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~Help Index TROUBLESHOOTING! [Fifty-four reasons of using FastCD] [Development plans] [Requirements] About the CD-s Cassettes, putting tracks on CDDATA Directory Closing the CD tray Database Ejecting the CD FAQ Flushing cache Graphic screen GRAPHICS Directory Identifiers Information, textmode Key combinations Listfile Listing CD titles Listing track titles Locking the drive Looping playlist Looptrack mode Lyrics, learning Musician Database Oscilloscope and Amplitude Analysis Parameters Playlist Playlist, listing Playlist, specifying Playlist mode Program information Refrain mode Scan mode Screen freshening Setup Shuffle mode Size in megabytes Special modes Stop minus value Using the program Volume control Winding Full Help ~Help item 0 --not used-- ~Help item: TROUBLESHOOTING! In this chapter of the help you can read about techniques which make problems inexisting. This section of help contains troubleshooting information \EONLY ABOUT FASTCD\B! General problems' descriptions are written in help item \EGeneral SSD Help│TROUBLESHOOTING!\B PANASONIC CD-ROM DRIVE USERS READ THE SECOND ITEM ANYWAY! Q) I start a special mode (Shuffle, Playlist, etc.), quit to DOS and continue working, but the playing stops after the first track. A) At special modes, FastCD can continue playing after tracks (where the \Enext track\B is not the \Enext track number\B, so there is not track 6 after track 5 etc.), if it is not in memory. a) Do not quit FastCD. b) When the playing stops, start FastCD with the /CONT parameter. c) If you know that the playing will reach the end of the track in a few seconds, start FastCD with the \E/TEXTSHOW\B parameter. This will not show the graphic screen, but the CD information in textmode (for more details see help item \9Parameters\B). When it reaches the end, it automatically continues playing. Press ESC, and you will get back to DOS (it is another solution to start FastCD \EWITHOUT\B parameters - but this way it displays the graphic screen, which is a slower mode of continuing playing). Q) At a special mode (Shuffle, Playlist, etc.) the playing stops after the first track, and I cannot continue with the above techniques. A) See the description of this problem in help item \EStop Minus Value\B. If this occurs, set \EStop Minus\B value in \EFastCD Setup\B (SETUP.EXE) to 3 or 4 (the default value is 1, which is good for most drives). Q) The \Eoscilloscope\B is too \Eslow\B on my computer. A) Press Ctrl+F at the graphic screen after starting the oscilloscope. This will turn screen freshening off (this way FastCD freshens the screen only every 10 seconds). See also in help topic \9Oscilloscope\B. Q) The \Eoscilloscope\B does \Enot work\B on my computer. A) Oscilloscope works only if the CD-ROM drive and the soundcard (if there is one) are connected, because FastCD reads the sound information from the soundcard's input. See the ways of connecting the CD-ROM to the soundcard in help topic \EOscilloscope\B. ~Help item: [Fifty-four reasons of using FastCD] 1) It can \Erecognize\B the inserted CD and \Edisplay\B the \Etitle\B of the CD and the current track, if those have been added to the listfile. a) You can update the listfilfe from menu easily. b) It can store unlimited CD-s' information. 2) It can \Eshow the lyrics\B of the songs! Optimal for foreign-language songs (such as Runrig's Gaelic songs), which can be easily learnt by reading the lyrics displayed by FastCD while playing the track!. a) It is easy to teach a song's lyrics to FastCD. b) It can learn unlimited number of song lyrics. c) If it has once learnt the lyrics of a song, it will \Eautomatically\B write them to screen when you insert that CD, so it does not forget it! d) If you do not need the lyrics of a song anymore to be shown while playing, you can easily delete it! 3) It has \Especial modes\B: a) Shuffle for playing tracks in random order. b) Playlist for specify a list of tracks to play (select the tracks you like on a CD and play only them!) c) Scan for scanning quickly the tracks of a CD - play only ten seconds of them. d) Looptrack for looping one track on the CD. e) Loop for looping the whole CD, the shuffled or specified playlist! e) Refrain for playing only the refrains of the tracks! If you want to show a CD's content quickly to your friend, play only the refrains of the tracks - it is easy! i) Easy to set the beginning and the end of the refrain of the tracks. ii) FastCD can store unlimited number of track information. iii) If you do not need the refrain information of a track anymore, you can easily delete it. 4) It has an \Eergonomic desktop\B: a) It uses high resolution video mode with 256 colors - not 16 colors! b) It uses many more beautiful graphic windows than most programs' desktop - pretty stone effect with beautiful background texture! c) No more artificial gray and metal colors: it uses natural colors, which your eye will like! d) It is easy to handle it - by mouse or either by keyboard. 5) It has a \Egraphic screen\B: a) It shows much more information about the playing status than the other players. b) All functions are easily accessible there with mouse - a few clicks, and you can do ALL things which can be done with a CD. 6) It has functions for \Erecording\B tracks to \Ecassette\B from CD: a) Write the time left (of the CD and the track) while playing. b) Show the number of tracks on a CD that fit on a cassette (you can specify the cassette length), or on cassette sides (e.g. a 45 and a 30 minute cassette side). c) It can play only the specified tracks (Playlist mode), so select your favorite tracks, start recording, start playing, sit back and enjoy until it reaches the end of the tracks - so you do not have to do anything while playing... d) It can calculate the length of a cassette in one minute! 7) It has a \Edatabase\B: a) Much information can be stored in it about CD-s: author, publisher, style, musicians, track titles, lengths, special notes, etc. b) You can search for CD-s by title, author, style, comments or either by track titles - of course you can combine modes. c) It can list all CD titles - select a CD easily and show its information. d) It contains a musician database where you can store the i) Biography and comments about your favorites. ii) Their pictures! You can store the pictures of all musicians in an ensemble, write comments, etc. e) The CD and musician database can contain unlimited number of CD-s and musicians. 8) Playing can be controlled from the \Ecommand line\B: a) All functions are accessible from the command line. b) The using of the parameters is easy, fast and the parameters can be learnt easily. c) It uses a special text-correction method, which corrects the mistypes! 9) It contains \Emulti-language support\B: a) It contains the quick and small Dynamic Message File system. b) The language of the program can be changed by one parameter. c) You can write your own DMF-s on your own language! d) The number of DMF-s a program uses is unlimited, so a program can speak all the languages from English to Esperanto. 