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EnigmA AMIGA RUN 08 (1996)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1996-06][EARSAN CD VII].iso
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Text File
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1995-08-02
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7KB
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192 lines
empcd.device 1.4
by Nicola Salmoria MC6489@mclink.it
This device allows the EMPLANT and ShapeShifter Mac emulations to use a
CD-ROM drive not connected to the emulation SCSI bus.
Mac HFS discs are automatically recognized without additional software; to
read ISO-9660 discs and Photo CDs you need the appropriate drivers in the
System folder. Audio discs cannot be used.
The device also provides a double buffered prefetch cache which dramatically
increases performance when playing QuickTime movies directly from a CD-ROM.
Installation
------------
- Copy empcd.device to DEVS:
- Drag the EMPCD icon into the DEVS:DosDrivers drawer.
- Now you have to modify EMPCD, selecting the appropriate device and unit.
Please note that the device name is specified on the Control line, since
Device is already used by empcd.device. Unfortunately, the Control field
is not parsed by the Mount command supplied with Workbench 2.x. You have
to either find a newer version of Mount (v39+) or manually edit
empcd.device using a hex editor: change "scsi.device" into your device
name. Of course if your device is really called scsi.device, you don't
have to change anything. Remember to terminate the name with a 0.
The Buffers field is very important for performance. The default value
of 25 seems to be the best on my system. Your mileage may vary.
Don't set it too low, don't set it too high.
If you have a Zorro-2 DMA controller used on a 32-bit addressing machine
(A3000, A4000, some accelerated A2000 with memory on the CPU card) set
BufMemType to 513 (which tells the device to use memory in the 24 bit
addressing range).
- Now reset (or just double click on the EMPCD icon).
EMPLANT Configuration
---------------------
- Click on EMPCD in the left list of the Devices control window, then
click on the EMPCD which will appear in the right list. Now:
- If you didn't have to set BufMemType to 513, turn off DMA restrictions.
- If you are using version 5.0 or later of the EMPLANT emulation software,
turn on Removable Media. This is needed to make the emulation look for
disc changes.
- If you are using an older version of the EMPLANT emulation software, turn
on Write Protection - it won't be noticed otherwise.
ShapeShifter Configuration
--------------------------
Note: you need the registered version of ShapeShifter.
- In the Volumes/Disk... configuration window, click on Choose to create a
new DeviceDisk. In the ASL requester, write EMPCD: and press return
(EMPCD: will not appear in the device list of the ASL requester)
To be able to change discs while the emulation is running, you need
ShapeShifter 3.0g or later. Make sure that Removable is checked.
Usage
-----
· Use the CD-ROM drive just like a floppy drive. Drag the CD-ROM icon on the
trashcan before ejecting a disc. When you insert a new disc, it will be
detected automatically.
· If you are using a version of EMPLANT older than 5.0, or a version of
ShapeShifter older than 3.0g, you have to start the emulation with a disc
in the drive, otherwise the Mac will tell you that the disk is bad, and
ask you to format it - and you will not be able to use the CD-ROM
afterwards. On ShapeShifter, you can't change the disc without restarting
the emulation. On EMPLANT, drag its icon on the trashcan, change the disc,
wait for the drive to recognize it, and select "Re-Mount Ejected" in the
Emplant window.
Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------
Q. Does empcd.device support ISO-9660 or audio discs?
A. Audio discs are not supported. ISO-9660 discs and Photo CDs can be read
but you must have the appropriate drivers on the Mac side.
Q. Can you add support for audio discs?
A. No. To play an audio disc you have to send SCSI commands to the drive.
This can't be done with empcd.device because the emulation sees the disc
as an hard disk.
Troubleshooting
---------------
Remember that empcd.device is NOT a product of Utilities Unlimited, Inc.
It is an add-on written by me, Nicola Salmoria, and all comments should be
sent to me.
Problem: When I boot the Emulation with a CD-ROM in the drive, a requester
asking me if I want to initialize the disk appears, and the disc icon
doesn't appear.
Possible Cause: The CD-ROM is not a Mac HFS disc. Only HFS discs can be used
with empcd.device without additional software. To read ISO-9660 discs or
Photo CDs you need the appropriate drivers on the Mac side.
Problem: When I boot the Emulation with a CD-ROM in the drive, an Amiga
requester appears, saying that the device couldn't be opened.
Possible cause: You probably haven't set up correctly the name and unit of
the device in the EMPCD mountlist. Remember that the name of the device
controlling the CD-ROM must be put on the "Control" line. Also remember
that if you are using a Workbench version < 3.0 and the device name is not
"scsi.device" you must use a hex editor to modify empcd.device directly.
Problem: The CD-ROM icon appears and I am able to open it, but some of my
discs don't work as expected.
Possible cause: empcd.device doesn't emulate the SCSI interface. Programs
sending SCSI commands or relying on other CD-ROM peculiarities will not
work. If you can, try the disc using a SCSI drive on the emulation SCSI
bus. If it works that way, it is probably not compatible with
empcd.device. If it doesn't work even when used via the SCSI port, it
could be a problem with your system configuration. Try the usual things,
like disabling INITs, running the emulation in 24-bit mode, and so on.
History
-------
1.1 [empcd.device 38.7 (18.10.94)]
- Fixed a bug which caused some controllers (like the A3000 scsi.device) not
to work.
- Now pops up an error requester if the underlying device couldn't be
opened.
- Enhanced the documentation
1.2 [empcd.device 38.9 (19.11.94)]
- Works with version 5.0 of the EMPLANT emulation software. Thanks to the
clever work of Jim Drew, now disk insertion is properly detected.
If the CD-ROM is not in HFS format, it will be ignored - no annoying "do you
want to initialize it?" requester.
1.3 [empcd.device 38.11 (24.12.94)]
- Removed the code to ignore dics not in HFS format, because now ISO-9660
discs are recognized! This has nothing to do with me - I didn't change
anything. Must be a cool feature of EMPLANT 5.0.
IMPORTANT NOTE: you need the proper Extensions on the Mac side to read
ISO-9660 and PhotoCDs. "ISO 9660 File Access" and the like.
- Now uses a quad-longword aligned buffer. This could increase speed on
some systems.
1.4 [empcd.device 38.13 (2.8.95)]
- Added support for ShapeShifter.
Legal Issues
------------
This software is FreeWare. It is freely distributable as long as the archive
remains intact, and only a nominal fee is charged for its distribution.
This software is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied. By using it, you agree to accept the entire risk as to
the quality and performance of the program.
EMPLANT is a trademark of Jim Drew & Utilities Unlimited, Inc.
ShapeShifter is © Copyright 1993-1995 Christian Bauer.
Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks and QuickTime is a trademark
of Apple Computer, Inc.