The
Amiga CD32 FAQ 2000
Table
of Contents
The original CD32 FAQ Parts 1 and 2 stopped being updated late
1996. Interest in the CD32 and the Amiga platform in general deteriorated between
1996 and 1998 so it made sense that the FAQ was 'as done as it was going to
get' and lay dormant for a couple of years. The late 1990's, however, recognized
a surge in classic gaming - arcade, console, and computer. Emulators have been
written for nearly all classic gaming outlets - including the great Amiga computer.
As PC compatible computers got faster (breaking 1Ghz and beyond
shortly), it became quite feasable to emulate the Amiga computer. Pretty well,
too. Emulation has breathed new life into the Amiga and also the CD32. Being
an active and avid CD32 owner myself and seeing the rise in interest, I figured
it might be time to resurrect the CD32 FAQ and give it a much needed facelift
and update for the 21st century.
The FAQ has been translated into HTML for a number of reasons.
One, HTML is the language of the Internet - and the Internet is where people
are. Two, people expect to be able to navigate documents quickly and easily.
HTML allows for this. Three, we can add life to the FAQ with images and media.
This will help the beginners to the system see a real picture, and not just
an ASCII drawing. Four, HTML is universal. People emulating CD32 on an Amiga,
PC, Mac, or BeOS can all see the FAQ the same.
There are many new areas to the FAQ, like PC emulation of the
CD32. I understand that the die-hard Amiga fans (I've been there, folks) might
feel threatened or offended by this inclusion into 'an Amiga FAQ'. Despite the
evil ways of the PC (grin), emulation of the Amiga platform has really stirred
an interest. Many who have tried it emulated have decided to buy a real Amiga.
Software is trading and selling like it was the 'good ol' days'. The newsgroups
are ALIVE. It seems only right to include the emulation community within this
updated 'new for the 21st century' FAQ. I hope I have your support.
I've been trying to update references and information as much
as possible - delete dead information (like links and companies and 'Escom stuff'),
offer new information, answer questions I've been seeing asked on the newsgroups
and email. As always, I welcome ALL new information, corrections, etc. Email
me here with this information.
This FAQ is based LARGELY on the original CD32 FAQ Parts 1 and
2. I removed much of the data I felt was probably grossly out of date, and this
included the contributor's list of email addresses. I do not want these people
to be left out - much of this new FAQ is thanks to them. If you contributed
to the original FAQ and wish to have your contact information available here,
please let me know and I'll get you in ASAP.
If you would like to translate the FAQ (and hopefully maintain
that localization of it) into other languages, I welcome your help! Please email
me and let me know you are working on it. I'd like to at least have the languages
Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese.
Thank you for continued support and efforts in keeping the Amiga
alive and well.
- Shane R. Monroe
Return to the Table of Contents
Q:
What are the technical details of the CD32?
A: As read below ...
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).
None.
None.
1M (8 megabits) of operating
system.
2M (16 megabits) of 'chip'
RAM. 1K of 'flash' RAM.
Multi-session, double speed,
top loading, caddy-less design. Max transfer about 330K/s. Custom controller
based (not IDE or SCSI).
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.
1 x 6 pin mini-din type.
Combined serial/keyboard connector.
2 x 9 pin D type. Accepts
CD32 joypads, Amiga mice, joysticks, Megadrive joypads, Master System joypads.
Composite, S-Video, RF
(for televisions). French CD32s have a combined SCART & S-Video port
in place of the S-Video port.
2 x RCA standard fixed
output level. 1 x mini stereo headphone jack adjustable output level.
1 x microchannel. For FMV
cartridge or other system expansions.
Custom 11 button wire
based, 9 pin D style. 1 supplied, additional joypads can be purchased separately.
Adds enough connectors
and ports to make it possible to use your CD32 as a computer.
Play CD-i Digital Video
or Video CDs.
Most Amiga keyboards can
be plugged into a CD32.
All Amiga mice can be plugged
into the CD32. Some games will be easier to control.
Connected to the Aux port,
allows you to use the CD32 as an external CD-ROM drive for other computers.
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
The CD32 Competition Pro Joypad
Q:
Where can I purchase a CD32 Competition Pro Joypad?
A: In the U.S., try Centsible
Software (they bought out just about everyone including Paxtron). Any U.K./Germany/Other
retailers out there still carry them? Let me know.
