No Fragments Archive 12: Textmags & Docs/nf_archive_12.iso/MAGS/DOCS/ATACD06.ZIP/ATACD06.ENG

Text File | 1996-12-29 | 27.0 KB | 742 lines

Feel free to mail me for all the errors you see (in the contents and also
in the form because I am French and the English language if no my first
one) or for other information that can be interesting.

You can find all the PD or shareware programs for CD-ROMs at ftp.cnam.fr in
the directory : /pub/atari/cd-rom

   Loic
   ----

New since last version :
    - Gamma and Transmission CDs from Whiteline
    - Maxon Atari Software Demo-CD
    - Another CD-Player 1.10
    - CD-Recorder V1.02 (Dirk Haun)
    - Chapter about the writing of a CD-ROM
    - CD ROM Cartridge
    - CD ROM Cartridge II
    - Ideal 2.06
    - Ideal RTC
    - ATAPI-CD Software

Updates since last version :
    - Egon CD-Utilities 2.3
    - CD Player 1.3 (A. Clauss)
    - ExtenDos Pro v2.1

                        ATARI CD-ROM FAQ
                        ----------------
                           13/06/1995

0 - Contents
   1 - What driver should I use with my Atari system ?
   2 - What discs are available ?
   3 - Can I use Photo-CD on my Atari ?
   4 - Can I play Audio-CDs on my Atari ?
   5 - How do I program the CD-ROM drive ?
   6 - Can I make my own CD-Rom ?
   7 - Appendix A : User's configurations

1 - What driver should I use with my Atari system ?

There are several drivers available :

MetaDos :
   Free software from Atari Corp.
   Available from atari.archive.umich or ftp.muenster.de (metads25.zip)

   The filesystem drivers support ISO9660 and High Sierra CDs, but not
   multisession CDs.
   The device driver only works for the Atari CDAR504 connected to the
   ACSI bus or with generic SCSI CD-ROMs connected to the TT SCSI port.
   (Answer from Julian Reschke)


CDROM.XFS :
   Free software (Copyright 1992,1993,1994 Eric R. Smith, Michael Bernards
   u. Gunther Leis)
   Available from atari.archive.umich and other ftp sites.

   This driver is a Mint extended filesystem and works on TTs and Falcons.
   CDROM.XFS version <0.7 does not work with Mint/Multitos > 1.04.
   The current version (0.7) is said to work on Mint/Multitos > 1.04.
   It seems to be true on TTs but it does not work with any Mint version
   on my Falcon.


CD-Tools :
   Commercial solution from Hard & Soft, Obere Muensterstrasse 33-35,
   D-44575 Castrop-Rauxel, Germany, Phone: ++49 2305 18014, Fax: ++49 2305
   32463

   Includes MetaDOS with GEM-based installation program, audio player with
   PCM audio data import (only some drives) and custom devices and
   filesystem drivers (support for Atari CDAR504 and generic CD-ROMs
   connected to ACSI through host adapter, TT-SCSI, Falcon-SCSI,
   multisession support (only some drives)).
   (Answer from Julian Reschke)

   With CD-Tools, you also have a GDPS module and the program Scan-It that
   can handle Photo-CD Pictures.
   Version 2.x countains a driver for IDE drives and ATAPI norm (For the
   Falcon and cards with AT-BUS extention).
   CD-Tools is in German and costs 99 DM.

CD-Tool jr :
   Commercial solution from Hard & Soft

   CD-Tools without digital audio copy, GDPS and Scan-It.
   CD-Tool jr costs 49 DM.

ExtenDOS v1.21:
   Commercial solution from Anodyne Software, 6 Cobbler Court, Ottawa,
   Ontario K1V 0B8, Canada.
   Available in UK : System Solutions.

   Support ST, STe, Mega, TT, and Falcon. Read ISO9660  and High_Sierra
   CD-ROMs. It now runs just fine under MultiTOS with no restrictions;
   memory protect is OK, and you can run programs directly from CD. It
   also runs fine with Mag!X 2.01, with the restriction that the
   EXTENDOS.CNF file must be in the root directory.
   Support for Multisession Photo-CDs (with Multisession drives).
   Configurable cache.

   The next update will have an installation/setup program, plus support
   for more drives.

