This is the README for OmniCD.0.6.1.NIHS.b.tar.gz [Download] [Browse] [Up]
OmniCD version 0.6.1 Apr 20, 1997 omnicd@omnigroup.com OmniCD is a NeXTstep application for controlling the audio functions of SCSI CDROM drives. It has some non-perfect support for ATAPI devices, but they aren't supported, and volume control will not work; neither will CD digital audio recording. (Feel free to file bug reports, however.) OmniCD serves as a replacement for NeXT's CDPlayer application. The primary reasons for using this application rather than CDPlayer are that it can be controlled via the app icon, and with certain cdrom drives it can record the audio directly over the SCSI bus and into a sound file. Please note: OmniCD requires the Foundation Kit (see the installation instructions below). OmniCD is free, but is currently in early (so to speak) beta form. Omni is not responsible for any damage that may occur as a result of using this software. This application does have fairly low level access to the hardware, and it's conceivable that it could cause system crashes with certain hardware combinations, especially when recording. Please keep in mind that this is a work in progress, and bear with the incomplete nature of this application. However, please do report bugs, feature requests and general comments, especially to note non-working hardware combinations, and to note which bugs/features/etc are most important to you. Changes for version 0.6.1: · Recording is now supported on Intel from CDROM drives which use 12-byte reads, currently Sony/Matshita/Apple and Plextor. May also work on SPARC and HPPA, but that's untested. (Thanks to Tomas Hurka.) · Control icon has minor tweaks to give it a bit of depth. (Thanks to RenƯ Berber.) · deviceInfo.dict file format improved somewhat. You can now specify specific models and firmware revisions. See the file for more info and examples. · Disabled CDDA transfers for Sony CDU-541 (the NeXT CDROM drive), Sony CDW-900E, and Toshiba XM-4101TA. These are reported to not support CDDA transfers. (Sorry, fast-forward/fast-reverse are still unavailable.) Changes for version 0.6: · Very different UI borrowing heavily from the 3.x NEXTIME. (Includes a 2-bit gray look which looks more like a standard NeXTstep app.) · App icon control panel may be disabled: dwrite OmniCD UseControlIcon NO · Remembers volume settings between sessions. · Can read CD digital audio from Plextor CDROM drives (NeXT hardware only). · Will attempt to read CD digital audio from Sony/Matshita/Apple and Plextor CDROM drives on non-NeXT hardware even though it will fail (used to refuse to try on other architectures). · Advanced users can edit the deviceInfo.dict file inside the app wrapper to add support for reading CD digital audio from additional CDROM drives. The format and data are fairly self-explanatory; email me if you have questions. Also, if you have success extending the number of supported CDROM drives, please let me know and send me the appropriate entry. This will not work for all drive types; some require extra support and therefore require special subclasses. Installation: OmniCD may be run manually, it may be placed in /LocalApps or ~/Apps, or it may simply be placed in the application dock. In the latter cases, inserting a cd into the cdrom drive should cause OmniCD to automatically launch (it may take a moment). You may need to log out and log back in to get this to work. Wherever placed, OmniCD must be either run as root, or set-uid root. For normal usage, the latter will be preferred - once OmniCD is installed in the desired location, from the shell, as root type the following commands (example is given using /LocalApps as the installation directory - modify as appropriate): /etc/chown root /LocalApps/OmniCD.app/OmniCD chmod u+s /LocalApps/OmniCD.app/OmniCD OmniCD and all future Omni products require the Foundation Kit, which is bundled with NEXTSTEP 3.3 User, Enterprise Objects Framework, and OpenStep. There are two versions of the Foundation library for 3.3, the better one is available from NeXTanswers. Features: · Can record audio directly from many Toshiba, Sony/Matshita/Apple, and Plextor drives, as well as some NEC drives. · Basic features controllable via the application icon. · Repeat mode available for disc-play, track-play or shuffle-play modes. · Can manually open cds which also contain data tracks and which would normally be automounted as cdroms. · Can handle multiple cdrom drives simultaneously. · Volume control goes up to 11 for when you need that extra boost. Limitations: · In order to replace CDPlayer, OmniCD has to pretend it is CDPlayer, to the extent that it is listed as CDPlayer in Workspace's processes list. · Currently no fast-forward or fast-reverse. · Currently can only view current track and position within track, not time remaining, etc. · Currently can not identify track indexes. · Currently unable to "play-through" (read the audio over the scsi bus and play out of the computer speakers), though with the appropriate hookup to a sound card you can achieve the same effect. · Source is not available, though the source for controlling the cdrom drive will be made available later. · Can not control the Apple CD150 cdrom drive. · No online help. · Application icon control panel is actually a window placed over the real application icon; this window can not be moved while a cd is loaded, and it floats above all other windows (so that it is safe to operate from the dock). If you move the app icon, the next time a disc is loaded the control panel will reposition itself over the app icon. The control icon can be disabled from the command line: "dwrite OmniCD UseControlIcon NO". · Incomplete support for mixed-mode (data + audio) cds. Credits: · Jeff Yaksick did the artwork for the 3.3 NEXTIME, which is the primary reason the artwork on _this_ app doesn't stink. (Well, most of it doesn't, anyway.) Thanks (again)! I couldn't tell for sure from the NEXTIME credits if all the artwork was by Jeff.. · Keith Ohlfs did the artwork for CDPlayer, some of which I adapted for this app. Thanks! (For everything.) · Jeff Martin (we enjoy your amusing contributions to rhapsody-dev) wrote the Thumbwheel widget; I took it from NeXTanswers. · Thanks to Juergen Sell, Garance A Drosehn, Carl Edman, Robert La Ferla, Rakesh Dubey, Frank M. Siegert, Gerd Knops, RenƯ Berber, Tomas Hurka and others for everything from help and testing to art tweaks and actual code.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.