http://www.consoledatabase.com
http://www.consoledatabase.com
.-------------------------------------------------------.
| Amiga CD32 Frequently Asked Questions - Part 1 of 2 |
|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Maintained by Stuart Tomlinson Version 3.5 |
| Email: stuart@spasm.clues.com 5th May 1996 |
`-------------------------------------------------------'
Due to Dan Cannon leaving his Demon Internet account, he has granted/suckered
me with the pleasure of maintaining this FAQ. A lot of the work in it
I owe to him.
Anyone still wishing to reach Dan can find him at his new Uni
address .
NOTE: My e-mail address is due to change some time during this month.
Any CD32-FAQ modifications should be posted to stuart@spasm.clues.com
for this month only. After this month my new address will be
casper@gconnect.com.
[---- Subjects Covered -----------------------------------------------------]
Part 1...
Introduction
Tech Spec
Controllers
Software
Audio CDs
CD+Gs/Karaoke CDs
Photo CDs
Video CDs
Magazines
Internet
Jargon
Part 2...
Expansion
Emulating a CD32
Software Developers
Pinouts
Addresses
[---- Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------]
This is the FAQ for comp.sys.amiga.cd32 and rec.games.video.cd32. It's
posted on the first weekend of each month. A lot of it is based upon
the earlier FAQ by Edward D. Berger - thanks go
to him for doing all the hard work. Another equally sized hand of thanks
must go to Dan Cannon , who was the maintainer
before I. Who has done the rest of this FAQ so far.
It's split into two parts. The first part holds the contents and the
more general stuff. The second part holds the more technical stuff.
This document is freely distributable, but it's compilation copyright.
No changes should be made to it and it can't be sold for profit or used
as part of a commercial document without the author's permission. So
there. If you're reading this on a CD-ROM collection then it could be
out of date.
Some sections have wiring diagrams or details of how to connect non-
CD32 specific peripherals to your CD32. These are taken from postings
from Usenet or Email and the only guarantee is that it worked for the
authors. There is a very good chance you could fry both your CD32 and
the peripheral by accident. If you're not knowledgable in electronics,
have somebody who is double check everything before turning the power
on or buy a ready made adaptor instead.
As well as news postings, you can get copies of this FAQ though...
E-Mail To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Subject: Doesn't matter
send usenet/news.answers/amiga/CD32-FAQ/part1
send usenet/news.answers/amiga/CD32-FAQ/part2
quit
FTP rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/amiga/CD32-FAQ/part1
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/amiga/CD32-FAQ/part2
WWW http://www.lut.fi/~veijalai/faq/CD32-FAQ.html
http://uptown.turnpike.net/B/blender/cd32-faq.html
More detailed CD32 pinouts are available...
E-Mail To: ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk
Subject: Doesn't matter
open ftp.demon.co.uk
get /pub/amiga/docs/cd32-pinouts.txt
quit
FTP ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/amiga/docs/
WWW file://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/amiga/docs/cd32-pinouts.txt
And to get a copy of the CD+G list...
E-Mail To: ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk
Subject: Doesn't matter
open ftp.demon.co.uk
get /pub/doc/misc/cdplusg.txt
quit
FTP ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/misc/
WWW file://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/misc/cdplusg.txt
For the Email methods of getting files, you can put 'help' in the body
of the message (without the quotes) for more info about how to use that
Email server (including how to split the message into parts for anyone
who has an incoming Email limit).
Thanks to these people who supplied answers (either by Email or, er,
borrowed from the newsgroups). If you think I've left you out then put
me right...
Alan Buxey
Alan Redhouse
Alan Thomas
Alf Edvin Torgersen
Allan Duncan
Anders Stenkvist
Anon
Bert Heise
Chris Naylor
Claude Mueller
Clive Thomas
Dan Cannon
David Avery
David Bump
David L.
David Law/Weird Science
David Mansell
Dominic Ramsey
Erik Austin
Frank Hoen/Eureka
Frederic Botton
Garry Cardinal
Gavin Moran
Geoff Adams
Gregor Rbel
Jan Willemsen
Jason Compton
Jason Quigley
Jens Kufver
Joel Corn/Darksoft
John Bump
John Layt
John Lewis
Johan Fabry
Jonas Petersson
Joop van de Wege
Jukka Kauppinen
Karl Frederick
Keith Blakemore-Noble
Kenwyn M. Smith
Kimmo Veijalainen
Klaus Hegemann
Maarten Ter Mors
Manjit Bedi
Martin Chantler
Matthew Hornyak
Michael Cox
Michael King
Michael Litchfield
Mick Tinker/Index
Nick Zajerko-McKee
Olaf Barthel
Olivier Cremel
Patrick Van Beem
Paul van der Heu
Peter Kittel
Phil Kernick
Philip McDunnough
Ralf Willinghoefer
Ralf Willinghfer
Ralph Bonnell
Robert Wells
Rob Healey
Ron
Steve Cutting
Stuart Prevost
Thomas Kessler
Tony Philipsson
William Thompson
[---- Key ------------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: A question.
A: An answer (there may be more than one answer per question).
* A change since the last version.
+ An addition since the last version.
- An answer is missing or incomplete - this will (hopefully) be sorted
out by the next version.
To skip through questions, set your text viewer to search for the
string 'Q:'. To skip through subjects, search for '[-'.
[---- Tech Spec ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: What are the technical details of the CD32?
A: Internal...
CPU Motorola 68EC020 clocked at 14.32Mhz.
32 bit data path. 24 bit address space
(limited to additional 8M of 'fast' RAM due
to CD32 system design).
FPU None.
MMU None.
ROM 1M (8 megabits) of operating system.
RAM 2M (16 megabits) of 'chip' RAM.
1K of 'flash' RAM.
CD drive Multi-session, double speed, top loading,
caddy-less design. Max transfer about 330K/s.
Custom controller based (not IDE or SCSI).
Operating system Kickstart/AmigaDOS version 40.6, release 3.1.
Customisations for CD32 specifics.
Custom chipset AGA custom chipset from 4 chips.
Chips are called Akiko, Alice, Lisa, Paula.
See the Jargon list for what they do.
External...
Aux port 1 x 6 pin mini-din type.
Combined serial/keyboard connector.
Controller ports 2 x 9 pin D type.
Accepts CD32 joypads, Amiga mice, joysticks,
Megadrive joypads, Master System joypads.
Video outputs Composite, S-Video, RF (for televisions).
French CD32s have a combined SCART & S-Video
port in place of the S-Video port.
Audio outputs 2 x RCA standard fixed output level.
1 x mini stereo headphone jack adjustable
output level.
Expansion port 1 x microchannel.
For FMV cartridge or other system expansions.
Add-ons...
CD32 joypad Custom 11 button wire based, 9 pin D style.
1 supplied, additional joypads can be
purchased separately.
CD32x & SX-1 Adds enough connectors and ports to make it
possible to use your CD32 as a computer.
FMV cartridge Play CD-i Digital Video or Video CDs.
Keyboard Most Amiga keyboards can be plugged into a
CD32.
Mouse All Amiga mice can be plugged into the CD32.
Some games will be easier to control.
Serial link Connected to the Aux port, allows you to use
the CD32 as an external CD-ROM drive for
other computers.
[---- Controllers ----------------------------------------------------------]
Q: What's the Competition Pro CD32 joypad like?
A: It's completely compatible with the C= CD32 joypad.
Some good things said about it are that it's shaped like a Megadrive
joypad, the diagonals are easier to get to, it feels less delicate, it
has turbo and auto fires, and it has a slow motion button.
Some bad things said about it are that it's shaped like a Megadrive
joypad and the diagonals are more difficult to get to.
Obviously a bit subjective.
Q: Is it possible to plug other types of controller into the controller
port?
A: Yes, but you'll lose access to most CD32 joypad buttons.
CD32 Megadrive Master System Joystick Amiga mouse
--------- --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------
Select B A Fire Left button
Stop C B (Second fire) Right button
Play (Third fire) Middle button
Shuffle
Loop
Rewind
Forward
Q: Is it possible to connect a 6-button Megadrive or SNES joypad to the
CD32?
A: As far as I know, it can't be done unless you're good with a soldering
iron, but if anyone has managed to do this then I'll stick the details
in here.
Q: Is it possible to use the CD32 joypad on normal Amigas?
A: It works fine. Some newer Amiga games are even taking advantage of the
extra buttons (shuffle, loop, etc...). Many older Amiga games that use
the keyboard for weapon select will use the stop button instead (eg.
Project-X, Apydia, Turrican 2).
Q: Is it possible to both connect both a joypad and a mouse and use them
together?
A: The joypad should be plugged into controller port 1 and the mouse
should be plugged into controller port 2.
Q: Is it possible to connect more than two controllers?
A: There are rumours of being able to daisy-chain 8 or even 16 CD32
joypads together, but nothing's been seen.
What will work is if you connect some kind of interface that gives you
a parallel port (eg. SX-1) and plug in an Amiga four-player adaptor in
there.
The good point is that you can play the Amiga version of Dynablaster,
if you have a floppy drive.
