Article 16746 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!ogicse!network.ucsd.edu!qualcom.qualcomm.com!athena!rkimball From: rkimball@athena.qualcomm.com (Robert Kimball) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Inexpensive CD-ROM for the Amiga! Summary: CD-ROM drive for $229 from DAK works with Amiga. Message-ID: Date: 29 Dec 91 18:19:18 GMT Article-I.D.: athena.rkimball.694030758 Sender: news@qualcomm.com Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Lines: 46 Nntp-Posting-Host: athena.qualcomm.com recently purchased a CDR-80 CR-ROM drive from DAK for $229 and thought some people on the net would be interested in what I think of the thing. The drive is an internal SCSI drive with an audio out jack and volume control on the faceplate. It is a nice looking drive and the color is close to the Amiga color but is a little lighter. I got the drive from DAK for $229 plus tax and shipping and it arrived in a little over a week (during Christmas season so I expected it to take a little longer.) The drive came with a SCSI adapter for an IBM PC, a ribbon cable, a Y-adapter for the power, Microsoft Bookshelf (for the PC, of course) and various documentation. The SCSI card has a 50 pin internal connector and a 25 pin external connector. The external connector is identical to the Amiga 3000 external SCSI connector so I mounted the drive in an external cabinate. That way I can easily swap the drive between my PC and Amiga. I got the CD-ROM File System for ~$30 mail order. It installed without a hitch on the Amiga and included a utility for playing audio CDs in the drive. The CDR-80 was specifically mentioned in the compatability list for the file system software. With the file system running the drive is mounted as NEC:. Here is a dir command of the microsoft bookshelf: 1.System:> dir nec: BOOKS (dir) MSLIB (dir) README.DOC SETUP.EXE SETUP.INF Works just like another drive except you can't write to it. I will have to get some CD disks from a friend to really try this thing out. So far I think the drive is very nice and the price can't be beat. I am really looking for someone in San Diego with a CDTV and lots of software. I would like to try out the software and post the results. -- Robert Kimball rkimball@qualcomm.com *-*-* Article 16857 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!ogicse!network.ucsd.edu!qualcom.qualcomm.com!athena!rkimball From: rkimball@athena.qualcomm.com (Robert Kimball) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: Inexpensive CD-ROM for the Amiga! Message-ID: Date: 1 Jan 92 19:56:19 GMT Article-I.D.: athena.rkimball.694295779 References: <6V5lq*kg0@postmod.NASHUA.NH.US> got the CD-ROM File System for ~$30 mail order. It installed without >-| a hitch on the Amiga and included a utility for playing audio CDs in >-| the drive. The CDR-80 was specifically me Sender: news@qualcomm.com Distribution: usa Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Lines: 84 Nntp-Posting-Host: athena.qualcomm.com > where did you get the cd-rom file system from? commodore? this sounds >like a good deal...but is there software available for accessing the cd-rom, or >must you access all the data manually (dir, more, etc.)? >andrew I got the CD-ROM file system from the Computer Shopping Network. Their number is (615) 577-5100. I am sure you could get the file system from other mail order houses or your local dealer. The file system is made bye Canadian Prototype Replicas. The compatitility file that comes with the software states: HOST COMPATIBILITY The following drives have been tested with the following host adapters. COMMODORE --------- CONTROLLER FIRMWARE DRIVE ROM A590 scsi.device 4.6 CHINON CDX-431 H42 A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 CHINON CDX-431 H42 A3000 scsi.device 37.19 CHINON CDX-431 H42 A590 scsi.device 4.6 HITACHI CDR-3650 0006 A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 HITACHI CDR-3650 0006 A3000 scsi.device 37.19 HITACHI CDR-3650 0006 A590 scsi.device 4.6 NEC CDR-77,80,72,82 000 A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 NEC CDR-77,80,72,82 000 A3000 scsi.device 37.19 NEC CDR-77,80,72,82 000 A590 scsi.device 4.6 