Welcome to PlayCD!!!
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LEGAL STUFF
PlayCD 
 Elaborate Bytes, Oliver Kastl
All other rights reserved.
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GENERAL
PlayCD is a small but powerful player program for audio CDs.
It will only work with SCSI-II, ATAPI and with Mitsumi CD-ROM drives.
This program will refuse to work with Kickstart or Workbench versions
below 2.04.
INSTALLATION
Use the supplied installation program to install PlayCD.
PlayCD uses an own font for its display. However, if you don't want to copy
the PlayCD font files to your fonts: directory, you may instruct the
installation program to do so.
PlayCD will look for the font specified in its tooltypes, where FONT=default
will use the system's default font.
If it can't find a specified font or you didn't specify one, it will use the
screen font.
STARTING PLAYCD
Double-click on the program's icon to start.
The program will get the proper device and unit number out of its ToolTypes.
The installation program has entered the correct values here.
Further it will read the "SKIP" value (The value how many seconds are
"skipped" when you hit the SKIP FORWARD [>>] or BACK [<<] gadgets, see below)
and PEEKTIME value (see the ToolType value PEEKTIME for details).
When starting from the CLI, you must specify the proper device name und unit
number. You may also specify the skip value.
ERRORS WHILE STARTING:
If the program refuses to start, there might be something wrong.
For the most common errors during startup, an error message will be displayed:
"NO BOARD FOUND":
The device driver refused to open, because it couldn't find the hardware.
Please check the hardware installation! Check also the UNIT tooltype!
"CDROM NOT FOUND":
The device driver refused to open, because it couldn't find the cdrom drive
connected to your hardware. Probably it is not powered up. Please check
the hardware installation and cabling! Check also the UNIT tooltype!
"OPEN DEVICE ERROR":
The device driver couldn't be opened for some unknown reason.
Please check the proper software installation! Use the installation program!
Check also the DEVICE and UNIT tooltypes!
QUITTING PLAYCD
To get rid of PlayCD you can:
1. Hit the close gadget
2. Select "QUIT" from the menu Items
3. Use right-Amiga-key + Q from the keyboard
However, if the drive is already playing, it will continue playing linear
from the current position until the end of the CD and then stop.
If you restart PlayCD while audio is playing, PlayCD will not disturb the
audio play. Nice, isn't it?
DISPLAY
The Display shows you program status information.
If a CD is inserted, the display shows:
No ss of tt
xx:xx yy:yy
This means, the laser is currently at track number ss. On this CD are tt
tracks available.
xx:xx is the time position from the beginning of the current track.
yy:yy is the time position from the beginning of the CD.
If no disc is inserted, the message "NO DISC" will be displayed.
Other possible messages are:
HYBRID DISC:
A hybrid disc (a disk capable to hold multiple sessions) is inserted.
As there are no audio tracks on these discs, PlayCD will completely
ignore them.
TIME OUT:
The CD-ROM didn't response to a command in the given amount of time.
Very unlikely.
BAD STATUS:
The drive returned bad status to a command. This should never happen.
DATA TRACK:
You tried to play or program a data track. This is not possible.
READ ERROR:
Error reading disc information or table of contents.
PLEASE WAIT:
Drive is busy, wait a moment.
CLEAR SHUFFLE:
Current shuffle play is cleared. This happens usually, if all tracks on a
disc are played.
CLEAR PROGRAM:
Current program is cleared. This happens usually, if all programmed
tracks on a disc are played.
TABLE FULL:
You cannot program more tracks, because the allocated memory is exhausted.
NO TRACK:
You tried to play or program a track, which does not exist.
TRACK nn PROGRAMMED:
An acknoledgement for you, that you have successfully programmed a track in
PROGRAM mode.
THE MENUES
MODE:
The menu item "MODE" configures PlayCD, which kind of play mode you wish to
perform. The possible options are "CONTINUE", "PROGRAM", "SHUFFLE" and "TRACK".
The default mode is CONTINUE, when the program is started.
To change the play mode, simply activate one of the four subitems of MODE.
You may also use the keyboard shortcuts right-Amiga-key and C,P,S or T.
A checkmark left to the menu subitem shows the current mode.
These modes are mutually exclusive.
Subitem CONTINUE:
An Audio CD is played "linear". If the play operation is started, it will play
all following tracks until the end of the CD.
Subitem PROGRAM:
You can program different tracks. If you start the play operation by hitting
the Play gadget, the PlayCD will play the tracks in the order you have entered
them. You can either use the number gadgets to program the tracks, or the number
keys on your keyboard. If you program via the keyboard please note that you have
to enter 2 digits for each track (e.g. 02 for track 2), or 2 followed by enter.
(See also "Keyboard shortcuts" later in this document).
Subitem SHUFFLE:
In this mode, a random generator will choose the tracks that will be played.
Subitem TRACK:
In this mode, only a single track will be played - playing will stop, after the
track is finished.
REPEAT:
Enabling REPEAT will repeat play. This affects all modes described above:
In "CONTINUE" mode, the whole CD will be played again and again.
In "PROGRAM" mode, your programmed tracks will be repated.
In "SHUFFLE" mode, the CD will be played randomly again and again.
In "TRACK" mode, the single track you chose will be endlessly repeated.
You may also use the keyboard shortcut right-Amiga-key and R to toggle Repeat.
A checkmark left to the REPEAT item shows, if reapeat is active or not.
INQUIRE:
This menu item will give you verbose information about the exec device driver
in use, the Unit number and the version of your CD-Rom drive
You may also use the keyboard shortcut right-Amiga-key and I to pop up the
information requester.
ABOUT:
This menu item gives you information about the PlayCD program.
You may also use the keyboard shortcut right-Amiga-key and A to pop up the
information requester.