10) It has a built-in \Eoscilloscope\B: a) With the oscilloscope, you can display the waves of the singing or the music - listen to the music and watch how the curve changes - at every drum beats, every guitar chords and others... b) It has an amplitude analysis, what shows a graph analyzing the soundwaves. c) The oscilloscope can also be displayed in the background of the graphic screen - so you will also see the CD information while displaying it. 11) It has a built-in \Evolume control\B: a) Control the volume of playing with the easy-to-use mouse-handled potentiometers: one for left, one for right channel. b) Watch the oscilloscope displayed under the potentiometers and see how the amplitude of sound changes while setting the volume. 12) It has a large \Ehelp\B: a) The description of all functions. b) Troubleshooting information. c) General SSD information 13) It has special \Ecompatibility options\B: a) CD-ROM drives are different, but most players do not care about this. FastCD has compatibility options for the different CD drives. 14) It is fully \Ecompatible\B with the most popular \Eoperating systems\B: a) DOS b) Windows c) Windows 95 d) OS/2 \E...and many-many more!\B \F┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ \F│ Windows, Windows 95 and OS/2 compatible! │ \F└──────────────────────────────────────────┘ Note: This is only a \CBETA\B version of FastCD, so there can be bugs in it and the help. FastCD and SSD Sound Studio have been created by Sound Design Systems. See help item \EGeneral SSD Help│About Sound Design Systems\B for details. ~Help item: [Development Plans] - Faster database handling and track list of CD-s in database (and show song lyrics if available). - Add items to the CD/Musician Database easily with menu (e.g. if you are adding a new CD to the Database, insert the author's name by a key combination (read from a table). - Searching in the Musician Database. - Show the current CD's authors' pictures and information (if he/she is in database) at the graphic screen. - Selecting song lyrics file from menu easily. - Faster graphic display (by using XMS or EMS). - Faster CD detection and CD handling routines. - Expanded configuration options. - XMS/EMS usage. And many-many other small bugfixes and new features! ~Help item: [Requirements] FastCD requires the following software and hardware: - A \E80286\B or higher CPU. - A \EVESA\B compatible \Evideo card\B with minimum \E512K\B video memory. - An MPC-compatible \ECD-ROM\B drive. - A 100% \EMSCDEX\B compatible CD driver. - \EDOS 3.0\B or higher. - \E330K\B free conventional memory. Optimal configuration: - \E80386 (33MHz)\B or higher CPU. - A \EVESA\B compatible \Evideo card\B with \E512K\B or more video memory. - An MPC-compatible \ECD-ROM\B drive. - \EMSCDEX\B 3.2. - \EMS-DOS 6.0\B, \EWindows 95\B or \EOS/2\B. - \E330K\B or more free conventional memory. - A 100% \EMicrosoft compatible\B mouse driver (e.g. Logitech, Genius) to use \Emouse\B. \F┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ \F│ Windows, Windows 95 and OS/2 compatible! │ \F└──────────────────────────────────────────┘ ~Help item: About the CD-s CD-s (Compact Disc) are small, plastic sound-carrier units. The sound is stored in \Edigital\B form, so the quality is not as good as on an MC or an LP, and the CD-s' lifetime is shorter than the LP-s', but it is much \Eeasier\B to \Ehandle\B the playing of a CD than an MC or an LP (jump to a specified track, fast winding and many more) and there is \Eno noise\B on it (except on some concert and some bad-quality recordings). Here is the "standard" CD description text (it is usually in the booklet that comes with the CD): \3The Compact Disc Digital Audio system offers the best possible sound \3reproduction(*) - on a small, convenient sound-carrier unit. \3The compact disc's superior performance is the result of laser-optical \3scanning combined with digital playback, and is independent of the \3technology used in making the original recording. \3This recording technology is identified on the back cover by a three-letter \3code(**): \3 \3DDD: Digital tape recorder used during session recording, mixing and/or \3 editing, and mastering (transcription). \3ADD: Analog tape recorder used during session recording; digital tape \3 recorder used during subsequent mixing and/or editing and during \3 mastering (transcription). \3AAD: Analog tape recorder used during session recording and subsequent mixing \3 and/or editing; digital tape recorder used during mastering \3 (transcription). \3 \3In storing and handling the Compact Disc, you should apply the same care as \3with conventional records. \3No further cleaning will be necessary if the Compact Disc is always held by \3the edges and is replaced in its case directly after playing. It can be \3wiped (always in a straight line, from centre to edge) with a clean and \3lint-free, soft, dry cloth. No solvent or abrasive cleaner should ever be \3used on the disc. \3If you follow these suggestions, the Compact Disc will provide a lifetime \3of pure listening enjoyment. * It is only one of the best \EDIGITAL\B reproductions (44KHz, 16bits, Stereo). For example currently there are sound recorders/players with \E48KHz\B sampling frequency. ** This code is \Enot\B on all CD-s' back cover. ~Help item: Cassettes, putting tracks on If you want to record tracks to cassette from CD, you may need to calculate the number of tracks that fit on the first cassette side (CS), so after which you need to turn the cassette. FastCD has a function which shows the number (and list) of tracks which fit on a specified long CS. If you want to record tracks to a cassette from a CD, do the followings: - Insert the CD into the CD drive. - Start FastCD with the \E/MC#nn\B parameter, where \Enn\B is the length of the cassette in minutes (if the cassette is empty). If the cassette is not empty, use the following parameter: \E/MCnn,mm\B, where \Enn\B is the free space on the first, and \Emm\B is the free space on the second CS. Note: you may specify more CS lengths, too: \E/MCnn,mm,oo,pp,...\B. The maximum number of CS-es is 10. If you specify whole cassette length (with \E#\B), then FastCD will use two CS-es, whose lengths are the half of the cassette's length. After this, FastCD will display some information about track and cassette side lengths and the list of the tracks which fit on the cassette(s). Cassette sides : \ENumber of CS-es specified.\B Sides length : \ELength of CS-es specified (total).\B Tracks length : \ELength of tracks on CD.\B Free after copy : \ELength of free space will be on cassette after recording.\B Cassette side \Enn\B: \Eaa:bb\B total, used \Ecc:dd\B, free \Eee:ff\B, (\Emm\B tracks) gg (hh:ii): Title of track 1 jj (kk:ll): Title of track 2 oo (pp:qq): Title of track 3 ... Description of fields: \Enn\B : The number of the current cassette side (CCS). \Eaa:bb\B : Length of the CCS. \Ecc:dd\B : Length of used space on CCS. \Eee:ff\B : Length of free space on CCS. \Emm\B : Number of tracks on CCS. \Egg\B : Track number (which track on CD). \Ehh:ii\B : Length of \Egg\Bth track. After the list, FastCD will display a message, which is one of the followings: - \EAll tracks put!\B This means that the tracks fit on the specified CS-es. - \EWarning: Could not put all tracks on cassettes (\En\B tracks missing)!