Amiga Developer CD 2.1

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Additional CD32 information and tips from CATS ============================================== $VER: CATS_CD32_Notes 40.1 (15.10.93) ************************************************************************ * * * COPYRIGHTS * * * * Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Amiga, Inc. All Rights Reserved * * * ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ * * * CONFIDENTIAL DEVELOPER MATERIALS * * * ************************************************************************ THIS SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY AND/OR CONFIDENTIAL, AND IS PROVIDED ONLY FOR INHOUSE TESTING AND/OR USE BY REGISTERED DEVELOPERS. THIS SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED, DISCLOSED, OR DUPLICATED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN AS SPECIFIED IN A SIGNED NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT WITH COMMODORE. THIS SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION MAY NOT BE RETRANSMITTED ELECTRONICALLY, AND MAY NOT BE STORED ON MULTI-USER SYSTEMS. ************************************************************************ * * * DISCLAIMER * * * * THIS SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS". * * NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ARE MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE * * ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, PERFORMANCE, CURRENTNESS, OR OPERATION * * OF THIS SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION, AND ALL USE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. * * NEITHER AMIGA NOR THE AUTHORS ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY * * OR LIABILITY WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE * * AND INFORMATION. * * * ************************************************************************ FIRST - Read the Other Docs =========================== Read the AppDeveloper.spec and the Periph_Compat documents, and any other written or electronic docs we have provided. These notes are intended to be an addendum to the other docs! SECOND - Regarding Sample Scripts ================================= Some of the sample CD startup scripts provided here have not been tested as-is. But they are similar to parts of scripts we have used on our demo, bundle, and test CDs. Notes on Debug (aka. Developer) Boards ====================================== A limited number of CD32 "Debug" boards should be available for sale to registered developers. This board, when attached to the back of a CD32, provides floppy, parallel, serial, and RGB ports. There is also an IDE port which is functional if you have a special CD32 developer ROM containing the IDE driver. These boards are VERY useful for debugging CD's and testing new executables with CD Data. But - be sure to also test your product on a CD32 with no debug board attached!!! We have seen cases where a title worked if there was a debug board attached but crashed somewhere on a standard CD32 with no debug board. Some possible causes for crashing with no debug board would be 1. memory layout differences and 2. code dependence on the existance of a DF0: (there was always a DF0: in the doslist on a CDTV). Notes on CD-Audio and CDXL ========================== 1. You can't do CD-Audio, CDXL, and other CD accesses at the same time While playing CD audio or CDXL with CD32 cd.device you must not make any other filesystem or track-level accesses of the CD or it will hang at least until the CD audio or CDXL completes. This could be a long time. Note that the CDTV cdtv.device behaved differently and would automatically abort CD audio if a filesystem or track-level access occurred. Keep this in mind while writing your code - for example, you can not start CD audio playing and THEN try to load an ILBM.... 2. BUGS and Workarounds a. Various cd.device and nonvolatile bugs You MUST USE the latest V40 SetPatch on your titles! As of this writing SetPatch 40.12 is the latest SetPatch. It is part of the Workbench 40.35 beta, and either this version or a newer SetPatch should be available in closed CD32 listings areas. SetPatch 40.12+ fixes some CD32 device/library problems including: - crash if application accessed nonvolatile if the Amiga CD32 NonVolatile prefs screen was used before closing door on title. - a CD_SEEK problem - possible hang of cd.device on certain length commands when sent to certain drive firmware revisions See the SetPatch notes below on the use of SetPatch. b. CD prefetch can cause CD_CONFIG speed setting to be ignored It is possible for a cd.device CD_CONFIG speed setting command to be ignored if the data you try to read at the new speed setting resides on the disc directly after the last data data that was read. This is because if the second read's data is