PIONEER DRM-600 0801 A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 PIONEER DRM-600 0801 A3000 scsi.device 37.19 PIONEER DRM-600 0801 A590 scsi.device 4.6 SONY CDU-541/6211 2.6a A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 SONY CDU-541/6211 2.6a A3000 scsi.device 37.19 SONY CDU-541/6211 4.1d A590 scsi.device 4.6 TOSHIBA XM-3201B 3232 A2091 scsi.device 4.6/6.1 TOSHIBA XM-3201B 3232 A3000 scsi.device 37.19 TOSHIBA XM-3201B 3232 MICROBOTICS ----------- CONTROLlER FIRMWARE DRIVE ROM HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 CHINON CDX-431 H42 HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 NEC CDR-77,80,72,82 000 HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 HITACHI CDR-3650 0006 HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 PIONEER DRM-600 0801 HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 SONY CDU-541/6211 2.6a HardFrame scsi.device 1.8 TOSHIBA XM-3201B 3232 The following drives are known not to work with the Amiga and/or CDROM-FS at this time. HITACHI CDR-1553 Incompatible with CDDACtrl PANASONIC NOT TESTED AS YET TOSHIBA XM-5100 Incompatible with CDDACtrl NOTE: CHINON and NEC drives require KickStart Version 37.128 or greater to work with an A3000. A rom upgrade may be required for A590/A2091. -------END As far as accessing the data on the drive goes, certain CDTV titles will work directly on the amiga. I do not have a list of titles that do work and I am trying to find out, with little success. Most disks you will have to access the data as any other disk, with dir, cd, etc. Robert Kimball rkimball@qualcomm.com *-*-* Article 20932 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!ogicse!usenet.coe.montana.edu!rpi!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!spool.mu edu!uunet!orca!javelin.sim.es.com!blgardne From: blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com (Dances With Bikers) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: DAK $229 CD-ROM details (Was: CD-ROM to be shared with Amiga & IBM) Message-ID: <1992Apr2.194002.18306@javelin.sim.es.com> Date: 2 Apr 92 19:40:02 GMT Article-I.D.: javelin.1992Apr2.194002.18306 References: <1992Mar31.173949.11099@javelin.sim.es.com> Reply-To: blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Lines: 50 blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com (Dances With Bikers) writes: >The $229 drive from DAK includes an IBM SCSI card, IBM driver software, >and the Microsoft Bookshelf CD. I've had quite a few requests for more info, so here's the details: The drive is an NEC CDR-80, half-height, internal, 500 ms access time. There's a mini-stereo jack and volume control on the front, and an oddball three pin audio connector on the back. According to CPR, the CDR-80 is three generations back in NEC's product line, and has been obsoleted by their newer and faster drives. The 1988 manufacture date on my drive bears this out. Also included are an IBM SCSI card, mini-stereo to dual RCA cable, a CD caddy, the 1991 version of Microsoft's "Bookshelf" CD-ROM (dictionary, thesaurus, famous quotations), and a DAK manual for the disc. The CDR-80 isn't listed in any of the DAK catalogs I've seen, but its order number is 5986. (Thanks to Robert Kimball who originally posted this info back in December.) I got my CDR-80 about two months ago, so I'm not sure if DAK still has any left in stock. The DAK catalog lists an external CD-ROM drive for $400, but I have no idea if it is SCSI or not. Here are DAK's phone numbers. Orders 800-325-0800 Tech Info 800-888-9818 Other Inquiries 800-888-7808 TDD 800-888-6703 FAX 818-888-2837 To get it working on my A3000 required a case & power supply, the CDROM-FS from CPR (about $40 mailorder, I got my copy from Safe Harbor), and of course a useful CD: the Hypermedia Concepts Fish CD. The only problem I ran into was that the CDROM-FS must be mounted before Workbench is loaded, if you want the auto-diskchange feature to work. Everything now works very well. The slow speed of CD-ROM (150KB/sec) takes some getting used to since I've grown used to the 1MB/sec speed of my hard drive. But it is considerably faster than floppies, and far, far more convienent! >Yep, see