Audio CD Player - General Information

If an Audio CD is placed into the CD-ROM drive, it is automatically identified
and read by CD-Runner; an Audio CD Player faceplate (much like the actual 
faceplate of many new audio CD players) will be displayed. The audio CD may 
also be setup into the library with it's Title, Artist, Songs, Liner Notes, CD
Jacket Graphics (or any other desired graphics); these will be displayed as the
CD is run. 

All of the typical CD player functions are supported including full programming 
capabilities, repeat mode, time functions, etc.. Other additions not normally 
found on a CD player include a song status bar showing % of song completion 
(click on this bar with the mouse to directly move to the associated position 
in the song), and a "minimize" option which allows the CD to play without the 
CD player screen displayed (a miniimized icon will display the Audio CD and 
track #). 


AUDIO CD NOT RECOGNIZED AFTER IT IS ENTERED

If after entering an Audio CD into the CD-Runner library it is not 
recognized, then try closing all Windows applications including CD-Runner
and reboot your computer. Some computers require a reboot only after the
initial CD-Runner setup for Audio CDs to be correctly identified. 

If the above still does not solve your problem, then you may have to 
disable the Windows "Auto-Play" feature which can conflict with CD-Runner
on some systems. Follow the directions below in the WINDOWS 95 AUTOPLAY 
PROBLEMS section.


AUTO-IDENTIFY / MULTIPLE CD-ROM DRIVE ERRORS

If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, then an Audio CD must be loaded 
into the primary or first drive found (e.g. for multiple SCSI CD-ROM
drives, the drive with the lowest SCSI ID number). This is because
if you are not using a CD-ROM changer, the CD audio signal is usually
fed from the primary drive to the single CD Audio input on your sound
board.

Also, when switching between different disc types (CD-ROMs and Audio
CDs) you may have to use the "Search" option at least once to scan all
of the available CD-ROM drives/discs. This only applies to some 
systems with multiple CD-ROM drives and depends on the CD Audio 
driver ("old DOS MSCDEX" or "new Windows 95 CDFS") and hardware BIOS
and settings.


TRACK TITLE & TIME DISPLAY WRONG WHEN CD PLAYER MINIMIZED/RESTORED

When CD-Runner is playing an audio CD and the CD player faceplate
is minimized, depending on the other Windows applications which are
run while music is playing in the background, upon returning to
CD-Runner the track & time display may be off. This is usually 
caused when other applications use the same Windows timers as are
being used by CD-Runner. Many communications applications fall 
into this category. 

Should this happen, after you return to CD-Runner simply select the 
track that is actually playing (or any other desired track) using 
the keypad or song title box. This will re-synchronize the CD-Runner 
display. Note that if you wish to return to the same place in the 
track that was previously playing, simply click on the status bar 
display to move to the desired time in the track.


SLUGGISH COMMAND BUTTONS, CONTROLS & SCREEN REDRAWS

If you experience sluggish performance while new screens are being
displayed or when pressing a command button or control (e.g. after
pressing the play button having to wait several seconds before 
anything happens), then try closing any active applications which
are not required. When Windows runs out of "electronic memory" or
"RAM" to run the applications which you have opened, then it will
usually use your hard drive as source of "virtual memory". When 
this occurs, usually performance suffers (sometimes severely). If
closing applications does not work, then you may need to invest
in additional RAM (memory) for your computer. We have found that
32 MB of RAM (or more) works well for Windows 95.


WINDOWS 3.x AUDIO CD FILES NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS 95

Windows 3.x used a DOS-based MSCDEX driver, version 2.23 or earlier
to allow Audio CDs to be played. Windows 95 either uses MSCDEX version
2.25 (or later) or the new 32-bit Windows-based "CDFS" (CD File 
System). Changes made to accomodate future "CD-plus" or "Enhanced CD"
discs mean that Audio CD files stored using CD-Runner and the older
MSCDEX driver will no longer be properly identified using the new
CD drivers. 

If you wish to translate your "old" CD-Runner Audio CD files into
the "new" Windows 95 compatible format, you may do so by using the
Audio CD Library advanced options (see Audio CD Library Help for
further information). This will avoid the need to re-enter Audio CD
track, title, artist, and other information.


