Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!kessner!chris
From: chris@kessner.denver.co.us (Chris Hanson)
Subject: CDTV Technicals, Firsthand. More Chris Hanson.
Message-ID: <1991Apr6.034427.14446@kessner.denver.co.us>
Summary: He's baaaaaaaaack!
Keywords: CDTV, CD ROM, Emulations, all that.
Organization: The Kessner Institute of Something or Other.
Date: Sat, 6 Apr 91 03:44:27 GMT


   Now, I know this may not be the correct newsgroup for this, but since
we don't have anything like comp.sys.CDTV (and we pro'lly never will.
Maybe comp.sys.AMIGA.CDTV, but anyway...)

   After our first two days of playing with our CDTV in the store, I have
found a few fascinating conclusions. These I will share with you.
 
   Let's start it out bluntly. This is not a new hardware platform. This
IS an Amiga 500. It's in a new case. it has no built-in DF0:. It has a MIDI
port, and a 660 or so meg CD ROM. But it still thinks like a 1 meg 500.
 
   Clever hack number one: Apparently someone else has done this prior to me,
but I'll reiterate. You can hook up a normal Amiga 1010 drive (or anyone
else's 1010 compat drive) to the floppy port (yes, it's a normal Amiga 23 pin
floppy port) and stick in a WB 1.3 disk, and it'll boot WB1.3. Some have noted
that you can do a NEWCLI >AUX: in the disk's startup-sequence, and hook up
the serial port to another machine, and have yourself a Shell. Whoop de whoop.
That's no fun.
 
   This machine has full 1.3 ROMS. Apparently they must be modified to add a
few ROM drivers for the weird hardware they added on, but it'll run ANYTHING
that runs on a 1.3 machine with 1 meg. What of the mouse & Keyboard, you ask?
 
   The infrared controller for CDTV is a stroke of genius in design. Not only
does it WORK well (unlike the PCjr's infrared keyboard gimmick), but it is
transparently integrated into the system. The cursor/joystick keypad will
emulate either a joystick or a mouse, toggleable. This emulation is very solid:
It works perfectly with ALL the games I tried, even games that I _know_ read
the hardware directly.
 
   The two buttons, A & B on the controller emulate either the two mouse
buttons, or the single joystick firebutton. The mouse emulation is good enough
to use with Workbench and such (I have...) but not good enough for real
precise work like DPaintIII. Y3es, DPIII runs fine, but the mouse emulation
resolution imposes a grid-effect on your painting.
 
   The keys on the controller (1 through ten on the keypad, enter, escape,
and a few others) emulate their Keyboard equivelnts. Presumably with something
like Black Belt Systems' "Jakeboard" program, you could emulate the entire
keyboard.
 
   The CD ROM drive is implemented as a real Filesystem and device. It
automounts as a device called CD0:, and supports automatic sensing of a
DiskChange event. I have not yet run Xoper to see what exec-level device
it uses, and if it uses the FFS, or something custom. It does not appear
to use scsidisk.device, as I ran the HDToolBox program from the A590 drive,
and it was unable to locate any SCSI or IDE devices.
 
   The drive does NOT appear to use an ISO9660 filesystem. We presume this
as we put in a CD from our 386 machine's SONY drive, and it just ignored
the disk. The jewel-box that you must put this disk into before putting it
in the CD drive IS identical to the jewel-box used on our SONY PC drive.
 
   Has anyone a working or beta ISO9660 Filesystem that you might mail me to
play with?
 
   The "Welcome to CDTV" disk that comes with the unit appears to be a bit
of a rush job. It is an EXCELLENT production, explaining every Port, plug,
light, button, widget and gizmo on the CDTV. Nowhere is the word Amiga EVER
used in this production, and the word "computer" is only heard once, when
mentioning the addition of a disk drive. Even the optional keyboard is called
a "typewriter-style" keyboard. No computers HERE.
 
   Oh, yes, I said a rush job. I only say this because there is a TON of JUNK
files on the disk. I pulled up DiskMaster (a real joy of a program in this
case, when all I had to control the machine was a mouse!) and explored the
contents of the disk. There are miscellenous header files, source files,
programmer documentation, and .LZH files littered about the disk, along with
backups of the images used in the final presentation, and MANY "alternate"
images that were apparently rejected, but never removed. I even found a copy
of a text invoice dictating the terms between Commodore and the artist hired
to do the art for the disk. It details what he will be paid, for what, what
hardware Commodore is loan/selling him, etc. Ooops. Y'might want to do
some housecleaning on this disk Commodore.
 
   For a good laugh, play the presentation called "joke" in the root directory
of the Welcome disk. It consists of the Joke.asl presentation script for the
ASL presentation program (apparently a script-like version of AmigaVision,
written by the same people), and the files Joke.ilbm and Joke.8svx.
 
   It is a FrameGrabbed image of Saddam Huessein (from iraqui TV) and a
sound sample of the classic "I've fallen -- and I can't get up!" line
from that blasted commercial. Needless to say, I fell out of my chair
laughing when I found it on the production disk. Much like the old 'secret'
messages in the Amiga WB, and in the C128.
 
    'Nuff bandwidth wasted. If you have any questions, leave me mail. I'm
having a blasted good time reverse engineering this "Baby."

      Chris - Xenon

-- 
#define chris Christopher_Eric_Hanson || Lord_Xenon || Kelson_Haldane 
I work, but you don't know who I work for. And I'm not on their machines.
"It's better to burn out, than to fade away!" -Def Leppard
::I'm chris@kessner.denver.co.us, please.