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/Genesis
|
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).
Return to the Table of Contents
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:
Where can I buy CD32 software?
A: In the U.S., try
Centsible Software (they
bought out just about everyone including Paxtron). I'll add more vendors as
I get confirmation. Outside the U.S. and have a good source? Let me know. Another
good source are online auctions. I always see a handful for sale on eBay. I
also buy, sell, and trade and I have a list online here.
Q:
Is there a list of all CD32 software currently made?
A: Both The
CD32 Zone and the Amiga
CD32 Source are trying to keep the most up-to-date accurate lists available.
In addition, the Amiga CD32 Source website is trying to compile all the UNRELEASED
stuff too!
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.
The CD32 Boot Menu
Let's put it in simple terms; You are not going to likely play
PAL games on a NTSC TV. EXPECT PROBLEMS if you try using the above method. Problems
like B&W display, rolling picture that can't be stabilized, and missing
video area where important information like score and lives might be kept.
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 (anyone know the status of this? -Ed)
(There are many many more - please report
them to us here. -Ed)
Q:
Are there any games definitely without NTSC problems?
A: (This is the original
list from the FAQ. We've added our own notes. Email
us with others. -Ed)
Alien Breed
Tower Assult
(Game attempts to change into PAL on its own - will flake out most TVs and
composite monitors. -Ed)
Battle Chess
Banshee (Bottom of the screen is cut off, making enemies behind you impossible
to see. Barely playable. - Ed)
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 (Difficult to change weapons with bottom of the screen cut
off. Barely playable. - Ed)
Ultimate Body Blows
Winter Olympics
Zool
Just remember, though. Even if a PAL game displays ok in NTSC, the timing of
the game might be off enough to cause problems, music/sound skipping, etc.
Q:
What CD32 bundles are/were available?
A: Read below ...
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
Gareth Knight offers this
page for more information about CD32 (and Amiga) software bundles.
Q:
What multimedia software is available for the CD32?
A: (We've added links to the corresponding CD Covers on the Amiga
Emulation Zone for your convenience. Many more covers there. - Ed)
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
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
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
Inter Office
Q:
What educational software is available for CD32?
A:
Read below ...
MicroFrench CD32 (Contains
video sequences, but you don't have to own a FMV cartridge to view them. More
languages are planned.)
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
A Bun for Barney
Barney Bear Goes Camping
Barney
Bear Goes to School
LTV English
My Paint
Paperbag
Princess
Asterix English for French
1
Asterix English for French 2
Asterix French for English 1
Asterix French for English 2
Return
to the Table of Contents
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.
Return to the Table of Contents
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 find a list of known CD+G music CDs at The
CD32 Zone.
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. Just search your favorite search engine
for "karaoke cdg" and you will find PLENTY of people to sell you CDs.
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: The CD+G format is an
extension of the standard RED-BOOK audio format. On an audio disc there is an
area known as the subchannel. This area is used to store data for the cd player
like elapsed time etc. Some of this area is normally unused. In CD+G discs the
subchannel is used to store the CD+G data. This data consists of commands and
graphics that are interpreted by the player to produce the CD+G display. You
can see pictures of actual CD+Gs being played at The
CD32 Zone.
Fleetwood Mac - Behind the Mask CD+G
Return to the Table of Contents
Q: Is it possible to display
Photo CDs without expanding to a computer?
A: Yep, use one of these
CDs before the Photo CD...
Weird Science Network
CD
Photolite
Eureka
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.
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 thumbnail 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.
Return to the Table of Contents
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). You may also view the FMV tracks on certain discs like the Commodore
Demo CD and Cannon Fodder from Sensible Software. (See the actual
clips at The CD32
Zone - Ed.)
The FMV Expansion Cartridge
Q:
Where can I get a FMV Expansion Cartridge?
A:
GOOD LUCK. These are as rare as hen's teeth and are usually expensive when you
DO find one. Estimates were that only about 13,000 were made. Try online auctions
and newsgroups.
Q:
Will the Phillips CD-i FMV module work in the CD32?
A:
This has been of some debate on the newsgroups. To the best of my knowledge,
the CD-i FMV will not work in a CD32. Doesn't seem right that two completely
competative companies would have interchangable hardware. But if anyone knows
for sure differently, let me know.
