#PowerCD & Linelink
8 messages in this thread
Bart,
I got an update (had trouble connecting with the LineLINK, had to use the
9600 Hayes Ultra) to the CDROM software from ASIMWARE off their BBS last
night and it now supports the PowerCD player.
The music CD player, ASIMTUNES, works exactly like the Apple supplied
software on the MAC. You can also catalog the titles but you must type it
in manually. I wonder if that info resides on the disk? Prolly not or I'd
think it would have been implemented by them.
Well, the CDROM player is fun but I need more Amiga disks. I could use a
couple nice clipart and background CDs. The encylcopedia & Atlas I bought
are useless on the Amiga.
The Kodak PhotoCD pictures are readable with ASIMPhoto, but now I need a
24 bit display to use with them and ImageFX 🙂
Christopher
Christopher,
Thanks for the info, which I will move to my "Which CD-ROM?" file. Guess
I won't worry about the Kodak PhotoCD. 24-bit color is WAY down my greed
list. (But I may have to consider it; my 1977-vintage 1080 monitor may
not last forever…)
What is the problem with the encyclopedia and atlas? Won't they even
display?
So far I haven't had any communications problems that I associate with the
LineLink (but that low price does make me uneasy).
Bart
Bart,
The encyclopedia and atlas only work with the macintosh software. Nothing
on them I can access with the Amiga. Same with the animals cd.
My LineLink has been OK so far. Still no GPFax to try with it.
Sometimes I don't get a CONNECT on CIS and have to hangup and redial. Once
in a while the MR LED goes dark and I sit and wait for it to light back
up. Sometimes it times out and AP disconnects. However, for the most part
MR comes back on and the session continues and ends normally afterwards.
For $99 + S&H I don't think I made a bad purchase, the data transfers have
been near perfect, and I don't think the LineLink has anything to do with
the AutoPilot "looping threads" problem I've been encountering off and on
for the last several weeks.
BTW, now that I've mentioned it here, have you encountered these LOOPING
THREADS? A section of threads continues to be repeatedly scrolled by CIS
until either the rest of the threads are read or the system hangs until
you click on OFFLINE NOW?
When you read that forum's messages you'll find a couple hundred and they
repeat themselves over and over somewhere within the capture. I'll also
get a requester informing me that there is a message header missing or
somesuch thing and then it starts over again. Real weird, can't figure it
out, others have been affected, and it doesn't appear that AP is sending
the request to repeat the loop.
Just real weird, ah well, Happy Easter,
Christopher
Yo Chris,
Ah ha! That explains the other night's messages. I got about 3 or 4
repeated groups. Thank heavans it was a short run. Right now I've got a
forum that always works hanging the system. Conputer gremlins t work.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Gracia,
go into that forum manually, using Hands On, and type options at the
forum prompt. Check to see if the forum prompt has a character defined.
If so, select that item and just hit return when it asks you for the new
forum prompt. Then back out saving the settings permanently. That
should take care of the hang problem, in most cases.
Brian,
Thanks. Into my files of useful info. How could I survive without CI$ &
the Amiga fora?
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Christopher,
Yes, I have had the "looping thread" problem, but with Whap!, not AP. And
I haven't had the problem since getting my LineLink. Very irritating,
wherever the cause.
You say you cannot access some things on CD-ROMs. Does that mean that the
standard CLI commands do not apply, so that for example you cannot do a
CLI> type CDROM:thatfile HEX
command? Or a simple COPY CDROM:somefile to RAM: command?
I have this secret plan of buying one of the CD-ROM controller programs
(ASIMcdfs or CDx), copying out a list of the drives it supports, and then
watching catalogs and ads for a bargain. Is this feasible, or would I be
unable to get such a list from the program disk?
Bart
Bart,
<<You say you cannot access some things on CD-ROMs. Does that mean that
<<the standard CLI commands do not apply, so that for example you cannot
<<do a
CLI> type CDROM:thatfile HEX command?
No, it does not mean the standard CLI commands do not apply. The commands
work just fine, it just seems (to me) that the files for the encyclopedia
aren't useable without the engine that uses them. One file on the
encyclopedia is huge in size and there are all these numbered data files.
While the files that look like pics are in .PCT format, ImageFX doesn't
recognize them and it's the only graphic processor I've got to try out on
the MAC CDs. Maybe I need Imagemaster R/T. 🙂
Other than being a single speed drive this PowerCD for $199 wasn't a bad
entry level player. Aside from using it on the computer it can connect to
a TV for viewing PhotoCDs besides the obvious playing of music cds, but it
also has a IR remote control. There is also some heft to the case it's
mounted within, feels real solid & comes with a built-in SCSI ID selector
but only one SCSI port. I've no idea if its terminated or where to look
for the resistors. But it seems to reside nicely on the 25 pin port of
this Series II controller with v 3.12 ROM and the five other SCSI drives
on the internal 50 pin ribbon cable connector which is terminated.
The MAC seems to have a more difficult time settling down and loading the
CDROM along with the other four SCSI drives on its bus. Sometimes I don't
get the internal 40MB drive on the Mac to appear on the desktop, nor the
80MB fonts drive when the CDROM and SyQuest are on the bus.
Oh well, I'd like to replace the mess-o-drives with a couple 1gig
replacements.
Christopher