Today we have quite a selection of Amiga CD File Systems, and currently only one Commercial CD file system that I know of. That being AsimCDFS. Now before I go on and review this I will tell you I have NO commercial connection (or other motive what-so-ever) with Asimware, so any remarks are made from someone whose been using it for themselves for quite a while now.
Once you've installed the CD-ROM into your Amiga (or if like me been
forced to leave it external due to it not fitting in the WELL
Lets now have a look at it section by section.
Once the installation was done I had a drawer full of utilities I could
use with my CD-ROM, they are:
The CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive can be accessed like any other disk
or hard disk partition on your system, and the device is mounted to
the system using the name of the DOS driver (WB2.1+), of which you
can alter if you know how to be anything you like, but defaults to
CD0:.
I have tested AsimCDFS with PD PC CD-ROMs and Macintosh CD-ROMs
(which have their own custom CD File System) and have not found any
problems i will comment here (faults commented on below). It supports
the standard CD file system ISO 9660, the old PC CD File System Rock
Ridge, CD Digital Audio (CDDA), Mac CD File System, and maybe something
Ive forgotten??
Those with CD-ROM Drives which support CD Digital Audio will be
happy to know, so does AsimCDFS. For the unaquainted this means
every track on a Audio CD will exist as a filename,
able to be copied and replayed at a later date on whatever medium it
was copied to. Those considering, "great! this means i can
get all my audio cd-roms and have them sitting on my hard drive!!",
Bzzt! I got news for you, its cheaper to keep them on your Audio
CD, as the average 6 minute track will cost you a dear 50-60mb
of space. I should note this is NOT a fault of AsimCDFS, but due
to the actual amount of space the CD audio takes on the drive.
The CD DA tracks can be accessed on the drive like a normal drive
and are sorted into:
An important note I must make though is the fact that the
tracks are CD name are titleless when inserted the first time
and using AmigaDOS's Rename you can rename the tracks
to anything which falls within the limits of AmigaDOS filenames.
Before being renamed they are called 'Track1', 'Track2', etc.
AsimCDFS keeps a database of all Audio CD's you insert and
using AsimTunes you can edit the filenames on the CD's
even when the CDs are not even in the drive. Renaming the
Audio CD via AmigaDOS or AsimTunes is also possible.
If you insert an Audio-CD though, you can have AsimTunes
configured to Automatically launch when the CD File system
detects an Audio CD-ROM. A review of AsimTunes below.
Inserting a Kodak PhotoCD will auto-decode it to an ILBM format
for you to load into Multiview or your favourite picture viewer.
The file system nicely puts minatures (thumb nails) of all the
pics on the CD-ROM as their icons.
I've had no Corel CD-ROMs to test the CD File System with but
ive heard from many it does work well.
For those upgrading from V3.x to this version will find it deletes old
AsimTunes preference files and makes no attempt to offer anything to
convert your preference files, it deletes your whole Music Data library
(that being where it stores the filenames of tracks, labels of CDs, etc),
and does several other annoying things. (This happens all via the supplied
Installer script without warning). Loosing a huge collection of CD
Audio Music Data is VERY annoying.
PS. AsimCDFS also comes with FishMarket Cd which includes the huge
Fish Disk library, of Fish Disks 1-1000.
Overall, a product worth buying and I give it 92%.
For more info go to Asimware's page here.
(AsimCDFS 3.6b was released at the end of June 1996)
Installation:
Well this section is almost faultless, if not faultless for even people
with the most limited knowledge about this sort of thing (which included
me). Using a standard Commodore Installer script I had it installed in
next to no time, and using the supplied CD-ROM finder which worked with
the install script, i could pick my CD-ROM drive which was NOT on a
standard SCSI Device (notably an Oktagon2008 Controller at that).
Usage:
Well if installed correctly everytime you boot your Amiga it will
launch the driver to make your system recognise the CD-ROM drive
and a pretty picture will appear on workbench with the CD-ROM
drive :) (of which, the icon and all other tooltype icons the
CD-ROM uses can be configured with AsimCDFS_Prefs).
