STraTOS 1997 April & May

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Last minute notes on ExtenDOS Pro --------------------------------- Version: 2.4 Dated: 2 May 1996 Program versions on this diskette: CD.BOS 2.4 CDAUDIO.ACC 2.4 CDAUDIO.PRG 2.4 DISC.RSC 2.4 EXTENDOS.PRG 2.4 EXTINFO.PRG 2.4 INSTALL.APP 2.4 INSTALL.RSC 2.4 UNIDRIVE.DOS 2.4 UNI_BDDS.DOS 2.4 Other files on this diskette: CD_LIST7.ZIP An archive listing over 1000 CD-ROMs you can use with your Atari EXTENDOS.CNF Standard configuration file for non-TT systems EXTENDOS.TT Standard configuration file for TT030 systems READ.ME This very text file New features that are not in the manual --------------------------------------- 1. * IMPORTANT * UNIDRIVE.DOS will now handle most CD-ROMs; you should 'never' need to use UNI_BDDS.DOS (although it's still provided 'just in case'). If you are upgrading from ExtenDOS, please change any references to UNI_BDDS.DOS in your existing EXTENDOS.CNF to refer to UNIDRIVE.DOS instead; you can do this by running the install program (see below) if you wish. 2. There is now an install/reconfiguration program, INSTALL.APP, which uses a resource file INSTALL.RSC. We suggest that you use this instead of the manual install process, since it greatly simplifies installation and reduces the chance of errors. See "Using the install program" below for further information. 3. CDaudio has been greatly enhanced; among other features, it now provides direct-to-disk recording (you can copy audio CD sectors across the SCSI interface and write them to a hard disk). Please refer to "Using CDaudio" and "Recording with CDaudio" below for more details. 4. ExtenDOS Pro is now compatible with the MagxDesk desktop of MagiC4: installed drives may be accessed via the standard drive icons which MagxDesk will install automatically. NOTE: unlike hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives cannot be accessed from the U: drive of the MagxDesk desktop. 5. ExtenDOS Pro is now compatible with even more third-party software, including the CDPLAYxx audio CD player and the MIDI_COM networking desk accessory (CD-ROM drives defined as C: thru P: are visible across the network). 6. ExtenDOS Pro now reports the volume label on a CD-ROM, where one exists. Any piece of software (like the MagiC4 desktop) that looks for a volume label will be able to find one on your CD-ROM. 7. ExtenDOS Pro now allows you to specify a LUN as well as a DMA id for each drive in CD.BOS: this is to support CD-ROM changers such as the Pioneer DRM-602X/604X. See "Supporting multiple-LUN CD-ROM drives" below for how to use this feature. 8. Global options can now be specified to ExtenDOS Pro via the new *OPT line in EXTENDOS.CNF. Currently allowed values are: P=Y/N/E Pause at end of processing: Yes, No, or only if Error (default is P=E) B=Y/N Forces use of intermediate buffer for I/O: Yes or No. (default is B=N) D=Y/N Forces use of system calls e.g. Dgetdrv()/Dsetdrv(): Yes or No (default is F=N) Examples: . Never pause at end of processing: *OPT P=N . Force use of system Dgetdrv()/Dsetdrv(): *OPT D=Y . Always pause at end of processing, and force use of system Dgetdrv()/Dsetdrv(): *OPT P=Y D=Y The specification of global options is fully supported by a new 'Global options' panel in INSTALL.APP. 9. If you have multiple CD-ROM drives, you can now specify up to eight drives per *BOS or *DOS line. This will save the memory required for additional copies of CD.BOS and UNIDRIVE.DOS. For example, if you have a CD-ROM drive at id=1 and at id=3, you could use an EXTENDOS.CNF file with the following lines: *BOS, C:\EXTENDOS\CD.BOS T=20 L=32, V:3 Y:1 *DOS, C:\EXTENDOS\UNIDRIVE.DOS P=20 B=8, P:Y Q:V Note that the multiple drive definitions are separated by one or more spaces. Also note that any parameters (such as T= or P= above) apply to all drives specified on that line. If you need to specify different parameters for different drives, you can continue to use one line per drive, as before. If you use the install program, this is all taken care of for you (aren't computers wonderful?) 10. An ExtenDOS Pro cookie is now added to the cookie jar; this will allow programs that use the drivers (e.g. for audio control) to determine if they are present. The cookie id is 'EPro' (note upper/lower case mix), and the cookie value is the address of an internal ExtenDOS Pro table. 11. During initialisation, ExtenDOS Pro now checks for duplicate physical (BOS) drives and reports an error message if found. It also does further checking on the data returned by the initial INQUIRY command to a drive. This will help catch certain host adapter problems. 12. The following new drives are now supported: Drive Device id ----- --------- Apple CD600 70 Chinon 525 53 Chinon 535 rev S 52 Compaq 561 110 MediaVision Reno 90 Nakamichi MBR-7 120 NEC 3Xp+ 20 NEC 4Xe 20 NEC 73/83 24 (single-session photoCD) Panasonic CR-501 71 (no photoCD) Pioneer 602x 100 Pioneer 604x rev 2401 101 Pioneer 604x (other revs) 102 Pioneer 124X 102 Plextor 3028 80 Plextor 3024 81 Plextor 4plex 82 Sony 55S 30 Toshiba 3201 12 (no photoCD) Toshiba 3501 10 Toshiba 3601 10 Toshiba 5201 10 Toshiba 5301 10 Also, single-session photoCD is now supported on the NEC25. NOTE: The device type for the NEC25 has been changed to 24; if you have a NEC25 and have been specifying a device type, you must remove it (preferable) or change it to 24 in order to access photoCDs. 