\B This means that the tracks do not fit on the specified CS-es (not enough free space) - it could not put n tracks. ~Help item: CDDATA Directory There can be a CDDATA directory in FastCD's directory, which is used by FastCD to store song lyrics definitions and other text information. In the CDDATA directory there could be the following things: - Song lyrics definition files (*.CDL). - Song lyrics time definitions (*.CDD). - Song lyrics (*.TXT). - Text files about musicians (*.AUT). See also: GRAPHICS Directory, Lyrics learning. See also: Lyrics, learning. ~Help item: Closing the CD tray If you want to close the CD tray, do one of the followings: - Push the Eject/Close button on the CD drive. - Click on the \EClose\B button at the graphic screen. - Press \EC\B at the graphic screen. - Start FastCD with the \E/CLOSE\B parameter. ~Help item: Database FastCD has a \ECD and Musician Database\B which allows you to easily search or show the CD information. FastCD uses the information stored in \EFASTCD.LST\B and \EMUSICIAN.LST\B as database information, but when you start the database, it builds two databases up from the two listfiles, where it can search much faster: \EDATABASE.FCD\B and \EMUSICIAN.FCD\B. Note: It builds the databases up only when the listfiles' dates (*.LST) differ from the databases' dates (*.FCD) (i.e. when you have modified the LST-s). After building the database, FastCD displays a menu: \E Search for CD \E Show all CD-s \E List of CD-s \E Musicians \E Exit program \FSearch for CD\B You can search for CD-s with this function by the title of the CD, name of the author, comments or either the copyright. After selected, the search screen appears. First, you have to write the \Esearch string\B into the string read box. After this, you may write the \Esearch attributes\B into the attributes read box. There are the following attributes: \E!\B Search for \Eexact\B string \E*\B Search for only a \Epart\B of the texts (default) \EC\B \ECase-sensitive\B search \ET\B Search in \Etitles\B (default) \EA\B Search in \Eauthor names\B (default) \EY\B Search in \Ecopyrights\B (default) \EO\B Search in \Ecomments\B (default) \ES\B Search in \Esong titles\B (default) \Et\B Do \Enot\B search in \Etitles\B \Ea\B Do \Enot\B search in \Eauthor names\B \Ey\B Do \Enot\B search in \Ecopyrights\B \Eo\B Do \Enot\B search in \Ecomments\B \Es\B Do \Enot\B search in \Esong titles\B If you do not give any search place specifying attributes, FastCD will search in all fields. If you give an uppercase attribute (T/A/Y/O), it will clear all uppercase attributes and search only in the specified fields. For example: - \E \BSearch in all fields (do not use case sensitive search, and do not search for exact string). - \ET \BSearch only in titles. - \EAY \BSearch only in author names and copyrights. - \Eoa \BDo not search in comments and author names. - \ETay \BSearch only in titles - the lower case 'a' and 'y' are not used. - \ETq \BError: invalid character ('q'). - \EOC \BSearch only in copyrights with case sensitive search. - \E!C \BSearch in all fields for exact string. - \E* \BSearch in all fields (same as if you do not give any attributes). After you gave the search string and the attributes, FastCD will search in the CD database for the string. If it does not find the string in the specified places, it will give you an error message: \ENo CD-s found!\B, and it will display the main menu again. If it finds the string, it will show information about the CD-s whose data contain it. The information's syntax is like this: Author : \EAuthor\B Title : \ETitle of CD\B Copyright : \ECopyright\B CD contains \Enumber of tracks\B tracks, length is \ECD length\B = \ECD size in megabytes\B, created with \Ecreation technology\B tech Identifier is \ECD identifier\B, plus codes are \ECode 2\B and \ECode 3\B And if there are comments for that CD in the listfile, FastCD will display them in a window. An example for the CD information: Author : \EDire Straits\B Title : \ECommuniqué\B Copyright : \E(P) 1992 Phonogram - Hungaroton - Gong Kft.\B CD contains \E9\B tracks, length is \E42:55\B = \E433M\B Identifier is \E2752567\B, plus codes are \E603951\B and \E863977223\B There are the following buttons under the information: \ENext \BShow next CD whose data contain the search string. \EPrevious \BShow previous CD whose data contain the search string. \ETracks \BShow track list and lyrics if available - \Cdoes not work yet!!!\B \EMenu \BGo back to main menu. \EExit \BExit program. \FShow all CD-s\B If you select this item, FastCD will display all CD-s' information stored in the listfile the way used in the \ESearch for CD\B item. \FList of CD-s\B FastCD will display all CD-s' title and author if you use this function. You can move in the list with the \Eup/down arrows\B. To show a CD's information, press \EEnter\B. \FMusicians\B If you select this item, FastCD will display the names of the musicians in the Musician Database (see the description of the Musician Database Script in help topic \EMusician Database\B). You can move in the list with the \Eup/down arrows\B. To show information about a musician, press \EEnter\B. Information about musicians can contain two parts: 1) A text file which contains information about them (e.g. biography, or the members of an ensemble). 2) The pictures of the musicians. \FExit program\B This item exits from FastCD. ~Help item: Ejecting the CD If you want to eject the CD, do one of the followings: - Push the Eject/Close button on the CD drive. - Click on the \EEject\B button at the graphic screen. - Press \EE\B at the graphic screen. - Start FastCD with the \E/EJECT\B parameter. ~Help item: FAQ In this section of the help you can read the frequently asked questions (FAQ) about FastCD and the answers for them. Q) How can I \Eselect\B the \Eplaylist\B easily? A) Press \ECtrl+P\B or select \EFunc│Set Playlist\B at the graphic screen: this will bring up a track-selection dialog, where you can select tracks to play. See also in help topic \9Playlist, specifying\B. Q) How can I \Eteach\B song lyrics to FastCD? A) See it in help topic \ELyrics, learning\B. ~Help item: Flushing cache If a \Ecache\B (e.g. SmartDrive or Norton Cache) is \Einstalled\B, and the \Ewrite cache\B \Eoption\B is \Eenabled\B, the following thing may often occur: you write to harddisk (e.g. copying or compressing/decompressing files) and you continue working, but the cache has not written the data to the disk yet, just stored in its buffer in the memory. And after a while it starts to write the data to disk in the background - it \Eslows down\B the computer. In this case, you may need to use a \Eflush program\B (e.g. \ESSD FlushCache\B) to write data to harddisk \Eimmediately\B. If you have started FastCD, just press \EAlt+F\B to flush the cache. ~Help item: Graphic screen If you do not give any playing-specifying parameter (/PLAY, /EJECT, etc.), then the program will display a graphic playing screen. This screen shows you much information about CD-s, but you can get more with some special key combinations (see Key list). There are the following fields on the screen: \ETrack\B The currently played track and the number of tracks on CD. \ETime\B The time played of the current track. \EAll\B The length of the current track. \EPerct\B The percentage played of the current track. \ETotal\B Length of CD. \ECD ID\B Identifier of the CD (only the first code). \ESize\B Size of the current track in megabytes. \EUPC\B The UPC code. \ECPU\B The type of the CPU. \ELeft\B Left time of the current track and of the CD. \EUsing Drive\B Used CD drive. \EStatus\B Playing status (Playing/Paused/Stopped). \EDoor Closed\B If the CD door is closed. \ELocked\B If the CD drive is locked. \ECD in Drive\B If there is a CD in the drive. \EAddressing\B CD addressing mode (Redbook/High