Q:
Where do I get Video CDs from?
A:
Try http://www.videocds.com
- they seem to have a WIDE selection. I'm quite stunned that VCD is so well
supported. You may be able to find them locally, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
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. (Anyone know where this can
be downloaded from these days? I seriously doubt you'll find a dealer to do
it - if you do, please let me know.
-Ed.)
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.
CD-I's Video CDs are also encoded using Mode 2 type exclusively. This means
you will not be able to play them in most VCD players and if you also have a
PC, you will not be able to play them there either. VCDs can be read by the
native filesystem on most computers - CD-I's cannot be.
Return to the Table of Contents
Q:
Are there any Amiga/CD32 magazines with CD-ROMs?
A: In the UK (check your
usual sources of foreign Amiga mags elsewhere)...
(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.
- 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.
- 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 Power was planning a second CD edition for Christmas
1995 but the death of the Amiga game scene led to its abandonment.
- 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.
- One off. A CD-ROM based magazine
for CD32, CDTV, A570, and any CD Amiga. There was only one issue published,
the pilot issue.
- 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. Gareth Knight adds: "CD32 Gamer was sold
in two editions for issue 7 as you suggest. However, this was the only issue
to do so. The magazine launched a daughter publication called Amiga CD32 Special
that had full commercial games on the cover."
Gareth also adds: "The CU Amiga and Amiga Format CDs were bootable
on a CD32 until sometime during 1999. Obviously a mouse and SX32 or SX1 was
required to actually use most of the software."
There is a great write up on Amiga and CD32 magazines, their lives and demise,
located
here. Thanks to Gareth for the page.
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. (Anyone have any web-based Online/E-Mags
going on for CD32? Please let me
know. -Ed.)
Return to the Table of Contents
Q: What Usenet newsgroups are dedicated to CD32 discussion?
A: Two...
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.
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. You can also try DejaNews
on the web.
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.
The CD32 Zone
maintains an active list of useful CD32 websites. Please check there for a current
list.
Check out the Amiga
CD32 Source.
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
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 to the other,
helping developers to port code across from other platforms that use chunky.
(To date, no game has made use of it that I know of it really other than Wing
Commander. -Ed.)
The replacement for Agnus
in older Amigas. Contains the Blitter and Copper, amongst other things.
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.
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. You may also hear this referred
to as "Red Book" format or "CDDA" (Compact Disc Digital
Audio).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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. Learn more about
CD+Gs at The
CD32 Zone.
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...
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.
Complex Instruction Set
Chip. Contains lots of nice instructions, but it ain't so good in the speed
department.
Similar to a standard music
CD, but it also holds information for driving MIDI instruments.
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 (or both - often
called 'mixed mode' or 'hybrid' discs - many CD32 discs are hybrids).
CDTV
Commodore Dynamic Total Vision.
The previous CD based machine by C=. It wasn't exactly a storming success,
mainly due to poor marketing (and the price). 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.
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. (Anyone know of a playback
method on the PC? Or an XL->MPG converter? I am still a licensed developer,
but no longer have my developer floppy discs. Anyone out there help
out? - Ed.) A list of games that have these animations are available at
The CD32 Zone.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
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. Note: Only about 13,000 of these
cartridges where made (which means if you don't have one, you probably aren't
going to get one). If you find one for sale, expect to pay big bucks for it.
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. One of the
few formats that allow for 'transparency' colors as well.
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.
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.
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...). Note: The PC
programs ACDSee and
Paint Shop Pro will both
support this filetype, although PSP will only read HAM6 images, not HAM8.
ACDSee will display both HAM6 and HAM8. Using ACDSee, you can export to a
usable format on the PC.
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. (These are also know
as 'mixed mode' or 'hybid' discs. MANY CD32 discs are hybrids.)
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).
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).
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).
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. (Note: MPEG-2 is the format used on modern day movie
DVDs which CANNOT be played by the CD32, even with the FMV card.)
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.
The television standard used
in most of Europe and Australia.
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.
An Amiga only update to
Parnet. This new version is faster and has some bug fixes.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Read Only Memory. Specialized
computer chips that store data and instructions for computer operation and
cannot be erased or written over.
Taking an Amiga game, putting
it on CD-ROM with no improvements whatsoever (i.e. video clips, CD audio,
etc.), and usually charging more than the original disk version.