13. If a drive isn't recognised, but identifies itself as a SCSI-2 device, it is handled in the same way as the most recent SCSI-2 capable drive from the same manufacturer. This should provide the maximum amount of audioCD _AND_ photoCD support for new drives as they are introduced. 14. ExtenDOS Pro now allows more time for accesses to a CD-ROM that involve reading a table-of-contents, such as some photoCD and audio operations. This provides increased reliability at the cost of additional time to detect that the device is genuinely not responding. This may slow down the boot sequence in some circumstances. 15. The trace program, TRACE.TTP, no longer exists. Its function has been replaced by EXTINFO.PRG, which is loosely patterned after the well-known SYSINFO program. EXTINFO.PRG automatically gathers both system and ExtenDOS Pro data and writes it to a file EXTINFO.TXT in the current directory. See "Using the ExtenDOS Pro information program" below for more details. Using CDaudio ------------- CDaudio has been greatly enhanced over the version described in the manual, as follows: 1. It now uses 3D dialogs, where supported by the AES (this includes all Falcon030s, and any system running Geneva). 2. A 'minimised' display is available to reduce the screen space occupied by the dialog. The minimised display dialog is accessible via the 'Fuller' gadget, i.e. the gadget at the top right-hand corner of the window. 3. Fewer redraws are issued, thereby reducing screen flicker. 4. The FastForward/Rewind buttons are now "ballistic", i.e. if you keep the button selected, the forward/backward skip amounts increase continually, so you skip faster and faster. 5. Index numbers up to 99 are supported. 6. The volume may be changed by clicking on the volume bar, as well as by dragging the slider. 7. In order to reduce confusion, the drive letter shown in the dialog is the logical device, rather than the physical device. 8. A 'Scan' button has been added; if selected, 'Play' plays the first 10 seconds of each track rather than the entire track. This can be used in conjunction with REPEAT and/or SHUFFLE (you can get tired of this combination pretty quickly!) 9. 'Set A' & 'Set B' buttons have been added, to set the start and end of a play segment. This is likely to be of most use with the direct-to-disk recording feature (see below), but can also be used with playback. This feature can be used together with the 'Repeat' button. NOTE: if 'Set A' & 'Set B' are selected, 'Scan' and 'Shuffle' will be ignored. 10. A 'Record' button has been added for direct recording; please see 'Recording with CDaudio' below for further details. Recording with CDaudio ---------------------- CDaudio now provides direct-to-disk recording (you can copy audio CD sectors across the SCSI interface and write them to a hard disk). This is achieved via changes to CD.BOS and CDAUDIO.PRG/CDAUDIO.ACC. The changes to CD.BOS make it compatible with third-party audio CD programs including CDPLAYxx. Output files from CDAUDIO.PRG/ACC are created in AVR format. In order to access the recording dialogue, click on the new 'Record' button on the standard (non-minimised) CDaudio dialogue. In the recording dialogue, the following buttons are available: . in current track/time box: < track down play (inverse video) stop > track up . to right of current track/time box copy current track position to Start Time or End Time (alternative to using Set A/Set B in the main dialogue) . in start track/time box play from start time to end time . in end track/time box play from (end time - 10 seconds) to end time . below current track/time box Stereo/Mono select mode 16-bit/8-bit select resolution 50066/44100/25033 select recording speed . at bottom right Record A-B start recording (you will be prompted for filename) Cancel return to main dialogue Note that you will need LOTS of disk space for digital recording (around 10MB/minute for 16-bit stereo at 50066 Hz). *** IMPORTANT *** The direct-to-disk recording feature requires a CD-ROM drive that is capable of reading audio sectors as data, and support for that drive in CD.BOS. The following drives are claimed to support reading audio sectors as data: Chinon 535 (firmware revision Q20 & later) NEC 3X Panasonic 8004 Pioneer 602x Plextor 4plex Sony 561 (and equivalents) Toshiba 3401 (later models from the same manufacturers will probably also support this function). At this time, the following drives are known to work correctly: Plextor 4plex Sony 561 (and equivalents) Toshiba 3401/4101/3601 Other recent Toshiba drives such as the 3501 & 5301 should also work but have not been tested. The NEC 3Xp has been tested, but