           CDBENCH v1.2 - a CD-ROM benchmark program
           -----------------------------------------

CDBENCH version 1.2 is Freeware by Roger Burrows, Anodyne Software.
It is hereby placed in the public domain, and may be freely copied
and distributed.  Please keep the program executable and this
documentation together - thanks.



Description
-----------
CDBENCH is a program that measures the following performance
characteristics of a CD-ROM drive:

Random access time
    This is measured by performing multiple random accesses and
    reads of data blocks (sectors) over the whole area of the
    CD-ROM media, recorded up to a position of 60:02:00 (equivalent
    to 60mins 02secs on an audio CD).  The time is reported in
    milliseconds.

Full stroke access time
    This is measured by performing multiple maximum travel accesses
    from 00:02:00 to 60:02:00.  The time is reported in milliseconds.

Data transfer rate
    This is measured by performing reads of multiple adjacent data
    sectors.  The rate is reported in kilobytes per second.  In order
    to properly evaluate constant-angular-velocity drives (otherwise
    known as variable-speed drives), the transfer rate is measured at
    both the start and the end of the CD-ROM medium (i.e. at 00:02:00
    and 60:02:00).

CDBENCH requires the support for CD-ROM physical I/O that is provided
by (for example) ExtenDOS GOLD.



How to use CDBENCH
------------------
Double-click on CDBENCH.TTP.  When the dialog box is displayed, just
press enter.  You will be prompted for the drive letter corresponding
to your CD-ROM drive.  The tests described above will be run, the
results will be displayed, and CDBENCH will wait for you to press
enter before returning to the desktop.

If you are running from a command-line shell such as Gulam, you may
enter the drive letter as an argument to CDBENCH; in this case, there
will be no prompt, and no pause at the end of processing.



Notes
-----
1. Since the program accesses the CD-ROM area up to 60:02:00, you
   must ensure that a fairly 'full' CD-ROM is in the drive; if there
   is less than about 528MB of data on the drive, the tests will not
   run.
2. It is normal to see slight variances in the results for the same
   drive from different runs of CDBENCH, particularly in random access
   times.



Sample CD-ROM Performance Metrics 
---------------------------------
The following results were obtained for selected CD-ROM drives,
using CDBENCH on a TT030:

                            Random     Full     Transfer (KB/s)
    Drive                   access    stroke      start / end
    -----                  -------    ------    ---------------
    Plextor 4plex           255       410          615 / 600
    TEAC 55S (CD-R)         190       320         1215 / 1200
    Toshiba 3301            350 ms    455 ms       150 / 150
    Toshiba 3401            220 ms    290 ms       330 / 330
    Toshiba 5301            200 ms    310 ms       599 / 601
    Yamaha 6416 (CD-RW)     155 ms    225 ms      1708 / 1692

The following values were measured with CDBENCH v1.0, which only
measures one transfer rate, and that somewhat less accurately
than v1.2.  Note that access times are comparable with those
measured by v1.2, as the algorithm has not changed:

                            Random     Full     Transfer rate
    Drive                   access    stroke       (KB/sec)
    -----                  -------    ------    -------------
    AppleCD SC Plus         385 ms    550 ms         147
    Atari CDAR-504         1844 ms   3407 ms          51
    NEC CDR25               982 ms   2004 ms         151
    NEC 3Xp                 344 ms    548 ms         436
    Panasonic CR-501        450 ms    770 ms         147
    Sony CDU-561            298 ms    488 ms         294



About ExtenDOS Gold
-------------------
ExtenDOS Gold is an extension to Atari operating systems, including
TOS, MultiTOS, MagiC, and Geneva.  It supports a wide range of
CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW drives on all Atari TOS-based systems,
including the ST, STe, TT030, and Falcon030.

It allows a CD-ROM to be treated as a very large, removable hard disk,
and supports the photoCD (XA) format on most CD-ROM drives.  It also
includes a program / desk accessory that allows you to play audio CDs
on most CD-ROM drives.  With selected drives, direct copying of audio
tracks to a hard drive is supported.

In conjunction with Anodyne Software's CD Writer package, ExtenDOS
Gold also supports recording to CD-R and CD-RW disks.

ExtenDOS Gold is available from your Atari dealer, or direct from
Anodyne Software at the following address:

     Anodyne Software
     6 Cobbler Court
     Ottawa
     Ontario K1V 0B8
     CANADA.

If you have Internet access, visit our web site at:
     http://www.cyberus.ca/~anodyne
or contact us by email at:
     anodyne@cyberus.ca

Roger Burrows
1/May/2000