Sierra) \ESize of CD\B Size of CD in megabytes. \ESpeed\B Speed of CPU (in MHz). \EMode\B Playing mode (Normal/Shuffle/Playlist/Scan/Looptrack/Refrain). See also: Size in megabytes; UPC code; CPU type; Locking the drive; Addressing; Special modes. ~Help item: GRAPHICS Directory In the GRAPHICS directory there are the following things: - Pictures of the musicians used by the Musician Database (*.GFX). - The pictures on the covers of the CD-s (*.GFX). See in help topic \9Cover Pictures\B. See also: CDDATA Directory. ~Help item: Identifiers Each CD contains a number which holds its length, called \ELeadOutTrack\B (the numbers of sectors on the CD). The chance of two different CD-s have the same identifier is \Every small\B, it can occur only if the length of the two CD-s is \Eexactly\B the same (with 1/64 second precision). But there are thousands of CD-s in the world, so there can be CD-s with same lengths: due to this FastCD uses \Ethree\B identifiers to recognize a CD. It calculates the other two from the LeadOutTrack and the length of the tracks. These identifiers are stored in the listfile before every CD's information, and when you insert a CD, FastCD checks all CD's identifier in the listfile and compares with the CD's in the drive. If it finds the CD's ID in the listfile, it means that the listfile contains the information of the inserted CD. ~Help item: Information, textmode You can get information about the CD and playing status with parameter \E/INFO\B. If you use this parameter, you will get the following information: Running on a \ECPU type\B with \ECPU speed (MHz)\B Disc \ETitle of the CD\B Trck \ETitle of the current track\B Playing track \ECurrent track\B time \ETrack length\B (\EPlace in playlist\B of \EListEndTrack\B in playlist) \ETime played of track\B of track played: \EPercentage played of track\B CD identifier is \ECD identifier\B CD length is \ECD length\B = \ECD length in megabytes\B \ETime played of CD\B of CD played: \EPercentage played of CD\B Time left: \ELeft of current track\B/\ELeft of playlist\B An example for the textmode information: Running on a \ECx80486DX2\B with \E50MHz\B Disc \EComplete Mike Oldfield Volume 2\B Trck \EPlatinum\B Playing track \E8\B time \E14:28\B (\E8\B of \E9\B in playlist) \E03:24\B of track played: \E23%\B CD identifier is \E3670016,3735591,969924353\B CD length is \E56:00\B = \E565M\B \E40:22\B of CD played: \E72%\B Time left: \E11:04/15:39\B ~Help item: Key combinations \EF \BFunction section window \EPage Up \BPrevious track \EPage Down \BNext track \E1-9/Sh+A-Z \BSelect track \ELeft or - \BRewind \ LShift: Slow \ERight or + \BFast forward / RShift: Fast \EE \BEject CD \EL \BLock CD drive \ER \BReset CD \ES \BStop playing \EP \BStart playing \ESpace \BPause/continue playing \EAlt+F \BFlush cache \EAlt+S \BShuffle mode on/off \EAlt+P \BPlaylist mode on/off \EAlt+C \BScan mode on/off \EAlt+O \BLooptrack mode on/off \EAlt+R \BRefrain mode on/off \EAlt+L \BLoop Playlist mode on/off \ECtrl+F \BSwitch screen freshening on/off (speeds oscilloscope up) \ECtrl+T \BAmplitude analysis bar tops on/off \EAlt+Ctrl+D \BSelect CD drive \EAlt+Ctrl+S \BSet refrain start \ Store in refrain \EAlt+Ctrl+E \BSet refrain end / file (cdtitle.ref) \EAlt+Ctrl+U \BUpdate screen \EDisplay things:\B \EF1 \BShow key list \EAlt+E \BShow full help \EShift+F1 \BShow about \EI \BShow CD information (from FASTCD.LST) \EO \BShow CD copyright information \ED \BShow CD disc picture \ET \BShow track list \EV \BVolume settings \ECtrl+O \BOscilloscope on/off \ECtrl+I \BShow program information \EAlt+Ctrl+O \BShow oscilloscope and amplitude analysis \EAlt+Ctrl+L \BShow track timeline \ECtrl+N \BSet configuration ~Help item: Listfile FastCD has a file where the CD information are stored, this is called the \Elistfile\B. The listfile is a simple text file, which has the following fields: \ECD=Identifier,[Identifier2,Identifier3] \ECR=Copyright of the CD \ECM=Comment 1 \ECM=Comment 2 \E... \ECM=Comment n (there can be max. 10 comments) \ETC=CD creation technology (AAD, ADD, or DDD) \ECV=CD's cover picture's filename \EDL=Song lyrics definition file \ERF=Refrain definition file \EAU=Author of the CD \E00=Title of the CD \E01=Title of track 1 \E02=Title of track 2 \E... \Enn=Title of track nn (there can be max. 99 track titles) Description of the lines: \ECD: \BThe \ECD=\B lines contain the identifiers of the CD-s. FastCD writes the identifier to the listfile when you insert a new CD or the /ID parameter used. The identifier does NOT contain any information about the CD manufacturer, or the author, it is the length of the CD in sectors. Two CD-s have the same identifier if their length is EXACTLY the same, so there are 3 codes for safety (the other codes are calculated by using the first identifier and the number and length of the tracks). This way there are many more variations, so the chance of there are two CD-s with the same identifier is much smaller. There are 3 identifiers, but FastCD can recognize a CD by using only one, too. \ECR: \BThe copyright of the manufacturer/producer. \ECM: \BThese are comment lines. These can contain any comments about the CD, for example the names of all authors. There can be maximum 10 comment lines. \ESY: \BThe style of the music (e.g. classic or rock). \ETC: \BThe CD-s creation technology: AAD, ADD, or DDD. \ECV: \BName of the graphics file containing the CD's cover picture without extension. The Cover Picture is stored in the \EGRAPHICS\B directory. \EDL: \BName of the song lyrics definition file without extension. The song lyrics definition file contains the names of the song lyrics files. \ERF: \BName of the refrain definition file without extension. The refrain definition file contains the start/end times of the refrains. \EAU: \BAuthor of the CD. \E00: \BThe title of the CD. \Enn: \BThe title of the nn. track. There can be maximum 99 track titles. Note: If you write \ECD=\B at the beginning of the record, FastCD will show that CD as an \EAudio CD\B, but if you write \EDS=\B (Data Storage) there, it will show that it is a \EData Storage CD\B. A sample for a listfile record: \ECD=1324047 \ECR=(P) and (C) 1993 Phonogram Ltd (London) \ECM=This is a Maxi CD which contains tracks from the \ECM=Dire Straits On The Night concert album \ECM=Music by Mark Knopfler \ETC=AAD \EDL=DIRENCOR \ERF=DIRENCOR \ESY=Rock \EAU=Dire Straits \E00=Dire Straits Encores \E01=Your Latest Trick \E02=The Bug \E03=Solid Rock \E04=Local Hero - Wild Theme Notes: - You can put as many records into the listfile as you want. - You can leave out any of the fields. - You can insert general comment lines into the listfile everywhere. The general comment lines start with a semicolon (;). ~Help item: Listing CD titles If you start FastCD with the \E/LIST\B parameter, it will write the titles of the CD-s stored in the listfile to separate files: 1) The titles of the Audio CD-s to \EAUDIOCD.LST\B. 2) The titles of the Data Storage CD-s to \EDATACD.LST\B. ~Help item: Listing track titles If you want to see the list of the tracks on the CD, do one of the followings: 1) If you are at the graphic screen, press \ET\B, or select \EFunc│Track List\B. 2) Else use parameter \E/TRACKLIST\B. These will list the names and length of the tracks on a CD: a (mm:nn): Title oo:pp Where \Ea\B is the number of the track, \Emm:nn\B is the length, \ETitle\B is the title of it, and \Eoo:pp\B is the length of this track and