currently being prefetched when you tell cd.device to read that data, the reinitialization of the cd.device to the new speed settings will not occur until either an error or a read from elsewhere on the disc occurs. A simple but not necessarily upward compatible workaround is to Delay(14) or equivalent non-busy-wait for about 1/4 second before starting the read of the data which you wish to read at the new speed. But if a future cd.device has a longer/bigger prefetch, this Delay may not be enough. A better workaround is to READ (not SEEK) a few bytes at a position 2 sectors before your data, before reading your data. We ran into this problem in the CDGSXL player which can do a filesystem load of an ILBM, then set double speed for CDXL, then start playing the double speed CDXL. The ILBM resided right before the CDXL stream on the disc, and the double-speed setting was sometimes ignored. c. Taking over INT2 is BAD BAD BAD and can Hang System !!!! If your title takes over the INT2 interrupt, two very bad problems can occur!!!! o Your title can hang on some drives or firmware if you happen to take over INT2 while the cd.device is still prefetching data after the last read which occured! That last read might have been the read that loaded the code of your game, or a read that you performed to load your title screen or music. This type of hang genrally does not show up until you cut a disk because only then are all files being loaded from the CD. And since it is a race condition, it may only occur sometimes or only on some systems. o If you have taken over INT2, and the user jostles the CD32 hard enough to cause the drive to spin down, the drive tries to send an error to cd.device, an interrupt occurs which cd.device must handle, and cd.device cannot handle it because you knocked cd.device out of the INT2 chain by taking over INT2. Result - Your Game Will Hang. Proper Workaround: Do NOT TAKE OVER INT2. On CDTV and CD32, the cd driver is ON THE INT2 CHAIN and requires proper servicing of its interrupts. This is not an A1200. Read the 2.0 RKM Devices Manual cia resource chapter. Use the OS to properly allocate a timer for yourself if you need your own timer. Or, if you want INT2, see the Libraries manual Exec Interrupts chapter, and add yourself to server chain for INT2, and properly return with the processor Z flag set so that the other INT2 servers will be called. Kludge workaround: If you are taking over INT2 be sure to Delay() or WaitTOF() for at least 1/4 second after any CD reads have occured and before taking over INT2. That should take care of possible hanging during game startup on current systems and firmware. But tell your users that your game can totally hang if they jostle the CD32 too hard. 3. CD_PAUSE and CD_SEARCH are global and sticky If the CD_PAUSE command is used to pause CD audio, pause mode will remain in effect even if a CD_PLAYTRACK is aborted and/or the cd.device is closed. If your title can exit, and has paused CD audio, please unpause it before you exit. Similarly, CD_SEARCH settings are global and sticky. If CD_SEARCH is used to change the CD audio PLAY mode settings, please set them back to a reasonable default. If your title does not need to be booted from If your title can be started in a peripheral or multitasking environment, or can be exited and reentered, you may wish to use the CD_INFO command to check if CD audio is paused or if CD audio Search mode has been set to anything other than normal forward speed. Then, if necessary, use the CD_PAUSE and/or CD_SEARCH commands to reset to unpause and normal forward speed before attempting to start your own CD audio. This way, if some previous code accidently left the drive in a paused or unusual state, you will still be able to play CD audio. 4. cd.device/CD_INFO This command can tell you if CD audio is playing. But DON'T use it to determine whether you have queued a request to play CD audio. CD_INFO will only report that CD audio is playing if the audio has actually been started. If you want to check if you have an outstanding CD audio request, use CheckIO() instead. 5. Aborting CD audio or CDXL The only way to do this with cd.device is AbortIO(). The CDTV cdtv.device had some additional commands for stopping things, but cd.device does not. Normal procedure is: WARNING - first edit the clib/exec_protos.h file to correct the CheckIO prototype to return struct IORequest *, not BOOL! This is a bug in the prototype which is being fixed!!!! if(!(CheckIO(iorequest))) /* if not completed yet */ { AbortIO(iorequest); } WaitIO(iorequest); Notes on Lowlevel ================= 1. First ReadJoyPort - not from an interrupt The first call to ReadJoyPort() must be made from a task or process, not an interrupt (because of setups and allocations which are performed by the first call). After the first call, you may call the function from an interrupt. 