   Extendos v1.21 costs $29.95(North America).
   (Information updated by Roger Burrows / Anodyne Software)


ExtenDOS Pro:
   Commercial solution from Anodyne Software, 6 Cobbler Court, Ottawa,
   Ontario K1V 0B8, Canada.
   Available in UK : System Solutions.

   Like ExtenDOS 1.21 with audio support.
   New in version 2.1:
    - GEM installation program
    - Support for multiple CD-Rom drives
    - Better audio player graphics

   Extendos Pro costs $39.95(North America).


F030_CD :
   Fairware from Peter Hilbring, Dietrich Ottmar Straße 16, 59597
   Erwitte, Germany
   Available on ftp.tu-clausthal.de
   (/pub/atari/falcon/systools/f030_cd.zip)

   This package includes a BOS driver for MetaDOS, MetaDOS 2.3, a
   low level SCSI driver (TT & FALCON) and a program named
   cd_explorer as exemple of the access of the low level driver.
   (Info from Vincent Lefevre)

   I've just tried these drivers on my falcon with an Apple
   CD-300 cdrom and it works without problem.


ICD Pro :
   Old versions came with a MetaDOS driver named ICDCDROM.BOS.
   The new ones comes with a mint extended filesystem.


Egon CD-Utilities 2.3:
   Commercial solution from EDV-Service Bontenackels, Fronhofstrasse 7,
   52146 Wurselen, Germany; Tel.: [phone]; Fax : [phone]
   Available from Fair-Forum german shop

   Multisession MetaDos driver with audio-CD player.
   Works with ST(E)/TT/Falcon.
   ISO9660 and High Sierra.
   Program and CPX for Audio Play.
   Audio track to Hard Drive copy in AVR or DVS format.
   Support of the Pure C Metados Library.

   Egon CD-Utilities costs 79 DM.

   The version 2.3 seems to be stable but slower than CD-Tools
   (Tested in ST Computer).


CD-ROM ROM:
   FromCompo (Tel.: Germany : 030-623 82 92; Holland : 04454-6 38 88;
   Switzerland : 01-784 89 47; France : 1-47 35 89 66; UK : 0487-35 82;
   USA : 415-35 50 862)

   It's a Driver plus an interface witch can go in the cartridge port of
   every Atari computer and can handle IDE CD-ROM drives.

   In Germany, CD-ROM ROM costs 150 DM.


ISO_FS :
   From Erling Henanger <[e-mail]>

   This new Mint/Multitos CD-ROM driver will be released as shareware as soon
   as mint 1.11 is released.
   - FAST
   - Supports several mounted CDrom drives.
     (ie. CD-shifters or just more than one drive)
   - Works on Falcon and TT scsi + acsi.
   - Supports rock-ridge extensions (Long filenames on CD-roms that
     are made with this in mind - like the GNU/X11 CD-rom)
   - Is made ready to do disk-transfers in the background as soon as
     mint is up to it.
   It comes in two parts :
      - A generic scsi/acsi driver that talks to the hardware.(scsi.xdd/acsi.xdd)
      - The filesystem itself.(isofs.xfs)
   In addition it comes with a GEM based configuration program.
   Limitations:
      - It needs mint.prg with a version number >= 1.08

CD ROM Cartridge:
    From Gellermann & Fellmuth, Frankenbergstrasse 38, 12589 Berlin, Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

    It's a Driver plus an interface witch can go in the cartridge port of
    every Atari computer and can handle Mitsumi FX001 or Sony CDU33A CD-ROM
    drives.

    CD ROM Cartridge costs 129 DM.

CD ROM Cartridge II:
    From Gellermann & Fellmuth, Frankenbergstrasse 38, 12589 Berlin, Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

    Like CD ROM Cartridge for the ATAPI-IDE drives.
    CD ROM Cartridge costs 159 DM.

Ideal 2.06:
    From Gellermann & Fellmuth, Frankenbergstrasse 38, 12589 Berlin, Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

    IDE interface for hard-discs and ATAPI-IDE cd-rom drives + upgrade to
    TOS 2.06 (without ROMs). Works with every STs.
    Include HD-Driver and CD-ROM Software.
    Ideal 2.06 costs 89 DM.

Ideal RTC:
    From Gellermann & Fellmuth, Frankenbergstrasse 38, 12589 Berlin, Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

    Like Ideal 2.06 with a Real Time Clock instead of the TOS 2.06 Upgrade.
    Ideal RTC costs 149 DM.