the previous tracks (for example, at the 3. track, the length of the 1., 2. and 3. tracks). Note: Tracks whose lyrics are available to show are shown with lighter color (this means that the album's CDL, and the track's CDD and TXT exist). \ECD Track List: \E 1 (10:34): Allegro ma non troppo 10:36 \E 2 (13:29): Andante molto mosso 24:05 \E 3 (05:13): Allegro 29:18 \E ... \ETotal: 7 tracks, 01:04:10 ~Help item: Locking the drive Locking the CD Drive means that you lock it as a door: you cannot open it with the door-handle (the eject button) until you have unlocked it with the key (the Unlock function). To \Elock\B the drive, do one of the followings: - Click on the \ELock\B button at graphic screen. \ Use these when the - Press \EL\B at the graphic screen. / drive is \Eunlocked\B. - Start FastCD with the \E/LOCK\B parameter. (they toggle!) To \Eunlock\B the drive, do one of the followings: - Click on the \ELock\B button at graphic screen. \ Use these when the - Press \EL\B at the graphic screen. / drive is \Elocked\B. - Start FastCD with the \E/UNLOCK\B parameter. (they toggle!) To \Etoggle\B lock state, do one of the followings: - Click on the \ELock\B button at graphic screen. - Press \EL\B at the graphic screen. - Start FastCD with the \E/OPTLOCK\B parameter. Note: The \ELock\B button, key \EL\B and parameter \E/OPTLOCK\B \9toggle\B drive lock status. ~Help item: Looping playlist You may need to loop the CD or the specified playlist. If you need this, do one of the followings: - Use \E/LOOP\B parameter. - Select \EFunc│Loop Playlist\B. - Press \EAlt+L\B at the graphic screen. These will switch the looping on/off. Notes: - If Loop mode is switched on, you will see a small \Epicture\B of four arrows next to the \Enext track button\B. - Loop mode can be used together with \Eall\B of the \Eother\B special modes. See also: Special modes. ~Help item: Looptrack mode The Looptrack mode loops the current track (if playing reaches the end of the track, then restart from the beginning of it). To switch the Looptrack mode on, do one of the followings: - Select \EFunc│Special Modes│Looptrack\B. - Press \EAlt+O\B at the graphic screen. - Start FastCD with the \E/LOOPTRACK\B parameter. See also: Special modes. ~Help item: Lyrics, learning FastCD can write the lyrics of the songs to screen, if you have the texts of them. The following example will show you, how. For example you have gotten the lyrics of the 2. and 5. track of the 1492 CD. Now you have to make the following steps: \E1) Do one of the followings (a or b): \E a) \BSelect \EFunc│Set CD Information\B, click on the \ELyrics Def\B button and write a filename up to \Ceight characters\B. Let it be \E1492\B. \E b) \BWrite the \EDL=filename\B line to the listfile after the ID of the 1492 CD, where the \Efilename\B is the name of the song-lyrics definition file (SLD - see below) without extension (the extension of the SLD-s always \ECDL\B). Let it be \E1492\B. So the line is: \EDL=1492\B. \E2)\B Create a file in the CDDATA directory (where the lyrics are stored) with name \E1492.CDL\B. \E3)\B Now you have to write the track numbers with the names of the text files containing the lyrics (it is important to write the filenames \Ewithout\B extension!): \E02=CONQPAR\B \E05=LIGTSHAD\B 4) Copy \ECONQPAR.TXT\B and \ELIGTSHAD.TXT\B to the CDDATA directory. It is important that the lyrics files' first line contain the title of the song, or anything else, because FastCD starts reading the file from the \Esecond\B line.) 5) Start FastCD with the parameter \E/TEXTDEF:n\B, where \En\B is the number of the track whose lyrics we want to "teach" to the program. 6) Press a key, and FastCD will show 18 lines of the song lyrics. 7) For example, the first line of the lyrics file is an empty line (because they do not sing at the beginning). In this case wait until they start singing and press the \EN\B button (Next): the program will step to the next line of the lyrics file. Now you have to wait until they finish that line and press \EN\B again, and so forth until the end of the song. During this, FastCD saves the times between the starts of the lines to a file with \ECDD\B extension in the CDDATA directory (the CDD file's filename is the same as the TXT's filename). 8) Press Escape, and the program stops. 9) Start FastCD again (without any parameters), step to one of the previously "learnt" tracks, and FastCD will write the lyrics (it writes always the line which is currently sung). \EImportant:\B - Do not delete the \ETXT\B file after defining the times (there are the lyrics in the \ECDD\B, but FastCD reads them from the \ETXT\B)! - If you want to redefine the times, then run FastCD again with the \E/TEXTDEF:n\B parameter. - If you want that the program do not write the lyrics of a song anymore, then delete its line from the \ECDL\B, and if you do not need the song lyrics, delete its TXT and CDD. ~Help item: Musician Database You can create a Musician Database with FastCD, which holds the information of your favorite musicians. The Musician Database can contain types of information about a musician: 1) His/her picture(s). 2) A description about him/her (e.g. biography or albums). If you want to create a Musician Database, first you have to create a \EMusician Database Script\B (\EMDS\B), which FastCD will compile to a special database format. The format of the MDS is the following: \E00=Name of musician(s) \EFN=Font file \ETX=Text file \ENP \E01=Picture 1 name \E02=Picture 2 name \E... \Enn=Picture nn name (there can be max. 10 pictures) \E... description of the screen ... Description of the fields: 00: The name of the musician(s) FN: Font file to use (see help topic \FFonts\B for the description of the fonts used by FastCD) without extension. If not given, \EBROADWAY.FNT\B will be used. TX: The text file to show after the pictures (give filename without extension - it is always \EAUT\B). The AUT files are stored in the CDDATA NP: Do not show any pictures (so leave the first screen out), show only the text file. If \ENP\B is used, you need to use only the \ETX\B line (others are unnecessary). NN: Filename of the \Enn\Bth picture (there can be max. 10 pictures). Description of the screen: These are lines, which contain the description of the first (graphics) screen: - If you write a simple text line, it will be shown as text. - You can specify the places of the pictures on screen with \Etildes\B (\E~\B). If you insert a \Etilde\B and a \Enumber\B (\Etwo digits\B) into the text somewhere, the program will display the picture with the given number at the specified point (the upper left corner of the picture will be there). The pictures used by the Musician Database are in GFX format (see in help topic \9GFX format\B) and stored in the \EGRAPHICS Directory\B. ~Help item: Oscilloscope and Amplitude Analysis \EThe Oscilloscope:\B Oscilloscope shows the wave curve of the currently played music. An example: ___ /-\ / \_/ \ /---\ /----\ -----------\---/-----\-------/------\ (null level) \./ \_____/ Certainly, FastCD shows a graphic oscilloscope. \EThe Amplitude Analysis:\B The Amplitude Analysis is a graph of \Evertical bars\B, where all bars have an "amplitude" value and show the number of samples in the oscilloscope graph which have its amplitude value. A simple example (a sine wave): .-. .-. .-. 