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Updated 11 Jan 98
Created 10 Nov 97
This document is in a question-and-answer format. It may not be an easy read but you should, by looking for the question(s) that most closely relate to your own case, be able to find the information you need.
The questions are divided into three sections; those relating specifically to the use of the CD Extra format, other possible problems with the disc and, finally, a set of more general issues.
The December 97 disc (Messiah Part 1) worked but my PC only sees audio tracks on the January 98 (Messiah parts 2 & 3) and February 98 (Modern Classics) discs
Some readers have had problems with the January 98 CD (Messiah Parts 2 & 3) and February 98 CD (Modern Classics). Although their December disc (Messiah Part 1) worked properly, their PC sees the newer discs as audio only or won't recognise them at all.
We believe that this problem relates to the length of the CD. The music on both Messiah Parts 2 & 3 and Modern Classics exceeds the traditional maximum 74 minutes play-time available on a CD. Recently, CD pressing plants have been able to extend CDs to 77 or 80 minutes and, rather than miss off the CD Extra content, we have used this 'overtime' space on these two discs. The discs work on a majority of PCs but apparently some machines fail to find the second session on the disc, making it look as if the disc is audio only. This may be a technical limitation on some systems or simply a more hit-and-miss problem due to poor adjustment or accuracy on a particular drive near the limits of a disc.
Ironically, from reports we have had, it seems that it's the newer 24-speed CD-ROM drives that are more likely to have problems than 2,4 and 8 speed drives. Not all 24-speed drives fail to read the discs but most reports of problems have come from 24-speed owners.
There is, unfortunately, no easy solution to this problem if you are affected.
You may find that your PC will read the disc after several attempts. There may be some benefit in cleaning the disc and/or the drive using a product designed for the purpose... but it's unlikely to make much of a difference on a recently purchased system.
We are naturally keen to avoid disappointing readers and would stress that these two discs are exceptional in the length of music they contain. We are also investigating other ways of providing the software part of the CD Extra separately (perhaps via the Internet or on a separate disc) so that readers with this problem (or whose PCs can't use CD Extra at all) can use it.
The disc appears as an audio-only disc
This usually suggests that your PC isn't CD Extra compatible; it can see the first session on the CD (the audio tracks) but not the second session with the computer data in it. Your PC may start playing the music when you insert the disc or you may get errors when you try to run SETUP or START. Looking at the disc with the DOS DIR command or a program such as the Windows File Manager will give a disk not ready error or similar or show an empty disc.
The problem may lie with your CD-ROM drive or with its driver software; more information is given below.
The disc won't read at all in the CD-ROM drive
A CD Extra disc won't load or read at all in some CD-ROM drives. The drive may report that it is not ready or that the disc is not properly inserted or it may not 'settle down' after you insert the disc; it will continue to spin the disc and you may hear a chattering noise as it repeatedly tries to make sense of the disc. On many PCs, the CD drive light goes out or turns green when a disc has been recognised; if your PC won't read the CD Extra, the light may flash or remain red or orange.
Failures like these suggest your PC isn't CD Extra compatible. The problem may be the CD-ROM drive or its driver software. More information is given below.
You see the message 'Could not play CD audio. There is a problem with your media device'
when the CD Player tries to play the music
This again suggests that the PC isn't properly configured for CD Extra and that a device driver problem is preventing proper operation of the disc. A device driver update should fix the problem.
Everything seems to work but the wrong music is played
A few PCs are evidently very close to operating with CD Extra, seeing and running the multimedia program and playing the CD audio... but the wrong track is played or only one particular track will play or the CD Player goes to the wrong time in the music when you click on a time-point. We are investigating this problem further but believe it relates a faulty CD-ROM device driver intended to operate with CD Extra but possibly not fully tested. A driver update should fix the problem.
Note that, once installed, the BBC Music Magazine software will play whatever CD is in your CD-ROM drive. If everything works but it's not Handel, you should insert the correct disc!
What can I do if my PC isn't CD Extra compatible?
The best approach depends on where the problem lies. If it seems that an updated device driver may fix the problem, then you might try the following sources...
Contacting manufacturers, even those with customer support lines, can be a frustrating process. Some suppliers may not be well informed about CD Extra issues. If possible, you may wish to check support for your PC or CD-ROM drive first on the World Wide Web or on on-line services such as CompuServe or CIX. Sometimes the relevant drivers are available for free downloading.
If the reason that you can't play the CD Extra disc is that your CD-ROM drive is not multi-session, the practical suggestion is to replace your drive with a new one. You may get the benefit of better performance with CD-ROM software by doing this and the cost of new CD-ROM drives is now relatively low.
