An @WORLD Basics CD-ROM being loaded into a Pippin @WORLD console.
CD-ROM (an acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) is an optical media disc that was the preferred software delivery method to owners of consumer Pippin consoles.
Pippinized CD-ROMs[]
Disc loading screen on a Pippin console.
One attraction to the Pippin platform was that pre-existing Macintosh software could be ported relatively quickly through a process called Pippinization.[1]
Pippin CD-ROMs contained a streamlined version of Macintosh operating system 7.5.2, called Pippin OS, that required the disc to be authenticated to successfully boot and launch the included software application. Pippin consoles with developer ROMs or dongles could bypass the authentication process and load non-Pippinized Macintosh software or boot from a floppy disk or external SCSI drive.[2] Most Pippin titles were designed to run within the 6MB of RAM built into most consoles, though a few required a memory upgrade to launch or enable additional features.[3]
CD-ROM drives[]
Back of 12x (top) and 4x (bottom) Apple CD-ROM mechanisms.
Pippin Atmark and @WORLD consoles from Bandai used a 4x speed Apple CR-504-L mechanism, set to SCSI ID #3.[4] These could be swapped with one of the following faster mechanisms:
- Apple CR-506-C (8x speed CD-ROM)[5]
- Apple CR-507-C (12x speed CD-ROM)[5]
- Apple CR-508-C (24x speed CD-ROM)[6]
- Toshiba SD-M1401 (40x speed DVD-ROM)[7]
Though the replacement drives would load Pippinized CD-ROMs in a normal manner under most circumstances, the external eject button on the console would no longer function as it is a software switch. Audio CD functionality would also no longer work, causing some games that rely on it, such as Racing Days, to fail.[4] These CD-related issues could be overcome with a revision 1.3 ROM from a Katz Media Player 2000, which shipped with an 8x speed mechanism.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Technical Notes: Creating Pippin CD-ROMs, version 004, Apple Computer. 1996-05-10.
- ↑ Hacking the Pippin, Vintage Mac World. 2007-10-22. Archived 2017-08-17.
- ↑ Adding Memory to the Pippin (French) by Pierre Dandumont, Journal du Lapin. 2016-07-30.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Un lecteur CD plus rapide dans la Pippin (et un échec partiel) (French) by Pierre Dandumont, Le Journal du Lapin. 2016-09-03.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Un lecteur CD plus rapide dans la Pippin (avec la ROM 1.3) (French) by Pierre Dandumont, Le Journal du Lapin. 2016-10-22.
- ↑ Un lecteur CD (encore) plus rapide dans la Pippin (French) by Pierre Dandumont, Le Journal du Lapin. 2017-03-18.
- ↑ Holy. Crap. I did not expect this. by Keith Kaisershot, Twitter. 2017-07-09.
See also[]
External links[]
- Pippin Disassembly Guide by joewhk at Flickr (2017-02-05)
- 24倍速CD-ROMドライブ by MAISON PiPPiN at GeoCities (Japanese, archived 2002-11-19)
- CD-ROM at the Apple Wiki
- CD-ROM at Wikipedia