I will complain though, wondering why they didnt include the
Amiga's native format, IFF 8SVX. Those thinking they can play
these tracks like this should be reminded that you need a very
fast controller to be able to play any audio track at a decent
speed if its played direct from CD-ROM and unless you have
enough RAM to load your 50mb Audio track it will really be
crap to listen to, which is why AsimTunes exists (amoung
other better reasons).
As you can see it has a wealth of options, so for most of you, if
you like this program you will probably stick with it and may use
other programs occasionally like I do.
Here you can configure:
Theres enough options here to satisfy virtually anyone. If it isn't
an option here, chances are it cant be configured.
This is just a small configuration program for when using AsimCDFS's
CDTV Emulator. Here you can configure only a few things. Which are:
Language, Clock (12 or 24 hour), Idle time before starts Screen Blanker,
Audible keyclick and Interlace display. You can also configure Bookmark
size, and cardmark name and size (of which I have no idea what they both
are).
Here you cant configure much, but unlike the real CD32 (which I also
own) you can choose a place for the NonVolatile RAM and not stuck
with Commodores absolutely stupid 1k limit when your CD32 Games wish
to save data (eg. saving games). You can also configure the language
(just like the real thing! :)), and a key feature for those who are
currently using Public Domain CD File Systems which lack emulation,
is its JoyPay Emulation which is definately a plus. Besides these
things it does nothing more ;).
Sometimes a CD-ROM will have several CD File Systems on it, and if you
do like me, you'll get this program to pop up if the CD has 2 or more
CD File Systems which AREN'T identical. A usual scenario, like found
on Aminet CD-ROMs is a choice between Rock Ridge or ISO 9660 file
system, I have it configured where it automatically choose's ISO 9660
over the two but if you wish, using Disc Changer you can swap. This
program can also open and close the CD-ROM drive and is also a
commodity. A more usual scenario for people, when it will pop-up is
when a CD (such as a CD32 game) has a CD Audio track onto the same
CD, here you can, if you wish just choose the CD Audio side of the
CD-ROM instead of both. If your using a game though which does have
an Audio CD track, dont worry, as the game will still play it if
it can.
Using SimBoot:
Some would see this program as a drawcard as to whether to buy this
program or not. Here you can (somewhat) boot a CD-ROM and it will
apply its CD32/CDTV Emulation where required. It opens a black screen
with a nice Asim Logo on it and executes the CD-ROMs Startup-sequence.
If launching it from workbench it may be as useful as executing the
CD-ROM's startup-sequence manually, if launched from a Disk you may
prepare just for when you want to run Bootable CDs (which is what I
have done), you can get it not open anything but the needed things to
get SimBoot going and get the maximum possibilities of the Emulation
working. It comes with a text file with known CD's its compatible with,
and I had some of these tested, and they did work as said.
Faults/Problems:
At times when AsimTunes or a Mac CD inserted asimcdfs.device sometimes
crashes. This also sometimes happens with normal CD-ROMs. It should
support the IFF 8SVX format in the CD Digital Audio section. AsimTunes
should allow long names for tunes but truncate the filenames to legal
AmigaDOS size. The default Icons for CDDA leave alot to be desired
(default 2.x+ drawers with huge borders around them of blankness,
easily fixed but annoying). It is also annoying how the default colours
for AsimTunes are un-readable on a standard MagicWB Amiga Workbench
screen palette. Besides this I cannot think of anything else to fault.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, and despite it's faults its a CD file system which
definately is a top-notch product and superior to ANYTHING else on
any platform I've seen. It compares to Public Domain CD File Systems
and wipes them out. On the same note though you may decide that CDTV
and CD32 Emulation isn't going to be something you need and get
one of the excellent Public CD File systems out there which are
free or shareware and get yourself one of the countless number of
CD audio players for Cd Audio. On the same note though the public
domain ones dont support alot Asim does, and AsimCDFS has had many
years of development. Either way its your choice, but I certainly
havent regretted using this, even after using PD CD File Systems.