appears to have a firmware problem with the drive, resulting in an unacceptable 'skipping' in the output. Later NEC drives may function better. Although CD.BOS contains support for all the drives in the above list, we have been unable to test the Chinon, Panasonic, and Pioneer at this time. If you have one of these drives, please let us know whether the recording function works correctly or not. If not, an EXTINFO.TXT listing of the problem would be welcomed (see "Using the ExtenDOS Pro information program" below for how to produce this). Using the install program ------------------------- The install program, INSTALL.APP, has two basic functions: . install a new version of ExtenDOS Pro by copying all the files to the right places . reconfigure ExtenDOS Pro by updating EXTENDOS.CNF These functions are accomplished by a series of GEM-based dialogs, each of which has an associated Help screen. In order to run INSTALL.APP, insert the distribution disk in your floppy drive, double-click on the drive icon, then double-click on the INSTALL.APP icon. On startup, install checks if you have multiple EXTENDOS.CNF files (in the various allowable locations); if you do, it determines which one is being used by EXTENDOS.PRG, prepares to update that one, and issues a message to inform you. Then a dialog is presented that allows you to choose whether you are installing a new version from diskette, or you are reconfiguring your existing version. From then on, the screens allow you to: . select the drives to install from and to, . scan your DMA port(s) for CD-ROM drives and other devices, . set global options, . associate scsi ids with logical devices, and . set various device-related optional parameters. As noted above, each screen has associated Help information which describes how to use it. Note: when you update EXTENDOS.CNF with the install program, any reference to UNI_BDDS.DOS is automatically changed to UNIDRIVE.DOS. In the _very_ unlikely event that you need to use UNI_BDDS.DOS, you will need to modify the EXTENDOS.CNF file manually. In such a case, please feel free to call Anodyne Software for assistance. Using the ExtenDOS Pro information program ------------------------------------------ EXTINFO.PRG is used to gather system and ExtenDOS Pro information and write it to the EXTINFO.TXT file. This information can be helpful in diagnosing both hardware and software problems, and you will probably need to have this information to hand when requesting help from Anodyne Software. Here's how to run EXTINFO.PRG: . Using INSTALL.APP, ensure that both 'Trace table size' and 'Trace data length' are set for the CD-ROM drive(s) you are using (these are options that are settable via the Setup dialog in INSTALL.APP). Use a trace table size of 200 and a trace data length of 48. . Reboot your system, then recreate the failure. . Run EXTINFO.PRG: a) double-click on EXTINFO.PRG from the desktop b) click on 'Create EXTINFO.TXT' c) complete the displayed form specifying your name, address, phone number, email address, etc. (this information is saved in the EXTINFO.TXT file as a means of identifying the file); then click on 'OK' d) EXTINFO.PRG will copy information to the EXTINFO.TXT file (this file is in ASCII text format so you may browse it if you wish). If you need to provide more than one set of debugging data, make sure that you rename EXTINFO.TXT before re-running EXTINFO.PRG, since any existing EXTINFO.TXT file will be overwritten when EXTINFO.PRG runs. Supporting multiple-LUN CD-ROM drives ------------------------------------- The SCSI definition allows up to eight "logical units" (known as LUN 0 thru 7) to be accessed at each SCSI id. Each logical unit can be a totally separate device. In practice, most SCSI devices have only one logical unit (LUN 0), so earlier versions of ExtenDOS and ExtenDOS Pro automatically used LUN 0 for each SCSI (or ACSI) id defined in EXTENDOS.CNF. However, CD-ROM changers (including the Pioneer DRM-602X and DRM-604X) typically implement the changer mechanism as several different LUNs (0 thru n) on one SCSI id, so ExtenDOS Pro has been updated to support this. From a user's point of view, each LUN appears to be a separate drive, so multiple drives must be defined for each changer. How do we define multiple LUNs to ExtenDOS Pro? Since a LUN is an extension of the ACSI/SCSI id, the syntax for dma id in EXTENDOS.CNF has been extended to include LUN. The format of the id is now: D.L where D is the dma id as defined in earlier versions, and L is the LUN. D must be from 0 to 15 inclusive; L is from 0 to 7 inclusive (valid values of course depend on the CD-ROM drive you are using). For traditional drives that only use LUN 0, you can omit the period and the L value; thus existing EXTENDOS.CNF files will continue to work without changes. An example: define a Pioneer CD-ROM changer at dma id 5 to be six drives, P thru U inclusive: *BOS, C:\EXTENDOS\CD.BOS T=0, P:5.0 Q:5.1 R:5.2 S:5.3 T:5.4 U:5.5 *DOS, C:\EXTENDOS\UNIDRIVE.DOS P=16, P:P Q:Q R:R S:S T:T U:U PLEASE NOTE: this feature of ExtenDOS Pro is not yet supported by the installation program. If you have a CD-ROM that uses LUNs other than zero, you'll have to set up your EXTENDOS.CNF file manually. Please feel free to contact Anodyne Software for assistance if required. Known restrictions and incompatibilities ---------------------------------------- 0. A problem has been reported when running MagiC v4.02 with ExtenDOS Pro v2.4 and the ICD hard disk driver (level unknown). This combination causes a system error #-69 during bootup (68000 exception). The problem is currently under investigation, but apparently does not occur when using MagiC v4.0, or when using AHDI or HDDRIVER. 