XboXC wrote on 2025-02-01, 00:42:

Hi. I want to have a nero burning software under windows 3.1. But Nero can't see the CDRW drive. I think maybe it's a driver problem. The MS-DOS CDROM driver can't see CD writers? Only in "Read" mode?
I check the help.

Why did you underline "Note: IDE CD recorders are not supported by Nero under Win 3.1 ?

Is your drive an IDE (ATAPI) one ? What brand/model is it ?
Which version of Nero Burning Rom are you trying to use ?
If it is IDE (ATAPI), it won't work according to that help file.

Are you hoping for a workaround of some kind ?

I think the problem is Nero can only interact with CD-burners via ASPI interface, which ATAPI drivers can't do.

roytam1 wrote on 2025-02-01, 03:10:

I think the problem is Nero can only interact with CD-burners via ASPI interface, which ATAPI drivers can't do.

ASPI is supported for ATAPI drives under Windows 9x.

EDIT: This may not be the case under Windows 3.x . I have no idea.

Maybe there has to be an ASPI driver loaded to make work?
An Windows 3.1 VXD or a DOS driver?

Anyway, when I was using Windows 3.1 IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives were still new/strange stuff. Not to mention CD Writers!

All the 486 PCs I saw in the wild either had a soundcard with proprietary CD-ROM interface or there was an SCSI interface.

No really, in my place IDE/ATAPI CD-ROMs were still strange species in late 90s, even!
IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives got popular/the norm with Pentium II/III, AfAIK.

I mean sure, they had been available by 1994 already. On paper.
But who had a Pentium PC in 1993, for example?

Our family friends and acquaintancs had Pentiums from 1997 onwards.
Pentium I machines, I mean. 586 and MMX types.

Gamers were different, of course.

But they were just ordinary people.
In 1996 and before, hot-rod 486 PCs with various 486 derivatives were still common.

By 2000s, the 1 GHz mark had been broken and people had internet-capable PCs.

Edit: Now that I think of it, that copy of Nero probably uses Win32s to run.
So the limits might be due to Winaspi.dll, which Windows 3.1x uses.
Windows 9x uses Winaspi32.dll, I think.

Nero use winaspi.dll. I copied that dll to system dir before start setup.

XboXC wrote on 2025-02-01, 09:02:

Nero use winaspi.dll. I copied that dll to system dir before start setup.

Reading Jo22's post triggered some memories (may not be 100% accurate).

AFAICR (and I tried to corroborate and augment with some googling, though that may not be 100% accurate either).

a) ASPI was initially meant for SCSI
b) Under Windows 3.1, WINASPI16.DLL is required for ASPI support, BUT a hardware specific driver for the SCSI card used, exposing an ASPI compatible interface, needs to be installed as well under DOS. This would be loaded in config.sys and would have been provided by the SCSI card manufacturer.
c) To access a SCSI CDROM or CDRW drive under DOS, one would need a SCSI card specific ASPI driver AND a DOS ASPI CDROM driver, such as ASPICD.SYS (which is not hardware specific) AND mscdex.exe loaded in autoexec.bat
d) ATAPI (IDE) DOS CDROM drivers typically do not expose an ASPI interface. One needs to load the driver (like oakcdrom.sys ) in config.sys and load mscdex.exe in autoexec.bat to access the drive under DOS. These drivers are mostly interchangeable and generic (oakcdrom.sys is just one of many one can use).
e) There exist so called ATASPI type DOS drivers that, AFAIU, expose an ASPI layer. Once such a driver is loaded successfully (in config.sys) for an ATAPI device, loading both ASPICD.SYS (or equivalent) and mscdex.exe should allow access to tbe ATAPI CDROM or CDRW under DOS
f) Again AFAIU, loading an ATASPI type DOS driver, ASPICD.SYS and mscdex.exe and using WINASPI.DLL under Windows 3.1 MIGHT allow Nero and /or other ASPI client software to access and use an ATAPI (IDE) CDRW burner. There may be reasons I do not know about why this cannot work and at least Nero documentation says this is unsupported
g) ATASPI is briefly discussed in the comments of this article https://www.os2museum.com/wp/the-secret-histo … comment-page-1/
h) ATASPI was introduced by Future Domain and was part of a commercial product called PowerIDE!
See https://wiki.preterhuman.net/Future_Dom ... _(09/1995)
i) ATASPI never caught on and I do not know if there are any free alternatives
j) Under Windows 9x, ASPI was implemented in a much more standard way, so as long as Windows controller drivers were installed (for SCSI, IDE, USB, FIREWIRE, etc) and an optical drive was connected and recognized by the OS, all that was needed was WINASPI32.DLL .

Please correct me as needed.