The bad points are that it's a bit expensive and CD32 joypads won't
work when plugged into the four player adaptor (but they still work if
you plug them into the side controller ports).
[---- Software -------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: What CDs will work with the CD32?
A: CD32 ones (um), many CDTV ones, music CDs, Karaoke CDs, CD+Gs (like a
music CD but it has pictures or lyrics displayed in time with the
music), Photo CDs (if you load up a photo CD reader first), and Video
CDs (if you have the FMV cartridge plugged in).
Also it can read CDs meant for other computers such as the PC and the
Mac, but it's up to you to tell it how to make sense of the files on
the CD (maybe by using something like datatypes). You won't be able to
play games for other computers though.
Q: How can I try to convince a game to work in PAL or NTSC?
A: Connect an Amiga mouse into controller port 2, hold down both mouse
buttons, and press the reset button. You'll be given a boot menu where
you'll be able to choose either PAL or NTSC. If you have a keyboard
then you can press any key to switch the boot menu between PAL and
NTSC so you can see what you're doing.
This is useful for NTSC CD32 owners who want to run games that use the
PAL area of the screen.
Multisystem TVs connected to any video output on or 1084s connected to
the S-Video output will work.
TVs/monitors connected to the CD32 through the French CD32's or SX-1's
or CD32x's or TP9's (see diagram at end of FAQ) RGB connector will also
work fine.
TVs/monitors connected to the CD32 through the composite or S-Video
outputs won't work though. The problem is that the PAL colour signal is
still sent at the NTSC frequency.
Q: Are there any games with NTSC problems?
A: Lock 'n' Load - most of the games (about 80%) are PAL only.
Nick Faldo's Golf doesn't let you see the bottom of the screen, so you
can't even take shots properly because the meters are covered up.
Video Creator has the bottom of the screen missing. Also the animations
become slowly out of sync with the music because of the difference in
speed between NTSC/PAL machines. Almathera MAY work on an NTSC version
of Video Creator - Email them at the address at the end of the FAQ to
convince them.
Q: Are there any games definitely without NTSC problems?
A: Here's a list...
Alien Breed Tower Assult Battle Chess
Banshee Bubba 'n' Stix
Bubble 'n' Squeak Chaos Engine (NTSC)
Defender of the Crown 2 Fire and Ice
Global Effect Guardian
Gunship 2000 Insight Technology
Labyrinth of Time Litil Divil
Lotus Trilogy Microcosm
Pinball F./Sleepwalker (NTSC) Super Stardust
Ultimate Body Blows Winter Olympics
Zool
Q: What CD32 bundles are available?
A: Original...
Diggers Oscar
Dangerous Streets...
Dangerous Streets Diggers
Oscar Wing Commander
Spectacular Voyage...
Chaos Engine Microcosm
(Early versions also had the games from Dangerous Streets included.)
Critical Zone...
Cannon Fodder Diggers
Liberation Microcosm
Oscar Project-X
Ultimate Body Blows
Q: What multimedia software is available for the CD32?
A: CD32 specific...
Grolier's Encyclopedia II
Guinness Book of Records II
Insight: Technology (released for CD32, CDTV compatible)
Video Creator
Video Creator Update 1 (Amiga CD32 issue 2)
Video Creator Extras (AUI December 1994 - on floppy)
Various CDTV titles...
Advanced Military Simulator American Heritage Dictionary
Animals in Motion Connoisseur of Fine Arts
New Basics Electronic Cookbook Stamps of France and Monaco
Timetable of Business, Politics Timetable of Science, Innovation
Various CDTV titles that require a mouse...
Dr Wellman Fruits and Vegetables
Garden Plants Guinness Disc of Records
Illustrated Holy Bible Illustrated Works of Shakespeare
Indoor Plants Musicolor
Trees and Shrubs Women in Motion
Various CDTV titles that require a keyboard and disk drive...
Inter Office
Q: What educational software is available for CD32?
A: CD32 specific...
MicroFrench CD32
(Contains video sequences, but you don't have to own a FMV cartridge
to view them. More languages are planned.)
Various CDTV titles...
A Long Hard Day at the Ranch Cinderella
Fun School 3 (under 5's) Fun School 3 (5 to 7)
Fun School 3 (over 7's) Heather Hits a Home Run
Moving Gives me a Stomach Ache Mud Puddle
North Polar Expedition Scary Poems for Rotten Kids
Tale of Benjamin Bunny Tale of Peter Rabbit
Thomas' Snowsuit
Various CDTV titles that require a mouse...
A Bun for Barney Barney Bear Goes Camping
Barney Bear Goes to School LTV English
My Paint Paperbag Princess
Various CDTV titles that require a keyboard...
Asterix English for French 1 Asterix English for French 2
Asterix French for English 1 Asterix French for English 2
[---- Audio CDs ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: Is it possible to directly read the audio data from music CDs into
memory?
A: Nobody's managed to do this. The next best thing is to buy an SX-1,
plug a sampler into the parallel port, start a CD playing with one of
the CD players from aminet:/disk/cdrom, then sample directly to hard
drive.
[---- CD+Gs/Karaoke CDs ----------------------------------------------------]
Q: Where do I get CD+Gs from?
A: CD+G discs used to have a little sticker on the case, but the companies
stopped this on the grounds that it confused the general public... The
only places you'll probably find them now are in bargain bins or the
odd mail order music store.
You can download a list of CD+Gs released from the place mentioned at
the start of the FAQ, so you at least know what you're looking for. If
you find a CD+G not on the list you can also send an addition (have a
look on the list for how to do this).
Q: Can I use Karaoke CDs?
A: Yep. They're the same thing. If you work or you know anybody working in
a pub then you could get hold of the CDs for their Karaoke machine.
Q: How do I play CD+Gs/Karaoke CDs?
A: If you have a CD+G disc, you'll be able to tell immediately - the music
player will disappear and the graphics will appear as soon as you press
play.
Use the up and down directions to change language and select to return
to the music player. The rest of the controls work as normal. Once
you're back at the player, a "CD+G" button will appear in the bottom
left corner - hit select on that to return to the graphics.
Q: How do CD+Gs/Karaoke CDs work?
A: They fill up the spare 25M that is empty on a regular music CD with the
graphics. They're limited to 16 colours low-resolution so that they
stand a greater chance of working on a lot of different systems.
[---- Photo CDs ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: Is it possible to display Photo CDs without expanding to a computer?
A: Yep, use one of these CDs before the Photo CD...
Network CD Weird Science
Photolite Eureka
A: Olaf Barthel wrote:
In Winter 1994 I wrote a commercial program for this purpose. It can
read both plain Photo CDs (such as the golden Photo CD Master discs)
and interactive Photo CD portfolio discs. The program uses technology
licensed from the Eastman Kodak Corporation. It is called "FolioworX
Player" and retails for about DM 100,-. Blittersoft is the official
distributor in the UK.
A: This is a quick description made after reading Asimware's info sheet
(it's probably better to read the full thing for yourself if you're
interested before making up your mind):
Asimware's Photo CD Manager costs US $39.95/CDN $47.95 and works on the
CD32 and any Amiga with Kickstart 2 or above. It displays thumb nail
images in groups of 10 on a sort of tape deck display. From this you
can choose one or as many pictures as you want and view them as a
slide show in any order. If you've got a CD32 or an AGA Amiga it
displays them in 262144 colours, otherwise 4096.
[---- Video CDs ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: What does the FMV cartridge do?
A: If you plug in the FMV cartridge, you can play Video CDs in almost the
same way as you play music CDs. It's really a 24 bit display card that
can be genlocked with normal CD32 graphics, so you can superimpose your
own images over it (this is a feature of Video Creator, apparently).
Q: Where do I get Video CDs from?
A: Any decent computer/music/video shop.
Q: Can I use CD-i Digital Video CDs?
A: Yep. Some don't quite follow the standard though, so if you get rubbish
on certain ones you can upgrade your FMV cartridge's ROM to the latest
version (40.30) which can cope with the non-standard CDs. The dealer
that you bought the FMV cartridge from should be able to do this for
you at a cost of about 5UKP.
Q: What are the differences between Video CDs and CD-i Digital Video CDs?
A: You won't get the bookmarks that you find on the CD-i. That's because
the bookmarks are really a CD-i program. Instead you can search through
the disc using the normal music player controls.
[---- Magazines ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: Are there any Amiga/CD32 magazines with CD-ROMs?
A: In the UK (check your usual sources of foreign Amiga mags elsewhere)...
Amiga CD! (included with Amiga User International)...
Monthly. Some sections of issue 3 are CDTV and A570 compatible. Issue
3 was the last issue. They're still waiting for the Commodore issue
to sort itself out, so maybe it'll start up again now that it has.
Amiga CD32 magazine...
Not regular. Issues 1 and 2 are available through Amiga Format's back
issues page. Issue 3 was planned to be out on December 1st. It hasn't
been seen yet.
Amiga Power CD32 version...