1. IMPORTANT: when using CDaudio to play audio CDs on your CD-ROM drive, all audio output is from the CD-ROM drive itself, _not_ through your system's speaker(s). Most CD-ROM drives provide output sockets at the front (headphone) and rear (RCA jacks or other connector). In order to hear the output from your CD-ROM drive, you _must_ connect one or other of these to your audio equipment. 2. NeoDesk users: if you get a message that "data on the disk is corrupted or damaged" when you double click on the CD-ROM drive icon, or open a folder, turn off the option 'check for executable bootsector' in NeoDesk/Set Preferences/More. 3. TT users: all of the resident components of ExtenDOS Pro (EXTENDOS.PRG, CD.BOS, and UNIDRIVE.DOS/UNI_BDDS.DOS) must be loaded into ST RAM for normal operation. If you have a system with alternate RAM, such as the TT030, do NOT set the program flags to load these programs into alternate (TT) RAM. 4. If a SCSI-2 drive is not recognised by ExtenDOS Pro (see item 13 of "New features"), photoCD _may_ not be supported. This restriction is due to the lack of a standard for photoCD support. If this situation occurs, please contact Anodyne Software for support. 5. Chinon CDS-435 audio support has not been tested. If you have this drive, and the audio playback is not working, please contact Anodyne Software for assistance. 6. The installation program INSTALL.APP does not work properly when installing to a floppy drive. If you have a floppy-only system, please install by following the step-by-step instructions in the manual. If you have any problems doing this, please feel free to email, write, or call Anodyne Software for assistance. 7. We recommend that you always install ExtenDOS Pro in a folder rather than in the 'root' of a disk; installing in the root can cause a number of problems. This is particularly true if you use INSTALL.APP to do the installation. 8. With certain drives (such as those with a lid rather than a tray or caddy), the EJECT button on the CDaudio player program or accessory cannot _physically_ eject the CD-ROM. However, on many such drives (including the NEC 25 and the NEC 3Xp), the EJECT button will _logically_ eject the CD-ROM. This means you will have to open the drive door and close it again in order to access the CD-ROM. 9. If a CD-ROM drive is defined as one of the standard logical drives (A through P), the CHEETAH file copier will exit with the message "can't access BPB". This is a Cheetah problem. It examines each of the drives A through P during initialisation, expecting them to have a low-level file system with FATs and directories just like a hard disk; this is not the case with a CD-ROM. The problem can be circumvented by reinstalling the CD-ROM drive as a logical drive between Q and Z. Acknowledgements ---------------- I'd like to thank a number of people who have taken the time over the last couple of years to help me test ExtenDOS & ExtenDOS Pro on all kinds of hardware and software. It's certainly a much better product due to their efforts, so I'd like to publicly thank the following intrepid beta testers (in alphabetical order): Kim Andersen Lee Benjamin Danny Bhabuta Daron Brewood Alexander Clauss Jerry Coppess Steve Deitz Al Fasoldt Gary Fuhrman Steve Hammond Graham Irvine Bertil Jagard Claude Labelle Rob Perry Doug Steever Frank Tobiassen Dale Wenzelburger My apologies to anyone I've inadvertently omitted; please let me know and I'll include you in the next list. If you have a problem --------------------- As always, you may contact Anodyne Software for help via telephone, electronic mail, or regular mail. If you do so, please be prepared to provide the following information: . your ExtenDOS Pro serial number (from the distribution diskette) . a listing of your EXTENDOS.CNF configuration file . a copy of the EXTINFO.TXT file produced by EXTINFO.PRG. This is particularly important if ExtenDOS Pro appears to install correctly, but you have problems accessing data or audio CDs. See "Using the ExtenDOS Pro information program" above for how to run EXTINFO.PRG. Roger Burrows ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GEnie: R.BURROWS1 Internet: anodyne@magi.com _or_ r.burrows1@genie.com Mail: Anodyne Software, 6 Cobbler Court, Ottawa, Ontario K1V 0B8, CANADA Phone: (613) 523-7498 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------