the CPR CD-ROM filesystem compatibility list that I posted here >last week. Another bit that generated a lot of requests, I'll repost it in a seperate message. -- Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland 580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108 blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com uunet!javelin.sim.es.com!blgardne BIX: blaine_g DoD #46 My other motorcycle is a Quadracer. FJ1200 *-*-* Article 24304 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!rutgers!gatech!destroyer!caen!nic.umass.edu!dime!barrett From: barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: RESULTS: Survey of CDROM drives for the Amiga Message-ID: <49247@dime.cs.umass.edu> Date: 15 Jun 92 16:43:27 GMT Sender: news@dime.cs.umass.edu Reply-To: barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett) Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Lines: 337 Several weeks ago, I began a survey of CDROM drives for the Amiga. Here are the results, which include: (1) Brief statistics on drive and filesystem popularity. (2) Detailed information on each drive. (3) CDROM discs owned. (4) Favorite CDROM discs. (5) Miscellaneous comments. Thank you to the 11 people who responded!! I was going to list everybody's names, but decided not to do so. This is because one particular piece of information might be confidential. I'll let you find it. :-) (1) OVERALL STATISTICS ======================= Owners Make & Model ---------------------------------------------- 3 Chinon CDX-431 (Xetec bundle) 3 NEC CDR-80 (DAK special) 1 Matsushita-Kotobuki CR-501-B 1 NEC CDR-73M or CDR-83 1 Toshiba XM-3301S 1 Toshiba XM-3301BC 1 Toshiba 3101 Owners Filesystem Author ------------------------------------------------------------ 7 CDROM-FS Canadian Prototype Replicas 4 Xetec Xetec (2) DRIVE INFORMATION ===================== Here is how to read the information in this section. Many of the headings are obvious (Make & model, may be installed vertically, transfer speed, etc.). However, take special note of the section called "Definitely works with...". This is a list of REPORTED compatibility with OS versions, filesystems, SCSI controllers, and particular CDROM's. Note that it is only the REPORTED compatibility. It is NOT complete. The drive might be compatible with lots more hardware and software. So, if you don't see something listed here, IT MIGHT WORK ANYWAY. For example, if the drive "definitely works with" OS 2.04, it MIGHT also work under 1.3, but nobody reported the information. The section called "Does NOT work with..." lists incompatibilities. These combinations definitely do not work as of June 15, 1992. ============== Make & Model: Chinon CDX-431 (Xetec) Number of owners responding: 3 Internal/external: both May be installed vertically: no (only 5-degree tilt permitted) Average transfer speed (KB/sec): 350 Average access time (ms): 150 [see Complaints] Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: Xetec, CDROM-FS SCSI controllers: A3000, A2091, Microbotics Hardframe [see Complaints], GVP 22 MHz combination CDROM's: Selectware Demo Disc Fred Fish Collection Fred Fish Online Walnut Creek CDROM's Fish & More Volumes I, II NASA 25th year Space Wars The Case of the Condor CDTV Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: Grollier's Encyclopedia [see Complaints] Women in Motion [see Complaints] Complaints: o PC MAGAZINE found the transfer speed to be around 70 KB/sec, not the claimed 150 KB/sec. o Hardframe controller "seems to have problems with audio discs. This is really a minor problem, and it wouldn't stop me from getting a drive if I had the Hardframe." o "Grollier's Encyclopedia" locks up with Xetec CDTV emulation. o "Women in Motion" works 90% of the time, but screens sometimes get garbled. Comments: o Very satisfied. Make & Model: Matsushita-Kotobuki CR-501-B Number of owners responding: 1 Internal/external: external May be installed vertically: ? Average transfer speed (KB/sec): ? Average access time (ms): ? Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: Xetec SCSI controllers: A3000 CDROM's: Fish & More Volumes I, II Walnut Creek discs Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: All audio discs. Complaints: o Xetec software does not recognize this drive for playing audio discs. o Get a lot of recoverable read errors on the A3000, approximately 1 read error per 150 Kilobytes. No read errors on the Supra 500XP. o "Fish & More Volume 1" doesn't work very well with 2.04 -- icons overlap and the program "less" keeps crashing. Comments: Make & Model: NEC CDR-80 Number of owners responding: 3 Internal/external: internal May be installed vertically: yes Average transfer speed (KB/sec): 150 Average access time (ms): 500 (1 person reported 350) Definitely works with: OS versions: 1.3, 2.04 CD filesystems: CDROM-FS SCSI controllers: A2091, A3000 CDROM's: Fred Fish Collection CATS Developer CD Lemmings Grollier's Encyclopedia Microsoft Bookshelf 1991 Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: American Heritage Dictionary, Xiphias Grollier's Encyclopedia (under 2.04) Complaints: o Non-standard CD caddies are difficult to locate. o CDROM-FS must be mounted before Workbench is loaded (LoadWB) if you want the auto-diskchange feature to work. Comments: o Available CHEAP ($230) from DAK, 800-325-0800, part number 5986. o Although outdated, this CDROM drive performs well. o Satisfied owner. o Works on 80386 clone and a Macintosh too. Make & Model: NEC CDR 73M and CDR 83 Number of owners responding: 1 Internal/external: 73=external, 83=internal May be installed vertically: yes Average transfer speed (KB/sec): 300 Average access time (ms): 280 Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: CDROM-FS SCSI controllers: A3000 CDROM's: The Font Co. CD Type Library Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: Toten Color Clip Art (a Mac disc) Complaints: Comments: o CDROM is good. Amiga support is fair to middling. Make & Model: Toshiba XM-3301S Number of owners responding: 1 Internal/external: external May be installed vertically: yes (and also 45-degree tilt OK) Average transfer speed (KB/sec): 150 Average access time (ms): 300 Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: CDROM-FS SCSI controllers: A3000 CDROM's: Fred Fish Collection Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: -- none reported -- Complaints: o Some problems with automatic disc detection. The user is working on the problem. o There is a "memorial minute" when no CD is in the drive on bootup. The user thinks this is a problem of the A3000 scsi.device. Comments: Make & Model: Toshiba XM-3301BC Number of owners responding: 1 Internal/external: external May be installed vertically: yes (both vertical orientations) Average transfer speed (KB/sec): 150 Average access time (ms): 325 Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: CDROM-FS SCSI controllers: A3000 CDROM's: CATS Developer CD Fred Fish Collection Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: Sun's Catalyst CDware Europe Complaints: o The reason the Sun CDROM didn't work is probably due to the UNIX filesystem on the disc. o CDDA control utility that comes with CDROM-FS is "a little buggy." Comments: o Satisfied owner. Make & Model: Toshiba 3101 Number of owners responding: 1 Internal/external: both May be installed vertically: ? Average transfer speed (KB/sec): ? Average access time (ms): ? Definitely works with: OS versions: 2.04 CD filesystems: Xetec SCSI controllers: A2091, ICD ADSCSI 2080 CDROM's: VGA Spectrum deLorme Street Atlas [see Comments] Fred Fish Collection BuckMaster HAMCall disc Various X-rated discs CDTV World Vista Atlas CDTV Illustrated Shakespeare CDTV Illustrated Bible Does NOT work with: OS versions: -- none reported -- CD filesystems: -- none reported -- SCSI controllers: -- none reported -- CDROM's: -- none reported -- Complaints: o A2091 controller requires a disc in the drive in order to boot. Comments: o "deLorme Street Atlas" is readable but not usable on the Amiga. o "Wrote my own" program for playing audio discs. Will either be shareware or inexpensive commercial program. ====================================================================== (3) CDROM's OWNED ================= These discs do not necessarily work with all drives and filesystems. If someone reported a