CompuServe Thread

#Free CD-ROM Driver!

20 messages in this thread
#119107From: Rick ThornquistOct 20, 1993 7:50 PM
Hi All, If you have or are going to get a CD-ROM here's something you may want to know. I have a NEC external CD-ROM drive and was going to hook it up to my 3000 but I needed, of course, some drivers. I was going to buy the Xetec or ASIMware drivers when I looked on Compuseve and – lo and behold – a public domain CD-ROM driver! It's in Lib 9 of AmigaUser – AMICD.LHA. I hooked up the CD-ROM to the Amiga and installed the driver – which is simple, add an entry to your Mountlist and copy the handler to Devs:. Worked perfectly the first time and continues to work perfectly. I now have access to my 3D-ROM and the AMINET CD-ROM (which shows as an icon on the Workbench!) from the Amiga. Try it! Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver
#119118From: Christopher TolmieOct 20, 1993 9:02 PM
Rick, I'm ready to purchase a CD-ROM drive, but can't decide which one. How do you like your NEC? Which model is it? I see there are some new models just released by NEC, is yours one of these? Thanks, Chris
#119140From: Shawn RandolphOct 20, 1993 11:18 PM
Hello there, Just thought I would add something on CD-ROMs. I just purchased a Toshiba 3401B and its FAST. Supports both CDTV and Kodak discs. The driver I use is AsimCDFS. The great thing about this is that ASIMware is going to support direct CD sampling. I have this info from the "horse's mouth." These files will be both 8 and 16 bit IFF amoung others. Way cool for we Videophiles. Shawn
#119228From: Rick ThornquistOct 21, 1993 3:31 PM
Chris, I have the NEC Multispin 74 which is an external double speed drive. The newer NECs are triple and quad speed drives which give a much performance – with the added expense, of course. My drive has performed very well, no complaints at all. Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver
#119258From: Eddie StaskyOct 21, 1993 10:28 PM
Rick… I read where NEC is going to have a upgrade deal in which current MultiSpin owners can exchange their drive for a 3Xe at a reduced price.. Eddie.Ski
#119352From: Rick ThornquistOct 22, 1993 6:03 PM
Eddie, Interesting – I'll have to watch out for that. Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver
#119300From: John DraperOct 22, 1993 2:19 AM
Rick, Where did you pick up your NEC? Is it multisession as well? I am in the Vancouver area as well, and if you picked it up locally, I'd be interested in what I could expect to pay, and where to get it. -larry
#119357From: Rick ThornquistOct 22, 1993 6:35 PM
Larry, I picked up my NEC (the 74 model, external) at the Egghead on Hornby about 6 months ago. It was around $875 – Canadian of course. A bit too much but I needed the drive quickly at the time. It is a multisession drive. Rick – On Autopilot from Vancouver P.S. We have met, by the way. I remember years ago shortly after the 1000 was released I chatted with you at the first Panorama meeting. I think you were the first one in Vancouver to get a 1000 – I was the 2nd or 3rd.
#119431From: John DraperOct 23, 1993 2:25 AM
Thanks for the info, Rick. Looks like I'll be getting one soon, but since I am not in a hurry, I might be able to get a good deal. I thought your name sounded familiar. Actually, I was probably the second or third to get a 1000 in Vancouver. Steve Cleverly bought the demo that one of the IBM-oriented stores in Richmond brought in, and Steve, Dave Allen, and I spent quite a few evenings puzzling it all out at Steve's place. When I finally got mine, half the fun was gone, because it came with a couple of rudimentary manuals. <chuckle> -larry
#119499From: Rick ThornquistOct 23, 1993 5:48 PM
I remember the good old days – the only thing we could do was run those 'Lines' and 'Boxes' programs. I also remember getting my hands on the assembler – and you gave me some pointers on writing an assembly language program on the Amiga. The first program I wrote that worked was a short program that simply called the guru routine. I was quite proud of myself that I was able to write a program for the Amiga – even if it's only purpose was to crash the machine <g>.
#119576From: John DraperOct 24, 1993 1:40 AM
Ahh! I remember talking to you about that! There weren't many of us that wanted anything to do with assembler.
#119482From: John GagerOct 23, 1993 3:59 PM
Rick: Glad you got the AmiCDROM filesystem to work. When I uploaded it, I wasn't sure how well it was going to perform because I was using Xetec's software and didn't want to go through all the trouble of changing everything around. Lazy I guess <g>. Anyway, looks like it's doing a good job for you, and I see the new version is up on AmiNet so I'll go ahead and post the latest version.
#119500From: Rick ThornquistOct 23, 1993 5:48 PM
My thanks for uploading the AmiCDROM filesystem. It saved me the hassle (and the money) of buying a package and it works just fine. I'm looking forward to seeing a new version!
#119544From: John GagerOct 23, 1993 11:49 PM
No problem Rick. I'll upload the new version of AmiCDROM as soon as the Sysop's have a chance to clean out the file area. I tried to upload it earlier but the libraries were full!
#119609From: Marlene Zenker/SYSOPOct 24, 1993 10:05 AM
If the libraries are ever full, just upload it to another Amiga Forum, and we'll move it. Thanks for the contributions to the library! Steve
#119556From: Mike SchillerOct 24, 1993 12:04 AM
I own both the CDROM-FS and the Asimware driver, but now I'm using the AmiCDROM driver as it's the only one that supports rockridge extensions to ISO-9660. I'm currently using 1.2a, is the one you're going to upload newer?
#119587From: John GagerOct 24, 1993 2:19 AM
"I own both the CDROM-FS and the Asimware driver, but now I'm using the AmiCDROM driver as it's the only one that supports rockridge extensions to ISO-9660. I'm currently using 1.2a, is the one you're going to upload newer?" Yep, the latest version as far as I know is 1.3, and it should be uploaded soon. Maybe we need a bigger allocation for the Amiga libraries <g>.
#119758From: Oct 25, 1993 5:26 PM
John, is your software SCSI controller dependent and is there a chance, that it will work with my ancient C Ltd. SCSI controller (not the KRONOS) on my A1000 ? Regards, J0RGEN ….from DENMARK
#119765From: John GagerOct 25, 1993 7:27 PM
"Is your software SCSI controller dependent and is there a chance, that it will work with my ancient C Ltd. SCSI controller (not the KRONOS) on my A1000 ?" Joergen: First to avoid any confusion, and to give credit where credit is due, it's NOT my software. The AmiCDROM software is written by Frank Munkert in Germany. I'm just uploaded the software that he has posted on Internet. Since I have Internet access through BIX, it's not much of a problem to upload a few programs here once in awhile <g>. So I just keep it updated here on CompuServe when he comes out with new releases. . Now that is taken care of, to answer your other questions. No, the software is not SCSI controller dependent. It uses the device software (scsi.device, gvpscsi.device, etc.) that comes with most controllers now. However your controller should be able to support SCSI-DIRECT commands and the C-LTD controller might fail in that regard. There is a PD program put out by Xetec called SCSI_LISTER that will check to see if your controller can handle scsi direct (SCSILI.ZOO in Lib 9 here on AmigaUser). If it passes the test, then you shouldn't have too much of a problem. Even if it doesn't pass, you might still try it. AmiCDROM has a provision to use trackdisk.device calls instead of scsi direct in case your controller doesn't support it. // John – (Flying via AutoPilot) \X/
#119869From: Oct 27, 1993 2:57 AM
Well, too bad. My C Ltd. software does not support SCSI-DIRECT.