66-100% (second) / \ / \ / 33-65% (first) -----\-----/-----\-----/---- 0-32% (null) \._./ \._./ 33-65% (first) 66-100% (second) There are 15 samples in the 66-100% (second), 9 in the 33-65% (first), and 4 in the 0-32% (null) area. The amplitude analysis will be the following: Smp │ 16 │ ▄▄▄ 14 │ ███ 12 │ ███ 10 │ ▄▄▄ ███ 8 │ ███ ███ 6 │ ███ ███ 4 │ ███ ███ ███ 2 │ ███ ███ ███ ──┼──────────────────────────── │ 0 1 2 Area Of course there are many more (63) areas in FastCD's amplitude analysis, this was only a simple example. Note: there is an other graph called \Efrequency analysis\B. The frequency analysis does not check the amplitude of the wave, but its frequency. FastCD shows an oscilloscope of the \Esoundcard's line-in signal\B. So if you have for example a SoundBlaster, do one of the followings: 1) Connect the \ECD's digital output\B to the \Esoundcard's CD input\B. 2) Connect the \ECD's analogue output\B to the \Esoundcard's line-in\B and the \Esoundcard's output\B to the \Eamplifier\B or the \Espeakers\B. After one of these, FastCD will be able to display the oscilloscope of the CD's output signal. Oscilloscope in FastCD: - If you press \ECtrl+O\B at the graphic screen, FastCD will display an oscilloscope at the middle of the screen. If you press it again, it will switch oscilloscope mode off. - If you select \EFunc│Oscilloscope\B or press \EAlt+Ctrl+O\B at the graphic screen, FastCD will open a window and display an oscilloscope and an amplitude analysis in that. Press \EEscape\B to exit oscilloscope. In both modes, the screen freshening can be very slow. If it is slow, press \ECtrl+F\B, which turns screen freshening off (see also in help topic \9Screen freshening\B) and will freshen only the oscilloscope (and the amplitude analysis). See also: Screen freshening. ~Help item: Parameters List of parameters used by FastCD: \E/? \BShow short help (only description of parameters) \E/HLP \BShow extended help \E/TEXTDEF \B"Learn" lyrics of a song (see details in help topic \ELyrics,\B \Ewriting\B) \E/LIST \BWrite CD titles stored in FASTCD.LST to separate files \E \B(AUDIOCD.LST and DATACD.LST) \E/ID \BWrite identifier of CD into list file without showing CD \E \Bscreen \E/DRIVE:c \BUse CD-ROM drive [c] (default is the first CD drive) \E/PREV \BPlay previous track in playlist \E/NEXT \BPlay next track in playlist \E/TRACK:n \BPlay the [n]th track \E/PLIST:n \BPlay the [n]th track of playlist \E/PLAY \BStart playing of current track (it has no effect, if already \E \Bplaying) \E/PAUSE \BPause/continue playing \E/STOP \BStop playing (after it, you cannot continue playing from where \E \Bthe CD has been stopped) \E/AGAIN \BPlay current track again \E/EJECT \BEject CD \E/CLOSE \BClose CD tray \E/RESET \BRe-read information from CD \E/LOCK \BLock drive \E/UNLOCK \BUnlock drive \E/OPTLOCK \BLock/Unlock drive \E/INFO \BShow CD information \E/PLAYLIST \BShow playlist \E/NOCHKCD \BDo not check for inserted CD \E/MCm,n,... \BCheck, that do the tracks on the CD fit on the cassette \E \Bsides [m], [n],... \E/MC#nn \BCheck, that do the tracks on the CD fit on an [nn] minutes \E \Blong cassette \E/NOFAST \BDo not set keyboard speed to fastest \E/SHUFFLE \BInitialize/stop Shuffle mode \E/SSHUFFLE \BInitialize/reinitialize Shuffle mode \E/SCAN \BInitialize/stop Scan mode \E/PLMODE \BInitialize/stop Playlist mode \E/LOOPTRACK \BInitialize/stop Looptrack mode \E/LOOPCD \BInitialize/stop Loop CD mode \E/REFRAIN \BInitialize/stop Refrain mode \E/CONT \BContinue playing, if it has been stopped in a special mode \E \B(at end of track) \E/TEXTSHOW \BShow information in text mode and update them until you press a \E \Bkey. \E/DATABASE \BCD database operations (search, list, etc.) \E/MAKE \BBuild CD database (if /DATABASE is specified) \E/MAKE2 \BBuild musician database (if /DATABASE is specified) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ \E/LANG \BView DMF-s for FastCD in program's directory \E/LANG:file \BSet DMF file: [file] Note: If you do not give any parameters then the graphic screen will be displayed. Full description of parameters: \F/TEXTDEF\B "Learn" lyrics of a song. See details in help topic \ELyrics, writing\B. \F/LIST\B Write CD titles stored in FASTCD.LST to separate files. See details in help topic \EListing CD titles\B. \F/ID\B Write current CD's identifier to the end of the listfile immediately. \F/Drive:c\B Use CD-ROM drive \Ec\B. If you do not give this parameter, FastCD will use the first CD-ROM drive. \F/PREV\B Play previous track in playlist. If the current track is the first in the playlist, then it will be restarted. \F/NEXT\B Play next track in playlist. If the current track is the last in the playlist, then it will be restarted. \F/TRACKLIST\B Show tracklist: show the title of the tracks on screen. See details in help item \9Listing track titles\B. \F/PLAYLIST\B Show playlist: write the elements of the playlist to screen. \F/TRACK:n\B Play the \En\Bth track in playlist. If you give a wrong number (e.g. it is greater than the ListEndTrack value) then you will get an error message. \F/PLAY\B Start playing of current track. It has no effect, if the playing is already started. \F/PAUSE\B If the playing is started, then it pauses the playing, but if it is paused, FastCD continues (unpauses) it. \F/STOP\B Stop playing - you ca not continue (unpause) playing after it from where you stopped it. \F/AGAIN\B Play current track again. If playing is currently stopped, it starts the current track from the beginning, if playing is started, it restarts the current track. \F/EJECT\B Eject CD. It has no effect if the drive is locked (see in help topic \9Locking\B \Ethe drive\B). \F/CLOSE\B Close CD tray. It pulls in the CD tray and initializes CD information. \F/RESET\B Re-read information from CD. \F/LOCK\B Lock CD drive. See in help topic \9Locking the drive\B. \F/UNLOCK\B Unlock CD drive. See in help topic \9Locking the drive\B. \F/OPTLOCK\B Toggle CD drive lock status. See in help topic \9Locking the drive\B. \F/INFO\B Show CD information. See in help topic \9Information, textmode\B. \F/NOCHKCD\B Do not check for inserted CD: if you get information about the CD or control the playing with a parameter, FastCD checks for a CD in the drive, and if it does not find any, it will give you an error message, except if you use the /NOCHKCD parameter. \F/MCm,n,...\B Check, that do the tracks on the CD fit on \Em\B, \En\B,\E...\B minutes long cassette sides. See in help topic \9Cassettes, putting tracks on\B. \F/MCm,n,...