problem, you will see a star ("*") next to the NUMBER entry. Some of these discs don't work because they use non-standard CD filesystems (UNIX, Mac HFS, etc.) or contain only non-Amiga programs. Be sure to check for incompatibilities by looking at the individual drive listings above. NUMBER TITLE AUTHOR --------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Fred Fish Collection Hypermedia Concepts 2 AB20 archive Walnut Creek CDROM 2 CATS Developer's CD Commodore-Amiga 2 Fish & More Volume I Marty Flickinger 2 Fish & More Volume II Marty Flickinger 2* Grollier's Encyclopedia Grollier's 2 Microsoft Bookshelf 1991 Microsoft 1* American Heritage Dictionary Xiphias 1 BuckMaster HAMCall disc 1 The Case of the Condor CDTV 1 CDTV Illustrated Bible 1 CDTV Illustrated Shakespeare 1 CDTV World Vista Atlas 1* deLorme Street Atlas 1 The Font Co. CD Type Library The Font Co. 1 Fred Fish Online (lharc'ed Collection) Hypermedia Concepts 1 Lemmings Psygnosis 1 NASA 25th Year Troika Multimedia 1 OS/2 archive (ordered by mistake) Walnut Creek CDROM 1 Selectware Demo Disk (Vol. 3 No. 3) 1* Sun's Catalyst CDware Europe 1 Space Wars Odyssey Software 1 VGA Spectrum 1 Various X-rated picture discs 1* Toten Color Clip Art 1* Women In Motion CDTV Publishing (4) FAVORITE CDROM TITLE ======================== 4 Fred Fish Collection Hypermedia Concepts 2 AB20 archive Walnut Creek CDROM 2 (No favorite listed) -- 1 Fish & More Marty Flickinger 1 The Font Co. CD Type Library The Font Co. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS ====================== o "If you have money to burn, get a fast drive like the NEC 73M. The Hitachi has a nice, sealed unit and lens cleaner." o "I think Xetec is trying to do a lot to improve the compatibility of their software to the cdtv, and include drivers to emulate the bookmark, etc." o "Having all the Fish stuff on-line is great...I think the Xetec stuff is easier to "browse", because they organized it...the Hypermedia disk is organized by Fish Disk, and you need to use Aquarium or other tool to really browse around..." o "I'm interested in ASIM CDFS (p 102, Amigaworld July 1992) since it reads Mac HFS discs. CDROM-FS does not." o Some CDROM information may be found in PC World 4/91 and 5/91; PC Computing 6/91; PC Magazine October 29 1991. o "An article in BYTE" sometime in 1991 talks about a lot of drives. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center | | University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////////////////////////////// *-*-* Article 24482 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!ogicse!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!darwin.sura.net!europa. sd.contel.com!uunet!orca!javelin.sim.es.com!blgardne From: blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com (Dances With Bikers) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: RESULTS: Survey of CDROM drives for the Amiga Message-ID: <1992Jun19.191852.25867@javelin.sim.es.com> Date: 19 Jun 92 19:18:52 GMT Article-I.D.: javelin.1992Jun19.191852.25867 References: <49247@dime.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Lines: 51 barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett) writes: Great summary Dan, thanks for putting it together! Here's a few random comments. >o "Fish & More Volume 1" doesn't work very well with 2.04 -- icons > overlap and the program "less" keeps crashing. This is a bug in an early version of "less", it dies on anything but a 68000 CPU. Earlier versions of the Hypermedia Concepts Fish CD had the same problem with the buggy "less", but the current version replaced it with a stable text reader. Annoying, but not really a CD-ROM problem. >Make & Model: NEC CDR-80 >Average access time (ms): 500 (1 person reported 350) It is 500 ms, the newer models are the ones with sub-500 ms access times. The fact that the drive is a slower, older model is why DAK is selling it cheaply. >Definitely works with: > CDROM's: Fred Fish Collection And you can add the Walnut Creek AB20 CDROM, I got mine last week and it works fine with the NEC/A3000 combo. >o CDROM-FS must be mounted before Workbench is loaded (LoadWB) if > you want the auto-diskchange