home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Amoszine 5
/
Amoszine 5.adf
/
arts
/
Linkup.asc.cm
/
Linkup.asc.cm
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-02-26
|
3KB
|
47 lines
@5 CD32 Linkup
-----------
@6 By Edmund Clay
--------------
@4
Following the CD column in AZ 4 and the possible Zappo CD drive review
in AZ 5, I thought I would write something about an alternative CD
ROM solution.
I was without CD ROM for a long time, because firstly, I couldn't
afford it (licenceware royalties being what they are) and secondly,
my desk isn't long enough to fit a Zappo drive. But this year we got
a CD32 as a family christmas present. I anticipate that everyone else
will forget about it before long, so this is most convenient.
The main advantages of the CD32 over other CD drives are that it is
fully CD32 compatible (yes it is) and you can have a game of Cannon
Fodder on it while your A1200 is rendering an Imagine picture.
The disadvantage is that as an Amiga it is hopelessly crippled, having
no keyboard, disk drive or parallel port.
I ordered the Network CD from 17 Bit and fitted the serial cable.
Actually I had to disassemble the cable and force it in piece by piece,
but I managed it eventually ('a tight fit' they say. They are not
joking.) Sernet is on the CD ready to run. I started it up, and behold!
A CD drive on my A1200's workbench. A very, very slow CD drive.
All was not lost. There were some file transfer programs on the CD as
well. The one I ended up using is called Twin. It is activated from
icons, and once running allows all resources to be used from either
machine. It is much faster than Sernet, 115000 baud is quoted, and
according to the documentation it will go even faster, but I couldn't
get that to work. Still, it runs a remote CD drive about as fast as an
internal floppy, and I think that is acceptable.
There are two disadvantages to Twin compared to Sernet. It is file
transfer only; you can't run anything direct from the CD (unless you
do it on the CD32). Secondly, it uses a CLI window so it is a little
user-unfriendly. You can't use any other file management program with
Twin. This is worth putting up with because of the speed.
Of course Parnet would be even better but I won't buy the overpriced
SX module just for that. I might just as well buy a Zappo drive.
There are two utilities which would be really useful, but I don't think
either of them exist. Most important: a version of Twin (or a similar
program) with a better interface. Also, a program to allow another
Amiga to act as a keyboard for the CD32. If anyone finds anything like
this please let me know.
In the meantime, using the CD32, transfers from CD to HD are quite
fast and convenient, which is more than a Zappo CD/Overdrive
combination will do. And my PCMCIA and trapdoor slots are both still
free!