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Virtual Master 5 Troubleshooting

In this section, common mistakes and problems that occur when using vDisc are discussed in Q & A format.
When you encounter a problem, please refer to this section first. Most problems can be resolved easily. If your problem does not appear in this section, please contact support through FAX or email.

About intalling

Q1 While installing Virtual Master, the next button on the name & company name register dialogue does not activate, and I cannot continue installing. The machine that I am installing Virtual Master is a personal machine, and therefore, no company name is registered on my Windows.

A When asked to enter your name and company name on the register dialogue, without a company name, installing cannot proceed. It is necessary that you enter a company name. You may enter your name once more as your company name.

Q2a I am using Windows2000 (WindowsXP). I restarted Windows after installing Virtual Master, and was told that [A new hardware has been detected] and to restart Windows again.

Q2b I am using Windows2000 (WindowsXP). I restarted Windows after installing Virtual Master, and was told that [The Virtual Hardware has not yet been installed] and cannot use Virtual Master.

A On some Windows2000/XP environments, restarting Windows immediately after installing Virtual Master may not reflect Virtual Master's install info correctly.
If that is the case, you will see either [A new hardware has been detected] or [The Virtual Hardware has not yet been installed]. Please restart Windows again.
Restarting Windows will record the correct install info.

Unable to Create Virtual Disc

Q1 I am using a 4x readable CD-ROM drive and cannot virtualize an audio CD.

A Old types of CD-ROM drives that do not support digital reading of audio CDs cannot virtualize CDs that contain audio tracks, such as CD-DA, MixmodeCD, and CD Extra. To virtualize CDs that contain audio tracks, please use a disc drive that supports digital reading. Many of the CD-ROM drives that do not support digital reading are 4x to 6x readables. For further details of your drive, please contact its manufacturer.

Q2 I am using a CD-ROM drive of a foreign brand, and cannot create Virtual Discs.

A There are CD-ROM drives that do not follow normal CD-ROM standards and use a special controlling method. If you are using this type, CD Extra, VideoCD and CD-ROM XA (mode 2) format CDs cannot be virtualized. This problem is commonly seen with CD-ROM drives of foreign brand.
In some cases, changing the reading routine using the [Optional settings] when Virtualizing may resolve this problem.

Q3 I cannot create a Virtual Disc when I use Bus Master IDE.

A On some environments using the Bus Master IDE driver accompanied to the motherboard, CD Extra, Video CD, CD-ROM XA (mode 2) format CDs cannot be virtualized. In this case, uninstall the Bus Master IDE driver and use Windows' Standard IDE controller. This will let you virtualize the above CDs. There are also reports that this problem can be fixed by updating the IDE driver to the latest version by downloading it from your motherboard manufacturer's homepage.

Q4 I tried to virtualize a game CD, but it failed midway.

A Some game and multimedia CDs in Mixmode CD and CD Extra format may have protections against CD-R copying. [Virtual Discs] are also a type of copy, and protected CDs cannot be virtualized (copied). The protected parts cannot be read.

Q5 I tried to virtualize a DVD, but it failed midway.

A There are many DVD's that are copy protected. [Virtual Discs] are also a type of copy, and protected CDs cannot be virtualized (copied). The protected parts cannot be read.

Q6 I can virtualize regular audio CDs and data CD-ROM. However, virtualizing CD Extra and Video CD fails.

A On some CD-ROM drives, when virtualizing CD-ROM XA (mode2) such as CD Extra and Video CDs, the contents of the CD becomes unrecognizable during virtualizing and is forced to stop. In this case, refer to [Switching CD's reading routine] from the [Advanced settings] section for instructions to resolve this problem.

Does not run properly

Q7 After increasing the number of Virtual Disc Drives, I cannot load my MO from its desktop shortcut.

A When the number of Virtual Disc Drives is increased, the drive letters of real CD- ROM drives and removable drives, such as MOs can change. In this case, when reading a file from one of these drives, the target drive setting needs to be changed. Go to the Control Panel and open [System]. Load the [System Property] and check the drive letter of the connected drive. If you have any desktop shortcuts on your desktop, please recreate the shortcuts. If you have allocated a removable drive to an application, please change its settings so that the appropriate drive is selected.

Q8 I loaded a game from a Virtual Disc, however there is no BGM.

A When virtualizing CDs that contain audio tracks such as CD-DA (audio CD) and Mixmode CDs, vDisc virtualizes the audio data to Wave file format. Some game BGM are played using audio tracks, but depending on the soundcard, only sound effects are interpreted. This occurs because the soundcard does not interpret the Wave sound contained in the audio track that the Virtual Disc transmits with the Wave sound effect.