feature to work. >o Some problems with automatic disc detection. The user is working > on the problem. Since he's using the CPR CDROM-FS, I'd guess that it's the same problem I ran into above. Mount the CD-ROM drive before Workbench gets loaded. >o There is a "memorial minute" when no CD is in the drive on bootup. I don't quite know what that means. But I have discovered that a CDTV- compatible disc (Hypermedia's Fish CD) in the NEC at system power-on time will prevent my A3000 from booting. I still have the "magic" ROMs and the disk-based Kickstart, and something in the CDTV boot code confuses the A3000 and it doesn't load Kickstart. What's odd is this ONLY happens when the entire system (one internal SCSI drive, three external SCSI drives, A3070, NEC CDR-80) is powered up together. A warm or cold boot of the A3000 itself allows Kickstart to load. Strange, but since my system stays up 24 hours a day, it is not a big problem. -- Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland 580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108 blgardne@javelin.sim.es.com uunet!javelin.sim.es.com!blgardne BIX: blaine_g DoD #46 My other motorcycle is a Quadracer. FJ1200 *-*-* Article 21334 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!ogicse!uwm.edu!rpi!bu.edu!wang!garyf From: garyf@wang.com (Gary Field) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: CD-ROM Message-ID: Date: 10 Apr 92 20:59:52 GMT Article-I.D.: wang.bmifnt.be4 References: <1992Apr7.181135.25921@msdrl.com> Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA Lines: 27 karkan@msdrl.com (Jim Karkanias) writes: >Here and elsewhere, I've seen some posts regarding the use of CD-ROM units on >the Amiga. Just how straightforward is this? What I mean is: can you just >connect a SCSI compliant (say Sany) drive to your system and have access to >the available CD-ROM titles? Surely, you must need specific drivers to access >the data on the disk (e.g. Microsoft Library, etc., etc.) or do you have to >write your own (or are they already written???). Inquiring minds want to >know. :-) Thanks. The answer is yes to all your questions above. You buy CDROM-FS from Canadian Prototype Replicas. You make sure your SCSI card supports the Commodore SCSI direct protocol. You connect a SCSI CDROM to the bus. You put an ISO 9660 CD in the drive. You mount the CDROM a an AmigaDOS device via a MountList entry. You can now access the files on the CDROM as regular Amiga files. C'est tout! Gary -- /*------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary A. Field - WA1GRC, Wang Labs M/S 019-72B, 1 Industrial Ave Lowell, MA 01851-5161, (508) 967-2514, email: garyf@wiis.wang.com ----------- Anything not worth doing, is not worth doing well. -----------*/ *-*-* Article 21744 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: orstcs!rutgers!jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!mips!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!bsu- s!aegnor From: aegnor@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (David C. Powell) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: NEC CDR-80 and TrumpCard PRO + CDROM-FS Keywords: CD,TrumpCard PRO Message-ID: <1523@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> Date: 20 Apr 92 23:05:11 GMT Organization: Xetwnk Industries, Ltd. Lines: 60 OK fellow netters, time to GIVE some back to you folks... I have just recently on the strength of a post purchased the Nec CDR-80 from DAK (the $229.00 CD ROM + Card [IBM] + MicroSoft bookshelf ] + CDROM-FS [from CPR (Canadian Prototype Replicas) and the Fred fish CD ROM [from Hypermedia Concepts]] Welp, I read the post, debated [cuz I have a TrumpCard PRO, and NOT a C= HD controller [NONE will fit in my Zorro I slots on my 1000, sigh...] so... I debated and ordered it [much to my wifes dismay] and the Fred Fish CD ROM and SOftware showed up [From SafeHarbour First] ->and to go onto a slight tangent, the fish disk was NOT in the case, welp I called them up, and they said [pleasant lady who was VERY suprised my CD was NOT shrinkwrapped] that they would call me back and let me know what I needed to do... well the next day at work she called, and "you