China DOS Union

Currently, there are 3 commonly used CD-ROM driver programs under DOS:

1. VIDE-CDD.SYS: File size 11K, memory usage 5K, CD-ROM recognition ability ★★★★, driver loading speed relatively fast

2. OAKCDROM: File size 41K, memory usage 30K, CD-ROM recognition ability ★★★, driver loading speed general

3. TRICD.SYS: File size 19K, memory usage 7K, CD-ROM recognition ability ★★★★★, driver loading speed slow (can recognize CD-ROM model)

PTSATAPI.SYS: File size 4K, memory usage 2K, CD-ROM recognition ability ★★★★★, driver loading speed fast (can recognize CD-ROM model and IRQ number) Strongly recommend everyone to use!

The version number extracted from PT-DOS by me is 1.4 (2004), and the loading method is the same as above: P

The LZ talked about the driver loading speed, which doesn't seem to be important. It's more meaningful to know which driver to load to make the CD-ROM reading speed faster.
Personally, I feel that using VIDE-CDD.SYS makes the CD-ROM reading speed faster than OAKCDROM.

I recommended PTSATAPI.SYS before, but later found out there were compatibility issues, so I'm using VIDE-CDD.SYS now. Now I recommend QCDROM.SYS (the latest version 2.0 was just released a few days ago), which also only takes up 2KB of memory, but the compatibility seems much better than PTSATAPI.SYS and it supports UltraDMA.

http://cyberside.dyn.ee/files/util/system/xcdrom/qcdrom/qcdrom12.zip
Is this it? But it shows QCDROM V1.2, 3-16-2006
http://cyberside.dyn.ee/files/util/system
This address seems to update drivers relatively quickly. The things in the upper directory are good. Friends who are interested can bookmark it

Haha....Found a CuteMouse v2.0-a3

That 1.2 version is already an old version, and the new QCDROM 2.0 version can be found in the development room of the forum. The update speed of that address may not be as fast as the update speed in this forum.

CTMOUSE 2.0a4 came out a few years ago. For details, you can refer to its official website (cutemouse.sf.net). However, it seems that there has been no update since then.

Thanks to the friend from floor 6 for providing the link address, there are many good things inside

Thanks, guys, I've seen it, downloaded it, and give it a thumbs up ;）

QCDROM.SYS is very small and easy to use, thanks. Put it in my pocket.

Originally posted by Wengier at 2006-5-11 23:53:
I recommended PTSATAPI.SYS before, but later found out there were compatibility issues, so I switched to VIDE-CDD.SYS. Now I recommend QCDROM.SYS (the latest version 2.0 was just released a few days ago), which also only takes up 2KB of memory, but dou...

Hehe, I'm using this QCDROM

Thanks, I just need this.

Previously I used PTSATAPI.SYS, but later I found that it could only drive a single CD-ROM on my computer, so I switched to VIDE-CDD.SYS from the Wengier boot disk.

The latest version is 4.2? The instructions are a bit hard to understand～～
It seems similar to other ones from the loaded command line.
http://johnson.tmfc.net/dos/file/qcdrom42.zip

QCDROM -- DOS CD and DVD Disk Driver, V4.2
==============================================

1. Description
-----------

QCDROM is a DOS driver for CD and DVD drives. It is for use on normal
PC system IDE channels, including 1997 or later PC mainboards that have
Intel/VIA/SiS/ALi or similar UltraDMA controller chips. QCDROM is NOT
for SCSI, Serial-ATA, or "add-on" UltraDMA cards by Promise, SiiG, etc.
QCDROM handles normal mainboard IDE channels, with or without UltraDMA,
avoiding a need for "add-on" cards!

QCDROM runs from 1 to 3 CD/DVD drives. On loading, it checks both IDE
channels, in order from primary-master to secondary-slave, and runs the
first three CD/DVD drives found. It has switch options (see below) to
specify the "driver name" and request testing of specific IDE units for
CD/DVD drives, instead of checking all units in "IDE order". Both old
"PIO mode" and new UltraDMA CD/DVD drives may be used. QCDROM handles
file-input requests issued by SHCDX33C, MSCDEX, etc. It also supports
all DOS "audio" requests and can "play back" an audio CD.

QCDROM runs only the IDE channels at their normal I-O address ranges of
01F0h-1F7h (primary) and 0170h-177h (secondary). The old "alternate"
addresses of 01E8h-1EFh (primary) and 0168h-16Fh (secondary) can be set
using its /A switch. QCDROM does not use interrupts and does standard
"PIO mode" data input when no UltraDMA controller is found. This lets
QCDROM work with older mainboards or with pre-1997 "plug-in IDE" cards.

