CD32 woes...

[fisken uno]

I picked up my very own CD32 today! Yay!! Bought it off the swedish ebay and I have a feeling a paid a tad too much for it but who cares... I really really wanted a REAL CD32 console and so I finally got one!

It's really a blast! Except for a few things... First off, the thing wasn't boxed and neither did it come with a manual. Could anyone be kind enough to scan their CD32 manual for me...? Pretty pleeease?

And then there's ONE more thing... I got the thing with 13 original discs and in all honestly I didn't think they'd run too well because they were all really badly scratched However, it turns out all the games run fine! BUT! Running burned CDs is a completely different matter. At this point I have two brands of CD-Rs at home: Fujifilm and Platinum. I've tried burning with both at 4x speed (since my burner won't let me go slower) and while Platinum does give so-so results (playable but not enjoyable) the Fuji's are completely impossible. There's a lot of clicking and ticking from the CD32 and if I wait for an eternity the title screen of the game MIGHT come up eventually... That sucks. Like I said, the Platinum's work better but it still takes too long for the unit to find the correct audio track in time etc. SO! The question is: Which brands have YOU used, and at what speed, to get the best possible results with CD32 games?

I might add that I had Gary's old CD32-200 collection lying around and it was so fecking slow I could take a nap before a game would start! You might of think this would have to do with the lens/laser of the unit itself, but if so how the hell can it be that it plays the original CDs flawlessly? I'm puzzled.

[spiff]

Originally Posted by fisken uno

sucks. Like I said, the Platinum's work better but it still takes too long for the unit to find the correct audio track in time etc. SO! The question is: Which brands have YOU used, and at what speed, to get the best possible results with CD32 games?

I've been using TDKs and Verbatims, but it's really a lot up to pure luck and what cd manufacturer they in turn buy from. Run nero CDspeed and check what you error levels are. I'm not 100% but I belive the CD32 doesn't handle C2 errors.
The drives does suck for CDR though, cheap ass parts probably.

Originally Posted by fisken uno

I might add that I had Gary's old CD32-200 collection lying around and it was so fecking slow I could take a nap before a game would start!

Garys CD is sweet! but it IS slow as... it's more of a design problem with AGS+music, CD swapping. No superduper CDR will fix that, you could stop the audiopart from loading.

*edit* oh and http://www.cd32-allianz.de/ has the German manual scan, readable for most Swedes.
And do yourself a favor and get a s-vid cable for the cd32!

[Dizzy]

Congratulation with you new wonder

Have you tried cleaning the lens, it might help

I used TDK cds before without any problems, now I'm using Verbatim and this is the best for anything

[musashi5150]

I've used Verbatims and some cheap-ass no-name discs and they are perfectly fine. It won't read CDRW though...

[cane]

There is something wrong with my internet connection and I was unable to upload cd32 english manual to the zone (moderators please delete my 0kb upload). And I can't remember form where I downloaded it .

I used Verbatim and some no-name CD's burned at 4x speed and they work without problem.

[TheBoss]

Congratulation! there is nothing better then taking a spin with a CD32

Burning CD32 cds isnt that easy, its mostly trial and error for the first part to find the cd brand that works best for your cd32. I suggest you buy a bunch of different cds and start testing away.

If there are any specific games you are after, feel free to make request

[alexh]

Where did the rumour come from that burning discs at low speed is better?

I've empirically found that if you burn CD's and DVD's too far away from their rated speeds will results in errors.

[spiff]

Originally Posted by alexh

Where did the rumour come from that burning discs at low speed is better?

I've empirically found that if you burn CD's and DVD's too far away from their rated speeds will results in errors.

The other empirical studies on the PSX no dubt, and buffer recovery errors I'm guessing.

You're probably right on modern burners though. In my experience it's mostly up to the CD batch.

[alexh]

It is well known on the NGC that if you write discs below their rating that the discs dont work well.

I was a believer of this "slow=quality" misnomer until I started writing NGC disks where at 1x DVD rate they skipped like mad and at 4x or 8x they were fine (same media).