Not regular. Issue 49 has a CD32 version with some demos, a load of
PD games, and a load of reviews of the all time top 100 games. It
sounds like there could be more CD32 versions some time soon(ish).
Amiga Shooper...
One off. Has a CD on the front with a load of graphics, fonts, sound
samples, music, etc... You really need a CD32x or SX-1 to do
anything useful with this.
CD Gold...
One off. A CD-ROM based magazine for CD32, CDTV, A570, and any CD
Amiga. There was only one issue published, the pilot issue.
CD32 Gamer.
Monthly. There are two versions - the normal one and one which costs
5UKP more and has a full game attached to the front of the mag.
Q: Are there any other magazines for the CD32?
A: Amiga Pro/32 is now Amiga Pro. No more CD32 specific section. Most
other Amiga mags have a small 1 or 2 page CD32 specific section each
month.
[---- Internet -------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: What Usenet newsgroups are dedicated to CD32 discussion?
A: Two...
comp.sys.amiga.cd32 Using the CD32 as a slave drive.
Add-ons for the CD32 (eg. FMV addition).
Technical talk about the CD32.
Serious issues for the CD32.
rec.games.video.cd32 Games on the CD32.
People's opinions about games.
Hints and tips for games.
Rumours and lists of new/future games.
If your site doesn't carry the groups, ask your system admin.
Q: What on-line mags are available?
A: Three...
Amiga Report aminet:/docs/mags/ar*.lha
CD32 Bits aminet:/docs/mags/cd32bits*.lha
CD32 View aminet:/docs/mags/cdvw*.lha
Q: Are there any CD32 pages on WWW?
A: Yep. It's run by Kimmo Veijalainen and you can Email him articles,
reviews, hints and tips, digitised pictures of games, and so on to fill
it up. Kimmo's Email address is Kimmo.Veijalainen@lut.fi. The home page
is at http://www.lut.fi/~veijalai/cd32.html.
A: There is also the Archos Overdrive home page. It contains brief
descriptions of games, lists of games that work and don't, tips on
getting stubborn games to work, and so on. It's run by Michael Cox,
and his Email address is mcox@access.digex.net. The home page is at
http://access.digex.net/~mcox/zappohome.html.
A: And there's Grendel's Games lists which holds more Archos Overdrive
info. From Jukka Kauppinen. Jukka's Email address is
Grendel@Freenet.hut.fi.
A: Martin Chantler wrote:
I have just seen your latest CD FAQ and thought I will let you know
that I have a homepage with lots of CD and Zappo information on it.
The area also covers a lot of normal CDs etc.
URL: http://www.pncl.co.uk/~martinc/main.html.
[---- Jargon ---------------------------------------------------------------]
AFAIK
As Far As I Know. The CD32 expansion connector pinout is only
available to registered CD32 developers, AFAIK.
AGA
Advanced Graphics Architecture. The name given to the latest custom
chipset for Amigas, which allows 8 bit (256) and HAM8 (262144) colour
graphics from a palette of 16.7 million. The CD32 uses AGA chipset as
do the Amiga 1200 and 4000 computers.
Akiko
This chip handles the data coming from the CD drive and includes the
functions of the CIA chips in other Amigas.
It's also more famous for chunky to planar conversion. Chunky and
planar are two different methods of storing the screen in memory.
Chunky is often used for 3D games. Planar is useful for scrolling
games, and it's the method used by the CD32. This chip quickly
converts from one t' other, helping developers to port code across
from other platforms that use chunky.
Alice
The replacement for Agnus in older Amigas. Contains the Blitter and
Copper, amongst other things.
AmigaDOS
The part of the CD32's operating system that's on CD-ROM (or floppy
or hard drive). Developers must obtain a license to distribute even a
small part of AmigaDOS on their CD-ROMs - it's copyrighted.
Audio CD
Your normal CD that holds music. Given a different name for computers
because there's so many different types of CD about. The CD32 can
play these.
Blitter
BLock Image TransfER. Special part of the graphics chip hardware
which speeds up many operations, by moving blocks of chip RAM around
with DMA, while performing logical operations on them. Lines and area
fills are among the most popular uses for the Blitter.
Boot
Putting the CD-ROM in the drive and automatically launching a program
without having to go through the operating system (eg. Workbench,
MS-DOS, Finder, etc...) and all the messing around with keyboards and
mice that it entails.
CDs will only boot for the computer that they were written for, even
though the files on the CD are readable on all CD-ROM machines
(ISO-9660).
If you intend to use the CD32 as a CD-ROM for other computers and you
don't have other storage devices (such as floppy or hard drives)
available, you must find CD-ROMs that boot up and load communications
software (such as Parnet, Sernet, or Twin Express).
Bootblock
A small piece of copyrighted code that must be on a CD-ROM in order
for it to boot. Developers must have a licence to use the bootblock.
C-Cube
This is supplied in the FMV cartridge. It decompresses the MPEG-1
picture from the Video CD and puts it on the screen. It's also found
in the CD-i's FMV cartridge.
CD+G
Compact Disc + Graphics. A standard music CD with the addition of
graphic pictures that can be viewed with an appropriate player. CDTV
and CD32 both play CD+G discs. CD+G discs were never plentiful, and
may not even be produced any more.
CD-i
Compact Disc - interactive. System for multimedia developed by
Philips; made available to the public shortly after CDTV was. Not
expandable to a popular computer platform such as CD32 is expandable
to an Amiga. CD-i software titles cannot be played on a CD32 and
vice-versa.
There is a new cut-down version of the CD-i (smaller box, less
connectors) that looks remarkably similar to the CD32...
CD-i Digital Video CD
A Video CD for the CD-i. The difference is that the they also have
bookmarks of interesting parts of the film on them. These can also be
played on the CD32 with FMV cartridge, but the bookmarks are missing.
CISC
Complex Instruction Set Chip. Contains lots of nice instructions,
but it ain't so good in the speed department.
CD+MIDI
Similar to a standard music CD, but it also holds information for
driving MIDI instruments.
CD-ROM
Compact Disc - Read Only Memory. A 5 inch polycarbonate disk with
aluminium coating, laser etched with holes for storing computer data.
ISO-9660 CD-ROMs can also hold music tracks that can be played with a
normal music CD player as well.
CDTV
Commodore Dynamic Total Vision. The previous CD based machine by C=.
It wasn't exactly a storming success, mainly due to poor marketing.
Many CDTV discs will work on the CD32, but some need a mouse and
others need a keyboard.
Microcosm was originally a CDTV project. C= gave Psygnosis some
financial backing to develop it, but the CDTV version never saw the
light of day, except for some promotional demos.
CDXL
C='s attempt at getting motion video on the CDTV before low cost MPEG
decoder chips became available. The CD32's version of CDXL can cope
with more colours and cover more of the screen.
CDXLs can be about two-thirds of the size of the screen (although
they can be scaled up slightly to fill more, but the side effect is
that they look blocky) and they can also hold mono or stereo sound.
Chip RAM
Random Access Memory available to both the CPU and Amiga custom
chipset inside the CD32 (and all previous Amigas). The CD32 ships
with the maximum amount of chip RAM that the AGA chipset can handle
- 2M.
Copper
CO-ProcEssoR. All Amigas feature a special co-processor as part of
their custom chipset, which allows some graphic chip functions such
as colour palette manipulation to happen asynchronously to other
tasks, freeing the CPU for other work.
CPU
Central Processor Unit. The brains for managing data and its
manipulation inside a computer. Amigas, CDTV, and CD32 have all used
the Motorola 68000 series of CPUs.
Datatype
Allows the OS to support any graphic, sound, text, or animation
format, once the datatype information is copied to the proper folder
on the Workbench disk or hard drive. Programs can ask the OS to load
the file for them without knowing anything about the file format
themselves.
This can come in very useful if you want to read ISO-9660 CDs
generated on other computers (once you've upgraded your CD32 to a
computer, of course).
DMA
Direct Memory Access. Allows other chips apart from the CPU to access
the RAM, at the same time as the CPU. This frees up the CPU for doing
other work, whilst the Blitter is copying memory for example.
Fast RAM
Random Access Memory available to the Amiga's CPU, but not the custom
chipset, thus faster for compute intensive tasks as no time sharing
between the custom chipset and CPU is involved. Adding fast RAM
should almost double the speed of the CD32 for non-graphics intensive
work.
The CD32 ships with no fast RAM, but third party expansion boxes may
allow for up to 8M of fast RAM expansion if you do not have the FMV
cartridge, or 4M if used with the FMV cartridge.
Flash RAM
RAM which can have data stored such that it survives being powered
down. CD32 uses flash RAM to allow saving high-scores or game
position information for the next time you play. Also known as NVRAM
(Non Volatile).
FMV
Full Motion Video - just what it says. Full screen moving pictures.
Often mis-used by journalists to mean any picture, including those
that have 10 colours and are around the size of a postage-stamp,
that's spooled from the CD-ROM.
FMV Upgrade
A plug in cartridge that gives the CD32 capability to play MPEG-1
encoded CDs such as CD-i Digital Video (Star Trek VI, Top Gun) or
Video CDs.