ATAPI-CD Software:
    From Gellermann & Fellmuth, Frankenbergstrasse 38, 12589 Berlin, Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

    Driver for 2 ATAPI drives on IDE bus. Works on Falcon and with
    Gellermann & Fellmuth interfaces.

    ATAPI-CD Software costs 39 DM.


2 - What discs are available ?

There are now a lot of Atari specific CD-ROMs :

GEMini CD-ROM :
   From Walnut Creek CDROM, Suite 260, 1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Walnut
   Creek, CA  94596, USA, Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone],
   Email: [e-mail], Ftp: ftp.cdrom.com
   Available in Germany from Ingenieurburo Praefcke, Holtzvogtkamp 55,
   24220 Flintbeck, Phone: [phone].

   You can find the index of the GEMini CD-ROM on atari.archive.umich.edu.


Bernd Lohrum CD-ROM :
   From CD-Service Bernd Lohrum, Blumenstrasse 25, D-66482 Zweibrucken, Germany,
   Phone: [phone]; Fax : [phone]

   There are two CDs from Bernd Lohrum :
      Drachenstarke software : 300 Mb
      Tigerstarke software   : 500 Mb

   Each CD-ROM costs 69 DM (59 DM for MAUS net users).

    A third CD has been realesed by Bernd Lohrum : Die dritte ATARI

- Whiteline CDs :
    Available from Delta Labs Software, Rembrandtstrasse 1, 42329 Wuppertal,
    Germany

   There are now 3 Whiteline CDs :

   Alpha:
       Sharewares and PD, 500 TrueType fonts, Atari Linux.
       4 registered versions from the whiteline soft series.
       Costs 69 DM.
    Gamma:
       Sharewares and PD, 1000 Calamus fonts.
       6 registered versions from the whiteline soft series.
       Costs 79 DM.
  Transmittion:
       "The ultimate and complete FALCON demo, game and utilities CD" as says
       whiteline. Contains demos from the Fried Bits 3 party.
       Costs 49 DM.

Maxon CDs :
    From Maxon Computer, Industriestr. 26, 65734 Eschborn, Germany
                Tel : [phone]
    There are 2 CDs:
    - Maxon CD :
        More than 2000 programs from the ST-Computer-PD-Series (All the discs
        up to No 704).
        Disko PD Database
        Crazy sound junior
        Demos from Maxon products : Twist, Route_it, Circu_it, Harlekin III,
            Winrec and Wincut.
        The CD costs 59 Dm.
    - Atari Software Demo CD :
        A lot of german softare demo versions:
        Calamus SL, Harlekin 3, Kobold 2.5, Papillon, Twist 3, Abacus, CircuIt,
        RouteIt, Crasy Sounds, DA's Layout, DA's Picture, DA's Colour system,
        DA's Repro, DA's Vector pro, Formula, Marsu, Morpher, MultiTEX 5.4,
        Papyrus, Phoenix, Postfix, Pure Pascal, Script 4, Tempus Word, Twilight.
        A part of the CD has a Macintosh filesystem with the MagiCMac Demo and
        a multimedia application named MaxonMagiCTour.
        Also 100Mb of fonts, pictures et textures.

        Costs 25 Dm.

Wohlfahrtstatter CD-ROM :
   From Wohlfahrtstatter, Irenenstr. 76c, D-40468 Dusseldorf, Germany,
   Phone: [phone].
   This CD-ROM costs 89 DM.


Power CD Volume 1 :
    This is the first CD offering from COMPO software. This disc, although
    almost completely German, contains a wealth of PD/Shareware software,
    a healthy Falcon section, commercial demos, 592 GIF picture files, 120
    MOD files, and more.
   This CD-ROM costs 79 DM.


Atari Mega Archive :
   From Systems Solutions, Brandt Fernandes (Europe) Ltd, The Desktop Centre,
   17-19 Blackwater St., London SE22 8RS., England;
   Tel.: [phone]; Fax : [phone];
   Email : [e-mail] or [e-mail]

   This CD is composed of the vast majority of the Atari archive at umich.edu.
   The only things missing are the 8bit section and the GNU minix tools (whose
   filenames are difficult to convert to 8.3 format). The disk contains some
   480Mb of compressed programs, and a further ~115Mb of .mod files which
   (hopefully) can be played direct from the CD.

