Chapter 11
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• In this chapter, you will learn to
– Explain and install floppy disk drives
– Demonstrate the variations among flash drives and other tiny drives
– Identify and install optical-media technology
– Troubleshoot removable-media drives
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• Floppy drives
– Traditional floppy
• Flash drives
– USB thumb drives to flash memory
• Optical media
– CD-ROMs to DVDs
• External drives
– Any drive that connects via an external cable
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• Floppy disk inserts into floppy drive
• Lit LED indicates data is being read or written to disk
3½-inch 1.44 MB disappearing
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5¼-inch legacy

CompTIA A+
Essentials
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• Floppy drives designated A: or B:
• Floppy drives connect to the computer via a 34-pin ribbon cable
• Cables supporting two floppy drives use a seven-wire twist
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• Connect Pin 1 on cable to Pin 1 on motherboard
• Pin 1 on cable has red stripe
• Many connectors are notched
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• Power
– 3½-inch use mini-connector
• CMOS
– Usually configured to use 3½ inch, 1.44 MB
– Can disable Boot Up Floppy Seek
– Can change boot order to boot off floppy
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• Same type of memory used in CMOS
• Two different families
1. USB thumb drives
2. Memory cards
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• Commonly used as replacement for floppy disks to transport data
• AKA jump drive or flash drive
• Hot-swappable
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Can create bootable thumb drives
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• Compact Flash (CF)
– Use simplified PCMCIA bus
– Two sizes: CF I and CF II
– Some are actually micro hard drives with platters and heads
• SmartMedia
– Was competitor to CF
– Replaced by Secure Digital
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• Secure Digital
– Most common today
– Size of postage stamp
– SD and SDIO versions
– Mini and micro forms available
– Popular in cell phones
• Memory Stick
– Sony proprietary format
– Used in Sony devices that use flash memory
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• xD Picture Card
– Developed by Olympus (proprietary)
– Used almost exclusively in Olympus and Fujifilm digital cameras
– Version available in USB housing
• Card Readers
– Allow reading the different types of memory cards
– Available separately
– Often installed in PC
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• Includes CD- and
DVD-media
• Generically called optical discs
• Drives called optical drives
• Includes
– CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD+RW, HD-DVD
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• Stores data in microscopic pits
– Burned in with power laser on glass master
– Copies made on plastic copies
– Covered with reflective metallic covering
– Data on top under label
– Written in “pits” and “lands”
– Standard CD holds about 650 MB
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• CD-Digital Audio (CDDA)
– Music CDs
• CD-ROM
– Added file support and directory structure for PCs
– Many different types
• ISO-9660 defines CD
File System (CDFS)
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• IUSO-9660 Extensions
– Joliet
Microsoft’s extension
Supported by Mac and Linux
– Rock Ridge
Open standard for UNIX
– El Torito
Enabled bootable CDs
– Apple Extensions
Proprietary
Can’t be read by Windows
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• First CD-ROM had speed of 150 KBps
• All others multiples of 150 KBps
1X 150 KBps
2X 300 KBps
3X 450 KBps
4X 600 KBps
6X 900 KBps
8X 1200 KBps
10X 1500 KBps
12X 1800 KBps
16X 2400 KBps
24X 3600 KBps
32X 4800 KBps
36X 5400 KBps
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40X 6000 KBps
48X 7200 KBps
52X 7800 KBps
60X 9000 KBps
72X 10800 KBps

• Gave users ability to record or burn CDs
• CD-Rs come in two sizes
– 74-minute 650 MB
– 80-minute 700 MB
– Most CD-R burners now support 80-minute CDs
• Single-session and multi-session
– Single-session data can be added only once
– Multi-session allows data to be added multiple times
(all modern CD-Rs are multi-session)
– Two speeds: read speed and write speed (8x/24x)
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• CD-R drives have been replaced by
CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) drives
– CD-R discs sill around (cheaper)
– CD-R can be written to only once
– CD-RW disks allow data to be written and overwritten
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• CD Rewritable ( CD-RW ) works by
– Using a laser to heat an amorphous (noncrystalline) substance
– When cooled slowly becomes crystalline
– The crystalline areas are reflective
– The amorphous areas are not
• The MultiRead method allows regular
CD-ROM drives to read CD-RW discs
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• Most CD-RW drives today utilize a function called packet writing
• Uses special format called the Universal
Data Format (UDF)
– Replacement for ISO-9660
– All movie DVDs use this
