-------------------------------
Computall is no longer in business.  Do not bother sending messages to any 
of our old email addresses you may find on the internet. None of the addresses
still work and your message will likely be lost without you receiving a bounce 
message. We may occasionally check messages that are sent via the support 
web page: 
http://web.ncf.ca/aa571/support.htm



Things on out wish list
----------------------
- proper support for the program under NT
- a more accurate decision of bad or good
- more help from Oak on trying to verify the problem