   The CD cost 29 pounds (with VAT & Posting). Systems Solutions can take credit
   cards etc. which ought to make things easier for you lot, and they're used to
   importing/exporting, so they're more likely to get it right.

   (Text taken from the announce on a.a.u.e)

The Crawly Crypt Collection (American):
    From The Crawly Crypt Corporation, P.O. Box 23, Webb City, MO  64870
               United States

    The Crawly Crypt Collection is the first American PD/Shareware CD to
    be published in almost a year. The CCC is packed full of not only the
    best new PD and Shareware software, but also the must have classics
    and the lost treasures that belong in every software collection! The
    CCC has done away with the concept of duplicate compressed versions,
    and used that saved space to include more software! The CCC boasts a
    wide assortment of software, good file descriptions, and an impressive
    falcon section (over 120 Mb).
    Costs $29.99

Skyline CD:
    From Michael Wehner
    Available from CYBERCUBE RESEARCH LTD., 126 Grenadier Crescent
        Thornhill, Ontario, L4J 7V7

    The SKYLINE CD comes with its unique own database/indexer program for
    instant access, allows the execution of virtually all applications by
    simply pressing a button, features built-in *.FLI and *.MOD players,
    hundreds of the latest in shareware, PD and animation files, as well
    as a copy of the TEMPUS Word Junior wordprocessor.

    The Skyline CD costs 59 Dm ($40 from Cybercube)

Two Volume CD from Suzy B's :
    From Suzy B's Software, 3712 Military Road, Niagara Falls, NY  14305
        Tel : [phone]

    The complete software library from Suzy B's Software is being released
    in a two volume, 11,000 file, 1,300 meg CD collection.
    Each file is individually described, sometimes with a description
    reaching over a page (the main catalog is over 3.6 megabytes of ASCII
    text!). The files are grouped in such ways as to allow you to easily
    buzz through the CDs. There are 51 separate categories, and each file
    within a category resides in its own folder, with a catalog
    description within each folder. Since all of the files are
    uncompressed, you can run them directly from the CD, saving a lot of
    hard drive or floppy disk space!

    It costs $69.95.

One other CDs will come out soon :
- Demo Mania CD from Akzente Computer, FrauenStrasse 40, 890783 ULM, Germany
      Demonstration versions of commercial software.
      Costs 19.95 DM.


You can also use all the ISO-9660 CDs that exists for the PCs. You won't
run the PC programs but you will access all the text, pictures, and sound
files on it.
Le fichier CDLIST.ZIP contient une liste de plus de 700 CD-ROMs pouvant etre
exploites sur Atari, soit grace a des visualiseurs d'images ou d'animations,
soit grace a des programmes developpes sur Atari.
Ceux ci sont pour l'instant au nombre de deux :
    MOST:
        Brian Grier Perkp's program. (MOST.ZIP, the demo version is on ftp at
        Atari.archive.umich.edu).
        For the Compton's New Media M.O.S.T. CD-ROMs:
           Doctor's Book of Home Remedies
           KGB-CIA World Fact Book
           The Pill Book
           The King James Bible
           U.S. Presidents
           ...
    SARA:
SARA is an acronym for Search And Retrieval Atari. Simply put, SARA
programs are written to access specific DOS and Windows CD's which Atari
users cannot otherwise read by conventional means, i.e.: doubleclicking
on a CD-ROM Drive icon from the desktop, in order to read, copy or view
file specific data. The accessible CD's generally store their
information quite cryptically, so that DOS and Windows users must make
use of the proprietary search and retrieval engine which installs itself
on the PC owner's hard drive. SARA replaces that proprietary search and
retrieval engine (for Atari users), and permits owners of TOS 2.05/06 -
4.04 to run the appropriate SARA program (specific to the CD) to read
text, search for information, view graphics and listen to associated
sounds. SARA provides a simple, familiar GEM window and Menu Bar as well
as keyboard shortcuts. SARA programs also allow printing of individual
articles, saving of articles and GIF's to disk, most pre-existing
Hyperlinks within articles, display of articles related pictures. As of
June 1995, the current list of SARA accessible CD's is: The Software
Toolworks Reference Library v2.0.0, The CD-ROM Deluxe Toolworks Referenc
Library, The 1992 Wayzata World Factbook, Time Man of the Year 1992, The
Powerhouse Art History Encyclopedia, Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia
v6 release, Sherlock Holmes on Disk, Shakespeare on Disk, 1994 Total
Baseball, Audubon's Multimedia Mammals, Audubon's Multimedia Birds,
Martin & Porter's Video Movie Guide, Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook,
Parenting: pre-natal to pre-school, 1993 Total Baseball, and The Family
Doctor.