• Packet writing and UDF give drag-and- drop capabilities to CD-RW drives
• CD-RW drive specs have three multiplier values: write, rewrite, read (8x4x32)
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• All optical drives ATAPI-compliant
– Means they plug into ATA controllers
• Windows XP supports drag- and-drop for burning data onto CDs
– Third-party software needed to create bootable CDs or
CDs from ISO images
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• Different format—Music CD-R
– Can record to a Music CD-R or CD-RW
– Can not record from one
– Designed to restrict duplication of copyrighted music
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• Developed by a consortium of electronics and entertainment firms
– Released as digital video discs ( DVD ) in 1995
– DVD uses smaller pits than CD-media and packs them more densely, creating much higher data capacities
– Both single-sided (SS) and dual-sided (DS) formats
– Single-layer (SL) and dual-layer (DL) formats
DVD Version
DVD-5 (SS/SL)
DVD-9 (SS/DL)
DVD-10 (DS/SL)
DVD-18 (DS/DL)
Capacity
4.37 GB (> 2 hours of video)
7.95 GB (@ 4 hours of video)
8.74 GB (@ 4.5 hours of video)
15.9 GB (> 8 hours of video)
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• DVD-Video can store two hours of video on one side
– Supports TV-style 4:3 aspect ratio screens as well as 16:9 theatre screens
• Some producers distribute both on opposite sides of the DVD
– Uses MPEG-2 video and audio compression standard
• Up to 1280x720 at 60 frames per second with CD-quality audio
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• DVD-ROM
– Similar to CD-ROM data format
– Can store up to 16
GB of data
– Support DVD-video and most CD-ROM formats
• Recordable DVD
– DVD-R and DVD+R
• May write to them like CD-R
• Cannot erase
– DVD-RW, DVD+RW,
DVD-RAM
• Written and rewritten like
CD-RW
– Combo drives can do all of these - look for DVD
Multi on the label
– Not all players read all formats
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• Most look the same from a distance
– Most also install the same way
– Most use PATA or SATA & support ATAPI
– Typically set up as slave when using PATA
– Some are SCSI or USB
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• Does Windows recognize the CD-ROM?
– Check Device Manager
• To disable Autoplay on XP, use Group Policy
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• CD-ROM drive installation does not require applications
• CD-R and CD-RW require applications for burning capabilities
– Nero Burning ROM
– Roxio’s Easy
Media Creator
– CDBurnerXP Pro
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• Complete copy of CD or DVD
• Can download ISO image and burn to CD
– Provides fully functional CD
• Commonly used to share copies of bootable CDs
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CompTIA A+
Technician
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• Floppy drives frequently fail
– Exposure to outside environment and mechanical damage are common causes
• Floppy drive cleaning kits can be used to clean drives
– Can also use cotton swab with denatured alcohol
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1. Check for a bad floppy disk
2. Check for data errors on the disk
3. Check the CMOS settings
4. Blame the floppy controller
5. Check the cable
6. Replace the floppy drive
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• Connectivity problems
– Occur if the power connector is not plugged in, cables are inserted incorrectly, or the jumpers have been misconfigured
• CDs may be dirty
– Don’t believe someone who says
CDs can be cleaned in dishwasher
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• Most modern CD-media drives have a built-in cleaning mechanism
• CD-media discs can be easily cleaned using a damp cloth or mild detergent
• Problems such as stuck discs can be resolved with paper clip
– Find the small hole on the front of the CD drive
– Insert a small wire (paper clip) in the hole to manually eject the CD-media from the drive
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• Know what it can do
– Check out technical documentation before making a purchase
– Type review and the model number in a search engine to get other opinions
• Media issues
– Media quality is based on speed and inks
• Check for a manufacturer guarantee on speed
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• Most often occurs when copying from
CD-ROM to CD-R or CD-RW
– Inability of the source device to keep the burner loaded with data
– Make sure your CD-RW drive has 2 MB or larger buffer
– Create an image file—one big file on the hard drive first because any hard drive can keep up with a CD burner
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• Most drives come with an upgradeable
Flash ROM chip
• Check the manufacturer’s Web site for updates
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• Color books
– Different specifications identified by colors
– Red, yellow, green, orange, white, blue
• High-Definition Optical Drives
– HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc
– Higher capabilities in size and time
– Higher capabilities in resolution
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© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved