What is ASPI ?

[jigtam]

What is ASPI? How will new aspi from nero affect burning. Why does smartripper report no ASPI.How will force ASPI affect NERO

[diji1]

How will force ASPI affect NERO

I'm no expert, in fact i know diddly about it, but i think that Nero installs an aspi layer for you, which smartripper uses. i assumed it was nero that installed it anyhow, can't think what else it would be ( win2k has no native aspi layer ).

offtopic, can anyone tell me if winXP comes with native aspi layer ??

[mdkusr]

Your ASPI layer is for your SCSI drives. If you are having ASPI problem, I suspect you are running XP and it's still new to you.

Install the ASPI driver for XP found on this page - http://xp.xyu.ca/tweaks.htm - and it will fix your headaches.

To Microsoft: Why don't you have support for ASPI under XP? That's lame and somewhat unacceptable. You've only had how many years to get it right? How many years has SCSI been available too? Sad.

-M

[smokeslikeapoet]

The same goes for Win2k. I'm taking a Win2k course in school right now and today I passed around a floppy disk with Force ASPI on it because no one could use the CD burners. I think the instructor is impressed that she didn't figure it out. I'm not really sure what it is about CD drives. I know IDE was devloped for Hard Drives, CD-roms were originally availible for SCSI. In Linux all CD-rom drives are on the SCSI bus, whether they are SCSI or IDE. I think that something in the onboard controller of the CDROM drive makes the computer think it's a SCSI device?? Correct me if I'm wrong. I'll do some more research and find out. Here are definitions for "ASPI" and "ASPI Driver."

From http://whatis.techtarget.com :

ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface) specifies how an application program can communicate with a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) device through a common SCSI device driver. ASPI provides a set of functions that are common to any SCSI device.
Developed by Adaptec, ASPI has become the industry standard for controlling SCSI devices. The ASPI device driver is the program that actually interacts with the SCSI device. The layering looks something like this: application/utility, ASPI, ASPI driver, SCSI card.

and this as well:

In a personal computer, an ASPI driver is a software driver or program that uses the Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (ASPI) protocol to interface with the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) bus. The ASPI interface specification was developed by Adaptec as a means of sending commands to a SCSI host adapter. ASPI provides an abstraction layer that hides irrelevant details about the host adapter from the programmer and standardizes the interface to simplify application development.
Common Access Method (CAM), the main alternative to ASPI, performs the same basic tasks, but in a different and slightly more complicated way. CAM is not as widely used. ASPI is compatible with most operating systems, and has become the standard for enabling the development of applications and drivers that will work with all compatible SCSI adapters.

[smokeslikeapoet]

Ok, I do have better things to do than talk about ASPI, but one of the reasons I'm taking so much time this time is because it was brought up in class today. Here are some links to other ASPI information and resources.

Utility:
IDentify ASPI Devices: "ID checks the visibility of peripheral devices to aid in the diagnosis of ASPI driver problems."
http://grc.com/tip/id.htm

Info on the abandoned ASPI_ME project:
http://grc.com/aspi_me.htm

OH OH OH! I just found LEGAL ASPI drivers:
http://www.goldenhawk.com/download_body.htm

And of course the Google Search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=aspi+drivers

Someone let me know if the Golden Hawk drivers work. I don't wannabe a guinea pig.

[Corby]

To Microsoft: Why don't you have support for ASPI under XP? That's lame and somewhat unacceptable. You've only had how many years to get it right? How many years has SCSI been available too? Sad.


Microsoft had it's own Win32 SCSI API since NT 3.5 and it's the reason why they didn't use Adaptec's proprietary interface called ASPI
in NT/2K/XP.

Win32 generic SCSI API have much better performance than ASPI, so why the number of developers and apps using it (comparing to number of developers and apps using ASPI) is so small, remains mystery to me.

[mdkusr]

Originally posted by Corby

Win32 generic SCSI API have much better performance than ASPI, so why the number of developers and apps using it (comparing to number of developers and apps using ASPI) is so small, remains mystery to me.


SCSI is practially owned by Adaptec. MS - who's that in the name of SCSI? Nothing, that's what. I wouldn't trust my servers to some offshoot MS API when I need reliability. MS stepped into territory it shouldn't have, and that's why no one wants it. The deal with SCSI is, people are typically well educated when dealing in that realm, and know very well what MS is up to - MS has no way to pull some sort of veil over their eyes like some idiot person of the general public.

Here's your scenerio for the Win32 SCSI API's in 50 years - nothing will have changed unless it was publically said that MS had never bothered to update it. Is that something I want to trust my comapny to? The answer is no. I'd rather stake my bet on a company that has a general interest in making sure SCSI is still alive in those 50 years - mainly Adaptec who's core business relies on that simple fact.

-X

[smokeslikeapoet]

The link to ASPI drivers I posted before look suspiciously like Adaptec drivers. I guess they'll be there until Adaptec figures it out. Here's a link to a newer version of the same drivers. It's at the bottom of the page.

http://xp.xyu.ca/drivers.htm

Does anyone know of a Microsoft Knowledge Base or Technet article on ASPI? If so, can you post the link?

[mdkusr]

Hey! You found the same page I posted above! Looks like we are on the same page! Cool! Anyway, I personally know that those drivers work, so anyone that uses them will have no problems.

-X

[smokeslikeapoet]

Sorry, I must have not been paying attention. Anyway those are newer drivers Version 4.60 dated 1999.