Some CD-ROM drives can be upgraded to CD Extra operation by changing their firmware - software on ROM chips within the drive - but this can be difficult to arrange and cost just as much overall as a new drive. Updating your drive's firmware is probably only an option if it is clearly and confidently offered to you as a solution by a relevant supplier as a known way of providing CD Extra compatibility on your PC.
How can I tell the make and model of my CD-ROM drive?
This is not always straightforward. Most computer manufacturers buy in CD-ROM drives and many add-on and upgrade kits are based on a drive actually manufactured by another firm. For example, it may say 'Power User' on your external SCSI CD-ROM but the drive unit inside may be made by Toshiba. Similarly, your AST home computer may have a CD-ROM drive made by Sony.
A good tip is to look for names when your PC starts up or as driversoftware loads. A CD-ROM driver called TOSH341.SYS suggests that your drive is made by Toshiba. SCSI CD-ROM drives are helpful here as they will usually identify themselves by make and model as your PC starts or if you use a SCSI diagnostic utility on your PC. Ultimately, you may need to open the PC or CD-ROM drive case to look for the manufacturer's label on the drive itself; please get someone suitably qualified to do this if you are not confident to do it yourself.
How can I tell if my CD-ROM drive is multi-session?
Most multi-session CD-ROM drives are marked or supplied as such. A drive marked 'Photo CD compatible' or similar is also multi-session. In general, the majority of double-speed or faster drives are multi-session.
Are manufacturers or suppliers obliged to fix my PC for CD Extra?
Probably not. CD Extra is newer than many PCs and is still, for many users and manufacturers, an obscure standard.
However, as Windows 95 is meant to support CD Extra there is a good argument that any PC sold as a Windows 95 multimedia system ought to be CD Extra compatible. Most are but there can be difficulties. In particular, the first Windows 95 PCs from late 1995/early 1996 were often existing designs or stock just with the new Windows software installed. The manufacturer may not have considered, tested or even known about the CD Extra format.
Everything seems to work but I don't hear any music
Check first that your speakers are on, turned up and working with other programs.
If your soundcard includes a mixer or volume control program, check that both the overall volume and the input volume for CD are both turned up; some mixer programs let you turn down or mute CD audio entirely and it just needs switching back on. Note that your CD audio may appear to the sound card as CD audio or as line-in or aux-in, depending on how it's wired up.
Try playing the CD as an ordinary audio CD using your soundcard's CD playing software or another CD player program... if it displays simulated LEDs showing music being played but you hear nothing, it's output connections or volume at fault.
If Windows and other programs can make beeps or play sounds through your speakers but you still can't hear CD audio, your CD-ROM drive's audio output may not be connected to the soundcard. Some CD-ROM drives have a headphone socket which may let you verify this. External CD-ROM drives often have HiFi style jack plugs (usually red and white) on the back; these should be connected via an appropriate lead to the CD-ROM or Line-In socket on the soundcard. A similar connection is made with internally-mounted CD-ROM drives; there is usually a cable from the sound output on the CD-ROM drive to a connector on the soundcard. Please find someone suitable to help if you're not confident to open your PC and check this yourself.
The software says that another program is using the CD audio device
The Music Magazine software will not operate if another program is also playing music from the CD or another program is controlling the CD-ROM drive. Close any other CD Player programs on your PC and then try again. Some PCs have an audio player open all the time, perhaps as an icon, and this should be closed.Programs that run as icons on the Start menu bar can usually be closed by right-clicking on them to display their control menu.
Some PCs, particularly Windows 95 ones, will autostart a CD Player when you put an audio disc in the CD-ROM drive. This should not normally happen with a CD Extra disc as the CD Extra should be recognised first as a CD-ROM.
The software warns that the CD Audio MCI driver is not installed
This driver program helps programs like the BBC Music disc to play and control audio CDs and is normally installed on multimedia Windows PCs. It may not have been installed on Windows 3.x PCs, particularly if Windows was first installed before the CD-ROM drive or soundcard were added or it may have been removed for some reason. Windows 3.x users can install the driver by starting the Control Panel (usually in the Main program group), choosing drivers and then Add and then selecting the [MCI] CD Audio driver (which is often near the bottom of the list of drivers). You may need your original Windows installation disks so that the driver file can be copied onto your PC.
You see a message saying the CD isn't ready when you try to play the music
Check that the right CD is in the drive and that it's in properly. Sometimes, discs and caddies don't align correctly when inserted so taking the disc out and putting it back in is all that is required.
