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- Laserdisc.app
- =============
-
- A NeXTSTEP 3.0 Application to control a Sony LDP
- by Eric Celeste (AppTech), efc@mit.edu
- version 19930324.1156
-
- [Note: Laserdisc.compress includes source code,
- LaserdiscAppOnly.compress does not.]
-
- This application is a work in progress, but feel free to use it or the
- source code in any way you like. I needed a remote control for a Sony
- laserdisc player I picked up for $75. This app did the trick, with a
- few flaws, but now my NeXT is miles from my laserdisc player so I'll
- probably never fix the flaws. Please note, as this application
- currently stands, it only supports Sony laserdisc players, not
- Pioneer. Someone with a Pioneer laserdisc player and Objective-C
- skills should have very little problem creating a new subclass of my
- LDPlayer object to handle Pioneer.
-
- Most of the description of the various objects is in the .m source
- files. Please look there for details. I'd like to especially thank
- Michael Hawley for the original source for the SerialPort object, I'm
- sure my changes to that object have only made it less elegant and
- trustworthy! I'd also like to thank David Small for his Ultrix code
- that was my only documentation for the Sony for weeks, the
- SonyLDPcodes.h file was lifted straight from his Ultrix project.
-
- Installation
-
- The Laserdisc.app already compiled in this package is suitable for
- NeXT computers. It will not run on NeXTSTEP/FIP. It has been stripped
- to save space. You can copy it to your ~/Apps directory or to
- /LocalApps.
-
- Note that to use this program you also need to connect one of your
- serial ports to the Sony laserdisc player with an odd serial cable. A
- regular modem or printer cable will not work! See the Sony LDP
- documentation for the specifications of this cable, or, if you're not
- into building your own, call Voyager (the producers of the Criterion
- Collection discs) and ask for a Mac-to-Sony LDP cable.
-
- Make sure you have the player attached and turned on before trying to
- use Laserdisc.app (see Bug Warning below for more details).
-
- Compilation
-
- Make sure you have the System Release 3.0 Developer edition (or later)
- installed. The important point here is that you will need to have the
- development system online or you won't be able to go on with this
- process. I have no idea if this program will work with NS/Intel, but I
- imagine it should.
-
- Bug Warning
-
- One bug to warn I should warn you of... if you try to give an
- instruction to the laserdisc player and the player is not turned on or
- not connected to the computer, this program will hang. Feel free to
- kill it from the Workspace if this happens to you. Of course, feel
- free to fix the program if you'd like. Please let me know about any
- changes or improvements you make to this program, I'd love to hear
- about them.
-
- _______
- | | | Eric Celeste
- | | |
- \____
- \ Internet: efc@mit.edu
- / NeXTmail welcome!
- ,---- (:
- \____ 5 Exeter Street
- | | Belmont, MA 02178
- \ /
- \ 617-484-5040
-