Activation of the trace mode causes the table of contents and directory of any CD examined to be recorded in a file.  It does not record the contents of any of the files contained on the disc.

The purpose of this is to allow Arrowkey to diagnose your media without having the actual disc in our hands.  It is also useful occasionally when diagnosing problems with specific devices as this kind of information is also placed in the trace file.  The trace file also allows us to know what software was used to create the disc.

There are two ways of activating the trace.  One is through the Preferences and the other is through the command line.

To activate the trace through the Preferences dialog, first remove all discs from CD devices.  This will prevent the software from beginning the examination and it will start without any device selected.  Then, select the Preferences item from the File menu and press Alt-D.  You will see a message saying that tracing has been activated.  Now use the Select Device menu selection (under File) to select a device and examine the disc. 

Important:
If you used the Preferences technique, after you have collected the information you need about a disc you should turn tracing off.  This is done the same way it is activated: by pressing Alt-D from the Preferences dialog.  If you do not do this, information will continue to be recorded in the trace file and this file may grow to be quite large.

When you report a problem with Data Retriever, you may be requested to use the command-line technique specifically.  This collects information about the startup process of Data Retriever.  If Data Retriever is crashing or hanging during startup, you should always use the -d2 technique described below.

To activate the trace through the command line, use the Start button and select Run.  Then, click the Browse button and locate where Data Retriever is installed – it is by default placed in C:\Program Files\Arrowkey\DataRetriever.  Then, add the option “-d” (without the quotes) to the end of the line, adding a space after the file name shown.  Click the OK button and Data Retriever will start with the trace activated.  It should look similar to this:

Note that the quotes around the filename are required.

 In cases where Data Retriever hangs in such a way that the computer must be reset (Ctrl-Alt-Del does nothing), the command line parameter “–d2 “ should be used.  This will severely impact performance, but it will insure that all of the trace information is written out properly.  Just like the option of “-d” you will go through Start and Run to enable this option.  This should look similar to this:

 After you get the information recorded into the trace file the file will be located in the Diagnostic directory labeled DATARETR.DBG.

 When you have a trace file, please email it to support@infinadyne.com with your problem report for analysis.  If the file is quite large, please compress it using a program like PKZIP, LHA, or WinZIP.