MasterList CD Version 1.1 Release Notes

March 22, 1995

System Requirements:

A Macintosh LC III, IIci, IIvx, IIfx, Centris 650, Quadra 650, 700, 800, 840av, 900, 950 or Power Macintosh 7100/8100 equipped with an Audiomedia LC, Audiomedia II, Sound Tools II, ProMaster 20, Session 8 for Macintosh, Pro Tools I or Pro Tools III system and at least 8 megabytes of RAM.

Audiomedia I and Sound Tools I systems are supported by MasterList CD ONLY on the Macintosh IIci, IIvx or IIfx. Sound Tools I systems must have a revision B Sound Accelerator. Revision B Sound Accelerators are equipped with 25-pin "D" connectors; revision A Sound Accelerators have 15-pin "D" connectors.

System 7.1 or higher.

32-Bit addressing must be enabled. Use the Memory control panel to enable 32-bit addressing.

13" gray scale or color monitor.

An external SCSI hard disk with a minimum average access time of 18mS or faster. Contact the manufacturer of your CD recorder for their recommended hard disk list.

Caution: There are Extensions, Control Panels (CDEVs) and Macintosh parameters that may adversely affect the performance of MasterList CD. These include:

CD Writer Extensions - Many of the CD writers that MasterList CD supports are bundled with their own software and System extensions. We have found that the extensions can cause disk write errors with MasterList CD. It is recommended that the CD writer extension files be removed and the computer restarted prior to launching MasterList CD.

Screen Savers - After Dark, Møire, Pyro and others should be completely disabled or removed before running MasterList CD.

AppleTalk - Use the Chooser to disable AppleTalk. Leaving AppleTalk on will cause disk write errors with MasterList CD.

E-Mail - Microsoft Mail, QuickMail and others should be disabled before running MasterList CD.

QuicKeys - In general, Digidesign has found no problems with QuicKeys and MasterList CD, but please be aware of the keyboard shortcuts defined in your QuicKeys and make sure that they will not conflict or duplicate those used by MasterList CD.

Cache Size - This Memory control panel setting will allow users to change the size of the cache. The default size is different for each CPU/RAM configuration however, so please note that changing the buffer size may lead to unwanted audio artifacts.

A value of 128k has proven to be a reliable setting on most computers. On higher speed CPUs, such as Quadras, this value may be increased up to 512k with no ill effect.

CD-ROM and Removable Media Extensions/CDEVs - Many CD-ROM and Removable Media extensions/CDEVs have been linked to disk write errors, and in severe cases, system crashes. The easiest way to prevent problems is to remove the extension/CDEV and restart the Macintosh. In some cases, simply having a CD-ROM/Cartridge inserted in the drive (and mounted) will stop the problems, though removal of the extension is the most reliable option.

Directory Assistance - This Norton utility has been proven to be problematic with MasterList CD and should be disabled.

Virtual Memory - MasterList CD will not launch if Virtual Memory is active. To disable it, open the Control Panel Memory setting, disable Virtual Memory and reboot the computer.

CD Recorder Requirements:

Use the CD Writer Setup dialog to display the version of your CD recorder's firmware.

JVC Personal Archiver - Requires firmware version 2.1 or higher.

Kodak PCD 200 - Requires firmware version 2.06 or higher.

Philips CDD 521 - Requires firmware version 2.06 or higher.

Pinnacle RCD-202 - Requires firmware version 2.1 or higher.

Ricoh RS 9200 - Requires firmware version 0167 or higher.

Sony CDW-900E - Requires firmware version 1.12 or higher.

Yamaha CDE-100 - Requires firmware version 1.06 or higher.

For Your Information:

Track Start Times - Start times greater than 13 hours are not supported by MLCD.

Copying Index Points - When copying and pasting tracks containing more than index 0 and index 1, the additional index points will not be pasted with the copied track.

Creating Large MasterList CD Documents - When making large MasterList CD documents, you should consider increasing MasterList CD's memory allotment in the Finder. Doing this will decrease the amount of time it takes to open and edit the document, especially when many audio files are used by the document. Get Info on the MasterList CD icon, and increase the Preferred Size value.