A bit of reading later and it seems to be true for many other brands of writer / disc / console.

[fisken uno]

Thanks for all the replies people. I guess I should try Verbatim's (THE quality brand, I know).

I have experimented with different burning speeds though and everything above 4x gives significantly worse results. So it seems that lower speed IS better, at least with the CD-R's I have at home.

[spiff]

Well, it's pretty easy to check.. just run error scans with CDspeed or similar on a good/supported drive. Whatever the speed/disc brand has the lowest number of C1/2 errors should be best.

I am a bit curious about if the CD32 prefers green to blue dye on the CDs.. I'm thinking green might be better then blue.. but haven't really compared the same games on different CDRs

[Dizzy]

This is a common problem with older cd based console, the lens is getting a little out of focus, and the first way you often see this is when you have problems playing cd-r

read how to fix it here http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/Pa...dex/index.html

Good luck

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Dizzy

This is a common problem with older cd based console, the lens is getting a little out of focus, and the first way you often see this is when you have problems playing cd-r

read how to fix it here http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/Pa...dex/index.html

Good luck

I've already read this guide, Dizzy. I will however wait until it has problems reading originals as well until I open it up and start screwing around with the iinsides. Wouldn't want to start off by breaking something And - like I said - despite my original discs being badly scratched, they work like a charm. My burned discs also work quite well IF they load properly. The problem seems to be booting them up. I will have to reboot the CD32 until they work...

[Paul_s]

Fisken, uploaded the manual to the Zone for ya

The transports for the CD32 are still available to buy, last time I looked they were £50 - £60 - that's for the full assembly (mech/laser et al).

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Paul_s

Fisken, uploaded the manual to the Zone for ya

The transports for the CD32 are still available to buy, last time I looked they were £50 - £60 - that's for the full assembly (mech/laser et al).

Thanks for the manual Exactly what I was looking for! My german is a bit rusty so I prefer this one over the one at CD32-allianz

Now, I'm just sort of annoyed at all these WHDloadified games that require a keyboard for one or two keys And I've noticed that some of the games off the available CD32 compilations won't work... But they DO under WinUAE. That's a bit odd.. Would think the real thing would be more compatible than the emulated deal. Then again, WHDload IS sort of an emulator.

Is there any tool that lets you map keys to CD32pad buttons? I know it won't work along with WHDload (unless it's coded into the slave), but there are cases when I guess the games might work withOUT WHDload. I've noticed that Monkey island is present on Gary's compilation(s) and if I'm not mistaken it's using a tool called joymouse to emulate the mouse with the joypad. Is there any tool that can assign keyboard keys to it as well?

[AMIGAZ]

Try using black cd-r's that cured all my probs I had with one of my CD32's which the cd mechanism and laser is worn in

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Dizzy

This is a common problem with older cd based console, the lens is getting a little out of focus, and the first way you often see this is when you have problems playing cd-r

read how to fix it here http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/Pa...dex/index.html

Good luck

Added link to cd32 wiki Amiga FAQ page.

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by AMIGAZ

Try using black cd-r's that cured all my probs I had with one of my CD32's which the cd mechanism and laser is worn in

Black CD-rs? Could you give example of brands you've used?

[AMIGAZ]

Originally Posted by fisken uno

Black CD-rs? Could you give example of brands you've used?

Sure thing

http://www.kjell.com/content/templat...tem=19089&path=

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by AMIGAZ

Sure thing

http://www.kjell.com/content/templat...tem=19089&path=

Ooh, so these work? They look bloody nice, don't they I shopped the Fuji ones there (gotta love Kjell&Comp) but those were a real disappointment. Quite surprising since I always use Fuji's when burning DVD's and never had any problems with them. Then again, according to Nero's test utility there are no errors at all at the burned discs so it's probably just the CD32 being picky. I've burned the Platinums exactly the same way and they work better. I will try these to see if they work EVEN better