GIF
Graphic Interchange Format. GIF compression is a standard for storing
still pictures with 8 bit colour (256 colours on screen at once) and
no loss in picture quality.
HAM6 or HAM
An earlier version of HAM8, found on A500s, A2000s, and A3000s, that
remains for compatibility. This allows up to 4096 colours on screen
at once.
HAM8
Hold And Modify - 8 bit. An Amiga screen mode which can have up to
262144 colours on screen at once by changing some colour registers on
each succeeding pixel on a given scanline. This is most useful for
static pictures or predefined animation sequences, as it is difficult
to constantly compute the best pixel colours in constantly changing
action games.
HAM8 is often used to display JPEG format pictures or predefined
animations (CDXLs) with better than 8 bit colour (256 colours), often
up to near 18 bit (262144 colours) quality.
IFF
Interchangable File Format. Developed by Electronic Arts and put into
the public domain. Any IFF file can be read in by any program that
understands the IFF format (if it's suitable - there's no point in
a graphics package loading in an IFF sound file, for example).
Took off on the Amiga in a big way, so much so that any program that
doesn't understand IFF is guaranteed not to sell. Didn't do so well
on the PC for some reason (perhaps it was too good an idea...).
IMHO
In my humble opinion. The CD32 is the best inexpensive multimedia
delivery platform, IMHO.
ISO-9660
The different computer manufacturers got their act together and
agreed on a standard format for CD-ROMs, unlike the mess that we're
still left with today for floppy disks.
You can read any CD32, CDTV, Mac, or PC CD-ROM in any of the others.
Although the files are readable, the file formats are still different
for each computer (unless it's the CD32/CDTV), but if you have some
conversion programs or datatypes you can display the graphics, play
the sounds, or show the text from the CD-ROM.
ISO-9660 CDs are also cunningly compatible with Audio CDs, so you can
play tracks 2 onwards (track 1 is computer data) in a hi-fi, and
computers can mix the music from the Audio CDs with the sound output.
JPEG
Joint Photographic Expert Group - JPEG compression is a standard for
storing still pictures with 24 bit colour (16.7 million colours on-
screen at once).
Kickstart
The part of the CD32's operating system that's in ROM.
It contains all the code needed to access the CD-ROM and multitask,
as well as other things that will never see the light of day unless
you add a keyboard and some kind of storage (floppy or hard drive).
Lisa
Handles the screen display. There's a palette of 16.7 million colours
- each colour made of one of 256 shades of red, green, and blue. From
that any power of 2, up to 256, or 4096 (HAM6), or 262144 (HAM8)
colours can be displayed. The resolution can be most combinations of
320, 640, or 1024 across and 256, 512, or 1024 down (although there
are other modes available).
MPEG
Motion Picture Expert Group - they've decided the format of MPEG-1
and MPEG-2 compression.
MPEG-1 is the accepted standard for video compression on CDs... It
uses a variety of techniques to achieve staggering compression ratios
while still maintaining good picture quality. Other parts of the MPEG
standard include synchronized digital audio to make the format useful
for movies on CD-ROM.
MPEG-2 isn't used on CDs but it looks even better.
NTSC
The television standard used in America.
NTSC screens cannot be as deep PAL screens. This can lead to problems
when some software written in PAL countries is run on a CD32 using a
NTSC screen. The software may use the bottom section of the screen
that NTSC owners cannot see.
This is entirely the fault of software companies, there are enough
ROM routines in the CD32 to tell the program what TV standard it is
running under and the program should make allowances.
PAL
The television standard used in most of Europe and Australia.
Parnet/Sernet
Freely distributable networking solutions for Amigas. Uses the
parallel ports (Parnet) or serial ports (Sernet) to allow one to
mount drives on multiple machines. In this way the CD32 can access
the keyboard and hard drives of another Amiga, and the Amiga can
access the CD32's CD drive.
CDTV was often used as an external CD drive for Amiga computers via
Parnet.
A version of Parnet is now available for PC computers, allowing you
to link from CD32 to PC.
ParNFS
An Amiga only update to Parnet. This new version is faster and has
some bug fixes.
Paula
Gives you four channel stereo sound. Each channel can have 64 volume
levels and can play either waveforms or sound samples at almost any
pitch or octave from RAM. This chip is used to create sound effects,
or play music from memory often when the CD-ROM is tied up for some
reason (a CD-ROM cannot be used to load game code AND play CD music
at the same time).
Photo CD
Transfering pictures taken from a camera onto CD. These can be read
by the CD32 if you can find a CD-ROM with a photo CD reader on it,
use it as a slave drive, or expand it to a computer and download the
proper (freely distributable) software.
The Communicator is bundled with a Photo CD reader called Photolite -
this is available seperately too. Also Weird Science's Network CD has
a Photo CD reader on it.
RAD
RecoverAble RAM Drive. An area of RAM that doesn't lose its data when
reset. Any area of RAM can be used as RAD. Games can use it to save
data in, so it's possible to play a game of Liberation, save your
place in RAD, reset, play another game, then return to Liberation
later. Some games don't like RAD being there though.
RAM
Random Access Memory. Specialized computer chips that can store
information for as long as they powered on or the CD32 isn't reset.
RAM chips and be read and written to by the CPU or the AGA chipset.
RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Chip. A CPU that contains only a limited set
of instructions. The idea is that each instruction is so simple that
it doesn't take long to execute and any of the more complicated ones
that are missing can be built up out of the simple ones.
ROM
Read Only Memory. Specialized computer chips that store data and
instructions for computer operation and cannot be erased or written
over.
Shovelware
Taking an Amiga game, putting it on CD-ROM with no improvements
whatsoever, and usually charging more than the original disk version.
Slave drive
Connecting the CD32 via serial or parallel link to another computer
and using networking software such as Parnet, Sernet, or Twin Express
so that the other computer can read the CD-ROM in the CD32.
Spool
Quickly taking data from the CD-ROM and shoving it on the screen or
sending it to the audio output, or both. Eg. CDXLs or the Microcosm
tunnels.
3DO
Three Dimensional Objects (I think). Another CD-ROM based multimedia/
games system developed by Electronic Arts and former Amiga people.
This also is not expandable to a regular computer system. Slightly
more expensive for the both hardware and software than the CD32. It
has more limited screen resolutions. Only just released in Europe.
Twin Express
A program to transfer files from one computer to another through a
serial link. The front end works similar to FTP. There are versions
of Twin Express for the PC and Amiga.
Video CD
If you have a FMV cartridge you can play these. There were 100 films
available in August '94, much more now.
From: Stuart Tomlinson
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.cd32, rec.games.video.cd32
Subject: Amiga CD32 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Part 2 of 2
Date: Sun, 5 May 96 14:19:38 GMT
Message-ID:
Reply-To: Stu - CD32-FAQ Mailbox
Summary: Frequently Asked Questions about the Amiga CD32 - includes how to
expand the CD32 to a computer and how to use the CD32 as an external
CD-ROM drive for other computers.
Keywords: commodore,cbm,c=,amiga,cd32,cd-rom,cdrom,computer,console
Precedence: bulk
X-Posting-Software: Dan's Amazing FAQ Transporter - DAFT 1.1 (04-Jun-95)
Archive-Name: amiga/CD32-FAQ/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Version: $VER: CD32-FAQ 3.5 (05-May-96)
URL: http://www.lut.fi/~veijalai/faq/CD32-FAQ.html
URL: http://uptown.turnpike.net/B/blender/cd32-faq.html
.-------------------------------------------------------.
| Amiga CD32 Frequently Asked Questions - Part 2 of 2 |
|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Maintained by Stuart Tomlinson Version 3.5 |
| Email: stuart@spasm.clues.com 5th May 1996 |
`-------------------------------------------------------'
[---- Expansion ------------------------------------------------------------]
Q: Is it possible to use the Aminet, Fred Fish, etc... CDs without an
expanded CD32?
A: Yes, Maarten Ter Mors has written a step by step guide of how to do
this. It's available from aminet:/docs/misc/Aminet4_CD32.txt. There can
be problems booting from some CDs if you use an unexpanded CD32 though.
Maarten wrote:
There was a little something I missed in the CD32 FAQ. Because of (yet
another) strange oddity in the Commodore 3.1 CDFileSystem, you can only
use CD-ROMs with a *lower* or equal ISO revision than the disc you
booted from (this is irrelevant to SX-1 users, for they are likely to
boot from harddrive or floppy).
The Aminet 4 CD and the GoldFish CD-ROM set by Fred Fish are two
examples of discs that use a higher revision than, say, the Weird
Science Network CD. This means that you can't access the discs properly
or at all. The solution is booting from a RAD: recoverable RAM disk. I
was asked by Urban Mueller (who does a lot of the good work on the
Aminet CDs) to write a step-by-step guide to set one up.
A: Joop van de Wege has another answer (Aminet 5 & Communicator)...
I haven't read the notice yet but I found out for myself how to do it
and its not a hassle. I'm just too lazy to write a small script file
to copy the 2 files and execute the mount command.
