Help me with my possibly unrealistic CDTV plans

[CDTV1991]

I have a CDTV with a standard remote control. The motherboard version is 2.2.1. No keyboard, mouse or floppy drive.

I'd like to run Amiga 500 compatible games on the CDTV but not from floppies.

1) Firstly, even to run most Amiga 500 games from a floppy drive would I need to expand the CDTV? i.e. Memory, ROMs etc?

2) Is it possible, by whatever hack/coding is necessary to run Amiga 500 games direct from a CD or possibly a specially created compilation CD?

3) Alternatively, could I run ADF files from some sort of HDD or flash card? Is this what that WHDload thing is?

I've done a fair bit of searching on the CDTV, but before I spend any more time and possibly money I'd just like to know that these are feasible.

If not then I stick with WinUAE and keep the CDTV as a cool retro-ornament under our main TV. I don't fancy getting an A1200 as I like the whole entertainment appliance concept of the CDTV.

I would consider turning it into a capable "normal" amiga to be able to achieve point 3), even if it means losing the CD-ROM drive capability.

Thanks in advance

Rich

[DonAmiga]

you show be able to run A500 game, any amiga external disk drive will do, you can make a CD compilation http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=cdtv. Here's a cool launcher, by gibs, http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=cdtv.
If you've not got any games you could get a couple from http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=43633

[Dreedo]

WHDLOAD is basically a method that lets you boot games from your HDD, a lot of games on the Amiga only supported booting from floppy disks. WHDLOAD games are also often patched to fix bugs in the original games, i believe a few improve gameplay on some games.

However most WHDLOAD games require more power than their floppy counterparts.

[CDTV1991]

Thanks. I'll check those links out now.

Originally Posted by Dreedo

WHDLOAD is basically a method that lets you boot games from your HDD, a lot of games on the Amiga only supported booting from floppy disks. WHDLOAD games are also often patched to fix bugs in the original games, i believe a few improve gameplay on some games.

However most WHDLOAD games require more power than their floppy counterparts.

So WHDLOAD allows non-HD games (floppy only games) to boot from a HDD. So if the CDTV does not have a HDD I'd need to try and run them from a CD.

What do you mean by requiring more "power" than their floppy counterparts, do you mean CPU or RAM or both?

Thanks

Originally Posted by DonAmiga

you show be able to run A500 game, any amiga external disk drive will do, you can make a CD compilation http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=cdtv. Here's a cool launcher, by gibs, http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=cdtv.
If you've not got any games you could get a couple from http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=43633

That Tiny Launcher by gibs would the be perfect answer, providing it was editable to add games to the list. Shame it isn't available for download or purchase. Its got to be worth that guy finishing that and selling it. I'd pay a decent sum for it.

[CDTV1991]

I'm trying Lennon Lives' "AMIGA CD32 Games Compilation Toolkit" in WinUAE emulationg a CD32 and it seems to work with the games I've downloaded.

Will this work for CDTV? I'll try in WinUAE and if that is ok then try burning a disc.

[DonAmiga]

if you use the CDTV developer kit ! http://static.cd32-allianz.de/downlo...eveloperKit.7z


let me know how you get on, may give it a try

[kriz]

You want to check this, a loader from Gibs thats in the works:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...ight=gibs+cdtv

[BigFairy]

try a floppy emulator, like the HxC Floppy emulator. It allows SD cards to be used instead of real floppy's. I have a 16Gb SD card in mine completely full of ADF images.

[Retro1234]

Hardly any if any!! WHDload/JST Games will run on an unexpanded Kick 1.3 - 1mb chip CDTV - you'd have to use an early version of JST for Kick 1.3
AGS as used by the AMIGA CD32 Games Compilation Toolkit is AGA only
Gibs CDTV is Kick 3.1 with memory expansion - Menu666 in the Zone should work on your setup - but without the power to run WHDload no commerical games would be possible.

:some games that have there own HD installs like Monkey Islands should work.

BigFairy advice seems like a good option

[Arnie]

I have read that if you can update the proms to v2.3 then it would be possible to upgrade the kickstart.

[Arnie]

There is also the 'mini mega chip' that will give you 2mb chip ram.

Commodore originally did an external scsi HD so maybe you could use something similar?

[alexh]

AFAIK you are not going to be able to run WHDload titles from an unmodified CDTV.

It has KS1.3 (WHDload requires 2.0+) and has only 1Mbyte of RAM of which some is eaten by the CD-ROM driver & WHDLoad core.

Absolute minimum you are going to need is to upgrade the Extended EPROMs (so you can use a higher version of KS than 1.3) and the Kickstart EPROM (perhaps to a dual KS1.3/3.1) to use WHDload at all. This will be cheap, perhaps £20 for the three chips programmed.

Then you'll probably need a RAM upgrade (which are not cheap for CDTV, £70-£100) to be able to run the majority of titles.

You can add a hard drive to CDTV for maximum flexibility, but again not cheap. £80 for a CFIDECP + CF card or £100+ for a Vulcan SCSI controller + SCSI drive.

