Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!zds-ux!gerry
From: gerry@zds-ux.UUCP (Gerry Gleason)
Newsgroups: comp.ivideodisc
Subject: Re: CD ROMS and Audio Cd Players
Message-ID: <57@zds-ux.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 89 21:57:33 GMT
References: <806@prles2.UUCP> <43000005@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
Reply-To: gerry@zds-ux.UUCP (Gerry Gleason)
Organization: Zenith Data Systems
Lines: 39

In article <43000005@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu> wheeler@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>For what its worth, I have a Apple CD ROM drive that plays CD audio while I
>work :-}.  I know there are CD ROM drives that also play CD audio in the IBM
>world (such as Hitachi).  There are two formats: 1) High Sierra (access by
>DOS only) and 2) 9660 (available to both DOS and Macintosh).  Of course, I
>don't know what the hell those two terms mean (hey I'm not paid to know 
>anything, just to act like I do).

This is another example of don't post if you don't know.  As someone else
noted, ISO 9660 is a later version of High Sierra.  I know that the ISO
9660 specification contains several levels that can be implemented, but
the highest levels may not exist yet in practice.  I originally thought
High Sierra was just another name for what ISO 9660 specifies, but it is
possible that it refers specifically to the first implementation level.

As to drives, I'm not aware of anyone using an interface other than SCSI
for CD-ROM drives, so we are talking about the same drives for both
Apple and PC compatibles.  I have experience with Sony, and Denon drives
that do have audio output, and LMSI drives that do not.  Even the Denon
internal half height drive has a miniature headphone jack and a volume
control on the front (I think they are unique with the volume control).

Also, a note on OS compatibility, ISO 9660 file system access is available
on UNIX also (your mileage may vary, we will have a released product for
386/ix and SCO soon, and I don't know about currently available products
for 386's or other architectures under UNIX).  The problem is that this
is not far enough for compatibility.  For example, we have been using
"Computer Library" CD-ROMs among others to test our file system.  Under
UNIX, you can access the files on the CD-ROM, but you can't run their
software that allows you to do searches, etc.  (Actually I haven't tried
to use it under Vpix, but I doubt it works, and it definitely wouldn't
work on a Mac.)  Furthermore, the license agreement is *very* restrictive
and probably doesn't even allow using another implementation of the
searchware with it (probably not because I haven't read it, but because
it doesn't explicitely forbid it, but parts of it seem like it could
and I'm not a legal expert).

Gerry Gleason