QUIT:
This will quit the program. It has the same function as hitting the close
gadget. You may also use the keyboard shortcut right-Amiga-key and Q to quit.
THE GADGETS:
This is the PLAY gadget. It will start audio play from the beginning of
the current track.
In PROGRAM mode, it will start the play of your programmed tracks or,
if already playing, seek to the next program step.
In SHUFFLE mode, it will start the random play or, if already playing,
play the next track in the "shuffle sequence". You can use "CURSOR DOWN"
as a shortcut on your keyboard.
[|-|]
This is the STOP gadget. It will stop the play and position the drive to track
one. In PROGRAM mode, it will clear the running program. You can use "CURSOR
UP" as a shortcut on your keyboard.
This is the PAUSE gadget. It will pause audio play. Hitting it again will resume
play at the position, where you paused. You may use the space bar on your
keyboard as a shortcut.
This is the SKIP BACK gadget. You can use "CURSOR LEFT" as a shortcut on your
keyboard. The value, how many seconds will be skipped can be specified via
tooltypes or from the cli. Further you may use the slider gadget to directly
skip to a position of the current track.
This is the SKIP FORWARD gadget. You can use "CURSOR LEFT" as a shortcut on
your keyboard. The value, how many seconds will be skipped can be specified via
tooltypes or from the cli. Further you may use the slider gadget to directly
skip to a position of the current track.
[|<<]
This is the SEEK BACK gadget. It will seek to the track before the one currently
playing and play this track immediately. In PROGRAM mode, it will SEEK BACK
on program step. You can use "B" as a shortcut on your keyboard.
[>>|]
This is the SEEK NEXT gadget. It will seek to the next track following the one
currently playing and play this track immediately. In PROGRAM mode, it will
go to the next program step. You can use "N" as a shortcut on your keyboard.
This is the EJECT gadget. It will open/close the cd tray on Mitsumi FX001
drives. With LU005 drives it is ghosted and inoperational.
You can use "E" as a shortcut on your keyboard.
VOLUME SLIDER
It will adjust the audio volume on Mitsumi FX001 drives. With LU005 drives it
is ghosted and inoperational. It hast no keyboard shortcut.
[NUMBER]
These gadgets are for direct playing/programming of tracks. Tracks greater as
20 must be entered via the keyboard.
(See also "Keyboard shortcuts" later in this document).
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
Most operations can be controlled with the keyboard.
For these shortcuts to work, the PlayCD window must be active.
GADGET SHORTCUTS:
CURSOR LEFT 	= [<<] 	(SKIP BACK)
CURSOR RIGHT 	= [>>]	(SKIP FORWARD)
CURSOR DOWN 	= [|>]	(PLAY)
CURSOR UP 		= [|-|]	(STOP)
SPACE BAR 		= [||]	(PAUSE/RESUME)
B					= [|<<]	(SEEK BACK)
N					= [>>|]	(SEEK NEXT)
E              = [^]    (EJECT)
MENU SHORTCUTS:
Right Amiga key + C = Continue
Right Amiga key + P = Program
Right Amiga key + S = Shuffle
Right Amiga key + T = Track
Right Amiga key + R = Repeat
Right Amiga key + I = Inquire
Right Amiga key + A = About
Right Amiga key + Q = Quit (same as hitting the close gadget)
OTHER KEYBOARD OPERATIONS:
DEL				= Zip window (make it big or small)
HELP				= run "sys:Utilities/AmigaGuide playcd.guide"
Instead of clicking on one of the number gadgets to play or progam a track,
you may use the keyboard instead. This is very important to know, if you want
to program track numbers greater than 20.
To do this, simply enter the number on your keyboard, e.g. [2] and [1] for
track 21. If you want to enter a track number below ten, you have to either
enter a leading 0 (e.g. [0] and [5] for track 5), or enter [5] followed by
the carriage return or the enter key.
If you have entered a wrong first digit (e.g. you want to program track 21,
but accidently typed 1 first), you can press backspace [<-] on our keyboard
to erase the wrong entry (In our example this would be [1] oops! [<-]
[2] [1]).
TOOLTYPES
Here are the tooltypes of the PlayCD.info file listed:
DEVICE=name.device
Name of the exec.device driver. The Installation program should have filled
in the correct name. Device names could be "tandemcd.device",
"tandemcd_come.device" or "tandemcd_pcmcia.device". If no device name
is given, the program defaults to "tandemcd.device".
UNIT=number
Unit number of your driver. The Installation program should have filled
in the correct unit number (usually 0).
If no unit number is specified, the program defaults to unit 0.
DOSDEV=name
You can also specify a DOS device name (e.g. CD0).
If no DEVICE and UNIT tooltypes are specified, PlayCD will look for a mounted
CD Rom drive with this DOS device name.
Note that the DEVICE and UNIT tooltypes will override this!
SKIP=number
Amount of seconds to skip when hitting SKIP FORWARD [>>] or SKIP BACK [<<] or
their keyboard equivalents.
If no value is specified, the program defaults to 1.
FONT=name
Uses this font, if possible. Enter "default" for the system default font.
If the specified font can't be loaded or if this tooltype is mising, PlayCD
will use the current screen font.
FONTSIZE=number
Size of your preferred font. If you want to use the system's default font size,
enter 0 for the size.
PEEKTIME=number
Interval (in 1/100 of a second), the drive will be asked for the current
position during playback. Default is 20 (0,2 secs).
Should never be higher than 100 (1 second) for proper operation.
Lowering the value will make the "non-linear" playback modes (Track, Shuffle,
Program) more accurate, but will use more CPU time.
PUBSCREEN=name
The name of the public screen, you wish PlayCD to open its window.
If this screen cannot be found or no screen is specified, the default public
screen will be used.
END OF DOCUMENT