2. First ReadJoyPort - may miss special buttons In our experience, the first calls to ReadJoyPort() after opening lowlevel.library may miss special game controller buttons. If you are checking for special controller button presses right away, you may need to first call ReadJoyPort() a couple of times with a Delay(10) in between, then call it again to read the actual state initial state of the controller. Once you are past this initial startup problem, ReadJoyPort() can be used normally with no Delay()'s needed. 3. What if you require mouse-like movement of the Intuition pointer ? For most CD titles controlled by a game controller, this is a very bad user interface. If possible, you should have highlighted boxes or pictures or text, and you should let the user move the highlight, and let the user select the highlighted item by pressing the select (red, A) button. However, if your title absolutely requires smooth mouse-like travel of the Intuition pointer via game-controller (like a kid's paint package), then contact CATS US for a special "joymouse" startup-sequence program which uses lowlevel.library to generate mouse events and can also pass the special controller buttons as raw key codes. Do Not Use the old CDTV playerprefs.library function InstallJoyMouse when running on a CD32. It makes the correct lowlevel.library controller-reading function unusable, and we don't intend to continue to provide playerprefs.library and other pre-CD32 CD modules. 4. SCON_TakeOverSys If you use the lowlevel.library SystemControlA() function tag SCON_TakeOverSys to "take over" the system, you may not be able to then use system features which require their own multitasking. For example, if you wish to take over the system AND play CD audio, you will probably need to start the CD audio, delay until the CD audio has started playing, then take over the system. Or, just don't use SCON_TakeOverSys. Here is one CD32 developer's point of view: "Having problems getting CD-Audio to work? Does the CD seek to your track, drive light go on, but no audio appears? If so then you're probably using the SystemControl() tag SCON_TakeOverSys. This is _bad_. If basically does a Forbid(), which knocks the cd.device stuff on the head. The way I got round it was to remove the tag... I also run my task at default task priority (0)... I don't want to hear this rubbish like 'my program won't run fast enough if I don't do a SetTaskPri() to 127 and use SCON_TakeOverSys (or Forbid()).. it's complete bol*ocks. I have an input.device handler that swallows all input, default task priority, no Forbid(), no SCON_TakeOverSys and my code still runs at 50fps for 98% of the time.. It _sometimes_ misses a frame when you put a Floppy disk in the drive, but mostly it's transparent... you also get the added bonus of CD audio running quite happily." Dean Ashton, Millennium Interactive, Ltd. Notes on Nonvolatile ==================== 1. Only processes may call nonvolatile Because nonvolatile.library accesses dos.library, only processes may use nonvolatile.library 2. BUGS and Workarounds SetPatch v40.12 and higher contain at least one patch for a nonvolatile problem. If the user accesses the Nonvolatile prefs screen (brought up by pressing Red button while CD32 has no disc to load and startup animation is up), and then, without rebooting, they put a disc in the drive and close the door, then later that title accesses nonvolatile.library, the system can hang. You must use the SetPatch on your title to avoid this problem. 3. Try the disk stuff ! If a filesystem device (floppy, harddisk, etc) is present containing an environment variable Prefs/Env-Archive/sys/nv_location, and that environment variable contains the path to a directory which nonvolatile can lock (for example MyHighScores:nonvolatile), then nonvolatile.library may get and store nonvolatile information to and from that directory on the filesystem device. If you use nonvolatile.library, PLEASE test your title with such a disk inserted and make sure your high score (or whatever) loading and saving works fine to a disk. We have tested this from nice processes and it appears to work very well. But if you have taken over or disabled the system in some way, it is possible that when you access nonvolatile.library on a system with a with a score-saving disk or harddisk directory, you will crash, hang, or trash a disk. So please test this. One caveat however: the current behavior of CD32 nonvolatile.library is that if a saved item with the same name exists already in the internal nonvolatile memory, nonvolatile will overwrite that memory entry rather than go to a disk set up for nonvolatile storage. You can easily make a nonvolatile score-saving floppy: Floppy Disk named ZZZ containing: --------------------------------- Prefs (dir) Env-Archive (dir) sys (dir) nv_location <-this file contains the text: ZZZ:nonvolatile nonvolatile (dir) <-here's where nv_location says to store stuff Notes on Freeanim.library ========================= 1. CD32 titles must freeanim CD32 trademark disks must OpenLibrary and CloseLibrary "freeanim.library" to take down the CD32 system startup animation. You should do this in your code, right before you are ready to put up your own display (so the user doesn't have to stare at a black screen). If you don't free the startup animation, it will remain and mess up your own display. For CDTV-trademark titles, the old CDTV RMTM command will also bring down the CD32 startup animation. Note that if you boot from a floppy or harddrive, the startup animation is removed for you, so you might not notice you are missing your Open/CloseLibrary of freeanim.library until you cut a disk! 2. Two startup animations, two startup environments There are two CD32 different startup animations - the one with cycling color aurora and shimmering CD disk, and the second one that just has Amiga CD32 in the top part of the screen. If the user turns on or reboots the CD32 with a CD in the drive and the door closed, the fancy aurora startup display will not be displayed, and the system will go directly to the simpler top of screen Amiga CD 32 display. If the user turns on or reboots the CD32 with the door open or no disk in the drive, the fancier aurora startup will be displayed. Depending on whther or not the aurora display has appeared, there may be less memory immediately available to your title, and the positions and maximum sizes of available memory may be different. Test booting your title both ways. And as always, don't count on allocating giant blocks of memory like 900K ! - use separate allocations if possible. 3. Keeping Workbench Closed The Amiga OS will force the Workbench screen open if the last screen in the system is closed. Shutting down of the startup animation will not cause this to happen. You can shut down the startup animation, and then open your display. BUT, if you ever close the only screen that's open, the Workbench screen will be forced open. You don't want that to happen. To make sure this does not happen, take note of the following tips. If you use the CDGSXL program to display a CDXL in your startup, either use its VIEW option so that it will use a view instead of a screen, or use its new PATCHOPENWB option which tells CDGSXL to temporarily patch OpenWorkbench() so Workbench screen won't open when CDGSXL closes its screen. If you need to use some other program which will open and close a screen, one workaround is to first open a very short one-bitplane blank screen and leave it open while doing your other screen opening and closing stuff. Note that one other thing that will cause Workbench to pop open is any stdio to the shell process you are started from or to any child shell processes (RUN's) which have inherited the file handle of the parent shell. Therefore be sure to redirect everything to NIL: unless you are debugging. Example: RUN >NIL: whatever Notes on CDFileSystem ===================== 1. CD32 CDFileSystem capabilities The version of CDFileSystem in the CD32 does not support new V37+ packets. This means that some V37+ dos.library functions such as ExamineFH() can not be used on CD0: because they rely on V37+ filesystem packets. The 3.1 Workbench l:CDFileSystem for mounting external CD-ROM drives does support V37+ packets. 2. Mounting an ISO image file with Commodore's CDFileSystem Using our V40 CDFileSystem and Matt Dillon's fmsdisk.device from Fish Disk 294 it is possible to mount an ISO image file which is sitting on a harddisk and view it as a filesystem (i.e. you can access the ISO image as a volume with plain Amiga functions and C: commands, execute programs on it, etc.). Should also work with ISO images on a network. This can be very handy for checking ISO image files you have built using Commodore's ISO tools (provided to licensed CD Developers). You may even be able to test your title code on the ISO image if you only access CD0: as a filesystem (and do not access cd.device directly). Setup for FMS: (requires the V40 Mount command) - Have an ISO image file such as created by ISOCD - Put fmsdisk.device (from Fish Disk 294) in DEVS: - Make a mountlist just like 3.1 storage/dosdrivers/CD0 but change scsi.device to fmsdisk.device. If you plan use this mountlist via the icon, Workbench-rename the file&icon to the device name you desire for the ISO image (example: ISO2). If you plan to perform the mount from a shell or a script, then you must add the device name with a ":" (like ISO2:) to the beginning of the mountlist, and add a "#" as the last line of the mountlist. (icon-started mountlists don't need those) - Rename your ISO image file to "Unitn" where n is the Unit number specified in the mountlist (for example: Unit2). This is required by fmsdisk.device so it can find the file for that unit. - Assign FMS: where the ISO image file "Unitn" resides. This is also required by fmsdisk.device so it can find the file. - Mount CD0: Notes on Locale =============== CD32 has a language selection screen which can be accessed by pressing the Blue button while the aurora CD32 attract screen is displayed. Lowlevel.library GetLanguageSelection() can return the user's selected language preference. V40 locale.library can query lowlevel.library for a user's preferred language (in the absence of a locale.prefs file). Therefore, you can localize your titles using locale.library. Or, you could call lowlevel's GetLanguageSelection() yourself to decide which language to use. But... If you support different languages, MAKE SURE you test your code with the CD32 set to different languages, including ones you do not support. We have seen code crash because of an unexpected or untested language setting on a CD32. Notes on Workbench files and command ==================================== 1. SetPatch Under V40 (CD32) use the latest V40 SetPatch QUIET in the beginning of your startup-sequence. Even if you are a CD32 trademark CD that doesn't need the turn-on-AA feature of V40 SetPatch (AA is already turned on for CD32 trademark disks), you will benefit from using it because it will turn on the CPU data cache if one is present, giving your title a performance boost. In addition, v40.11 SetPatch and higher contain patches for some CD32-specific bugs. The best SetPatch to use on CDTV trademark titles, when booted on on a 1.3 CDTV, is the one from Workbench 1.3.3. If your title is compatible with V40 graphics.library and AA bandwidth on a CD32, use V40 SetPatch QUIET when booted under V40+. Even if you don't take advantage of AA, the extra bandwidth of AA can give your title a performance boost. Use the VERSION command to check what version system you are running on. As long as you have the failat set to 21, you can use the V40 VERSION command even on a 1.3 system. VERSION itself It will fail because it requires at least 2.04 Kickstart, so you'll still get warned. Alternately, you could use the 1.3 version command. But don't try to check both version and revision with that one (that didn't work proeprly until V39). failat 21 version >NIL: graphics.library 40 if not warn ; V40 or higher system else ; less than V40 endif 2. devs/system-configuration You really shouldn't have one on a CD32 title. It can cause the CD32 startup animation to jump left and lose a sprite. Similarly, your CD should contain no Prefs/Env-Archive/sys/#? files. Making a Title Boot Faster ========================== 1. Use Full Paths If you use full paths to all disk-loaded startup-sequence commands that are not in the current directory, they will load faster. Without a full path, the system must first search the current directory, then any paths, then C:. NOTE: There are MANY "Internal" shell commands under V39/40. These should be referenced _without_ a path. (C:command will work for these BUT the shell would have to check C: first before using the Internal command) ALSO NOTE: If you are trying to make a CD that will work on both CDTV and CD32 remember that many shell commands that are now internal are disk-loaded under 1.3 Kickstart (like C:CD, etc.) ALSO: There may be some 1.3 commands that don't work if a full path is specified (C:ELSE ? others ?) Making a Title Bootable on both CDTV and CD32 ============================================= First: We have not tested this, and we don't think it's a particularly good idea. We can not predict what future CD32 systems or emulations will do (or not do) for compatibility when booting a CDTV trademark disk. Second: Be sure to read the AppDeveloper.spec! It contains important information about the CDTV-compatibility modules including the fact that new titles should NOT USE the old CDTV modules. The CDTV-compatibility modules (for example debox, playerprefs, bookmark.device, cdtv.device) may have only partial functionality on CD32 (or no functionality in the case of bookmark.device), and we do not intend to carry these modules over to new systems or peripheral emulations of CD32. If your title software is 1.3 and 3.0 compatible, or contains two different versions of your title (CDTV and CD32) you may wish to be bootable on either machine AND may wish to have full AA features available to you when booted on CD32. If you use the CDTV.tm trademark, your CD will be bootable on either CDTV or CD32. But on CD32 the system will boot into a ECS-compatible non-AA-capable mode. If you wish to enable AA features after booting into a CDTV-trademarked CD on a CD32, you may do this by using V40 Setpatch >NIL: or calling the V39+ graphics.library SetChipRev() function, BUT you must do this before any display is opened (other than the built-in CD32 startup animation). Once a display has been opened, it is not possible to reinitialize graphics via SetPatch or SetChipRev(). Remember that most V40 Workbench commands will not work under earlier kickstarts, so you may need be careful in your startup-sequence, or may need to place either the V40 or the 1.3 sommands in separate directories. Also remember that many INTERNAL V40 shell commands require actual C: commands under V34 (for example c:IF and C:RUN). There are also differences in the way some 1.3 and 3.0 commands behave (i.e. additional options or capabilities under 3.0, etc.) NOTE: Conceptually, we would prefer if your root directory contained pure CD32/V40 stuff, and your older 1.3 stuff was in a subdirectory. But this would make your startup-sequence much more complicated because V40 commands don't work under 1.3. Simple game startup sequence for CDTV V34 and CD32 V40+AA --------------------------------------------------------- failat 21 version >NIL: graphics.library 40 if not warn ; we are on a V40 machine - do V40 patches, turn on AA graphics c:SetpatchV40 QUIET ;(V40 SetPatch renamed to avoid any conflicts) ; here place any assignments need only for your V40 CD32 program MyProgram ; or MyProgram.CD32 (which will freeanim) else ; maybe put a 1.3.3 SetPatch >NIL: here ; here place any assignments need only for your V34 CDTV program ; here maybe CDTV bookit command for CDTV prefs rmtm ; take down CDTV trademark MyProgram ; or MyProgram.CDTV endif endcli >NIL: ; if case you run or detach your program More complex startup sequence for CDTV/CD32 disk with V34 root level directories and V40 Workbench in a separate V40/ subdirectory -------------------------------------------------------------------- failat 21 c:version >NIL: graphics.library 40 if not warn ; we are on a V40 machine V40/c/Setpatch >NIL: resident c:assign pure ; for speed assign SYS: V40 ; only assign the dirs below that you actually have in your V40/ dir assign c: SYS:c assign libs: SYS:libs assign devs: SYS:devs assign s: SYS:s assign l: SYS:l assign fonts: SYS:fonts cd SYS: ; here place any other V40 startup-sequence stuff you need ; here place any other assignments need only for your V40 CD32 program MyDisk:MyProgram ; or MyProgram.CD32 (which will freeanim) else ; maybe put a 1.3.3 SetPatch >NIL: here ; here place any other 1.3 startup-sequence stuff you need ; here place any other assignments need only for your V34 CDTV program ; here maybe CDTV bookit command for CDTV prefs rmtm ; take down CDTV trademark MyDisk:MyProgram ; or MyProgram.CDTV endif endcli >NIL: ; if case you run or detach your program General Startup-Sequence Tips ============================= 1. Don't reference DF0: (etc.) Standard Amiga startup-sequence includes an ADDBUFFERS DF0: command. This will cause a requester to insert DF0 on a base CD32 unit. 2. Don't forget to freeanim (for CD32) or rmtm (for CDTV) ! Don't forget to Open/CloseLibrary("freeanim.library",0) inside your CD32 title code (or rmtm in your CDTV title startup-sequence). If you have been testing your title by booting off a floppy or harddisk, the system startup animation never comes up, so you wouldn't notice if you were neglecting to take it down! (until you cut your CD!) 3. If you execute other scripts Assign t: to ram: if not already assigned elsewhere. If you don't, the execute command may try to make a tmp file in :T on the CD and will fail (CD is unwriteable) For command line redirection (or 1.3 IconX) to work properly, you must start the script you plan to execute with the following lines: .key none ;(or whatever args you are passing) .bra { .ket } 4. failat During development, you should put a failat 21 command early in your CD startup-sequence so that if you make a small mistake (like referencing a noncritical file or command that you forgot to put on the CD), your CD will still continue its startup-sequence past the error. For PAL and NTSC Compatibility ============================== 1. Let system choose PAL or NTSC If your graphics are suitable for PAL (256/512 lines) or NTSC (200/400 lines) and you want your title to work on PAL or NTSC, make sure you don't explicitly open PAL or NTSC displays. Be careful with ILBM's because many graphics packages will place an explicit monitor ID (PAL or NTSC) in the ILBM when you create or edit the ILBM. This is generally good because it allows the ILBM to be redisplayed in the exact video mode it was designed for. But it can be bad for you if this causes your title to force PAL or NTSC displays. You can mask out the monitor ID of a ILBM CAMG or modeid before use by ANDing it with the XOR of MONITOR_ID_MASK (i.e. ~0xFFFF1000). This way your display will be either PAL or NTSC, whichever is the default on that system. WARNING: Don't use this technique to remove the monitor id's of more complex multiscan modes - the remaining modeid may not be the resolution you require. 