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Number   :  4748
Date     :  2003-06-04
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Re: XXcopy cmds?
Size(KB) :  3



Pat wrote:

>Hi again to all,
>Advice and guidance required.
>
>I have been using XXcopy for a few weeks only. I have also, I thing,
>inadvertantly wiped the firmware from my CDRW\DVD player, requiring
>a vivit to the Service Centre.
>I say I think.
>the command I have been using I believe to be safe and should not
>have caused any harm anywhere. Howevere, a little knowledge is
>dangerous in the wrong hands, as I have found to my cost.
>The command. XXcopy C:\ E:\ /r/i/c/h/k/e/y/d
>I had been using this command previously in Xcopy for quite some
>time.
>
>To add justa little flavour to all of this, I tried, ( and this is
>where I think the problem occoured ) the XXcopy Clone command.
>
>I have an weird feeling that it all went belly up then.
>Anyone got any ideas on the subject??
>Not put off by this exoerience, Learn by mistakes.

Pat:

While I have sympathy to anyone whose equipment starts
malfunction, I am not ready to accept responsibility
to your problem unless some concrete evidence is presented.

Here's the list of possible culprits in the order
of probability in my opinion.

1. CDRW hardware manufacturing/component defect
2. CDRW firmware defect (bug)
3. Bug in packet-writing software
4. OS (probably inside kernel32.dll, if at all)
5. XXCopy's defect (bug).

My reasoning is based on the fact that XXCOPY's actions
are strictly at the high level Win32 file I/O operations.
XXCOPY does not even know how to read or write
(i.e., to manipulate the device in an intimate way)
to a CDRW/DVD. It requires a device driver which knows
the device characteristics that interacts with the
device. XXCOPY avoids accessing even sectors and tracks
on the hard disk to be on the safe side. Therefore,
even if certain sequence that XXCOPY performs
consistently (and repeatably) destroys the firmware,
what XXCOPY does is within the bounds of what is
allowed by the system and the fault must be in the
lower-level software components that were supplied
by the respective vendor. My educated guess is some
component failure is probably the direct cause ----
of course, a good circuit design should prevent such
a catastrophic device failure even if some components
fail.

This is my opinion which may be naturally regarded as
self-serving statement. I would like to hear from
anyone who knows computers in both hardware and
software.

Anyway, as the author of the XXCopy program, I will
assure you that the chance of my program being the
direct cause of your equipment failure is less than
one in 1 million.

So, what then? I suggest after you get the drive
back (probably, the best remedy for you is to get
your device replaced rather than just a re-programming
of the firmware). If you have a different unit
(even if it is the same model), it will be extremely
unlikely that using the XXCOPY /CLONE operations
will ever produce the same failure again.

On the other hand, if you just reprogram the firmware,
using XCOPY (not XXCOPY) may result in a similar
failure --- if it was caused by a component failure,
I would not be surprised if the same thing happens
unless the real cause (say, failed or marginal
components or poor solder joints) is identified
and removed.

If you make a copy what I wrote here and present it
to the CDRW/DVD manufacturer's engineer, he will
probably agree with my assessment of this matter.

Kan Yabumoto



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