Q9a On Windows98, I increased the number of Virtual Disc Drives to 10 by changing vDisc's setting. However, I cannot play the audio CD mounted on the 9th Virtual Disc Drive.

Q9b On Windows98, I increased the number of Virtual Disc Drives to 8. After changing vDisc's settings, I cannot play the audio CD, mounted on my real CD-ROM, with Window's CD Player.

A When more than 8 Virtual Disc Drives are setup, in some cases, Windows' [CD Player] is unable to recognize the 9th Virtual Disc Drive and on. The [CD Player] may also not recognize some of the Virtual Disc Drives when the total number of disc drives exceed 8, including real CD-ROM.

Q10 I am using WindowsMe's Windows Media Player to play audio CDs. However, I cannot hear music when using a Virtual audio CD on Windows Media Player in [Digital play] setting.

A On some WindowsMe environments, when [Digital Play] is active on Windows Media Player ver.7, the music on Virtual audio CD may not be played. When this problem occurs, please tick-off the [Digital Play] checkbox located under [CD audio] in Windows Media Player , [Tool], [Option] settings.

Q11 Using the [Virtualize folder] function, I created a Virtual Multimedia Disc from a folder containing MPEG video files. However, the video contents do not play when I mount the disc onto a Virtual Disc Drive.

A There are some DVD Players that do not recognize video data of [Virtual Multimedia Discs] made from MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 movie files. In this case, select [Select Multimedia playing software] from the [Special] menu in the Mounting window where you can reselect a player that recognizes the Virtual Multimedia Disc.

Q12a I tried to [Suspend] Windows XP, but was warned that the [PC cannot suspend due to SCSI/RAID host controller]. My PC does not suspend.

Q12b I tried to [Suspend] Windows 2000, but was warned that the [PC cannot suspend due to SCSI/RAID host controller]. My PC does not suspend.

A On some Windows2000/XP environments, the Virtual Hardware driver and power management related driver interfere with each other, disabling suspend mode. When this problem occurs, please follow the instructions below to change the driver status.
Before starting, please check that Virtual Master is properly installed on your machine and that each of Virtual Master's functions (vDiscBOX, Easy Writer, DiscMaker) can be used.

Insert install CD in CD-ROM drive.
(Install procedures are explained so that the CD-ROM drive containing the install CD is drive X. If you downloaded the program from the internet, please expand it.)
Right click on the vDisc stationing program in the task tray. Select Exit vDisc.
Click the Start button and select the "Control Panel". (When in Classic mode or Windows 2000, click the Start button and select the "Control Panel" under "Settings".)
After opening the Control Panel, select "Printer and other Hardware." (In Classic mode or Windows 2000, this procedure is unnecessary.)
Select "Add Hardware" in "Related items" on the left side.
(In Classic mode, doubleclick "Add hardware" from the "Control Panel". With Windows 2000, double click "Add and delete hardware".)
The "Add hardware wizard" ("Add and delete hardware wizard" in Windows2000) will appear. "Click next".
Please wait for a moment while hardware are being searched.
(In Windows2000, select "Add hardware/Troubleshooting" for hardware search.)
A dialogue will ask you "Is the hardware connected?". Select "Yes, the hardware is connected (Y)" and click "Next".
(In Windows 2000, this step does not show up.)
A dialogue to select "Installed hardware" will appear. Scroll to the very bottom and select "Add new hardware device". Click "Next".
(In Windows 2000, "Add new device" will appear at the top. Select it and click "Next")
A dialogue to "Select how to install driver" will appear. Select "Install hardware selected from list" and click "Next".
(In Windows2000, select "No, install hardware selected from list (O)".)
A dialogue to select hardware to install will appear. Select "SCSI and RAID controller" anc click "Next".
A dialogue will say, "Select the device driver for the hardware you are installing". Click "Use disc (H)" button.
(In Windows 2000, the dialogue will say, "Select the hardware device manufacturer and model. Then click 'Next'".)
A dialogue to select the driver copying source will appear.
Either enter X:\ (The drive containing the install CD), or select X CD-ROM drive from the "Browse" button. (If you downloaded the program from the internet, select the folder containing the install program and click "OK".)
A file selecting dialogue will appear. Select "TCVDD.INF" and click "Open". When either "X:\" or the folder containing the install program appears as the driver copy source, click "OK".
The "Model" will appear, so select the device driver, "TOMCAT Virtual disc drive w2k Host Adapter". Click "Next".
[Important!] On this window, driver, "Tomcat Virtual CDRD w9x host adapter" cannot be used with Windows 2000 nor XP.
"Preparation to install hardware is done". Click "Next".
Here, you will be warned that the hardware has not passed Windows' logo test, click "Continue" to continue installing.
(In Window 2000, this step does not show up.)
When the driver file copying is done, "Add hardware wizard is done" will appear.
(In Windows 2000, this step does not show up.)
Here, do not click "Finish". Click "Display this hardware's resource or change it" link.
[Important!] In Windows XP, if you click the "Finish" button, the driver will not be installed properly.
With Windows XP it is essential that you click the link, "Display this hardware's resource or change it".
The "Add hardware wizard property" will appear. Click the "Manual composition" button.
(In Windows2000, you will be told that the "Hardware settings cannot be found". Click "OK".)
The "Add hardware wizard property"'s display will change. Check that the "Setting name" is "Standard settings 0000" and the "I/O range" is "3150-3153". Click "OK".
If the "I/O range" is "?", click the "I/O range" and click "Change settings". Select "3150-3153" as the "I/O range" and click "OK". You will return to the "Add hardware wizard property". Check that the "Setting name" is "Standard settings 0000" and the "I/O range" is "3150-3153". Click "OK".
In Windows 2000, you will be told "There is no digital authentication". Click "OK". to continue installing.
When you return to the "Add hardware wizard is done" dialogue, click "Finish".
Here, restart Windows.
After restarting Windows, open the Control Panel and select "Printer and other hardware".
(In Classic mode or Windows 2000, the is procedure is unnecessary.)
Select "System" from the "Related items" on the left side.
(In Classic mode or Windows 2000, doubleclick "System" from the "Control Panel".)
The "System property" will appear, so open the "Hardware" tab and click the "Device manager" button.
When the "Device manager" is displayed, click to open the "SCSI and RAID Controller" category. Right click on "SCSI/RAID host controller"and click "Delete"
(A " ! " mark will show up on "SCSI/RAID host controller". Delete it.)
Here, a dialogue may say, "You are about to delete SCSI/RAID host controller." Click "OK".
Restart Windows again.
After restarting Windows, please check that each of Virtual Master's functions are working properly, and that you can now suspend your PC.

Unstable performance

Q13a After activating automatic notifier from the CD-ROM category in the [Devicemanager] when a disc is inserted in Virtual Disc Drive, vDisc's performance became unstable.

Q13b After activating auto notifier from the CD-ROM category in the [Device manager], when a disc is inserted in a real CD-R drive, vDisc's performance became unstable.

A Virtual Disc Drive does not use Windows' standard, [Auto insert notifier]. If you would like to play the contents of a Virtual Disc automatically, doubleclick the Virtual Disc in the Mounting window, or doubleclick the Virtual Disc Drive where the Virtual Disc you want to play is mounted.
On some systems, when Windows' [Auto insert notifier] is used, the real CD-R drive may not be able to read and write data and the work progress may not be properly shown in a progress bar. Please do not use [Auto insert notifier] when possible.
When the performance is unstable, right click on MyComputer and open [Property]. Select the [Device manager] and deactivate [Auto insert notifier] from the setup of the CD-ROM drives in the CD-ROM drive category.

Effect on other software

Q14a After installing vDisc, the drive letter of the real DVD-ROM drive changed. So, from the DVD player, I changed the real DVD-ROM drive letter to the drive letter allocated to it after installing vDisc. However, I still cannot play DVD video from the real DVD-ROM.

Q14b The DVD player I use does not have functions to change the drive letter of DVD-ROM drives and I cannot make my player recognize the DVD-ROM's new drive letter that was allocated when Virtual Master was installed.

A On some DVD players, the drive letter settings cannot be changed or even when changed, they may not be recognized and playing DVD fails. In this case, please follow the steps below to shift the drive letters of the Virtual Disc Drives. This will empty the drive letters that the DVD(CD)-ROM drive used to occupy before Virtual Master was installed. After shifting the drive letters, change the Windows settings so that the real DVD(CD)-ROM drives can take their original drive letters again.

Quit all running applications.
Right click on [MyComputer] and select [Property].
The [System property] will appear. Open the [Device manager] tab.
Doubleclick the [CD-ROM] category.
You should see the Virtual Disc Drives and real DVD(CD)-ROM drives.
First, change the drive letters of the Virtual Disc Drives. Doubleclick the [TOMCAT VCDRD T0L0] drive.
The [TOMCAT VCDRD T0L0 Property] will appear. Open the [Settings] tab.
Under that tab, the [Current drive letter] and [Reserved drive letter] items can be found.
In the [Reserved drive letter] setting, enter a drive letter that was not occupied by the real DVD(CD)-ROM. After entering the same drive letter in the [Starting drive] and [Ending drive], click [OK].
Eg: [Starting drive Q:] [Ending drive Q:]
In the same way, referring to steps 4 to 8 again, allocate a drive letter to all Virtual Disc Drives, such as [R: drive] to [TOMCAT VCDRD T1L0] and [S: drive] to [TOMCAT VCDRD T2L0].
Finally, after all Virtual Disc Drive letters have been transferred, allocate the real DVD(CD)-ROM drives to their original drive letters using steps 4 to 8 once more.
After all real drives are allocated the drive letters they had before Virtual Master was installed, close the [System property] dialogue by clicking [OK]. Then, to reflect the changed settings, you will be asked to restart Windows. Click [Yes] on the dialogue and restart Windows.
Once Windows is restarted, the drive letter setting should be updated.
Please check the performance of the software that you are using to read real DVD(CD)-ROM drives.