If you have two or more CD-ROM drives on your PC (or a CD-ROM and a CD recorder), Windows may be looking in the wrong place for the audio disc. Try inserting a CD (any CD!) in both drives so that there is no error when Windows looks. If appropriate, move the CD Extra disc to the other drive. Under Windows 95, you can set which drive to use for audio via the Control Panel. CD Audio with multiple CD drives is not handled well under older versions of Windows and you find it easiest to find out and stick to whichever drive Windows wants to use for audio (usually the first in your system).
The multimedia guide appears small in the middle of the screen
Like many multimedia programs, this disc is based on a series of fixed-size pages or screens.These display full-screen on a PC set to show 640x480 pixels in Windows and with a margin onPCs with the common setting of 800x600. The screens may look small on a PC set to 1024x768or larger and you may prefer to adjust your display settings to a lower resolution before runningthe software. Higher resolutions are less of a problem on larger monitors; a 1024x768 setting may make the program look too small on a 14" screen but be no trouble on a 17" monitor.
You can change the size of your Windows display with the Windows SETUP program (Windows 3.x) or in the Windows 95 Control Panel Display options. Some PCs, particularly those with Windows 95, have utilities that will quickly change the display size. We'd recommend a setting of 640x480 or 800x600.
The software says I need a 256 colour display or better
Like many multimedia CDs, this disc uses 256 colour graphics to produce a quality-look to imagesand text. Your PC must be set to display 256 colours, or more, in Windows before it will run.We've taken the decision not to include 16 colour graphics because of the limited quality possibleand because there should only be a small number of people to whom it would be essential or useful.
Most Windows PCs can be set to at least a 256 colour display. In Windows 3.x, run the WindowsSETUP program and look for an appropriate display driver. In Windows 95, check the Displaysection of the Control Panel (on the Settings option of the Start menu). You may need youroriginal Windows disks or a video card driver disk if a suitable display driver has not previouslybeen installed on your PC. 256 colour software is now commonplace and we suggest you leaveyour PC setup for it unless it is a particularly slow model.
I don't (or can't) use a mouse
The BBC Music Magazine CD Extra can be used from the keyboard if appropriate although it's not as easy. Some other CD Extra titles can't be used wholly or even at all without a mouse.
If you want to use the BBC disc from the keyboard, press the tab key to step round the selectable areas on each screen (Shift and Tab steps backwards); you can also move the cursor with the arrow keys. Pressing Spacebar or Return chooses the item under the cursor.
Will the disc work on an Apple Macintosh?
The BBC Music Magazine CD Extras will not normally run on an Apple Macintosh computer. At present, the software is for PC only.
An up-to-date Macintosh will recognise the disc, show it with a special CD Extra icon, play the audio tracks and show the computer files on it in the Macintosh Finder. However, the software itself is written for Windows PCs and won't run. The only way you can use the software on a Macintosh is if your Macintosh has emulation software or hardware installed which allows it to run Windows programs.
More generally, CD Extra discs can and often do work on both PCs and Macintoshes so you may find that other CD Extra titles are available for your Macintosh. Older Macintoshes may need a system update or drive update to see the discs properly.
BBC Music Magazine is, of course, aware that some of its readers have Macintoshes and is considering producing a dual PC/Macintosh version of the software on future CD Extra discs.
Is the quality as good as on a HiFi?
Arguably not... the CD Extra disc plays the real CD audio on the disc so the quality is the same initially. However, your soundcard's amplifier and speakers are unlikely to be as good as even a budget HiFi. Even if you connect your CD-ROM drive to a HiFi setup, the CD drive itself is not necessarily as good as the one in your HiFi.
Do CD Extra discs look different?
Not especially. Those that conform completely to the CD Extra standard may have a CD Extra logo rather than the usual Compact Disc logo printed on them. There are discs that use the same underlying format but don't have all the CD Extra information on them and there are those, like the BBC Music Magazine December 97 disc, that are CD Extra format but do not include the logo.
You can often see the CD Extra format by turning the disc over and tipping it to the light. On a typical CD Extra, you should be able to see a change in the silver colour that makes a distinct ring somewhere towards the outer edge of the disc.
What do I do to use the disc in a HiFi?
Nothing special! The whole point of a CD Extra is that it looks just like an audio CD to a normal CD player. If your disc won't play properly, it's probably defective... there's usually one or two defective discs in any large pressing run like that for BBC Music Magazine.
There are some new CD Extra-aware HiFi players coming onto the market that will recognise a CD Extra disc and may display track names and images relating to the disc. However, these are not easily available at present.
©Copyright 1997 Strange Software Limited. All rights reserved.