User's Guide
User's Guide
As explained in the introduction, RAW-MODE is important to reproduce some special CD layouts.
As we're in a real complex world, there are SEVERAL kinds of raw mode, differently supported by CD writers.
Some units support every RAW mode possible, others only support a few, and even rare units support no RAW mode at all.
Here is a list of every mode supported by Blindwrite, in the order of preference:
* DAO PW - Supports ANY kind of CD scheme. The best of all.
* DAO TEAC - A cousin to DAO PW, only available on TEAC55 units or clones.
* DAO PQ - A good alternative to DAO PW - Doesn't support CD-TEXT or CD-G+D
* SAO RAW RW - Doesn't support fake TOC (the unit returns error 05 24 00), doesn't support special Subcode schemes.
* SAO RAW - Supports only uncorrected writing - not so bad in fact, it's still ok in most cases.
* SAO COOKED - This last mode is a "compatibility" mode, which isn't RAW. So it doesn't produce working copies of copy-protected CD's, but still produces normal CD's as any other CD recording application.
Here is a summary of all writing modes with their capabilities:
| Writing mode | Useable with | Description | Usage |
| DAO PW | 100% RAW compatible writers | Data is written raw, all Subcodes are supplied by the application. | Any - CD, CD-I, ... Your CD writer MUST be RAW P-W compatible |
| DAO TEAC | TEAC 55 or clones | Data is written raw, TOC is generated by the CD writer, all subcodes are supplied by the application | Any - it is just a little less powerful than
DAO PW
TEAC55 supports this mode only, and this mode is available ONLY on TEAC55 units. |
| DAO (PQ subs) | RAW compatible writers | Data is written raw, PQ Subcodes are supplied by the application, RW Subcodes are set to zero by the writer. | Any CD that contains bad sectors, and/or has a special PQ Subcode layout. Your CD writer MUST be RAW PQ compatible |
| SAO RAW (RW subs) | recent writers (rarely supported) | Data is written raw, PQ Subcodes are generated by the CD writer, and R-W Subcodes are supplied by the application. | Any CD that contains bad sectors, and doesn't have a special Subcode layout. This mode is not supported often. |
| SAO RAW (no subs) | most recent writers | Data is written raw, all Subcodes are generated by the CD writer. | Any CD that contains bad sectors, and doesn't have a special Subcode layout. This mode is supported frequently. |
| SAO Cooked | Almost all writers capable of session at once writing | Data is written corrected, all Subcodes are supplied by the CD unit. This is NOT a RAW mode. | When everything else has failed. |
As DAO mode is clearly the best available, one could think that this mode should be used anytime. It may, but that's not the best. The complete technical issue is rather complex and out of the purpose of this user manual. In the facts, The DAO mode produces CD's with less readability than the SAO mode. For short, the data sent to the laser head is more accurately timed, and the power calibration of the laser head is more accurate with a SAO writing mode. That makes CD's easier to read, and sharper.
As a conclusion, if you know what's needed to reproduce a given CD (special subcodes or not), using SAO as often as possible is a better choice. If you don't know all that, and don't want to know, you may choose a DAO writing mode every time if your CD writer allows it.