Writing errors

Q15 I tried to copy a Virtual Disc onto a real CD-R using a writing software, but an error occurred while copying and writing failed.

A Virtual Discs mounted on Virtual Disc Drives can be copied onto real CD-R using a writing software. However, the writing softwares that fully support this function are [DiscMaker] and [CD-Maker]. We have learned that it works with many other writing softwares as well. But depending on environmental factors, they may not function properly. If your writing software does not allow such use, or if it fails frequently, do not use your writing software to copy Virtual Discs.
The name(s) of other writing software(s) will be listed on the TOMCAT website when we confirmed the full support of coping Virtual Discs made by vDisc.

About Netmedia

Q1 I would like to use the network function and have completed the setup of the Netmedia server. I tried to setup the client machine, but I cannot see where the Netmedia info is saved on the server from the client's dialogue.

A Unless the folder containing the Netmedia info is shared, the Netmedia info cannot be used because it cannot be read by the client machine.
After the creating and setting the Netmedia info folder on the Netmedia server, do not forget to share the folder.

Q2 I am trying to register a Virtual Disc I've been using locally onto the Netmedia info, but have failed.

A Before registering the Virtual Disc onto the Netmedia info, the folder containing the Virtual Disc needs to be shared. Please check the location of the Virtual Disc's folder from the Virtual Disc Rack in [Detail] mode and enable folder sharing before you register it onto the Netmedia info.

Q3 After I changed the settings of the folder containing the Netmedia info, all Virtual Discs I've been using from Netmedia disappeared from the list.

A If the settings of the folder containing the Netmedia info is changed while using Netmedia, a new Netmedia info file is created without carrying over the settings of the old file. If you would like to the find the Virtual Discs you were previously using, please change the Netmedia info back to its original settings.

Q4 Using the Netmedia info, I tried to play a Virtual Disc, which exists on a WindowsMe machine, on a WindowsXP machine. Sometimes, I am warned, [Virtual Disc cannot be accessed] and mounting of the Virtual Disc fails.

A Very rarely, on WindowsXP, Virtual Disc mounting from a different machine fails depending on the timing you access it. In this case, try remounting it after ten seconds or so with t Netmedia window open. Normally, the Virtual Disc can be mounted and used in this way.
If this does not resolve your problem, there may be problems with the OS' network settings that's causing the instable performance. Please check that your network settings comply with the OS' regulations and are correct.

Q5 Some of the shared Virtual Disc icons on the Virtual Disc Rack do not show up properly and cannot be mounted. Of the machines connected to the network, two of them are shut down.

A When the hosting machines of the shared Virtual Discs are not turned on, the icon of those discs are deactivated and cannot be used to mount. To use those discs, please turn on the their hosting machine. When they have logged onto the network, click the [Update info] button on the Mounting window to enable usage of the Virtual Discs.

Q6 When I changed the name of a shared Virtual Disc, its disc icon does not show up properly and cannot be used.

A When the name of a shared Virtual Disc is changed, the disc is unregistered from the Netmedia info and cannot be used. To use the disc once more, please check that the folder containing the Virtual Disc is setup properly for sharing. Then, reregister it onto the Netmedia info.

Q7a I am trying to setup a Virtual Master server on a network of more than 100 machines and machine browsing takes a long time.

Q7b I am trying to setup a Virtual Master server on a network intermixed with LAN and WAN and machine browsing takes a long time.

A When [Check OS function] is selected as the [Network check] on networks including machines with slow connection speeds, it may take some time to browse for machines. In this case, switch the network check to [Use quick check] which excludes the computers that do not have Virtual Master instaled from checking targets so that high speed browsing becomes possible.

Q8 Using Windows2000 (XP) machine installed using NTFS, I mounted a Virtual Disc that I file copied from Explorer on my Virtual Disc Rack. However, I cannot share that Virtual Disc with other Windows2000 (XP) machines.

A When you copy a Virtual Disc on an NTFS hard drive, the security settings are also copied with the Virtual Disc. Depending on those settings, the disc cannot be shared over the network. To avoid this problem, when copying or transferring a Virtual Disc, it is recommended to use the [Export Virtual Disc] and [Import Virtual Disc] functions.