2. Or use different code and/or graphics for PAL and NTSC A simple startup command like the "warnifnotpal" example can allow you to branch in your startup depending on whether you are booted under PAL or NTSC: warnifnotpal if warn ; not a PAL system ; maybe start NTSC version or change some assignments else ; is a PAL system ; maybe start PAL version or change some assignments endif Hardware Notes ============== 1. The keyboard/auxiliary port Early diagrams we recieved were backwards. This should be the correct diagram for the CD32 keyboard/auxiliary port: Serial Read 6 || 5 KB Clock VCC +5v 4 3 Signal Ground Serial Tran 2 1 KB Data Warning - you can damage a CD32 by accidently shorting some of these pin sockets against each other. I know. I did it. :-( Note that the Serial read and transmit lines are TTL signals (0-5v) and are connected pretty directly to a chip. When/if a debug board or other "real" serial hardware is attached to the expansion bus, these Keyboard port serial signals become unusable. 2. The MPEG module The Commodore CD32 MPEG module is autoconfig, but currently its ROM contains code which must reside at $200000. This means that if you are designing expansion bus hardware which is intended to work with the CD32 MPEG module, you must insure that the MPEG module is autoconfigged before any other autoconfig devices. The MPEG module currently allocates one meg of address space. Debugging Tips ============== 1. Use assigns to replace startup, override files/programs, or debug Once you cut a first disk, it is useful to be able to boot from the disk but replace executables or scripts with new ones for testing. This allows you to boot from the CD with normal startup animation, etc. One way is to insert lines that will let you grab control of the CD startup-sequence midstream so that you can start debugging tools or replace the rest of the startup-sequence. An additional technique is to reference your executables, scripts, or files relative to an assigned name which can be overridden. This way you can even replace files referenced from within your CD executables. And you can make multiple assignments to the floppy if necessary. This is very useful because it - Allows you to recover much testing value in the event that you botch the CD startup-sequence after the test-for-transfer to floppy - Allows you to boot the title normally by not inserting the floppy. - Allows correction/tuning of startup-sequence without cutting a new disc. - Allows addition of debug commands (eg. SegTracker, DoSAD.nn, set echo on) even once your CD startup-sequence is perfected. - Because floppy is non-bootable (thus you actually do boot off the CD), the CD startup anim and other aspects are exactly like a normal boot off CD. Use distinctive assign and volume names that won't conflict with your CD volume name, nor with other common assignments or volume names. Note - if your special startup does any output, it will cause a CON window and the Workbench screen to open. This may be good for debugging but does change your title's startup environment and the amount of memory free. ; Here's way to get into or override your CD startup-sequence ; If placed early in your CD startup-sequence (after SetPatch), this ; would allow you to start some debugging tools, set echo on, etc, ; or replace the whole startup-sequence c:assign >NIL: XYZBin: exists if not warn ; XYZBin floppy IS mounted so XYZBin: is the floppy c:assign t: ram: c:execute XYZBin:startup ; replace the CD startup-sequence endif ; Alternately - a scheme for just replacing your executables ; If you referenced all of your executables off XYZBin:, ; this startup would allow you to insert a floppy named XYZBin so ; you could test different executables when booting your title c:assign >NIL: XYZBin: exists if not warn ; XYZBin floppy IS mounted so XYZBin: is the floppy c:assign t: ram: c:execute XYZBin:setup ; any special assignments, debug tools, etc. XYZBin:MyProgram else ; XYZBin override disk not mounted, use CD setup, executables c:assign XYZBin: "" ; for current dir on CD ; any normal setup or assignments here XYZBin:MyProgram endif 2. Booting from a floppy to the CD Even without special assign tricks, you can boot from a floppy (to start debug tools etc.) then transfer control to the CD. It will be similar to booting from the CD but you won't get the system startup animation. If your CD startup sequence is failing, it can be helpful to use this procedure even to just SET ECHO ON so you can see every startup-sequence command being executed. If you'd like a remote (serial terminal) view of the progress of your startup-sequnce, try the TSTAT