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.
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.
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. (It is even more orphaned than
the CD32. -Ed.)
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.
If you have a FMV cartridge
you can play these. There were 100 films available in August '94, and in the
THOUSANDS in March 2000 - and they are still making new ones. At the time
of writing, Disney's TARZAN was available!
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
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 ......
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.
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.
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...
Display text and graphics on the CD32.
Play Audio and Video CDs.
Transfer files to and from the CD32.
Serial file transfer program, Amiga and PC versions.
Modified to allow the joypad to be used as a mouse.
Display Kodak Photo CDs.
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.
There is a new version of The Communicator, with the original title of The Communicator
2. Improvements to the previous version are...
Appears to make more than one CD-ROM accessable to the host Amiga, also
stops resetting.
More reliable - Zmodem.
Faster - apparently it can reach up to 210000 baud.
More compatible - works better with ISO-9660 CDs.
View pictures and anims in any mode, including AGA.
Will also work for non-AGA machines.
Supports datatypes.
A newer version (doesn't say which).
Allows Mediapoint, running on another Amiga, to control the CD32, including
Audio and Video CDs.
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...
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.
Not possible.
Build your own adaptor from RJ-11
to mini-din. The pinouts are at the end of the FAQ.
Not possible.
Buy an AT to PS/2 keyboard adaptor
from any PC clone shop and plug that inbetween.
No adaptor - just plug it in.
Buy an adaptor - eg. from Almathera
or MultiMedia Machine. Or modify the CDTV keyboard yourself. The pinouts are
at the end of the FAQ.
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. If the keyboard seems to
not work, see if there is a switch on the bottom of the keyboard. Try the other
position. You may also experience some sort of 'buffering' problem the first
time you press a key after you boot up a CD32/SX1. My solution was just to press
F11 or F12 after the first boot up and that 'clears' that buffering problem
so it doesn't adversely effect the first thing you type.
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.
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.
- The connector is flakey at best. If things seem wrong after plugging it
in, try unplugging and re-plugging it in. Don't move the unit while powered
up.
Or 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.
Or 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.
Anyone have an update on this product? Let
me know. Read more about the CD32x here.
Compliments of Gareth Knight.
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. Always try Redmond
Cable for your odd cable needs.
Or 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.
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.
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: CD32, 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"
You can also try a CD32 'Big Foot' 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.
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."
an159209@anon.penet.fi 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 will 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. (Anyone
know if this guy is still around? Let
me know. -Ed.)
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
A good fast PC with a fat DirectX compliant video card along with
WinUAE (Amiga emulator) can play a good number of CD32 games with a lot of configuration
changes.
Q: What is the Zappo/Archos CD drive?
A: The Zappo CD-ROM was the first 3rd party CD drive for the A1200.
It was manufactured by a French firm called Archos during 1994/95, but was sold
under the brand name "Zappo" in the UK by the now defunct Indi Direct. (The
company went into liquidation around May 1995.) At the time (1995) the only
alternative was the Squirrel SCSI drive and the unreleased Commodore CD1200.
The drive was a standard IDE 2x CD-ROM connected via a custom "widget" to the
A1200 PCMCIA port. Despite its age it was fairly popular for CD32 emulation
and ran a large percentage of games. However, the drive was fairly unreliable
and would sporadically switch the drive motor off (especially when accessing
large files). This comes compliments of Gareth Knight.
Q: What software came with the Zappo/Archos
CD drive?
A: Software compatibility and performance varied according to
the version number. The earliest release, version 7 came with the first batch
during 1994. It was buggy and had problems with many CDs. The final revision
(v11) was bundled with the later models during 1995. Additional software can
be found at http://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/amiga/aminet/disk/cdrom/.
The Zappo V11 distribution was supplied with 2 disks- a boot disk that allowed
you to boot directly from the drive by holding the left mouse button, and a
second disk that contained some software drivers, CDDA and PhotoCD programs.
The software was easy to configure. All you had to do was press the LMB during
bootup to mount the drive and launch the CD32 emulation software. It was then
a simple case of configuring the joypad and booting the game. This comes compliments
of Gareth Knight.
Q: What sort of problems are there with the
Zappo/Archos CD drive?
A: AFAIK there were four main problems regarding the CD drivers:
- Files always reported bizarre dates, usually sometime in the future.
