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[HiFiBlues]

Hello,

Not sure if this is an error per say, but I'm running Windows 7 and I've started to rip my CD's (1500+) using MC15. Problem is, I'm constantly having to click-through several MC15 Information popups .... MC cannot locate volume etc... try ejecting & re-inserting the disk.... before the Ripping process actually starts. If I hit cancel the pop-up shows up again almost immediately... I've just been Cancelling through these pop-ups because if I actually Eject the CD and Re-Try it just keeps happening anyway. My PC is an older Pentium 3 dedicated server and I access the internet via wireless network. There are no other users accessing internet so MC has exclusive access.... Firewall is Norton which I put in Silent Mode.

Since I have so many disks to rip, these extra steps (2-3 mins per CD) are killing me and I'd be very grateful for any help/ideas.

Thanks in advance....

[Alex B]

Have you tried only one CD drive? If it is old and on the edge of not being reliable anymore ripping lots of CDs with it might not be a good idea. Of cause the problems may be caused by something else, but ripping 1500+ CDs may well be about the amount of work that a new drive can handle during its lifetime and you may need to buy a new drive anyway.

[HiFiBlues]

Thanks... I will try that.... As a side note, I'm ripping Secure-Mode and most of the time the ripping is at 3X or so (sometimes faster, sometimes slower). Would a faster drive improve on the Secure-Ripping process?

[Frobozz]

Do you have another program active that may be trying to take control of the CD drive when you insert an audio CD?

For example, if you have EAC (Exact Audio Copy) running EAC will lock access to the CD drive when it detects a CD has been inserted.  When EAC locks the drive MC won't be able to read the CD and will complain with that pop-up.  It all depends on which program manages to get a lock on the CD drive first.  If EAC gets the lock first then Media Center will complain.  If Media Center is able to read the CD before EAC gets the lock then Media Center will be fine.

So look for other programs that may be monitoring and watching the CD drive and waiting for an audio CD.  Either close them or configure them not to lock the CD drive.

[Alex B]

Would a faster drive improve on the Secure-Ripping process?

This is a bit late reply, but I wanted to do a test before posting.

The used drive can affect the ripping speed significantly. However, only the digital audio extraction speed from Audio CDs is important. This info is not usually included in the drives' technical details and even if it is available the speed may not be measured in a comparable way.

For instance, my newer Samsung SH-S202J drive (from 2008) is a lot faster audio ripper than my previous generation Samsung SH-W162C drive (from 2006). Both drives have quite similar specs (the quite insignificant 20x vs. 16x DVD+R write speed change was the advertised difference), but obviously the Audio CD ripping part is much better in the newer drive. (I was disappointed when I bought the older Samsung drive and have not used it for ripping Audio CDs. Though, it has been a fine DVD writer.)

Here the test results:

The duration of the test CD: 58 min 52 s (the CD is in a good condition, no re-tries in the secure rip log)
Rip mode: Secure
Encoding format: uncompressed wave (to measure only the ripping speed)

Samsung SH-W162C

Start speed (after the spinning has stabilized): 1.8x
End speed: 6.6x

Ripping time: 20 min 33 s

Average speed: 2.9x


Samsung SH-S202J

Start speed (after the spinning has stabilized): 8.2x
End speed: 16.7x

Ripping time: 4 min 39 s

Average speed: 12.7x


I can recommend SH-S202J for an older PC (it's an EIDE drive) or its SATA version, SH-S203, but unfortunately it is already discontinued. You may still find it from some retailers (for instance, it is available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Black-SH-S202J-BEBN-Optical/dp/B000Y3O6RG, but not at amazon.com). The current EIDE model is SH-S222A, but I have no experience of it. It may be as fast as, faster than or slower than its predecessor.

[Alex B]

I started a new thread for drive recommendations. Please test your drive and post the results:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59038