Ricoh MP7125A IDE CDR-W - Page 1

Introduction:
Ricoh introduced back in 2000 the "JustLink" technology which helped user eliminate coasters from buffer underrun errors. The first drive which was supplied with this technology was the MP9120A. After quite long time, Ricoh shipped in 2001 the second model (MP7125A), which supports "JustLink" technology. The drive's features are the same with what the competitive drives (from Sanyo, Plextor, TDK) have to offer but includes different anti-coaster technology. Could the new drive stand the competition? Do we have here an alternative solution for our burning needs? Continue reading...

Supplied Package:
The package supplied was the retail Europe version. This included: The drive itself, a set-up guide, 1 CD-R blank, 1 High Speed RW Blank, Audio cables and mounting screws. The software supplied with the MP7120A was: Nero Burning ROM v5.0.3.0 and Ahead InCD v1.69 (for packet writing use). There isn't any printed manual included - just an electronic pdf file. Another issues is that the drive's retail package advertises that the drive has Ricoh 80min sample CD inside when our package had Ricoh's 74min CD inside. Not a big problem but it's nice to see all the advertised features included.

The front of the drive reminds a typical Ricoh CDR-W drive. It includes the drive model code (MP7125A) along with the "JustLink" and "HighSpeed" logo and the drive features (12/10/32). You will also find only one led, the eject button, the headphone input jack/volume selector:

At the back of the drive we will find the usual connectors (IDE interface, power), the jumpers for making the drive Master/Slave, the SPDIF output connector and 3 jumpers which are not used (factory reserved).

Installation:

ATAPI CDR-W drives are simple to install. Just decide what the drive should be, master or slave, set the appropriate jumper and start! After booting, the CDR-W identified itself as the Ricoh CD-R/RW MP7125A. We unchecked the Auto Insert notification, checked DMA and rebooted. The drive was a December 2000 model with firmware revision v1.00. For most of our tests we used the latest Nero v5.0.4.4 among with Ahead InCD 1.82.

We also noticed a weird bug in the latest CloneCD v2.8.4.3..Even the program doesn't show up that the drive supports "JustLink" technology, in the real world tests the JustLink works just fine. We guess that CloneCD authors must update the software in order fully support the drive.

Test Machine:
WinMe OS
Soyo 7VCA
Celeron II 566 over clocked to 850 MHz
128MB SDRAM PC 133
WD 18GB UDMA 66
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA 33
DAWI 2975 - PCI (ULTRA) SCSI Host Adapter
ATI AIW 128
PlexWriter PX-W1210A firmware v1.07 (TLA#000)
Ricoh MP7120A firmware v1.20
Ricoh MP7125A firmware v1.00
Ricoh MP9120A firmware v1.20