SARA software usually requires TOS 2.05/06 or higher, a screen
resolution of 640 x 480 x 16 colours, 4 megabytes of RAM, ExtenDOS,
hard drive. SARA programs are happiest on TT's and Falcons running VGA
monitors. Some users of TOS 1.60/62 and monochrome monitors have had
very good results with text only - 4 meg of RAM is still necessary.

SARA software is a trademark of Proton Research and Peter Zalesak. SARA
software can be obtained through ABC Solutions in Toronto, Canada:
ABC Solutions
601-2904 St. Clair Ave. East
Toronto, ON
Canada
M4B 1N7   e-mail: [e-mail]   or   [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]

It's All Relative
2233 Keevan Lane
Florisant, MO 63031
U.S.A.
e-mail: [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]

Compo sells a cd-rom from Bitstream with 500 Type 1 and True Type Fonts
   for 99 DM. Looks great for Speedo-GDOS v5 and NVDI 3.0 owners.



3 - Can I use Photo-CD on my Atari ?

Of course You can !
To have full use of the photo-cds, you'll need a multi-sessions drive and
driver and also a program that can handle PCD files.

CD-TOOLS :
   The driver from Hard & Soft can read multi-sessions discs and have all
   the needed stuff to handle the Photo-CDs.

ColorDisc PCD :
   Commercial software from Color Concept, Im Alten Breidt 4, D-53797
   Lohmar Breidt, Germany, Phone: [phone]

   This program allows you to manipulate the photos on your Photo-CDs, and
   save them on hard-disc. It handles Portfolio CDs.
   If my understanding is good, it works with metados and a special BOS
   file (both included).
   It also includes a CD-Audio player.

   A demo version is available at ftp.tu-clausthal.de.
   ColorDisc PCD works on TTs and Falcons and costs 99 DM.

Studio Photo :
   Commercial software from Eurosoft.
   This french program can manipulate Photo-CDs.

Gemview v3.xx :
   Shareware from Dieter Fiebelkorn, Grüner Weg  29a, W4370 Marl-Brassert,
   Germany, Email : [e-mail]

   Gemview is also capable of handling PhotoCD's. Only in two resolutions
   (Base and Base/4 I think)
   The Gemview v3.xx license costs 40 DM.


4 - Can I play Audio-CDs on my Atari ?

Of course You can !

The following programs are available :

CD-Player V1.3:
    Freeware from Alexander Clauss, Stresemannstr. 44, D-64297 Darmstadt

    AUDIO-CD Player for ATARI ST/STE/TT/Falcon with MetaDos.
    Database with song list. Copy of the audio tracks to the hard disc into
    sound files(DVS, AVR, WAVE, SND ou AU). Now works with F030_CD (but not
    with my Apple CD300).

CD-TOOLS :
   The driver from Hard & Soft includes a player for CD-Audio discs. The
   drive must understand SCSI2 instructions(Or CDAR504 or the Apple
    CD150).

ColorDisc PCD :
   It also includes an audio Player.

Audio CD Master 3.3 :
   Commercial software from It's All Relative Software, 2233 Keeven Lane,
   Florissant, MO 63031, USA.

   This program can play CD-Audio discs on SCSI2 and Nec drives. On
   falcon and with some drives, it allows you to control and pipe your CD
   audio sound into the Falcon for DSP effects using software like the
   Audio Fun Machine that comes with your Falcon 030.

   Audio CD Master 3.0 costs $29.99 US, postpaid, worldwide.

Audio CD player 2.0 :
   Older shareware version of Audio CD Master 3.0 from Nima Montaser, P.O.
   Box 52127, Ottawa, Ont. K1N 5S0, Canada

   Does not work on my falcon.