You could *possibly* create a bootable CD with some HDloaders which do run on KS1.3 (see the JST thing above) but finding such titles will be a feat in itself.

[CDTV1991]

Thanks to everyone giving some really good advice so far. However there's also a few misleading responses.

I now understand that in general WHDload titles can't from an unmodified CDTV. I'll take this as fact and accept that I will have to modify my CDTV.

I also understand that the Lennon Lives "AMIGA CD32 Games Compilation Toolkit" will not be suitable as it requires an AGA machine, therefore there's no point in looking at it further.

Also the Gibs "Tiny Launcher" is not available, therefore there's no point in looking at this further (until its available)

So the next question is can I run WHDload games from a CD? (providing my CDTV is modified to include the Extended EPROMs + Kickstart EPROM (to give a dual KS1.3/3.1) and a RAM upgrade).

I'm ruling an internal HDD out You can add a hard drive to and ruling out
a floppy drive emulator for now as I'd like to keep it all in one box.

Thanks so far all!

Rich

[alexh]

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

Also the Gibs "Tiny Launcher" is not available, therefore there's no point in looking at this further (until its available)

FYI Tiny Launcher is just a GUI for launching other programs (like WHDLoad).

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

So the next question is can I run WHDload games from a CD? (providing my CDTV is modified to include the Extended EPROMs + Kickstart EPROM (to give a dual KS1.3/3.1) and a RAM upgrade).

Yes, but you cannot (obviously) save. Slaves (games) which try to save (including high score) may have issues but I don't know. WHDload author WEPL will know. As may the author of "Tiny Launcher".

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

I'm ruling an internal HDD out

Yeah, CFIDECP is too expensive for only one or two uses every few months. Such a shame that no-one has mass produced them (or the cheaper IDE68k) to reduce the costs.

[CDTV1991]

It does seem that the HxC floppy emulator does seem the best way to go. It is £70 from eBay.

I assume I need a RAM upgrade. The Mini Megi 1MB chip mem upgrade is £62 from Vesalia. It would be nice to not need this, perhaps by disabling some of the memory-using CDTV features?

I also assume that with this device I do not need a kickstart or other chip upgrade.

£150+ is a lot, but possibly worth it if it works.

Would such a set up be able to run all non-AGA Amiga games?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

It does seem that the HxC floppy emulator does seem the best way to go. It is £70 from eBay.

CDTV has no internal floppy drive connector or power. Not ideal for use with HxC floppy emulator. You will need to buy an external floppy disk drive (any for Amiga will do, £10 off ebay) and replace the internal drive with the HxC floppy emulator.

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

I assume I need a RAM upgrade.

Not with the floppy emulator. Nor will you require upgraded ROMs. AFAIK, booting from floppy drive disables the CD-ROM drive and releases the RAM it would use. The CDTV's KS1.3 and 1Mbyte Chip RAM will be enough for most floppy games.

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

The Mini Megi 1MB chip mem upgrade is £62 from Vesalia.

If you get one, make sure it is the PAL version.

Would such a set up be able to run all non-AGA Amiga games?

No. Some titles require fast RAM and the MiniMega chip only gives you 2Mbyte chip RAM.

[CDTV1991]

Thanks for the advice, I'm getting close to a workable solution.

I'm going to buy an external floppy drive from eBay, strip it out and fit the HxC floppy emulator. I eventually hope to fit all this inside the CDTV later, even if it means running the floppy cable out to the rear port. I need to think more about the emulator's LCD screen, buttons and SD card access if I install it inside the machine.

I assume that I can still use the CDTV remote for mouse/joystick use if I booted from a floppy (emulated or not).

The last thing I need to find out is if the floppy disc emulator menu can be controlled by the standard CDTV remote as I don't have a keyboard.

[DonAmiga]

Hi, I use the CDTV remote for mouse/joystick when using floppy's and controls for floppy games.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

The last thing I need to find out is if the floppy disc emulator menu can be controlled by the standard CDTV remote as I don't have a keyboard.

I'd be curious to know too...

Originally Posted by CDTV1991

I need to think more about the emulator's LCD screen, buttons and SD card access if I install it inside the machine.

If the answer to the question above is yes then it doesn't need the LCD screen and needs only one button which (with a bit of electrical & mechanical jiggery pokery) could be wired to the external floppy disk drives eject button.

[CDTV1991]

I'll ask the developer of the HxC floppy emulator if the interface needs a keyboard or not for navigation.

I'll mount the floppy emulator inside the CDTV. I'll make a little slot for the SD card at the back. At the least I'd like to create an external button, accessible from the front of the machine. It would be even better if I could take a switch "signal" from a point inside the machine that has been triggered by a press of a button on the remote. I'm assuming that a remote button press would trigger some voltage within the machine that could possibly activate/deactivate a swtich. I suppose its worth a try.

So far this is going well, thanks. However, I'm afraid I've got some more questions:

What type of RAM upgrade do I need to make "more" Amiga games work? Fast RAM, Chip RAM, both?

What chipset does the CDTV have OCS or ECS? Do newer (pre-AGA) games require the ECS chipset?

Thanks

Rich