QCDROM can set a local stack, does an 80386+ test and I-O timeout tests
and has other items to make the driver SAFE! QCDROM takes 2528 bytes
of memory with its local-stack or 2016 bytes without a stack. An XMS
buffer is recommended, to avoid "PIO mode" data input. When the QDMA
driver loads first, QCDROM can "share" QDMA's XMS buffer, or QCDROM can
set its own if 128K of XMS is free. XMS or "PIO mode" is used only as
needed -- QCDROM does UltraDMA input whenever possible, for best speed!

V4.2+ QCDROM is updated to detect the V3.8 QHIMEM driver. V4.8 QCACHE
has been similarly updated. Old versions should not be mixed with the
newer drivers.

*** NOTE ***
Due to incessant, unfavorable posts on FreeDOS forums, this driver is
PROHIBITED from use with FreeDOS and will now ABORT if loaded in that
system. Using this driver in all other DOS systems (MS-DOS, EDR-DOS
etc.) is still supported and is unaffected.


2. NO Warranty
-----------

QCDROM is offered as free software, "as is" and "use at your own risk",
and WITHOUT any warranty, not even the implied warranties of MERCHANT-
ABILITY nor of FITNESS for ANY particular purpose!

QCDROM questions may be addressed to Johnson Lam at <johnson@tmfc.net>.
The author of QCDROM in the U.S.A. will try to reply and to keep QCDROM
working O.K.


3. Revisions
---------

V4.2 14-Jan-07 QCDROM updated to work with V3.8+ QHIMEM.

V4.1 10-Jan-07 QCDROM corrected to post "no disk in drive" status.
V4.0 29-Dec-06 QCDROM works again in VMWare! Many Thanks to Erwin
Veermans for his help!
V3.9 8-Dec-06 Corrected a load-time ERROR in QCDROM.
V3.8 6-Dec-06 Using QCDROM with FreeDOS is now PROHIBITED!
V3.7 12-Nov-06 QCDROM "A20 line" handling corrected.
V3.6 9-Nov-06 QCDROM stack increased.
V3.5 2-Nov-06 QCDROM /I switch added, to avoid "odd" BIOS trouble.
V3.4 24-Oct-06 QCDROM updated for QXHIMEM. V3.3 changed DELETED!
V3.3 15-Oct-06 QCDROM no longer requires XMS memory with UMBPCI!
V3.2 11-Oct-06 QCDROM now has a /X switch and can omit its stack.
V3.1 1-Oct-06 Added QCDROM /A switch for alternate EIDE addresses.

V3.0 21-Sep-06 QCDROM now handles the Intel 82801EB chipset!
V2.9 8-Sep-06 QCDROM revised for the no-overlap V3.2+ QDMA/QDBOOT.
V2.8 15-Aug-06 QCDROM now reserves its own XMS memory, when needed.
V2.7 7-Aug-06 QCDROM updated to support V3.0 QHIMEM and QHIMEM2.
V2.6 11-Jul-06 QCDROM updated for fast V2.8+ QHIMEM XMS moves.
V2.5 8-Jul-06 QCDROM now loads in UMBPCI upper-memory and uses PIO
mode as needed, if QDMA sets only one XMS buffer.
V2.4 30-Jun-06 QCDROM now has "Int 13h" logic to locate QDMA. XMS
buffers assigned one per driver, not per channel.

.

V2.1 23-Jun-06 QCDROM updated to work with V2.3+ QDBOOT.
V2.0 30-Apr-06 QCDROM/QDMA "linkage" revised to support EMM386.

V1.2 16-Mar-06 QCDROM loads in UMBPCI upper-memory with V1.4+ QDMA.
V1.1 8-Mar-06 QCDROM "shares" QDMA's XMS buffers and runs 3 units.
V1.0 20-Feb-06 Original release.


4. Switch Options
--------------

QCDROM switch options are as follows:

/A Requests use of the old alternate EIDE controller addresses,
01E8h-01EFh on the primary channel, and 0168h-016Fh on the
secondary channel. If /A is omitted, the driver will use
normal controller addresses of 01F0h-01F7h or 0170h-0177h.
/A is only for an "odd" SATA BIOS or other unusual cases.

/D: Specifies the desired "device name" which SHCDX33C or MSCDEX
will use during their initialization to address the CD/DVD
drives. Examples are: /D:CDROM1 /D:MYCDROM etc. The
device name must be from 1 to 8 bytes valid for use in DOS
filenames. If /D: is omitted, or the "device name" after
a /D: is missing or invalid, QCDROM1 will be the default.

/I Forces "independent" driver setup. QCDROM requests its own
XMS buffer and does NOT test if QDMA is loaded. An "odd"
BIOS may mishandle the special QCDROM call to locate QDMA!
For systems not using the QDMA driver, /I may be needed to
avoid drive-select or other "odd" BIOS errors! /I is not
needed if /UX is also given.