Step 1: copy your mountlist entry CR0: to snet:ram
Step 2: copy L:amicdromfilesystem to snet:ram
Step 3: mount cr0: on the cd32 side
Step 4 and last one: start copying files from cr0: to whereever you
want them, run programs, read guide files, search for ......
A: And another from David Law of Weird Science (Aminet & Network CD)...
We have found that CBM's filesystem in general does not cope too well
with the Aminet CDs. This may be due as you say to ISO revision
numbers. The easiest fix is to remount the CD drive as CD1: with
AmiCDRom filesystem and access the Aminet CD's as `CD1:` or
`Network:CD1/` with Sernet. When trying this be sure to set the 'T'
flag in the line 'Startup' of the mountlist. This will ensure that the
trackdisk device is used to access the CD drive. AmiCDRom filesystem
for some reason thinks that the CD drive is a SCSI device otherwise and
will probably crash the machine.
The best way to do this is setup a drawer on your amiga with the
following files in. [Call it RAM:CD1 for the mount list below - Dan.]
CD1 AmiCDRom Mountlist file.
CD1.info An icon for the above.
cdrom-handler The filesystem handler.
Mount WB3.1 Mount command.
Just ensure that the mountlist points to 'Ram:cdrom-handler' and not
'L:cdrom.handler' and that the icon points to 'Ram:Mount' as the mount
command on the NetworkCD is WB1.3 and is not suitable.
The Mountlist file is...
/* AmiCDROM filesystem */
Handler = Ram:CD1/cdrom-handler
Stacksize = 10000
Priority = 10
GlobVec = -1
Mount = 1
Startup = "DEVICE=cd.device UNIT=0 ML T R"
The version of Mount should be 38 or above (use 'Version Mount' to
check).
Q: How do I stop my CD32 resetting when I take the CD-ROM out?
A: If you boot from CD-ROM, the CD32 resets when the lid is opened. You
can either run a program such as NoReset that disables this or boot
from another device, such as RAD, floppy, or hard drive.
Q: How do I use my CD32 as a CD drive or slave drive for another computer?
A: Connect a serial link (buy a ready-made link or make your own - see the
diagram for the Aux port) between the CD32's Aux port and the other
computer. Then run either Sernet or Twin Express on the other computer
and the CD32. You'll have to find a bootable CD-ROM with one of these
programs on it and you may need to run NoReset unless Sernet and Twin
Express are on the same CD as the files you want to transfer.
A: If you have an interface attached that gives you a parallel port, you
can connect a parallel link between the CD32 and the other computer,
remembering to use a special Parnet cable and not a normal parallel
cable (otherwise you could easily fry everything). Run Parnet on the
other computer and the CD32. You'll have to find a bootable CD-ROM
with Parnet on it and you may need to run NoReset unless Parnet is on
the same CD as the files you want to transfer.
ParNFS is a replacement for Parnet, with bug fixes for Workbench 2 or
above machines (that includes the CD32). It fixes the Dir, List, and
Directory Opus bugs.
A: You can use The Communicator. This is a link from the CD32's Aux port
to the Amiga and a CD-ROM with a series of utilities on it...
Communicator...
Display text and graphics on the CD32.
Play Audio and Video CDs.
Transfer files to and from the CD32.
Twin Express...
Serial file transfer program, Amiga and PC versions.
Workbench...
Modified to allow the joypad to be used as a mouse.
Photolite...
Display Kodak Photo CDs.
Scala driver...
Allows Scala, running on another Amiga, to control the CD32.
There are two versions available. The Communicator Lite doesn't have a
keyboard through port or MIDI in/out/thru.
A: There is a new version of The Communicator, with the original title of
The Communicator 2. Improvements to the previous version are...
Virtual CD...
Appears to make more than one CD-ROM accessable to the host Amiga,
also stops resetting.
File Transfers...
More reliable - Zmodem.
Faster - apparently it can reach up to 210000 baud.
More compatible - works better with ISO-9660 CDs.
AGA Viewer...
View pictures and anims in any mode, including AGA.
Will also work for non-AGA machines.
Supports datatypes.
Workbench...
A newer version (doesn't say which).
Mediapoint driver...
Alows Mediapoint, running on another Amiga, to control the CD32,
including Audio and Video CDs.
Hardware...
Added A2000/A3000 keyboard port.
Serial lead is DB25 to RJ10 (telephone) and is easier to remove.
The Communicator Lite 2 doesn't have a keyboard through port, MIDI in/
out/thru, or status LEDs.
Q: How do I attach a keyboard to my CD32?
A: IBM keyboards won't function without a custom add-on to translate IBM
keycodes to Amiga keycodes (the SX-1 has this).
Plug in an Amiga keyboard into the CD32's Aux port. Amiga keyboards are
all exactly the same inside but just have a different case or plug on
the end of the lead, so you'll probably need an adaptor...
A500/+ Open up the case and build your own lead from the keyboard
ribbon to the CD32. The pinouts are at the end of the FAQ.
A600 Not possible.
A1000 Build your own adaptor from RJ-11 to mini-din. The pinouts
are at the end of the FAQ.
A1200 Not possible.
A2000 Buy an AT to PS/2 keyboard adaptor from any PC clone shop and
plug that inbetween.
A3000 Buy an AT to PS/2 keyboard adaptor from any PC clone shop and
plug that inbetween.
A4000 No adaptor - just plug it in.
CDTV Buy an adaptor - eg. from Almathera or MultiMedia Machine. Or
modify the CDTV keyboard yourself. The pinouts are at the end
of the FAQ.
A: Plug in an IBM keyboard into the SX-1's keyboard port. F11 and F12 are
used instead of the Left-Amiga and Right-Amiga keys. Print Screen is
used instead of the Help key.
A: Create a Parnet or Sernet link (see above) and run PNetKeys. This re-
directs all keyboard and mouse input from an Amiga window down the link
to the CD32. You'll have to run a version that does a 'Mount MOUSE:' on
the CD32 - no problem if you can create your own boot disk but it could
be if you're using a version from a CD-ROM.
A: Use Patrick Van Beem's CD32 Keyboard program. It's similar to PNetKeys
but it's smaller, faster, works over Twin Express or even by itself,
and converts controller input to mouse input. The program is shareware
- if you find it useful you should pay $5 or fl7.50. Patrick's Email
address is patrick@aobh.xs4all.nl.
Q: How do I use my CD32 as a computer?
A: Use a SX-1. This has...
IBM-PC AT keyboard port.
9-pin serial port.
Amiga standard parallel port.
Amiga standard RGB port.
Amiga standard floppy drive (use an external drive as DF0:. For more
drives, daisy chain them from the first one).
2.5" internal IDE connector (drive fits inside the SX-1).
3.5" external IDE connector.
SIMM socket for up to 8 meg additional RAM (restricted to 4 meg if
you intend to use the FMV cartridge too).
Audio input (karaoke).
Internal battery backed clock.
Pass through connector (for other devices, eg. FMV cartridge).
If you add the SX-1, the Aux port will not work as a serial connection
any more, but you can still attach Amiga keyboards to it, even if you
have a PC keyboard plugged into the SX-1.
Some external drives do not like the SX-1. Roctec and M3-A-1 drives are
a problem.
If you use a file recovery program on the SX-1 disk, you'll get more
utilities.
If you intend to have more than two devices attached to the SX-1, you
should think about getting a better power supply. These can be bought
separately, or you can modify another Amiga one (eg. A500) by replacing
the connector at the end of the lead.
If you add extra memory to it, it should be at least 80ms fast.
A: Use a SX32. It's small so it fits *in* the CD32 like the MPEG module.
You have a parrallel, serial, floppy, RGB and VGA-Port. You can put a
2.5'' HD on it and a 2-8 MB PS/2 Simm module. Unfortunatly FMV cannot
be used with it. It is also rumoured to come with an A1200 manual. Apart
from that it fixes the voltage problems it is more or less like the
SX-1.
Alan Redhouse wrote:
"Standard Amiga serial, parallel, FDD, RGB ports and a 15 pin VGA port.
Uses standard Amiga K/b
Has standard Simm socket for up to 8MB
Has 2.5" HDD interface and mountings for an internal unit
Everything (inc HDD) fits inside the CD32 (sockets protrude about 10mm)
Supplied with WB3.0 on CDROM (obviously has K/s 3.1 already)
VERY reliable - it must be the only Amiga accessory that we've picked up
& plugged in and its worked perfectly first time and ever since.
It really does become a portable Amiga.
Price 199.95 inc VAT"
A: Use a CD32x. This is a 19" rack mounted system for CD32s used in
professional applications. It includes remote monitoring of CD32x
units, fault detection, and options for genlocking and MPEG. There are
connectors available for...
Networking.
RGB port.
Scart port.
Floppy port.
IDE connector.
Volume control.
Stereo input and output.
Internal battery backed clock.
Mick Tinker of Index said that they're working on a home version of the
CD32x. The release date depends on when Escom starts selling the CD32
again.
Q: What are the SX-1 jumper descriptions?
