> > 1) you have to get the IDE spec (the 40 pin cable) so that you can
> > communicate with the CD-ROM drive (there was some talk about IDE drives on
> > this list a while ago).
>
> pinout
> http://www.datatechnology.com/dtc/support/pins.htm
>
Thank you. I have found it at
http://www.datatechnology.com/dtc/support/text/ide_pins.txt

> Wads and wads of specs for ATA
> http://www-iist.scu.edu/IIST/documents/ata2_spec
>
Well it is a perfect site about ATA. Unfortunately, it only describes
the commands to harddisk drives but not to cd-rom drives.


> > 2) you would have to figure out how mscdex.exe works (ie. you need the low
> > level routines to communicate with the drive to initiate the audio
 controls).
>
> Easier route might be the linux source code, for the IDE driver.

Well, both the linux code and the mscdex communicates with the
IDE-controller, not with the cd-rom drive itself. I don't know what
translation and protocol handling the IDE-controller does. My
intention is to control the cd-rom directly without the need of an
IDE controller.


It doesn't look too difficult to control a cd-rom from a hardware
point of view - there is only a 40 pin connector, but it seems as if the
future of my project depends on finding docs about the ATA-commands.



Siegfried Grob
Siegfried Grob
Buchbronnenweg 38
89134 Blaustein
Tel/Fax/AB: 07304 - 921372