Abstract: A control adjustment method for adjusting a control of a recording/reproduction apparatus for a disc-shaped recording medium is provided, wherein the control is adjusted in response to an environmental change inside the recording/reproduction apparatus, such as a temperature change, the control adjustment method comprising the steps of: requesting an execution of the control adjustment; determining whether to inhibit or approve the execution of the control adjustment; and executing the control adjustment in the case where the execution of the control adjustment is approved in the step of determining the execution of adjustment.

Abstract: External drive components and computers having external drive components with disabling systems that restrict access to software and other computer-readable media in the external drive components only to authorized users. In one embodiment, a computer includes a processor, a power supply coupled to the processor, and an external drive component. The external drive component can include a head capable of reading and/or writing data on a computer-readable medium, a holder configured to hold the computer-readable medium in an operating position in which the head can read data from the computer-readable medium, and a drive assembly coupled to the holder. The drive assembly moves the holder and/or the computer-readable medium from the operating position to a load/unload position in which the computer-readable medium is accessible to a user. The computer can also include a disabling system coupled to the drive assembly.

Abstract: A portable optical disc apparatus made into a slim-type apparatus and an optical disc adapted for the portable optical disc apparatus are disclosed. In the portable optical disc apparatus, a pickup is secured onto a base, and a movable member in the pickup is operated to access only an area within a specific radius range that is a partial area of the optical disc.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an intelligent disk drive. In one arrangement, the disk drive is configured to be operated by detecting insertion of a disk within the disk drive, reading contents of the disk, and storing a copy of the disk contents in a designated location within memory as a back-up version. In another arrangement, the disk drive is configured to be operated by detecting a shut down procedure of the computing device, and transmitting an ejection command to the disk drive to cause an ejection mechanism of the disk drive to actuate to eject a floppy disk inserted within the disk drive.

Abstract: A playback device for disk-shaped recording media is proposed, which makes it possible to skip over storage data groups on audio disks. The playback device includes a scanning device and a device for evaluating content data recorded in a start-up area on the recording medium. The recording medium inserted in the playback device is recognized as a storage disk or as an audio disk, depending on the evaluation of the content data. In the event that a storage disk is recognized, a playback process is terminated, and in the event an audio disk is recognized, the scanning device skips to a just addressed title of the audio disk. The scanning device, during the playback of a title of the audio disk, scans coded supplemental information data recorded with respect to this title. The evaluation device, on the basis of the supplemental information, recognizes whether the title just played is an audio data group or a storage data group.

Abstract: When a medium is stored or removed manually, all slots must be checked to find any change in medium information, and as a result, updating medium storage information takes a long time. A medium controller, having a plurality of media and a medium transfer unit to take a medium in and out of storage and move the medium for reading or writing information, comprises slots in which media are store, sensors each mounted in a slot for detecting whether there is a medium in the slot; a sensor manager for holding a log of the status transitions of the sensors in a period when media are likely to be stored or removed manually and deciding the status transitions; and means for reading medium information. Only when it is decided from a decision result of the sensor manager that the medium has been replaced, the media controller causes the means for reading medium information to read medium information in order to update the medium storage information.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for providing continuous uninterrupted playback of a dual sided optical disk during side-to-side changing of the optical disk. The point at which a dual-sided optical disk will be switched between sides is determined. At some point prior to the switching of sides of the disk, a portion of the data at the end of the first side of the disk is transferred to a memory. During the switching of the disk to the second side, the stored data is read out from the memory to provide uninterrupted continuous playback of the optical disk.

Abstract: In an optical or magnetic disc audio system, during conventional play the audio is decoded and played from the disc (RDISC) under the direction of a presentation control (PC) and the subcodes indicating time on the disc, track number and so forth are generated. Depending on the system hardware, for some speeds and directions (other than normal play) it may not be possible to decode real subcodes from the disc, and an emulator module (EMU) is switched in at these times. The emulator (EMU) plays a virtual disc (VDISC) using a timer (TIM) and the table of contents (TOC) from the real disc. While the audio is not replayed, the track and time listing display (DISP) is kept up to date, with a typical update for each second of real disc play time. As an extension to this feature, the emulator module (EMU) periodically generates seek commands for the read head in relation to the real disc (RDISC) such that, when normal playback is resumed, there is minimal delay in locating the chosen audio.

Abstract: A method is provided for extracting music data from a compact disc and managing the music data. The method is configured to have the system extract at least a portion of an initial track of music data at an extracting rate that is greater than the listening rate. The system simultaneously writes the extracted portion of the initial track of music data to a storage media at the extracting rate while performing the extracting. Meanwhile, a user may listen to at least a portion of the extracted portion of the initial track of music data from the storage media at the listening rate.

Abstract: A disc player is proposed for playing discs with optically stored data on which information is digitally stored in tracks. The disc player has a read/write memory for buffering data blocks that are read into the read/write memory at a first clock rate and are read out of the read/write memory at a second clock rate. To fill the read/write memory, the first clock rate is selected to be greater than the second. The data stored in the read/write memory can be read out throughout the duration of a track jump. Moreover, an operating mode is provided in which excerpts of music pieces stored on a compact disc are played in sequence. At the first clock rate, a sufficiently large quantity of data can be stored in the read/write memory to ensure that the data can be reproduced at the second clock rate throughout the entire duration of the jump times.

Abstract: A storage device includes a disk medium having tracks in a plurality of guard areas which do not have ID information. Control means controls the head driving means by preventing positioning of the head to the guard areas. The device assures highly reliable and high speed access even when density is high by ensuring movement and positioning of the head across the storage medium in data areas which have ID information.

Abstract: The present invention is a reproducing apparatus that reproduces data from a record medium on which text information such as a title of a program is recorded in a plurality of languages and identifiers for identifying recorded languages are recorded as codes wherein a language that has been designated is used as a default language. Thus, without need to designate a language, text information in the default language is automatically read from a record medium and displayed.