A: Jumper number...
1 OFF = If you have 1 or 4 megs.
ON = If you have 2 or 8 megs.
2 OFF = If you have 1 or 2 megs.
ON = If you have 4 or 8 megs.
3 OFF = If you have memory.
ON = If you have no memory (or defeat autoconfig).
4 OFF = Normal boot time.
ON = Add 10 seconds to boot time (for slow HDs).
5 OFF = If keyboard has two Alt keys.
ON = If keyboard has no Right-Alt (Right-CTRL used instead).
Q: How do I connect up an external 3.5" IDE drive to the SX-1?
A: Make your own connector using the pinouts given in the manual. There's
no +12V supply on the 37 pin IDE plug, but you can wire in your own
power supply or take the +12V supply from the floppy port instead.
A: Make a 2.5" to 3.5" conversion cable, and wire in your own power
supply. Conversion cables can be bought as part of A1200 3.5" kits.
A: Or you can buy a box (don't know the name) from Hi-Q that sits in place
of the SX-1's lid. It lets you plug in 3.5" IDE drives and it has a
better power supply. The cost is 129.95UKP without any drive.
Q: Sometimes I have problems with my SX-1 and CD32 setup, causing
freezing, and HD lock ups. They seems to be power related, how
do I solve these?
A: They are indeed power related, but it's voltage, not wattage.
Garry Cardinal wrote:
"My SX-1 enhanced CD-32 began hanging when I added an IDE drive to it.
When using the hd the system would suddenly freeze. I had a 2Mb
SIMM installed, going to another SIMM or hard disk did not correct
the problem. This was all independent of FMV card presence.
My SX-1's strange behaviour persisted until I bypassed the
connections between the CD-32 power switch and the SX-1."
I soldered a standard PC power supply female molex connector to the power
switch on the CD-32 (switched side) and soldered a standard male molex
connector to the SX-1 +12 and +5 power supply distribution system as close
as possible to the 2.5" hard disk connector and ram socket.
(Of course, observe antistatic precautions. Those faint of heart, take
this text to a qualified service provider for the appropriate action. )
When I was done, my problems disappeared.
My configuration:
CD-32
SX-1 (with extra switch for memory test jumper plugging DB25 hole)
20Mb Connor 2.5
4Mb 32 bit simm
FMV card
A500 Power Supply"
Q: How do I read Mac CD-ROMs?
A: Get aminet:/disk/cdrom/AmiCDROM-1.15.lha, unarchive it, use the
following options in the installer...
Device cd.device
Unit 0.
Memory options Use any memory available.
Other options Use Rock Ridge names, if possible.
Use trackdisk.device instead of SCSI-direct.
Map filenames Don't map filenames.
General buffers 5.
Read() buffers 5.
Diskchange time 3.
CD-DA icon command None.
CD-DA icon position Workbench chooses.
Configure Mac options Yes.
Mac options Convert Mac characters to Amiga characters.
Examine CD first for a HFS partition.
Data fork extension Leave empty.
Rsrc fork extension Leave empty.
AmigaDOS device name CD1:, MAC0:, whatever you like.
Automount Yes: Mac CDs are recongnised all the time.
No: You must click on the Storage/DOSDrivers/
CD1 (or whatever) icon before using Mac CDs.
Two icons will appear for each CD you insert - one is the CD32/CDTV/PC
partition and the other is the Mac partition. If there is no Mac
partition then both icons will be the same CD32/CDTV/PC partition.
Q: Is there an RGB output on the CD32 to connect my multisync monitor?
A: There are easily accessable RGB signal test points on the CD32's
circuit board. The diagram is at the end of the FAQ. The SX-1 and CD32x
both have RGB connectors on them.
A: Peter Kittel wrote:
If you have the French version of the CD32, you have RGB at the S-Video
jack. In this case, this jack is no more of standard "Hosiden" type,
but is a Mini-DIN with 8 pins. The four extra pins carry R,G,B, and
CSync.
wrote:
Cables (maybe with extra logic) are being sold in France, which allow
you to connect your CD32 to a 1084, presumably using that SCART-RGB
output.
Q: Can Amiga 1200 trapdoor or PCMCIA expansions be used with CD32?
A: No. The CD32 does not have the same expansion connectors as the A1200.
Q: Where can I find the programs mentioned above?
A: CD32 Keyboard Patrick Van Beem
NoReset Communicator (CDReboot OFF) Eureka
Network CD Weird Science
Video Creator * Almathera
Parnet Amiga CD! 3 AUI
Network CD Weird Science
Photo CD reader FolioworX Player Olaf Barthel
Network CD Weird Science
Photo CD Manager Asimware
Photolite Eureka
Sernet Network CD Weird Science
Twin Express Amiga CD! 3 AUI
Network CD Weird Science
Workbench 3.? CDPD 3 Almathera
Demo 2 Almathera
Workbench 3.0 CDPD 4 Almathera
Lock 'n' Load North West PD
Workbench 3.1 Demo Disc V2 * Commodore
Legendry Design demo CD Creative Computers
For CDs marked with a *, you'll need to connect an Amiga mouse into
controller port 2, hold down both mouse buttons, and press the reset
button. You will be given a boot menu where you should boot with no
Startup-Sequence. Then use the keyboard to run the program wanted.
If you want to run Workbench, you've already got Kickstart 3.1, so you
just need to get hold of the Workbench software. All of the versions
work work, but the later the version the better.
The C= Demo Disc V2 is available from Claude Mueller - Email him for
prices. Claude's Email address is claude.mueller@hdclick.link-ch1.ch.
[---- Emulating a CD32 -----------------------------------------------------]
Q: Which machines stand a chance of running CD32 games?
A: You may get away with running shovelware stuff if you have an OCS or
ECS Amiga, but many CD32 games expect at least an '020, 2 meg of chip
RAM, and an AGA chipset - an A1200 or A4000.
The A1200 might be more compatible than the A4000 - some programs may
fall over because of the differences in memory and CPUs.
Q: What are the differences between the Archos, CD1200, CD4000, and
Squirrel CD drives?
A: The Archos drive uses the PCMCIA slot, emulates Akiko through software
(but as far as I know only Wing Commander uses it and that crashes,
hmm...), needs you to install the CD-ROM file system to your Workbench
before you can use the drive, needs a utility (supplied) to boot CD32
CDs, and doesn't have FMV capability.
The CD1200 isn't available yet. It uses the A1200's trapdoor slot, has
Akiko, has Kickstart 3.1, boots straight from CD-ROM, and doesn't have
FMV capability.
Peter Kittel wrote:
The CD1200 is a prototype CD-ROM drive for the A1200, which makes the
A1200 CD32-compatible. This is still in prototype, was shown on a few
fairs, and as of now it's uncertain whether it ever will get produced.
With it you get CD32 software compatibility, but no hardware
compatibility. Especially there is no chance to add the FMV cartridge
to it.
The CD4000 isn't available yet. It's a card that fits into one of the
A4000's Zorro 3 slots and a CD drive that slides into a drive bay, has
Akiko, has Kickstart 3.1, boots straight from CD-ROM, and has FMV
capability.
The Squirrel uses the PCMICA slot, doesn't appear to emulate Akiko,
needs you to install the CD-ROM file system to your Workbench before
you can use the drive, needs a utility (supplied) to boot CD32 CDs, and
doesn't have FMV capability. It's also a full SCSI interface. If you'd
like to add other SCSI devices (such as tape storage, scanners, etc...)
then it could be a better choice than the Archos. Also software updates
are regularly uploaded to Aminet (unlike Archos' where you have to try
to convince your dealer to give you a free copy).
Q: What's good/bad about a CD drive using the PCMICA or trapdoor slots?
A: If your CD drive uses the PCMICA slot, you've got a RAM board in the
trapdoor slot, it's got more than 4 meg of fast RAM, and it doesn't
Autoconfig properly, then the drive may refuse to work or you could
lose all memory above the 4 meg barrier because the PCMCIA slot and the
memory both try to use the same address space. You could only use 4 meg
or you could ask your dealer for an upgrade.
Some trapdoor accelerators don't Autoconfig properly either. Notably
Amitek, Blizzard, and GVP ones. Amitek offer a free upgrade to fix this
problem. The Blizzard 1230III and the GVP 1230 '030 boards work fine,
don't know about other Blizzard and GVP boards. All of the Microbotics
boards work.
If your CD drive uses the trapdoor slot then you can kiss goodbye to
RAM expansions and accelerators.
Q: What do I need to do to run a CD32 game if I don't have the Archos,
CD1200, CD4000, or the Squirrel CD drive?
A: If you have a SCSI CD drive then you can assign CD0: to the CD drive
(if it isn't already), assign the standard directories (C:, DEVS:,
ENVARC:, FONTS:, L:, LIBS:, S:, SYS:) across to the CD-ROM and execute
S:Startup-Sequence.
A: If you have a Parnet or Sernet link to a CD32 or CDTV, you can assign
CD0: to NET:CD0, assign the CD-ROM's name to NET:, assign the
standard directories, then execute S:Startup-Sequence. It's slow
though, so if you have a big hard drive, it's probably better to go for
the next option...