need to do nothing, we found your CD and we will ship it to you TODAY" - got that puppy in exactly 2 days [ie. the day after I called I had it] Good shipping time from WIS. to here in Indiana! So, everybody call and order from SafeHarbour, nice, honest, pleasant folk! [Besides NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE else has the CDROM-FS (called everyone from GO Amigo to BriWall) no one else had it in stock $36.99 by the way... Fred Fish was $45] welp, back to my story... Opened the package and read the docs, and instantly paniced, "Supports the C= 2091,3000 SCSI controller, A590 or a MicroBotics Hardframe" Geez, thought I, this wont work... but, remembering a little utility I had, [SCSI Lister by Xetek] to check that your controller supports SCSI direct, I ran it and WHAM it crashed my computer!!!! DAMN DAMN, controller DOES NOT conform.,.. well I have had NOTHING bet stellar performance from the TrumpCard PRO, so I did some thinking... then I remembered.. the 2090,2090A will NOT work, cuz they really do NOT support SCSI direct... 2090/2090A your thinking, well to make a long story shorter I have an OLD OLD MFM controller made by C=/Byte by Byte that reports itself as a 2090/2090A [made in 1986 folks, NO SCSI option at this time... so, I thinks to myself, lets disable the MFM software in the expansion drawer, and BINGO, the SCSI lister worked flawlessly... and then TODAY [exactly 2 weeks to the day from when I ordered it] the CD ROM drive showed up!!! [right when DAK promised it I might add...] and I proceded to hook up everything when I got home... and DAMN if it does NOT WORK FLAWLESSLY!!! I am currently listening to a CD [Yup, the CDROM-FS comes with an Audio player for your 'standard' Audio CD's] and I have already played with the Fred Fish disk and the MicroSoft Bookshelf CD is even readable!!!! [Gonna check to see if IBeM will get along with the driver software and let me use the CDROM under IBeM... that would be GREAT!... and maybe AmaxII will recognize it too... but for NOW I am happy that it works with the Amiga AS advertised!!! SO, all you people with TrumpCard Pro's, go for it! CDROM(s) are within your reach! -dcp p.s. NOt affiliated with any of the above [except C=, as I own stock in THAT company] except as a very satisfied customer.... *----///-David C.Powell--:ARPA: aegnor@bsu-cs.bsu.edu--------------------* |\\\/// :UUCP: !{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!aegnor | | \///\miga 1000 evolves to the /\miga 3000, the dream continues... -me | |"Humanity does seem to have beer pretty well nailed down, but computers,| *-forget it. They're just starting to get usable..." -Dave Haynie-------* *-*-* Article 1963 of comp.sys.amiga.hardware: Path: leela!orstcs!ogicse!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!modus!usixth!skylink!skyluke From: skyluke@skylink.sublink.org (Luca Spada) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: NEC CDR-75 Message-ID: Date: 18 Jul 92 18:43:28 GMT Article-I.D.: skylink.skyluke.0079 Organization: Sky Link (Amiga BBS) - VA, Italy, Europe Lines: 31 Hi... Just purchased a NEC CD ROM CDR-75, this is an external SCSI CD-ROM. I have attached it to my GVP Series II (ROM v4.5) and it works just great. I have tried both the Xetec and Canadian Prototypes software, but the Xetec is by far the BEST. I have done some testings and the Xetec software is about 2 to 3 times faster! This drive performs RAW 150 Kb/sec, with the Xetec software I get about 130-140 Kb/sec, while with the Canadian Prototypes I get no more than 60Kb/sec. Copying a file of 1540342 bytes from the CD to RAM takes 44 sec. with the Canadian Software and only 18 with the Xetec. It works great also for listening Audio Disc, both CD Remote from Xerec and CDDACtrl from Canadian Prototypes works great. Access time of this CD ROM is 500 ms, but since the files are placed on contiguous sectors in CD-ROM disks, you seldom notice this hight time. Also, since I use the CD with Fred Fish Collection for BBS usage, 130Kb/sec are BY FAR enough ( also consider that I have paid this CD-ROM about 300$$). NOTE: I'm running under KS 2.04 -- Ciao! Sky Luke (skyluke@skylink.sublink.org)