Simple CD-ROM setup in WinUAE

[Supamax]

Hi,
I'm not a new Amiga user (as many of you know ), but I never had/used a CD-ROM drive with my real Amigas, and I never used it in WinUAE.

So my question is: which are the simplest steps to do in order to configure a simple (bootable) CD-ROM setup in WinUAE?
Let's say, a basic A500+CD and 1200+CD setup.

Sorry if this was answered in some thread before... I couldn't find an easy walkthrough.

EDIT: I mean a setup which lets me boot Amiga-specific CD games, not CD32 ones.

[thomas]

Except CD32 and CDTV there is no real Amiga which can boot from CD and there is no Amiga CD game which is bootable.

There are CD32 emulators which can run CD32 games on AGA Amigas with a CD ROM drive.

All other CD games need harddrive installation and may or may not need the CD in the drive while playing.

A CyberstormMK3/PPC or BlizzardPPC can boot from a SCSI CD due to their firmware. But you need to make your own bootable CD for this. There is no existing CD (game or other software) which uses this feature. Well, except OS4.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by thomas

Except CD32 and CDTV there is no real Amiga which can boot from CD

Do you mean booting from CD the same way an Amiga can boot from floppy or hard disk, right?

If so, ok... I suppose I should have imagined it .

and there is no Amiga CD game which is bootable.

Again, you are meaning "bootable bypassing HD/floppy DOS" ?
Or do you mean (I hope not & I think not) that - after booting from HD/floppy and with the right drivers loaded and/or CD properly mounted - I cannot run a game straight from CD?

[turrican3]

Originally Posted by Supamax

Do you mean booting from CD the same way an Amiga can boot from floppy or hard disk, right?

If so, ok... I suppose I should have imagined it .

I remember that someone succeed to make it but the cd-rom had to be specially done. Will try to find it, but i'm sure it was discussed here.

[Toni Wilen]

If you only want to boot (any data) CDs under UAE: use CDFS automount mode, it uses -127 boot priority (lowest possible).

Many real HD controllers can boot CDs if they are RDB partitioned and block size is 2048 bytes. http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=67898

[mark_k]

Is there any CD filesystem for the Amiga which is RDB-installable and bootable? That could be a good alternative to preparing an FFS CD image; the disc could be bootable but would still be ISO 9660-compliant. Though preparing the image would be more hassle.

Back to the topic of booting from CD more generally, I have a command in my hard disk's startup-sequence which checks the mouse button state and if it's pressed, executes commands to mount and pass execution to the CD. That's not booting directly from CD, but probably the next best thing.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Many real HD controllers can boot CDs if they are RDB partitioned and block size is 2048 bytes. http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=67898

Thanks Toni, very interesting thread .
This confirms what thomas wrote ("A CyberstormMK3/PPC or BlizzardPPC can boot from a SCSI CD due to their firmware. But you need to make your own bootable CD for this. There is no existing CD (game or other software) which uses this feature. Well, except OS4.").

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

If you only want to boot (any data) CDs under UAE: use CDFS automount mode, it uses -127 boot priority (lowest possible).

Thanks. Yes, what I'm interested in is a vary basic setup: WinUAE A500+CD (or A1200+CD) configured so that I can load an Amiga CD game (not CD32/CDTV-only game) straight from the CD, without the need of copying all the data to HD first.
Apart from the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option, is there something I have to add to my startup sequence, or some driver I have to add/load?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Supamax

Thanks Toni, very interesting thread .
This confirms what thomas wrote ("A CyberstormMK3/PPC or BlizzardPPC can boot from a SCSI CD due to their firmware. But you need to make your own bootable CD for this. There is no existing CD (game or other software) which uses this feature. Well, except OS4.").

No, it is not same. Only CSPPC/BPPC can boot true iso9660 CDs (because it has CD filesystem in flash ROM). RDB partitioned CDs are bootable in other controllers because they look like (more or less) normal RDB partitioned HDs.

Thanks. Yes, what I'm interested in is a vary basic setup: WinUAE A500+CD (or A1200+CD) configured so that I can load an Amiga CD game (not CD32/CDTV-only game) straight from the CD, without the need of copying all the data to HD first.
Apart from the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option, is there something I have to add to my startup sequence, or some driver I have to add/load?

If CD did boot, you already had all needed drivers
UAE CDFS boot and RDB partitioned CD boot (on UAE or real hardware) is practically same as CD32/CDTV CD boot. It is nearly same as directory harddrive boot except drive is read-only (you probably need to use RAM disk) and depending on used CD filesystem, file names can have size and/or character set restrictions.

Also don't forget real CD vs CD image speed differences: real CD drive seek times can be extremely long!

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

If CD did boot, you already had all needed drivers

Thanks, I made some tests before opening this thread but wasn't able to even get a CD icon on the Workbench...
(I used one of those Amiga CD images from the Web. Not CD32 or CDTV)

I know, this is a newbie question, but apart from a Quick A500 config and the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option, what should I do in order to be ready to read the CD content from Workbench?

EDIT: I didn't read your answer correctly, Toni, I'll try again on my PC tomorrow.

[Supamax]

I need a CDFS, right? (*)
If so, which one is best?

(*) or is this not mandatory in WinUAE?

EDIT:
I'll do as Toni suggests (here too: http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=893194&postcount=21).
Don't know if this only works for KS 2.x or also for A500/KS1.2/1.3, though.

[Genlock]

The Aminet5 cd from March 95.

I hope this helps! this is all I done nothing setup within workbench devs or mountlists.
It works ok on my emulated 1200 too.

[Supamax]

Thanks .

Tonight I tested some configs and found that, using only the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option (no other drivers or mounts etc.) with the GoldFish Vol.3 CD .iso:
- A500 with KS 2.04 and WB 2.1: I can see/browse che CD in WB
- A500 with KS 1.3 and WB 1.2: I can see/browse che CD in WB
- A500 with KS 1.2 and WB 1.2: I cannot see the CD in WB

So it would seem that Kickstart 1.3 is the minimum required for the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option to work.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Supamax

So it would seem that Kickstart 1.3 is the minimum required for the "CDFS automount CD/DVD drives" option to work.

Usual KS 1.2 and older limit: can only boot from floppies.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Usual KS 1.2 and older limit: can only boot from floppies.

Ok but... the tests above were not about booting from CD/HD.
They were about seeing the CD (and showing the CD icon in WB desktop) after booting from floppy (the factory Workbench floppy disk).

Is this because the KS1.2 is missing some scsi references/components which are present in KS1.3+ ?

[Toni Wilen]

Correction: KS 1.2 and older can't automount or autoboot anything else than floppy drives.

[Supamax]

Ah! Thanks Toni