Jump to content

Defragging MDs

Rate this topic


ROMBUSTERS

Recommended Posts

Since MDs use a 'mock-up' FAT file system is it at all possible to have the recorder defrag this disc? Personally i think it would make sense because after a while of editing discs there info scattered everywhere and although the memory buffer makes it possible to play without inturuptions i find the seek noise slightly annoying.this problem would be *mostly* solved if the data on the disc could be placed (physically) in order. Anyone know or is it just not something anyone cares about lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, if you look at a HiMD disc, all the music files are clumped together in large files, not as single files for each song. Even if you did edit a disc a whole lot, the files are still clumped in their own, larger file, so it's not really scattered everywhere.

Despite that, I would think that defragging a HiMD disc would put unnecessary stress on the optical block. (And what with these units being first-gen, I wouldn't risk it. tongue.gif)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, if you look at a HiMD disc, all the music files are clumped together in large files, not as single files for each song. Even if you did edit a disc a whole lot, the files are still clumped in their own, larger file, so it's not really scattered everywhere. 

Despite that, I would think that defragging a HiMD disc would put unnecessary stress on the optical block. (And what with these units being first-gen, I wouldn't risk it. tongue.gif)

I assume you mean that the data is seperated from the audio files via partitions (just like HDD). However this just means that there is a set amount of the overall data granted to each, not where each is placed. Therefore it is possible (although it would take numerous edits to get this bad) for a few kilobytes of an audio file to be located near the center of the disc while the next chunk is located on the outside, requiring seek time to get there. I understand your point about puttin excess work on the optical head however wouldnt it be nice for SS to create a temp copy of the disc contents, format it (by effectivly erasing its registry) and then start writing (in order) back to the disc?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, first off, it was my assumption that you wanted to defrag through Windows, which, given the organization of the disc, is not possible. huh.gif

But yes, I suppose it would be nice if SS offered that option, however without doing too much work, you could it yourself. Otherwise, SS would have to upload the contents of the disc onto the computer, and then wipe the disc clean, in addition to erasing the TOC of the disc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Yeah I tried it would have taken forever so I stopped it and erased everything then re-imported everything, much faster than the defrag.

You're right, it will take ages (at least with the defrag tool from win2k).

So here's my way to defrag a HiMD / MD in HiMD mode:

(Works at best with disks containing only music. with additional PC Files it will take longer)

-Start defrag, but press "check" instead of "defrag". You will see if defragmentation is necessary.

-Move the ATDATAxx.HMA (the big file in HIMDHIFI) from MD to the harddisk

-if you have additional files on the MD, it's a good idea to move them also.

-defrag the remaining files (They are small, it should take only a few minutes)

-move the additional files back to the disk (if there were some)

-At last, move the ATDATAxx.HMA from the Harddisk back to the MD. The file will now be on the MD in one single Fragment and hopefully at the end of the disk.

Defragmentation is usually caused when you erase a track in the middle.

CAUTION: If the big file is once moved to the HD, don't disconnect the unit until you have moved or copied it back to MD. Otherwise the unit tries to read the MD in "music mode", will fail to find it's HMA file and will probably ask you to format the Disk or will generate new keys, which makes the file unusable.

If you do it exactly this way, the disk should be playable anymore. I've tested it with a not so important disk and it worked very well for me. It even works if the File is bigger than half the size of the disk. In this case the defrag tool won't even touch the file.

So at last we CAN get a defragged version of our recordings saving battery power. Something we missed sometimes often the old MDs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...