- File and directory names were sometimes displayed in lower case. This depended
upon how the CD was mastered. Early editions of the Amiga Format CD suffer
from this problem. The lower case problem can be solved by replacing it with
the AmiCDFS CD filesystem which is available on Aminet in disk/cdrom/ and
most magazine CDs.
- It would not even recognise white CDs.
- The aforementioned CD motor. It would be a miracle to find an original drive
still working.
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.
This drive was officially canned (I was there when they canned it). I haven't
heard anything otherwise. If you would like to see what it would have looked
like and its features (so you can be further angered by its failed release),
then Gareth Knight recommends this
page.
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." (It never made it past prototype.
Escom didn't think it was worthy enough to continue, but instead a $2700 A4000T
was. -Ed.)
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. (Anyone have any dirt
on this drive? Bet it never shipped. -Ed.)
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.
Or 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...
Or 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.
The game may have an icon to double click to run it. In that case you don't
need to assign or execute anything.
Alternatively, 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.
Also, 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.
AsimCDFS: 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).
Your friend's PC might be able to play them as well - with limited
success.
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.
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...
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.
The game could try to call some 3.1 functions that don't exist in 3.0. Upgrading
your Kickstart should fix this problem.
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.
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.
If you are using emulation under another OS, be sure you mimic
the exact configuration of a CD32 - no FAST RAM, no FPU, etc. These can REALLY
make a difference.
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...
| 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) |
| 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 |
| Guardian (7) |
Crashes after one game |
| Project-X (7) |
Crashes after a few
levels |
| Ultimate Body Blows
(7) |
Crashes after one game |
| 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 2
(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 Divil (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.
Also check out the Archos Overdrive home pages. Have a look in the Internet
section for details.
Return to the Table of Contents
This
area is currently under development and will be greatly expanded upon later.
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
Update: March 2000 - Gateway bought the Amiga, then turned around and sold most
of it to a private party. The chances are HIGHLY unlikely another CD32 will
ever roll off an assembly line, and while they are currently still making Amiga
4000T somewhere in the world (I'm not positive on this one, but I read it somewhere
that someone still had a license to do so), I wouldn't hold your breath. Gareth
Knight offers up this
little tidbit about 'Escom's Plans' for the CD32. I put this in here because
the original CD32 FAQ mentioned Escom reviving the CD32 (which obviously didn't
happen :)
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: Read below.
AmigaVision Professional
CanDo
HELM
Interplay
SCALA Multimedia
AMOS Professional (programming)
DICE
GNU C
SAS/C
DevPacIII
Macro68
AdPro
ImageF/X
ImageMaster
AudioMasterIV
Bars&Pipes Pro
Deluxe Music 2
MusicX
OctaMED professional
Sonix
SuperJAM!
Trackers - too many to mention
Caligari
Imagine
LightWave (Video Toaster)
Real3D
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.
Return to the Table of Contents
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.
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
- 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.
1 black Keyboard
clock
2 brown Keyboard data
3 red Res
4 orange +5V DC
5 yellow Unused
6 green Ground
7 blue Power LED
8 violet Disk LED |
 |
Connect like this...
A500 CD32
1 -> 5
2 -> 1
4 -> 4
6 -> 3
Taken from an Email by Kimmo Veijalainen.
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.
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
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 tactsource. You
should 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.
Return to the Table of Contents
For CD32 FAQ 2000 I removed all the old addresses from the FAQ. Most of these
people aren't answering the phones anymore, websites are down, email bounces.
If you have a vendor still open for CD32 business that hopefully has a valid
website and email address, please pass it along. I'll be posting all the known
sites that I know of shortly.
|
Company
Name/Link
|
Description
|
Location
|
| Centsible
Software |
Software, Hardware,
a little bit of everything! |
U.S. |
Return to the Table of Contents
The original CD32 FAQ Part
1 | Part 2
Last Maintainer: Stuart Tomlinson
Contributors listed in the original FAQ:
|
Alan Buxey
Alan Redhouse
Alan Thomas
Alf Edvin Torgersen
Allan Duncan
Anders Stenkvist
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 LaytJohn 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 |
CD32 FAQ 2000
|
Shane R. Monroe
|
Gareth Knight |
Return to the Table of Contents
