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Autorun folder

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Bigdog
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Autorun folder

Post by Bigdog »

The new computer system is working very well except for one small problem. I have a Plextor DVD/CD drive to play other people's discs. The newer Sound Choice and Pop Hits/ Top Hits discs have an advertisement at the beginning of the discs. This autorun folder pops up and will not open the discs to let me select a track to play. If I click on it, the drive disappears and won't come back unless I restart the Sax & Dotty's program. And then the disc will still not open.

The million dollar question is...How do you override or have the program ignore the autorun folder?


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wiseguy
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Post by wiseguy »

Have you tried disabling autorun for CD drives? It's under "Change AutoPlay settings" in the control panel.
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letitrip
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Post by letitrip »

Two ways, you can follow wiseguy's suggestion and disable autoplay across the board. This would be the easiest solution assuming you don't need auto play for anything else. You can do it through control panel or by right-clicking on the drive in my computer and going to properties.

The easy method if you do not wish to completely disable autorun all the time is to hold down the shift key when you insert a CD and hold it down until the drive has finished loading the disk (i.e. reading the TOC after the disk is inserted).
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

This is not the problem because it has already been disabled.

The problem lies in the way the standard file selection component
reads the TOC (table of contents) i.e. the track listing after it loads the disc.
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letitrip
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Post by letitrip »

Two thoughts. SoundChoice has been playing with a couple different copy protection schemes. The first was MediaCloq and essentially consisted of a mal-formed TOC which made the disc uncopyable. My understanding is that they have since discontinued use of this tool as it made the disc unusable on a computer.

Second, and I believe this is what you're running into, SC started shipping CD's that were created as multi-session discs. However, they were not created properly. See a multi-session disc works in that as each session (following the first) is laid down on the disc, the TOC for that session includes the TOC info from the previous sessions. A drive that supports multi-session will only read the TOC from the last session and use that to access data in the other sessions. My understanding is that the SC discs are written in two sessions. The first being the actual track data and the second, the folder you're seeing. However, when the second session is written, the TOC only contains the information for that session. The end result is that any CD drive that supports multi-session (like the ones in our computers) cannot access the first session files however drives that don't support it (like your CD or CDG player) will read the first session's TOC and never see the goofy advert tracks.

There are a number of discussions out there but I have not been able to find a good solution that would allow you to directly play the disc without first ripping it or burning it using other software.
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

So do think it's hardware, software or both?
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

I had another problem with a custom disc made on black plastic. It won't play it. It can read it, but it won't play it. I even made a copy of the black disc onto a silver one and it still can not play it.

If this was a player (hardware) problem the silver disc should have played, right? Custom discs have those multi-session issues, don't they?
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DanG2006
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Post by DanG2006 »

letitrip wrote:Two thoughts. SoundChoice has been playing with a couple different copy protection schemes. The first was MediaCloq and essentially consisted of a mal-formed TOC which made the disc uncopyable. My understanding is that they have since discontinued use of this tool as it made the disc unusable on a computer.

Second, and I believe this is what you're running into, SC started shipping CD's that were created as multi-session discs. However, they were not created properly. See a multi-session disc works in that as each session (following the first) is laid down on the disc, the TOC for that session includes the TOC info from the previous sessions. A drive that supports multi-session will only read the TOC from the last session and use that to access data in the other sessions. My understanding is that the SC discs are written in two sessions. The first being the actual track data and the second, the folder you're seeing. However, when the second session is written, the TOC only contains the information for that session. The end result is that any CD drive that supports multi-session (like the ones in our computers) cannot access the first session files however drives that don't support it (like your CD or CDG player) will read the first session's TOC and never see the goofy advert tracks.

There are a number of discussions out there but I have not been able to find a good solution that would allow you to directly play the disc without first ripping it or burning it using other software.
Sound Choice got a cease and desist on the mediacloq issue so they had to discontinue it. The other issue that it wouldn't play in the pioneer 888 and 555 players. So they were losing money from users of those players.
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

My problem is not on Cloqed discs, (althought they would probably be a problem if someone gave me one to play) it's on the newer discs from Sound Choice and Pop Hits, without Cloq. Because of the Autorun feature, so you can put it in a computer and just start singing without setup. It's that little advertisement box that pops up in the beginning. It talks about their other products. Ripped discs are not a problem to play from the hard drive. I just can't play some discs that customers bring in on the external DVD/CD drive. When I try to open the discs to select a track, if the autorun folder pops up, I'm screwed. If I click on it, the drive can not be accessed without restarting the Sax & Dotty's. And even then, you still can not open the autorun folder. If you try the drive can not be accessed. I can eject it and put in another disc to see if it has the autorun folder. If it does I can not play it. Discs that open without the autorun folder play fine. The tracks show up and can be selected like they are supposed to.

So is there a drive (hardware) or software that can bypass/ignore the autorun?
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Shooter13
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Post by Shooter13 »

Bigdog, have you considered just adding your old CD+g player to your mixer and amp rack and run it into another channel of the mixer to use if someone brings their own disks?
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

yeah and i don't like that option. I'm trying to elimiate the video a/b switch and the extra RF mod and wiring. Plus the players are much bigger than the DVD drive. But there may be a software solution from plextor. I'm waiting for my guru to test it out and see if it's what i need. He thinks it is.
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DanG2006
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Post by DanG2006 »

I solved that issue for me. I don't play outside discs especially from the computer's drive for two reasons:
1:wear and tear on the cdrom drive. my last Plextor's eject button recently broke off from wear and tear- can't really complain as it was used when I got it and I don't know how much abuse it took from it's original owner.
2:it looks to unknowing eyes that you are copying the songs off of the other person's disc and adding the disc to your collection.
In my area there are bottom feeders that will use any tactic to steal the show out from under the present KJ by reporting any KJ they see put a disc into the drive.
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

I have many good regulars that bring their own discs. If I can't play them, they will quit coming. Business is business.

I don't nickel dime my business. If the freakin' buttom falls off the drive, I'll buy another one. Nothing is too good for me. It's why I'm still the king in the area for the last 15 years. It's good to be king......the cheap KJs drop like flys.....

If I want to copy their disc, I'll take it home and do it. After I polish out the scratches. Most of the discs I see look like they were used to scrub an asphalt parking lot.
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DanG2006
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Post by DanG2006 »

Bigdog wrote:I have many good regulars that bring their own discs. If I can't play them, they will quit coming. Business is business.

I don't nickel dime my business. If the freakin' buttom falls off the drive, I'll buy another one. Nothing is too good for me. It's why I'm still the king in the area for the last 15 years. It's good to be king......the cheap KJs drop like flys.....

If I want to copy their disc, I'll take it home and do it. After I polish out the scratches. Most of the discs I see look like they were used to scrub an asphalt parking lot.
So why on earth would you want to even introduce those discs to your computer's drive to begin wiith just to play them? I know I wouldn't. It's not cost effective in my opinion as well as if the disc is bad and the graphics come up garbled whose reputation is being ruined?
I will tell you who: The KJ that plays the disc.
I'd rather have the reputation of only having perfect graphics than to worry about the singer who gets offended over you not playing their disc.
Granted I would consider telling them how to import the songs onto a jump drive to bring with them but then I'm taking a risk there that their computer which more or less I can guarrantee has been online, will have a virus on it and I might catch that virus so No I won't even go that route either. Besides I probably have the songs already in the same versions as well.
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Bigdog
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Post by Bigdog »

The problem has been fixed with software.
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