Egon CD-Utilities :
   This package contains a program and a CPX for CD-Audio Play and allow the
   copy of the audio tracks to the hard drive.

ExtenDos Pro :
   This driver contains a program to play CD-Audio.

AudioStreams:
   From Erling Henanger <[e-mail]>

   - Includes a CD-database that will recognize CDs and favourite
     tracks.
   - Works as program or accessory, with or without mint/multiTOS.
   - Works on TT and Falcon scsi ports.
   - Should work on ST's with ICD's SCSI-2 capable host interface, but
     this is not tested.
   - Works on all SCSI 2 compatible CD ROM drives, as well as Pioneer
     and AppleCD 150 drives. Can be configured to work with any CD ROM
     device through external drivers. Drivers can be made with a
     supplied compiler program. They are made from simple ASCII files,
     and example files are included for SCSI 2 and AppleCD.


WinRec 1.4 et Winrec Pro:
   From Andreas Binner, Eichholzstrasse 12, 90587 Veitsbronn, Germany
   Email : [e-mail]

   Winrec 1.4 is a shareware and Winrec Pro is the commercial version with
   more functions. The main function is direct_to_disk.
   They now containsan CD-AUDIO player that works with MetaDos.
   The Winrec 1.4 license costs 30 DM.
   Winrec Pro costs 129 DM.


MusicChannel 1.51:
   Shareware from Stephan Bold, Paray-le-Monialstr. 16, 67098 Bad Dürkheim,
   Germany; Email : [e-mail]

   CD-AUDIO player and ".MOD" selector.
   Works with MetaDos and Paula.
   Also contains a CD-AUDIO database.
   The MusicChannel 1.51 license costs 10 DM.


Another CD-Player 1.10:
   Freeware from Christian Mittendorf, Mejerigatan 2-1333, 41276 Göteborg,
   Sweden; eMail: [e-mail]

    A new CD-AUDIO player for ST/STE/TT/Falcon witch works with the driver
    F030-CD.    Works as application or accessory.

CD-Recorder V1.02:
    Freeware from Dirk Haun, Europastr. 8, D-64569 Nauheim, Germany
    e-mail: Dirk Haun @ WI2.maus.de (MausNet)

    With this program, you can transfer digital audio datas from a CD to
    an hard drive on AVR or WAV files.
    Works with MetaDos and a driver and a drive witch both accepts the audio
    commands.

5 - How do I program the CD-ROM drive ?

Some bindings exists to access the cd-rom drive. They can be found on
ftp.muenster.de (under \pub\atari\Programming\CDBIND01.ZIP).
They can be only used with some drivers (CD-TOOLS and ExtenDOS can be used,
CDROM.XFS not).


6 - Can I make my own CD-Rom ?

Yes.
CD-Service Berndt Lohrum (Blumenstrasse 25, D-66482 Zweibrucken,
Germany; Telephone: [phone]; Fax : [phone]) sells a programm
for TT and Falcon to drive CD-Roms Writers.
The prices are :
    CD-Recorder 1.0 (Soft) : 598 DM
    CD-Recorder with Phillips CDD522 : 4298 DM
    CD-Recorder with Yamaha CDR100 : 5698 DM

They can also transfer SCSI disc, a Syquest or DAT tape on CD-ROM for 129 DM.

7 - Appendix A

These are some users configurations :

------------------------------------------------------------------
TT, MultiTOS 1.04, CDROM.XFS
TT, MultiTOS 1.08/9, CDROM.XFS v.0.7
TT, MetaDOS

These do not work:

TT, MultiTOS 1.08/9, CDROM.XFS < 0.7
TT, MultiTOS, MetaDOS

Drive : NEC Multispin, external (84-1).

Discs :  GEMini Atari CD ROM from Walnut Creek
         Clipart Warehouse

------------------------------------------------------------------
MSTE -> ICD MicroSCSI -> ICD AdSCSI+ -> NEC CDR-37
but the first host adapter in the chain has nothing to do with driving the
CD-ROM, its for a hard disk. The AdSCSI+ also has a hard disk running from
it as well as the CD-ROM

Drive : NEC CDR-37

Software :

ICDCDZ2.XFS as supplied on the ICD Pro utilities disk. This only seems to
work under MiNT <= 1.04. None of the other freely available CD-ROM drivers
(MetaDOS etc.) seem to work. I haven't tried Extendos or CD-Tools.

