empcd.device 1.3 by Nicola Salmoria MC6489@mclink.it This device allows the EMPLANT Mac emulation to use a CD-ROM drive not connected to the EMPLANT SCSI port. Mac HFS discs are automatically recognized without additional software; to read ISO-9660 discs and Photo CDs you need the appropriate drivers in the System folder. Audio discs cannot be used. The device also provides a double buffered prefetch cache which dramatically increases performance when playing QuickTime movies directly from a CD-ROM. Installation ------------ - Copy empcd.device to DEVS: - Drag the EMPCD icon into the DEVS:DosDrivers drawer. - Now you have to modify EMPCD, selecting the appropriate device and unit. Please note that the device name is specified on the Control line, since Device is already used by empcd.device. Unfortunately, the Control field is not parsed by the Mount command supplied with Workbench 2.x. You have to either find a newer version of Mount (v39+) or manually edit empcd.device using a hex editor: change "scsi.device" into your device name. Of course if your device is really called scsi.device, you don't have to change anything. Remember to terminate the name with a 0. The Buffers field is very important for performance. The default value of 25 seems to be the best on my system. Your mileage may vary. Don't set it too low, don't set it too high. If you have a Zorro-2 DMA controller used on a 32-bit addressing machine (A3000, A4000, some accelerated A2000 with memory on the CPU card) set BufMemType to 513 (which tells the device to use memory in the 24 bit addressing range). - Now reset (or just double click on the EMPCD icon), and load MacII. - Click on EMPCD in the left list of the Devices control window, then click on the EMPCD which will appear in the right list. Now: - If you didn't have to set BufMemType to 513, turn off DMA restrictions. - If you are using version 5.0 or later of the EMPLANT emulation software, turn on Removable Media. This is needed to make the emulation look for disc changes. - If you are using an older version of the EMPLANT emulation software, turn on Write Protection - it won't be noticed otherwise. Installation should now be complete. Usage ----- · If you are using version 5.0 or later of the EMPLANT emulation software: use the CD-ROM drive like a floppy drive. Drag the CD-ROM icon on the trashcan before ejecting a disc. When you insert a new disc, it will be detected automatically. · If you are using an older version of the EMPLANT emulation software: you have to start the emulation with a disc in the drive, otherwise the Mac will tell you that the disk is bad, and ask you to format it - and you will not be able to use the CD-ROM afterwards. To change the disc, drag its icon on the trashcan, change the disc, wait for the drive to recognize it, and select "Re-Mount Ejected" in the Emplant window. Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Q. Does empcd.device support ISO-9660 or audio discs? A. Audio discs are not supported. ISO-9660 discs and Photo CDs can be read but you must have the appropriate drivers on the Mac side. Troubleshooting --------------- Remember that empcd.device is NOT a product of Utilities Unlimited, Inc. It is an add-on written by me, Nicola Salmoria, and all comments should be sent to me. Problem: When I boot the Emulation with a CD-ROM in the drive, a requester asking me if I want to initialize the disk appears, and the disc icon doesn't appear. Possible Cause: The CD-ROM is not a Mac HFS disc. Only HFS discs can be used with empcd.device. Problem: When I boot the Emulation with a CD-ROM in the drive, an Amiga requester appears, saying that the device couldn't be opened. Possible cause: You probably haven't set up correctly the name and unit of the device in the EMPCD mountlist. Remember that the name of the device controlling the CD-ROM must be put on the "Control" line. Also remember that if you are using a Workbench version < 3.0 and the device name is not "scsi.device" you must use a hex editor to modify empcd.device directly. Problem: The CD-ROM icon appears and I am able to open it, but some of my discs don't work as expected. Possible cause: empcd.device doesn't emulate the SCSI interface. Programs sending SCSI commands or relying on other CD-ROM peculiarities will not work. If you can, try the disc using the EMPLANT SCSI port. If it works that way, it is probably not compatible with empcd.device. If it doesn't work even when used via the SCSI port, it could be a problem with your system configuration. Try the usual things, like disabling INITs, running the emulation in 24-bit mode, and so on. History ------- 1.1 [empcd.device 38.7 (18.10.94)] - Fixed a bug which caused some controllers (like the A3000 scsi.device) not to work. - Now pops up an error requester if the underlying device couldn't be opened. - Enhanced the documentation 1.2 [empcd.device 38.9 (19.11.94)] - Works with version 5.0 of the EMPLANT emulation software. Thanks to the clever work of Jim Drew, now disk insertion is properly detected. If the CD-ROM is not in HFS format, it will be ignored - no annoying "do you want to initialize it?" requester. 1.3 [empcd.device 38.11 (24.12.94)] - Removed the code to ignore dics not in HFS format, because now ISO-9660 discs are recognized! This has nothing to do with me - I didn't change anything. Must be a cool feature of EMPLANT 5.0. IMPORTANT NOTE: you need the proper Extensions on the Mac side to read ISO-9660 and PhotoCDs. "ISO 9660 File Access" and the like. - Now uses a quad-longword aligned buffer. This could increase speed on some systems. Legal Issues ------------ This software is FreeWare. It is freely distributable as long as the archive remains intact, and only a nominal fee is charged for its distribution. This software is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. By using it, you agree to accept the entire risk as to the quality and performance of the program. EMPLANT is a trademark of Jim Drew & Utilities Unlimited, Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks and QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.