line show below which will watch CLI 1. Note - if your special startup does any output, it will cause a CON window and the Workbench screen to open. This may be good for debugging but does change your title's startup environment and the amount of memory free. ---------------------- debug boot floppy startup ----8< cut here c:SetPatch QUIET ; V40 SetPatch to turn on AA if testing CD32 title failat 21 ; NOTE - we do not RESIDENT any commands in this startup because ; we want to catch CD startup errors such as a CD referencing ; a Workbench command which is not available ; SOME EXAMPLE DEBUGGING TOOLS HERE ; set echo on ; TNT serial ; c:SegTracker ; run >NIL: c:tstat 1 SHOWHUNK SHOWHUNKCODE REMOTE -10 c:assign >NIL: CD0: exists if not warn ; since we will "execute" the CD's startup, we need to ; join it to these lines so any redirection in it will work echo >ram:startup-prefix ".key dummy" echo >>ram:startup-prefix ".bra {" echo >>ram:startup-prefix ".ket }" c:join ram:startup-prefix CD0:s/startup-sequence as ram:cd-startup-sequence c:assign t: ram: ; Some CDTV modules (like bookmark.device) are only available if you ; boot directly from a CDTV trademark disk. So if you plan to boot ; from floppy to a CDTV disk which calls CDTVPrefs, you must nullify ; the CDTVPrefs command and possibly the bookit command because they ; may fail and break the CD startup-sequence. Here we do this by writing ; a small ASM command which just does MOVEQ #0,d0, RTS, putting it on our ; floppy as c:nothing, and residenting it as "CDTVPrefs" ; If you have a similar problem with any other CDTV-specific ; commands in a CDTV title startup-sequence, nullify them too. ; ; (uncomment next line and supply a c:nothing command if you need it) ; resident CDTVPrefs c:nothing pure ; MOVE ALL SYSTEM ASSIGNMENTS TO ANY CD DIRECTORIES THAT EXIST c:assign OLDSYS: SYS: c:assign SYS: CD0: if exists CD0:LIBS c:assign LIBS: CD0:LIBS endif if exists CD0:DEVS c:assign DEVS: CD0:DEVS endif if exists CD0:fonts c:assign FONTS: CD0:fonts endif if exists CD0:L c:assign L: CD0:L endif if exists CD0:s c:assign S: CD0:S endif if exists CD0:C c:assign C: CD0:C endif cd CD0: ; newshell ; Now call the CD's own startup sequence OLDSYS:c/execute ram:cd-startup-sequence else echo "CD0: not found" endif 3. Branching on a button press The example "warnifpressed" can be used in a startup-sequence to allow branching based on whether certain game controller or mouse buttons are held down: Usage: warnifpressed button [button button...] [PORT0] Acceptable button names: RED(LMB) BLUE(RMB) GREEN YELLOW FORWARD(R_EAR) REVERSE(L_EAR) PLAY Example: warnifpressed RED GREEN if warn ; user is holding both RED and GREEN gamecontroller buttons ; do something here else ; do something else endif Licensing ========= To be bootable, CDTV and CD32 titles must have the CDTV.tm (bootable on CDTV or CD32) or CD32.tm (bootable on CD32) trademark file installed during the ISO build procedure. These files may only be used on titles for which an AmigaCD license has been signed. If you wish to place any files and programs from Amiga Workbench disks on your CD, you must execute the appropriate Workbench License. Workbench Licenses are currently available for 1.3, 2.0, 2.1, and 3.0. Contact your developer support manager for copies of the any of these licenses. Or contact CATS - Licenses, 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA, USA, 19380. Please note that having a license does not make you a member of our registered developer support programs, nor are you required to be a registered developer to execute a license. Anyone can execute a license. Developer Support Program ========================= Members of Commodore's Certified or Commercial developer support programs are "registered" developers. If you plan to develop for CD32, you should also become a registered developer if you are not already one. The latest OS software, tools, and examples are often made available to our registered developers via the listings areas of our closed developer conferences on BIX (US), ADSP (Europe), and CIX (UK). Beta and pre-release OS or development file disk sets, when such exist, are also only made available to registered developers. Phone support is available for developers registered in our upper level "Commercial" program. Developing for CD32 requires not only CD32-specific includes and docs, but also the latest V40 system software for your development machine, and V40 development files. These V40 files are available to our registered developers in our closed BIX/ADSP/CIX listings areas. If you would like an application to join our developer support program, please request an application from your local Commodore developer support department. In the US, this is CATS - Administration, 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA. 19380.