MasterList Documents with Many Index Points - The maximum number of indexes that may be displayed in the PQ window is 1600. If your document contains more than this number (Red Book standard allows 99 tracks, each containing 100 Index points, numbered 0 to 99), the PQ window will not be able to display all of the indexes and may instead appear empty. To overcome this graphic limitation, click on the small triangle to the left of the track's name to collapse the view of each track in the PQ window such that the index points are not all being displayed (though they will all be written to the CD correctly).

Maximum File Limit - While this is different on each CPU, there is a maximum number of open files that the Macintosh Operating System will allow. This number can be anywhere between 291 to 340 files, depending on the CPU/O.S. configuration. MasterList CD can detect when this maximum number has been reached, but not until after you have added (opened) the audio files and attempt to Playback audio from the MasterList window.

If MasterList CD prompts you that you have exceeded the maximum limit, save your changes before quitting - MasterList CD may crash when quitting under these circumstances. This problem will be corrected in the next release of MasterList CD.

Drag and Drop Audio Files - At this time, MasterList CD does not support dragging and dropping of audio files onto the MasterList CD application icon in the Finder. Doing this may cause your computer to freeze. This feature will be supported in the next release.

Quitting MasterList CD with no DSP Card - At this time, quitting MasterList CD with no DSP card chosen in the Hardware Setup menu may cause MasterList CD to crash on some system configurations. This problem will be corrected in the next release of MasterList CD.

Writing DDP Tapes with Mezzo Master 1.1 - At this time, SCMS is not supported in the DDP format. Be sure to turn off SCMS settings in the PQ window before writing the DDP tape.

Compatibility Issues:

Pro Tools I System Accelerator, Session 8 and Pro Tools III Disk I/O NuBus Cards - As MasterList CD does not take specific advantage of these SCSI cards, playing files from a drive connected to them may actually slow the performance of the disc writing feature, resulting in buffer underruns (a condition reported by MasterList CD when it can't write to the CD because the overall data throughput of the system is too slow). If you are uncertain, simply use the Speed Test feature in the Write Disc dialog and compare the speed of the drive when it is connected to the Digidesign SCSI card versus the Macintosh SCSI bus. In most cases the Macintosh SCSI bus will be faster as the data travel will be confined to a single SCSI bus.

For best results, connect the hard disk(s) to the Macintosh SCSI bus, and always optimize the disks before writing the CD.

Do not connect the CD recorder to the SCSI bus of the System Accelerator, Session 8 or Disk I/O. Instead, connect the CD Recorder to the Macintosh SCSI bus.

Pro Tools I System Accelerator & Power Macintosh - Due to an incompatibility between the Power Macintosh and the System Accelerator, the System Accelerator should not be active when using MasterList CD. To disable the System Accelerator, remove the A/ROSE and Pro Tools SysAxe files from your Extensions Folder and restart the computer. Having the System Accelerator active may cause corruption when writing using Image File mode.

Pro Tools III and DSP Farms - When writing a CD in real-time or writing an Image file, MasterList CD will attempt to allocate the first free DSP on any available DSP Farm in a Pro Tools III system. MasterList CD will still use the Disk I/O DSP for real-time playback and preview, but REQUIRES a free DSP Farm for the other functions. This significantly improves performance during CD writing on Pro Tools III systems.

DO NOT run Pro Tools software on Pro Tools III systems when you use MasterList CD to write an Image file or write a CD. Doing so may cause the DSP Farm's DSPs to not be properly allocated, and may result in a crash when you quit either Pro Tools or MasterList CD. This condition will be corrected in the next release of MasterList CD.

Mobius Speedster Accelerator - As of this release, MasterList CD is not compatible with the Speedster CPU accelerator manufactured by Mobius Technologies. Through cooperative efforts between Mobius and Digidesign, full compatibility is expected in a future release of either or both MasterList CD and the Speedster accelerator.