\B Check, that do the tracks on the CD fit on an \Enn\B minutes long cassette. See in help topic \9Cassettes, putting tracks on\B. \F/NOFAST\B Do not set keyboard speed to fastest at startup. See in help topic \9Keyboard\B \Espeed\B. \F/SHUFFLE\B Initialize/stop Shuffle mode. See in help topics \9Special modes\B and \9Shuffle mode\B. \F/SSHUFFLE\B Initialize/reinitialize Shuffle mode. See in help topics \9Special modes\B and \9Shuffle mode\B. \F/SCAN\B Initialize/stop Scan mode. See in help topics \9Special modes\B and \9Scan mode\B. \F/PLMODE\B Initialize/stop Playlist mode. See in help topics \9Special modes\B and \9Playlist mode\B. \F/LOOPTRACK\B Initialize/stop Looptrack mode. See in help topics \9Special modes\B and \9Looptrack mode\B. \F/LOOP\B Initialize/stop Loop mode. See in help topics \ESpecial modes\B and \9Loop mode\B. \F/REFRAIN\B Initialize/stop Refrain mode. See in help topics \ESpecial modes\B and \9Refrain mode\B. \F/CONT\B Continue playing, if it has been stopped in a special mode (e.g. at end of track). For more details, see help topic \ESpecial modes\B. \F/TEXTSHOW\B Show information about CD and playing status in text mode and update them until you press a key. See in help topic \9Information, textmode\B. \F/DATABASE\B Enter database mode. See in help topic \9Database\B. \F/MAKE\B Build CD database if parameter \E/DATABASE\B is specified. \F/MAKE2\B Build musician database if parameter \E/DATABASE\B is specified. \E/LANG \BView DMF-s for FastCD in program's directory \E/LANG:file \BSet DMF file: [file] See also: Graphic screen; Dynamic Message Files; Special modes; Information, textmode. ~Help item: Playlist The playlist is the list of the tracks which will be played (ordinal numbers of the tracks). If no special modes are active, then the playlist contains the numbers in ascending order from 1 to N, where N is the number of the tracks on the CD. In shuffle mode the playlist is randomly filled, and in Playlist mode you can specify the playlist. For example: There is a CD with 12 tracks. The playlist will be: In \ENormal\B mode: \E1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12\B In \EShuffle\B mode (for example): \E6,2,8,9,3,12,4,1,10,5,11,7\B In \EPlaylist\B mode: the specified playlist, for example \E3,9,6,4,12,10\B If the Shuffle, the Playlist or the Refrain mode is active, then the playlist will appear at the bottom of the screen. Every track number is on a button, and the currently played track's button is pushed. See also: Special modes; Playlist; Listfile. ~Help item: Playlist, listing If you want to see the list of the tracks being played, start FastCD with the \E/PLAYLIST\B parameter. This will display the list of the tracks which are in the playlist. If you are at the graphic screen, the playlist is shown at the bottom of the screen. ~Help item: Playlist, specifying If you want to specify the playlist, you have to do one of the followings: - Write the \EPL=track1,track2,...,trackN\B line to the listfile. - Select \EFunc│Set Playlist\B. - Press \EAlt+Ctrl+P\B at the graphic screen and select the tracks. Selecting tracks at the graphic screen: - When you select \EFunc│Set Playlist\B or press \ECtrl+P\B, FastCD displays a window with the titles of the tracks at the left side and with numbers at the right side. - At the right side, you can move between the numbers with the arrow keys. Move the selection box to a number and press \ESpace\B. Now FastCD will 'select' that track and add it to the playlist. Note: selected tracks are shown with a darker color. - During selecting tracks, the playlist is shown and updated after each selection at the bottom of the screen. - If you want to \Edeselect\B a previously selected track, move the selection box to its number and press \ESpace\B. - When you finished selecting tracks, press \EEnter\B to \Eaccept\B selections and start playing of specified tracks. If you want to \Ecancel\B selections, press \EEscape\B. ~Help item: The Playlist mode You can specify a playlist for FastCD in the listfile, which can be played with the Playlist mode. Specifying the playlist: Insert the following line into the listfile after the CD's identifier: \EPL=track1,track2,track3,...,trackN\B where "track1", "track2", etc. are the track numbers to play. Example: \EPL=3,9,16,18,25\B This is good if you usually listen only to your favourite tracks on a CD, or just want to leave some tracks out which you do not like - so you do not have to select the playlist always before switching this mode on.f To switch the Playlist mode on, do one of the followings: - Select \EFunc│Special Modes│Playlist\B. - Press \EAlt+P\B at the graphic screen. - Start FastCD with the \E/PLMODE\B parameter. - OR - - If you want to specify the playlist before starting Playlist mode, do (for details see help item \EPlaylist, specifying\B): - Select \EFunc│Set Playlist\B. - Press \EAlt+Ctrl+P\B at the graphic screen. Using: - You can switch the Playlist mode on with the \E/PLMODE\B parameter, or by pressing \EAlt+P\B at the graphic screen. - If the Playlist mode is active, the playlist will appear at the bottom of the graphic screen. ~Help item: Program information If you press \ECtrl+I\B at the graphic screen, FastCD will display a program information window with the following fields: - Program and Studio \Eversion\B. - \ECPU\B type and speed. - Program's \Ecompilation date\B. - EXE \Esize\B and size of files in program's directory. - Used \EDMF\B. - Free \Ememory\B (conventional and XMS). - The author's name. ~Help item: Refrain mode The Refrain mode is one of the most useful options of FastCD, which are NOT in other CD players: if you specify the place of the refrains of the tracks, you can play the refrains later. This is useful if you want to show a CD to one of your friends, but you do not want to listen all the CD. When you specify the refrains' starts/ends (see below), FastCD writes the refrain time data into a file in the CDDATA directory, which has the \EREF\B extension. If there is the \ERF=reffile\B line in the listfile, then the specified filename will be used. If there is not this line, but there is a \EDL=dlfile\B line, then the \Edlfile\B will be used with the REF parameter. If none of the above is specified, then a new REF will be created: \EREF-xxxx.REF\B, where the x-es are random characters. If you want to use this random-name file later, rename it to a "normal" name and write the \ERF=reffile line to the listfile. Using: - You can switch the Refrain mode on with the \E/REFRAIN\B parameter, or by pressing \EAlt+R\B at the graphic screen. - To mark a refrain's start, press \EAlt+Ctrl+S\B, and to mark a refrain's end, press \EAlt+Ctrl+E\B. - If the Refrain mode is active, the playlist will appear at the bottom of the graphic screen. See also: Special modes; Playlist; Listfile. ~Help item: Scan mode The Scan mode allows you to listen to only a part of each track. This is useful when you get a new CD: you can quickly see which track is which (maybe you have known some of the tracks, but you do not remember to them by the titles). When scan mode is active, FastCD will play only 10 seconds of each track starting from the 15. second (\E00:15 to 00:25\B). Using: - You can switch the Scan mode on with the \E/SCAN\B parameter, or by pressing \EAlt+C\B at the graphic screen. See also: Special modes. ~Help item: Screen fresh At the graphic screen, FastCD freshens the screen continuously. But if you switch oscilloscope mode on, the oscilloscope can be \Etoo slow\B because of the too many screenfreshens. So if you turn oscilloscope on, turn screen freshening on thus: press \ECtrl+F\B. After switching the screen freshening off, FastCD will freshen information only after \Eevery 10 seconds\B. To switch screen freshening on, press \ECtrl+F\B again. If you want to update the screen when screen freshening is off, press \EAlt+Ctrl+U\B. See also: Oscilloscope and Amplitude Analysis. ~Help item: Setup FastCD has a \Eseparate setup\B program to change its configuration. You can start it by typing SETUP at the DOS prompt. If you start it, the following menu appears: \ESelect Soundcard\B - you can select here the soundcard for oscilloscope, amplitude analysis and volume control (GUS, SB, PAS16). \ESet Screensaver\B - you can select here the screensaver's sleep time. \EWindows Display\B - select the window displaying mode: appearing and opening. \EStop Minus Value\B - set the stop minus value (see in help item \EStop Minus Value\B). Quit Setup - quit setup. When you quit the setup program, you will be asked if you want to save the changes made (if you would have made any changes). \CIMPORTANT!