WINDOWS 95 AUTOPLAY PROBLEMS

If you are using Windows 95 and plan to play Audio CDs using CD-Runner,
then you may have to disable the Windows Audio CD "Autoplay" feature.
To disable the Autoplay, select "My Computer", "View", "Options",
"File Types", and "Audio CD"; click on "Play" (in the Actions box)
and select the "Set Default". "Play" will appear in bold if Autoplay
is enabled, or in regular (non-bold) text if it is disabled.


UNABLE TO USE AUDIO CD PLAYER and/or CD-ROM RUNNER

To use the CD-ROM Runner and/or Audio CD Player, you must have a 
properly installed CD-ROM drive, an "MCI CD player" driver loaded, 
and the proper connection between your CD-ROM drive and sound board.

To verify that your CD-ROM drive is installed properly, place a 
CD-ROM (NOT an Audio CD) into the drive and attempt to view the files 
using the Windows Explorer or a similar utility. If you are able to 
view the files, then your CD-ROM drive is properly installed. If you 
cannot view files, then you must obtain and setup the proper drivers (
SCSI, MSCDEX, etc.) and/or fix whatever hardware problem might exist.

Next, try to verify that the CD Audio driver is enabled; access the 
Control Panel - Multimedia option, and click the Advanced tab. In the 
Multimedia devices list, click the plus (+) sign next to the Media
Control Devices. If the CD Audio Device does not appear in the list,
then the driver is not installed (see below). If it does appear, then
click the CD Audio Device followed by the Properties button. In the
properties dialog box, click "Use This Media Control Device".

If the CD Audio driver is not currently installed, access the Control
Panel and click the Add New Hardware option. When prompted if you 
wish to have Windows 95 search for your hardware, click No, then
click Next. In the Hardware Types list, click Sound, Video and Game
Controllers, then click Next. Click Microsoft MCI in the Manufacturers
list, then click CD Audio Device in the Models list, followed by
Next. Click Finish when done.


EJECTING CD-ROM OR AUDIO CD HANGS SYSTEM

If you are using Windows 95 and a Gateway-2000 PC with a Wearnes 6X
CD-ROM drive, then you may have to download a CD-ROM driver fix from
the Gateway BBS (filename "CD.SYS"). Follow the instructions included
with the driver file to enter the driver into your "CONFIG.SYS" file 
(e.g. "device=C:\CD.SYS").


RESOLUTION WRONG USING ENHANCED AUDIO CD

When using an enhanced audio CD ("Enh-CD" or ECD), if you attempt to
run a "QuickTime" Movie file off of the CD, you may see a message 
indicating that your color depth (or number of colors used by your 
video board) is not set correctly to display the movie file. Due to
space limitations, QuickTime movie files are usually limited to 256
colors. If your current video settings are set for greater than this 
(e.g. 16-bit HiColor or 24-bit & 32-bit TrueColor modes), then you 
must change to 256-color mode to display the movie. Fortunately, 
Microsoft has a new utility available free which allows you to 
quickly change video modes named "QuickRes". This extremely useful 
utility may be downloaded from the Microsoft BBS (206-936-6735), or 
from the Microsoft Web page on the internet (WWW.MICROSOFT.COM).


MOUSE POINTER - INTERMITTENT FLASHING

If you are using Windows 95, Microsoft Plus! and a Matrox Millenium 
MGA video board, and if you experience an intermittent flashing mouse
pointer when CD-Runner animation effects are running on screen, then 
you may have to either: 1. obtain an updated video driver, 2. change 
the mouse pointer type to "Windows Default" (and not use the optional
Plus! mouse pointers).


MINIMIZED CD-PLAYER TIME/TRACK NOT UPDATED

While the CD-Runner audio CD faceplate is minimized, you will be able
to play music while working in other Windows applications. If another 
application uses the same Windows timers which CD-Runner uses, you may
experience an inaccurate time and track display when returning to CD-Runner.
Although this is a rare situation, it has been found to occur when using
some communications applications. To reset the time and track to the proper
display, simply press the track which is currently playing and if desired
click on the time status bar to move to a different track position.