/L Limits DMA to memory below 640K. /L is REQUIRED for UMBPCI
or other drivers whose upper-memory cannot do DMA. When
QCDROM itself loads with /L in upper-memory, XMS memory is
required to issue DMA command-lists, or QCDROM will ABORT!
Without /L or if QCDROM is in low memory, XMS is optional.
/L makes QCDROM use its XMS buffer for input of data above
640K. "PIO mode" will handle such requests if XMS is not
available or is unwanted due to QDMA's /B switch. /L is
IGNORED, and XMS is not needed, if /UX is also given.

/PM Requests the driver to check the IDE primary-master unit for
a CD/DVD drive during driver init. If a CD/DVD drive is
NOT found as primary-master, driver loading will ABORT!

/PS Same as /PM but tests the primary-slave unit only.

/SM Same as /PM but tests the secondary-master unit only.

/SS Same as /PM but tests the secondary-slave unit only.

--- NOTE ---
For 2 or 3 drives, multiple /PM /PS /SM /SS switches are
allowed. The first-specified drive is addressed as "unit
0", the second as "unit 1", etc. If fewer switches than
drives are given, unreferenced drives will be UNUSED. If
NO drive switches are given, QCDROM will "scan" for CD/DVD
drives from primary-master to secondary-slave. The first
drive found will be "unit 0", the second "unit 1", etc.

/UF Enables "Fast DMA". I-O requests which cross UltraDMA "64K
boundaries" use two-part DMA, for data up to the boundary,
and for data beyond it. I-O which is misaligned (not at
an even 4-byte address) will go through QDMA's XMS buffers
if available or will use "PIO mode" otherwise.

--- NOTE ---
Despite UltraDMA specs, NOT ALL chipsets or mainboards run
"Fast DMA" properly! /UF must be TESTED on every system!

/UX Disables ALL UltraDMA, even for CD/DVD drives capable of it.
QCDROM then uses "PIO mode" for all commands. /UX is not
usually needed and is mainly for tests or diagnostic work.

/X Causes no local-stack to be set. This saves 512 bytes when
SHCDX33C is used, as QCDROM can run on the SHCDX33C stack.
/X must NOT be given if SHCDX33C will not be used!

For each switch, a dash may replace the slash and lower-case characters
may be used.


5. Setup and Configuration
-----------------------

QCDROM is loaded by the CONFIG.SYS file, which must have a command line
similar to:

DEVICE = QCDROM.SYS

Examples: DEVICE=C:\DOS\QCDROM.SYS

DEVICEHIGH=C:\BIN\QCDROM.SYS /D:CDROM1 /UF /L /X /SM /SS

If QCDROM is to share QDMA's XMS memory, the QDMA driver must be loaded
first. When QDMA is not used, QCDROM may be loaded at any time.


6. Error Reporting
---------------

QCDROM reports an I-O error to its "CD-ROM redirector" program the same
as all other DOS CD/DVD drivers. For full details, see the Microsoft
"MS-DOS CD-ROM Extensions 2.1", which includes information about CD/DVD
device drivers for use with SHCDX33C or MSCDEX.


7. SPECIAL NOTES
-------------

Some CD/DVD drives (Sony, etc.) DO NOT follow all ATAPI "standards" and
may require DISABLING UltraDMA with the /UX switch!

Be sure to "enable" your CD/DVD drive(s) with the BIOS set-up routines!
A drive that is "disabled" may cause the BIOS to clear all its UltraDMA
flags and leave the drive in "PIO mode" zero, which is terribly SLOW!

When cabling a CD/DVD drive by itself to an IDE channel, note that both
"ends" of the cable must be used, NOT one end and the middle connector!
This prevents ERRORS, as an unused cable-end can pick up "noise" like a
RADIO antenna!

If the driver "scans" for CD/DVD drives to use, error events WILL occur
(select error, not a CD/DVD found, etc.). Such events cause that IDE
unit to be ignored. When an actual CD/DVD drive is ignored, users can
add the appropriate /PM /PS /SM /SS switch for that drive to QCDROM's
line in the CONFIG.SYS file, then re-boot. Specifying a drive-select
switch always causes errors for that drive to be displayed.

If no CD/DVD drives are found, QCDROM displays "No CD/DVD drive to use;
QCDROM not loaded!" and aborts. But note that some BIOS programs will
NOT "configure" mainboard UltraDMA chips when they find no IDE devices!
Users who get the above message must first verify that the CD/DVD drive
is "enabled" through the BIOS set-up routines. If this HAS been done,
"No CD/DVD drive to use" says the UltraDMA chip is NOT set for "legacy"
IDE addresses (1F0h/170h, 1E8h/168h) and the BIOS might need an UPDATE!
Note also that QCDROM does not support "Native PCI mode" UltraDMA chips
("servers"), only chips set to "Legacy IDE mode".