\B Do \ENOT\B delete the configuration file (SETUP.CFG) to reset the defaults! FastCD and Setup will \ENOT\B run without it! If you have problems, run Setup and set Soundcard to <None>, Screensaver to <Off>, Windows Display to <Appearing> and Stop Minus Value to <1> or <4>. ~Help item: The Shuffle mode If you switch Shuffle mode on, FastCD will play the tracks in a random order. This means that there will not be any tracks that follow Using: - You can switch Shuffle mode on with the \E/SHUFFLE\B parameter, or by pressing \EAlt+S\B at the graphic screen. - If the Shuffle mode is active, the playlist will appear at the bottom of the graphic screen. See also: Special modes; Playlist. ~Help item: Size in megabytes The CD is a digital sound carrier unit, so the "size" of the music can be measured in megabytes, too. Some technical information about the CD-s: The CD-s use the sound quality \E44,100Hz\B (44KHz) \E16bit Stereo\B. - \E44,100Hz\B means there are 44,100 samples recorded on the CD-s every second. - \E16bit\B means one sample is 16 bits wide (two bytes), so it can hold \E65,536\B values. A 8bit sample (one byte) can hold only \E256\B values, so it is much further from the analogue sound quality. - \EStereo\B means that there are two channels (\Eleft\B and \Eright\B), which are recorded separately. These values give the size of one second: \E44,100\B samples/second x \E2\B bytes/sample x \E2\B channels = \E176,400\B bytes/second So 1 second "costs" \E176,400\B bytes, 1 minute \E10,584,000\B bytes (\E10\B megabytes) and 1 hour \E635,040,000\B bytes (\E605.6\B megabytes). ~Help item: Special modes There are some special playing modes in FastCD: 1) The \EShuffle\B mode: if you switch shuffle mode on, FastCD will play the tracks on the CD randomly. 2) The \EPlaylist\B mode: you can specify a list of tracks to play for FastCD. This is very useful for recording tracks from CD to cassette (select your favorite tracks and play only them). 3) The \EScan\B mode: the Scan mode plays a small part (10 seconds) of each track. This is useful if you get a new CD (see which track is which). 4) The \ELooptrack\B mode: this mode loops the current track. 5) The \ERefrain\B mode: if you specify the place of the refrains of the tracks, you can play the refrains later. This is useful if you want to show a CD to one of your friends, but you do not want to listen all the CD. A) The \ELoop\B mode: this mode loops the whole CD or the specified playlist. This can be used with \Eall\B of the other \Especial modes\B. Note: Once only one special mode can be active except the Loop mode, which can be used with all the other special modes. Some notes about the special modes: - FastCD remembers the last used special mode, so if you exit from it, and then start again, then it will "continue" that mode. - If you exit FastCD while using a special mode, then the playing will stop after each track (if you stay in FastCD, it will continue playing automatically after each track). The reason of this is FastCD is not a TSR (resident) program, which can control the playing from the background, so it can control the playing only if it is started (so it is in the memory). When you initialize a special mode, e.g. Shuffle mode, the tracks are in a random order. FastCD starts the playing of the first track in the playlist, and if it reaches the end of the track, it starts the next track. But if you exited from FastCD while playing the first track, it cannot continue playing. If this occurs, use the DOS command \EFASTCD /CONT\B or start FastCD again. See also: Shuffle mode; Playlist mode; Scan mode; Looptrack mode; Refrain mode. ~Help item: Stop Minus Value This problem may occur on some CD drives: At a special mode (Shuffle, Playlist, etc.) the playing stops after the first track, and you cannot continue playing by restarting FastCD or using the /CONT parameter. Some CD drives do not stop the playing of the track at the end, but when the music stops (note: they stop it only if the playing has almost reached the end of the track, so it will not stop it at the middle) - it can be three or four seconds before the \Ereal\B end of the track. After this, the drive jumps to the next track - due to it "thinks" that it has reached the "end" of the track. At first glance, this is a very useful thing: you do not have to "listen" to the empty parts which can be between tracks. But not for FastCD: When it uses special modes (where the tracks are in a random or specified order: Shuffle or Playlist), it does not play the entire CD as in normal mode, but only \EONE\B track - from the \EBEGINNING\B to the \EEND\B. When the playing stops, it checks if the playing is at the end of the track (so it has been stopped due to the drive reached the end of the track, not due to the user has clicked on the Stop button!). If the playing is at the end, it starts the next track in the \EPLAYLIST\B (but plays \EONLY\B that track!). If the system has an "advanced" drive, which skips the empty parts, and there is a few-seconds long empty part at the end of the track, the drive will jump to the next track at the beginning of the silence - and stop \ETHEN\B. In this case FastCD will not be able to continue playing. - \EPanasonic\B drives are "advanced" drives, so the Stop Minus has to be set to 4. - \ESony\B drives are "normal" drives, so the default Stop Minus (1) can be used. If you have an other drive, try to play a CD in shuffle mode, and if the playing is \Ecorrect\B, you do \Enot\B have to \Echange\B the Stop minus value. If the playing \Estops\B after a track, \Eset\B Stop minus to four. Q) How to set the Stop minus value? A) You can set it by starting Setup, selecting "Stop Minus Value" and changing the value. See also: Setup, Troubleshooting. ~Help item: Using the program There are two ways of using FastCD: \E1) Start without any parameters:\B in this case FastCD will show the graphic screen, where you can control the playing with several keys and you can get more information about the CD. \E2) Start with a parameter:\B you can control the playing with parameters, too. You can jump to a specified track, switch special modes on/off, get information about the CD and more... See also: Parameters; graphic screen. ~Help item: Volume control FastCD can control the volume if the CD drive is connected to the soundcard. FastCD sets the soundcard's \ECD\B and \ELine-In\B volumes (important that it does not alter the output volumes, so other sounds (e.g. Modules or MIDI-s) can be played simultaneously with their original volume settings!). To display the \EVolume Control Window\B, press \EV\B at the graphic screen. This will give up a window with an oscilloscope and two \Epotentiometers\B (left and right). ~Help item: Winding You can wind back (\ERewind\B) in FastCD with the \ELeft Arrow\B and the \E-\B keys and wind forward (\EFast Forward\B) with the \ERight Arrow\B and the \E+\B keys. There are \Ethree speeds\B of winding in FastCD: - \ESlow\B winding (2 sec/keypress): Press \ELeft Shift\B while winding. - \ENormal\B winding (6 sec/keypress): This is the \Edefault\B. - \EFast\B winding (20 sec/keypress): Press \ERight Shift\B while winding. See also: Key combinations. ~Help item: Full Help