For audio playing, I'm using Nima Montasser's 'Audio CD Master 3v0'. This
is the commercial release of the AUD_CD20.ACC audio CD player. Both work
fairly well for me, but I haven't got all the features to work yet.

In order to CD Player configuration to work (the default NEC CDR-37 one
didn't work! with AUD_CD20.ACC ) I contacted NEC(UK). They very kindly
sent me a copy of their 'SCSI 1 Spec' free of charge. This is a 90 page
photocopied document which lists all the SCSI 1 commands for a CD-ROM and
what they do. I'm sure its pretty out of date now, especially as NEC must
be onto SCSI 2 by now.
I used the SCSI.PRG from the ICD Pro disk to send SCSI commands to the
CD-ROM to get the combination right.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Atari Falcon030, 4MB RAM, 127MB Internal IDE drive, 270MB external
SCSI drive, Viper 105S Tape Streamer.

Drive : NEC 2xi

Non-working drivers: MetaDOS 2.3 (no BOS drivers for Falcon).
               ICD Pro Utilities (didn't see the drive at all).
               Atari CDROM driver, v0.6 (gave read errors).

Working drivers :  ExtenDOS v1.11  (commercial, available in the UK from
               Systems Solutions, price about 30 pounds).

Discs : Gemini Atari CD-ROM.
Cover disk from a PC CD-ROM magazine.  The files read OK, but obviously
the PC-specific executables do not run.  I got loads of TIF pictures etc
off of this disk.
The NEC 2xi is about the same price as an Apple CD300 (160 pounds + VAT).
But people seem to have had less hassle getting the Apple drive running.
I chose the NEC because is an internal drive, so slotted into my
mini-tower comfortably.


------------------------------------------------------------------
TT030 4 Mb ST Ram, 4 Mb TT Ram, 210 Mb HD
Mint (1.04) + MultiTOS

Drive: NEC 210 (also known as NEC55j?)
             (double speed SCSI internal drive)

Driver: CD-Tools 1.08 from Hard&Soft Computerzubehor GmbH

DOS discs tried: - The Best of Demo (Comptec Multimedia)
                   contains lots of GIF/BMP/MOD/TXT files
                 - Monster Media issue 2 1993 (by Monster Media?)
                   contains also lot's of GIF/BMP/MOD/TXT files
                 - TOP 101 shareware programs (came along with the drive)
                   hardly usable, only DOS stuff.
                 - Music Box 1994 (Powersource inc)
                   tons of MOD and VOC (about same as WAV) sound files.
Atari discs tried:
                - DTP Grafiken (by Werbedesign Schutz)
                  contains tons of clipart files in IMG and (DOS) PCX
                  format, disc was made for Atari and DOS

Other drivers I've tried are several earlier releases of Metados from
Atari, a modified Metados for the Falcon and some XFS drivers for
Mint/MultiTOS (ICD and Atari).

Most of them work OK but for some discs (for example the DTP Grafiken disc)
the older drivers cannot cope with the large amount of files in a
subdirectory (with DTP Grafiken there are folders with over 700 files!)
Clicking on the folder icon just doesn't open the folder...
The driver from Hard&Soft seems to work for all of my current CD-ROM discs.

The XFS driver for Mint/MultiTOS is slow... The Metados drivers seem to
buffer much more data, problem with Metados is that it's supposed NOT to
work with Mint/MultiTOS. However, I haven't got any problems yet.

------------------------------------------------------------------
TT030, MetaDos, Apple CD300
But it seems that the TT does not recognize a media change, and I get
some "not-responding" messages. After clicking <CANCEL> the loading is
performed perfectly.

>I chose the NEC because is an internal drive, so slotted into my
>mini-tower comfortably.

It is very easy to remove the Apple CD300 from it's casing. It just holds
an Sony CDROM player which can then be mounted in a tower without any problems.
(I've done so) The casing can then be used to hold a old HardDisk which was left
over from a upgrade to be able to transfer data between friends (Works perfectly!)

PS. I bought my Apple CD300 here in the NL for about Fl.470,- which is ca. $250
------------------------------------------------------------------
TT, MagiX 2.00, MetaDOS 2.30
------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks to all the users that mailed me their experience.