A: It should be possible to copy all of the CD-ROM to your hard drive by
using a Parnet, Sernet, or Twin Express link to a CD32 or CDTV, assign
CD0: and the CD-ROM's name to the directory that you copied to, assign
the standard directories to the equivalent place on the hard drive, and
execute S:Startup-Sequence.
A: The game may have an icon to double click to run it. In that case you
don't need to assign or execute anything.
A: There's a program called Cache-CDFS that's distributed in Germany. It
works on the A1200 or A4000. It sits between the CD32 game and the
Amiga's SCSI, IDE, or PCMCIA CD-ROM drive. Most CD32 games should work
once it's installed, but there have been some problems reported with
NEC 3x CD drives. It's commercial. Nobody's said how good the emulation
is. You can contact the author, Oliver Kastl, by Email. Oliver's Email
address is 100447.3361@compuserve.com.
Almathera are selling a bug-fixed and English language version. Video
Creator will also work once it's been installed.
A: There's another available, called CD-Boot. This works on the A1200 or
A4000. It sits between the CD32 game and Amiga's SCSI, IDE, or PCMCIA
CD-ROM drive. You can create config files for each CD. It's commercial.
One person said that the success rate was 2 out of 7 games. You can
contact the author, Thomas Kessler, by Email. Thomas' Email address is
kessler@fim.uni-erlangen.de.
A: This is a quick description made after reading Asimware's info sheet
(it's probably better to read the full thing for yourself if you're
interested before making up your mind):
Asimware's AsimCDFS can emulate CDTVs and CD32s, but the how good it is
depends on the individual machine. But it also has a music CD player,
music CD support (so the music looks like AIFF, MAUD, and RAW files),
and Photo CD support (so the pictures look like normal IFF ILBM files).
Q: What can go wrong?
A: Make sure the game can access lowlevel.library in LIBS:. If not, the
game can't use the CD32 joypad, or may not even work. If it can, you
can plug the CD32 joypad straight into the joystick port.
A: You may not be able to play the games that use the extra joypad buttons
properly if you don't have a joypad to press them with...
A: The game tries to use nonvolatile.library to save to the CD32's NVRAM.
Make sure that this can be accessed in LIBS: and you create a file
called "ENVARC:sys/nv_location" - a single line of text that is the
directory name of where you would like saved data to be stored.
A: The game could try to call some 3.1 functions that don't exist in 3.0.
Upgrading your Kickstart should fix this problem.
A: You won't hear any CD music. There's no way around this. Sometimes the
game may decide to keel over because it can't play the CD music.
A: The game tries to use Akiko. If you've upgraded to 3.1 and it still
goes wrong then there's no way around this.
Q: Are there any incompatiblities when using an Archos CD drive?
A: Here's a list. If you've got an update, let me know and I'll put the
change in here...
Work...
Alien Breed Special Ed. 7 Alien Breed T. Assault 11
Arcade Pool 11 ATR 11
Banshee 7 11 Brutal Sports Football 7
Bubba 'n' Stix 7 Bubble 'n' Squeak 7
Chaos Engine 7 D/Generation 7 11
Defender of the Crown 2 7 Diggers 7
Emerald Mines 7 11 Fields of Glory 11
Fire and Ice 11 Flink 11
Fly Harder 11 Frontier 7
Heimdall 2 7 Microcosm 7
Labyrinth of Time 7 Lemmings 11
Lost Vikings 11 Oscar 7 11
Overkill/Lunar C 11 Pinball Fantasies 11
Rise of the Robots 7 Roadkill 11
Sabre Team 11 Sensible Soccer 7
Super Stardust 11 Superfrog 7 11
The Clue 11 Trolls 11
UFO 11 Ultimate Body Blows 11
Zool 1 7 Zool 2 7
Works with a bit of messing around...
Arabian Nights 11 Disable fast RAM
Beneath a Steel Sky 11 Use a Joypad in port 1
Microcosm 11 Load from Workbench
Jungle Strike 11 Disable fast RAM
Kid Chaos 11 Switch music off
Quick Thunder Rabbit 11 Disable fast RAM
Zool 2 11 Switch music off
Sort of works...
Guardian 7 Crashes after one game
Project-X 7 Crashes after a few levels
Ultimate Body Blows 7 Crashes after one game
Doesn't work...
Alfred Chicken 11 Battle Chess 7
Beavers 11 Cannon Fodder 11
Chaos Engine 11 Chuck Rock 1 11
Chuck Rock 2 7 Defender of the Crown 11
Diggers 7 Disposable Hero 11
Fire Force 11 Frontier 11
Global Effect 7 Guardian 11
Gunship 2000 7 Impossible Mission 2025 7
James Pond 3 7 Lemmings 7
Lotus Trilogy 7 Liberation 11
Litil Devil 11 Nick Faldo's Golf 11
Nigel Mansell 11 Morph 7
Out to Lunch 11 Pinball Illusions 11
Pirate's Gold 7 11 Ryder Cup Challenge 7
Simon The Sorcerer 7 11 Sabre Team 7
Soccer Kid 11 Striker 7 11
Super Putty 7 Universe 11
Video Creator 7 Wembley International 7 11
Whale's Voyage 11 Wing Commander 7 11
The numbers are for the version of the software. Some work on 7 but not
11, some work on 11 but not 7. There's nothing listed for version 9 at
the moment, but if it works on 7 or 11 then it maybe it could work on
9, and if it works on 7 and 11 then it definately should work on 9.
There's no version 8 or 10. Anyone confused? Good.
A: Also check out the Archos Overdrive home pages. Have a look in the
Internet section for details.
[---- Software developers --------------------------------------------------]
Q: Are there any licence agreements that have to be made to produce CD32
software?
A: The first real problem is in making a bootable CD32 disc. This requires
special software and license/royalty agreements which were available
from the C= developer programs.
Developers who obtained these rights before the C= liquidation may be
able to master the CD-ROMs with the appropriate boot/system files, for
you - as your publisher.
On the other hand, now that the C= liquidation is over, you should be
able to apply for your own developer status and publish your own CDs.
Escom are the new owners. It seems they're only going to market the
CD32 as a set-top box, but they could start making more early 1996 or
do a proper Amiga CD system.
Q: How do I master my own CDs?
A: This is a quick description made after reading Asimware's info sheet
(it's probably better to read the full thing for yourself if you're
interested before making up your mind):
Asimware's Master ISO costs US $550.00/CDN $720.00 and works on an
Amiga with Workbench 3, a SCSI controller, 1.3 gig of HD space, 16 meg
of RAM, and a CD recorder. It can create ISO 9660 CD-ROMs with 8.3 and
long file names from one or more volumes, Music CDs (Red Book) from
CDDA, MAUD, or AIFF files, and CDs which are a mixture of the two. It
can also make CDTV and CD32 bootable CDs (you need a developer licence
though). It supports Yamaha CDR100, Pinnacle RCD-202, Philips CDD-521,
and CDD-522 CD recorders.
Q: What are the authoring capabilities available for the CD32?
A: Theoretically, any standard Amiga development tools for AGA machines
should be useful for developing applications that run on a CD32. This
would include Multimedia tools with freely distributable players, C
compilers, assemblers, etc.
Q: What are the popular development tools?
A: Popular Multimedia authoring packages for the Amiga include...
AmigaVision Professional CanDo
HELM Interplay
SCALA Multimedia
Popular C compilers include...
DICE GNU C
SAS/C
Popular 68K assemblers include...
DevPacIII Macro68
Popular image manipulation software include...
AdPro ImageF/X
ImageMaster
Popular music related software include...
AudioMasterIV Bars&Pipes Pro
Deluxe Music 2 MusicX
OctaMED professional Sonix
SuperJAM! Trackers - too many to mention
Popular 3D modelling software include...
Caligari Imagine
LightWave (Video Toaster) Real3D
Popular 'video painting' programs include...
Brilliance Deluxe Paint IV AGA
DCTV Paint EGS Paint
Opal Paint TV Paint
XI Paint
Contact the software company involved with your favourite authoring
software for more information regarding CD32 specific development.
[---- Pinouts --------------------------------------------------------------]
CD32 Aux port... View straight on. 6 pin mini-din.
Female type. Combined kboard/serial.
1 I / O Keyboard data _ _
2 O Serial transmit .' V `.
3 Ground / 6 5 \
4 +5V DC | 4 O 3 |
5 (I)/ O Keyboard clock `-. 2 1 .-'
6 I Serial receive `-----' Shield
Written by Klaus Hegemann, posted as part of 'CD32 expansion port
info' by Anders Stenkvist in comp.sys.amiga.hardware, forwarded by
Michael King.
If you wire up a keyboard and get characters constantly appearing on
the screen then you've wired up the keyboard clock and data pins the
wrong way around.
There are no RTS/CTS pins for high speed modems.
The serial pins are at 0/5V, if the computer you're connecting it to
has a different voltage (eg. the Amiga serial port's pins are at
+/-12V) then you need a level converter between the two.
The serial pins may not be properly buffered to use safely with some
external devices. You could damage your CD32 if you try to hook them
up without an external buffer. A diagram of a buffer is given in the
posting mentioned above.
CD32 combined SCART/RGB port (only on French CD32s)...
Well, first you must make sure that you really have the 8-pin version
of that S-Video connector (mini-DIN), this is only existant on the
French version of the CD32. Now if that's ok, then here is the
pinout:
1=Red, 2=Blue, 3=Audio (L or R, don't know), 4=Green, 5=Audio (L or
R), 6=Luminance, 7=CSync, 8=Chroma
Taken from an Email by Peter Kittel, forwarded by Olivier Cremel.
CDTV keyboard connector...
1 Ground
2 I / O Keyboard data
3 (I)/ O Keyboard clock
4 +5V DC
5 Unused
To modify the CDTV keyboard to connect to the CD32...
Cut the plastic pin from the connector.
Open the case.
Find the connector where the cable is located.
Switch leads 1-4 and 2-3.
Close the case.
Taken from a posting by Paul van der Heu.
A500 keyboard connector... * = link
1 black Keyboard clock --------
2 brown Keyboard data A500 keyboard cable ---> 12345678
3 red Res --------
4 orange +5V DC ||||||||
5 yellow Unused 5 --------------*| | |
6 green Ground 1 ---------------* | |
7 blue Power LED 4 -----------------* |
8 violet Disk LED 3 -------------------*
||||||||
Connect like this... --------
A500 motherboard connector ---> 12345678
A500 CD32 --------
1 5
2 1
4 4
6 3
Taken from an Email by Kimmo Veijalainen.
A1000 keyboard connector...
1 +5V DC Viewed looking straight on into
2 (I)/ O Keyboard clock socket. RJ11 connector. Female.
3 I / O Keyboard data _
4 Ground _| |_
__| |__
| |
| |
| |
|__|_|_|_|__|
1 2 3 4
Usual stuff: I'm not responsible for blowing up Ami, etc; use at own
risk, etc, etc. Having said this, it did work for me. :)
Ref's used: Amiga Hardware Reference Manual (A1000) & the good ol'
CD32-FAQ.
Taken from an Email by Chris Naylor.
CD32 power port... View straight on. 4 pin din.
_ _
1 +5V .' V `.
2 +12V |1 2|
3 Ground `.3 4.'
4 Unknown `---' Shield
Put a ground jumper from pin 3 to the shield.
You can modify another Amiga power supply (eg. A500) for this by
replacing the connector at the end of the lead.
Taken from a posting by Michael Litchfield.
CD32 RGB signals...
The RGB signals are available from a test port, TP9...
| | | <--- Kickstart ROM .-. Desc Equiv pin #s
| | | |o|
| | | |o|
| `--' .----. <--- Akiko |o|
| | | |o| HSync 159
| | | : <--- TP9 |o| VSync 160
| `----' : |o| Red 163 and 164
| .. :O.--. |o| Green 165 and 166
`-------'`----------' | |o| Blue 167 and 168
^ ^ `------- |o| CSync 157
| | |o| Ground 161 and 162
Expansion port Pin 182 `-'
The RGB signals come from the D/A conversion unit and lead directly
to the expansion port. These signals are, however, not amplified. In
addition they are weakened by the S-Video output unit.
As a result I (aim to) insert a 47 Ohm resistor to each colour signal
connection. You may also reduce the load by interrupting the signal
supply to the S-Video unit. Set pin 174 of the expansion port to GND
to achieve that (174 --> u36 (4066) signal switches).
The sync signals connected to the expansion port are unbuffered. As
a result you may re-synchronize your Amiga by an external tact
source. You schould at least buffer the CSync line; there is no
external synchronisation possible on this pin.
Hint: make use of an XOR gate chip. You may negate certain sync
line(s) to adapt your Amiga to (old? :-( ) multiscan-monitors (the
A4000 monitor adapter box will do the same; without the possibility
of selected negation).
Written by Klaus Hegemann, posted as part of 'CD32 expansion port
info' by Anders Stenkvist in comp.sys.amiga.hardware, forwarded by
Michael King.
[---- Addresses ------------------------------------------------------------]
Almathera, Video Creator, keyboards, serial adaptor kit,
Southerton House, Cache-CDFS (a CD32 emulator).
Boundary Business Court, Phone: +44 (0)181 687 0040
92-94 Church Road, Fax: +44 (0)181 687 0490
Mitcham, Email: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk (technical)
Surrey, almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk (sales)
CR4 3TD,
England.
Amiga CD32 Magazine, Phone: +44 (0)1225 442244
Future Publishing, Fax: +44 (0)1225 318740
30 Monmouth Street, Email: amformat@cix.compulink.co.uk
Bath, amformat@futurenet.co.uk
Avon, http://www.futurenet.co.uk/
BA1 2BW,
England.
Amiga Game Zone, Phone: +1 (217) 344 3478
103 W. California, Fax: +1 (217) 344 3478
Urbana, Email: gamezone@prairienet.org
IL 61801, http://uxa.cso.uiuc.edu/~razmataz/agz.html
USA.
Amiga User International, Phone: +44 (0)171 487 1076/1072
48 George Street, Fax: +44 (0)171 224 0547
London, Email: amigauser@cix.compulink.co.uk
W1H 5RT, gary@auimag.demon.co.uk
England.
Asimware, AsimCDFS, Master ISO, Photo CD Manager.
600 Upper Wellington St, Phone: Canada (905) 578 4916
Unit D, Fax: Canada (905) 578 3966
Hamilton,
Ontario,
L9A 3P9,
Canada.
Brian Fowler Computers, Distributes communicator and other things.
11 North Street, Phone: +44 (0)1392 499755
Exeter, Fax: +44 (0)1392 423480
Devon, Hours: Mon-Sat 9:30-6:30 GMT
EX4 3QS, Email: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk
England.
DCE Computer Service, Distributes the SX32 for 400DM.
Kellenbergerstrasse 19a, Phone: +49 208633151
46145 Oberhausen, Fax: +49 208630496
Germany.
Direct Computer Supplies, Cheap Parnet/null modem/etc... cables.
36 Hope Street, Phone: +44 (0)1782 642497
Hanley,
Stoke On Trent,
ST1 5BS,
England.
Epic Marketing, A4000 keyboards, probably sold out by now.
Victoria Centre, Phone: +44 (0)1793 490988
138-139 Victoria Road,
Swindon,
Wilts,
SN1 3BU,
England.
Eureka, Frank Hoen, Communicator, Communicator 2, Photolite.
Adsteeg 10, Phone: +31 (463) 70800
6191 PX Beek (L), Fax: +31 (463) 60188
The Netherlands. Email: hoen@iaehv.iaehv.nl
Goldtech Computer Systems,CD Gold magazine.
67 Turner Road,
Walthamstow,
London,
E17 3JG,
England.
Hi-Tech. Took over Paravision/Microbotics.
But Jaytron does SX-1 support.
Phone: +1 (805) 681 9961
Index Information Ltd, CD32x.
60 High Street, Phone: +44 (0)1256 703426
Odiham, Fax: +44 (0)1256 701023
Hampshire, Email: index@cix.compulink.co.uk
RG25 1LN,
England.
Jaytron. SX-1 support.
Phone: +1 (214) 644 1689 (Michael Miller)
Fax: +1 (214) 669 0021
Multimedia Machine, CDTV -> CD32 keyboard adaptors,
59 Bridgeman Place, SX-1/drive/keyboard bundle.
Bolton, Phone: +44 (0)1204 387410
BL2 1DE, Fax: +44 (0)1204 380952
England.
North West PD, Lock 'n' Load, other CD32 software.
PO Box 1617, Phone: +1 (206) 351 9502
Auburn,
WA 98071-1617,
USA.
Optonica, Interplay - authoring system, Insight CDs.
1 The Terrace, Phone: +44 (0)1455 558282
High Street, Fax: +44 (0)1455 559386
Lutterworth,
Leics,
LE17 4BA,
England.
Paragon Publishing Ltd, CD32 Gamer.
Durham House, Phone: +44 (0)1202 299900
124 Old Christchurch Rd, Fax: +44 (0)1202 299955
Bournemouth,
BH1 1NF,
England.
Stefan Ossowski's CD-Boot (a CD32 emulator).
Schatztruhe GmbH, Phone: +49 (0)201 788778
Veronikastr. 33, Fax: +49 (0)201 798447
D-45131 Essen, Email: stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de
Germany.
Weird Science, Network CD, Sernet cables.
1 Rowlandson Close, Phone: +44 (0)116 234 0682
Bracken Field Chase, Email: david@weirdscience.co.uk
Leicestershire,
LE4 2SE,
England.
Copyright © 2000 - 2024 Base Media. All Rights Reserved. Console Database is a trademark of Base Media. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the Base Media User Agreement and Privacy Policy. Our other sites: Deals United - Daily Deals Aggregator and WhichPlug? - Travel Adaptor Finder.