FAQ: I changed the Mac removable disk and still get the old directory from the previous disk.

It would appear your drive and/or controller doesn't support disk change signaling properly or at all. In this case, when you change disks, execute our "DiskChg" command on the drive before your next access of the new disk.

FAQ: I get a Workbench icon "DF0:????" when I put an Mac disk in the Amiga's internal floppy drive.

This is OK. The task that handles the AmigaDOS device called DF0: can't recognize foreign disk formats such as Mac. With CrossMAC active, another icon should pop-up representing the Mac disk in the drive.

FAQ: I get a requester "Disk Ejected Too Soon".

The disk was removed before all information was written to it. Put the disk back into the drive and Retry might recover without corruption. We recommend you wait at least 3 seconds from the last disk access before removing the disk.

FAQ: I get a requester "Disk Full".

You've probably exceeded the capacity of the disk. Remove unnecessary files from the disk.

FAQ: Putting a floppy in the drive appears to hang the system and the drive light remains on. (Also Error=38).

We regret to inform you that the most likely problem is that you've got a hardware problem associated with your floppy system. It needs to be fixed before this problem will go away.

The technical reason is that the index signal from the drive is not being seen by the Amiga floppy hardware.

FYI: AmigaDOS floppy disks are formatted in such a way that it doesn't use the index signal from the drive. Subsequently a 'broken' index signal doesn't stop AmigaDOS disks from being accessed.

However, Mac disks must be synchronized to the index signal. Therefore, we need to wait for the index signal to be present before accessing the disk. If it's not there, we hang.

FAQ: I get a requester "Not a DOS Disk".

The information on the disk doesn't appear to be Mac formatted. Ensure the disk is an Mac disk capable of being read by your drive.

FAQ: I sometimes get a corrupt Mac disk when using it with both CrossMAC and an Mac emulator (such as EMPLANT or ShapeShifter).

I wish this were easy to explain. It's a complicated subject but here goes ...

This concerns people who are using Mac emulator products on the Amiga. Examples of emulators are EMPLANT or ShapeShifter.

If you've configured an Mac disk for CrossMAC that is simultaneously configured for one of the emulators, you may run into a nasty problem.

The problem: When more than one file system tries to write to the same physical disk volume/partition, the disk may end up corrupted. Both CrossMAC and the emulators running Mac are file systems.

Let me draw a simple analogy. Let's say there is one checking account and you have a set of checks and a friend has another set of checks to the same account. If the both of you never cooperate to balance the account when checks are written, the account will eventually be overdrawn.

Similarly, file systems tend to cache small portions of the disk so as to speed disk access. Let's suppose CrossMAC and the emulator (running Mac) just happen to cache the same disk information. If CrossMAC modifies the information it has cached, Mac (the other file system) will not know the information was changed. Now, CrossMAC creates a new file and uses some blocks not previously used. If Mac wishes to create a file, it might reuse those blocks allocated by CrossMAC. When this happens the disk is most likely corrupted since neither file system has the correct information. Both have also modified the disk with out-of-sync information.

The solution: If both file systems would cooperate when writing new information to the disk, we'd have our problem solved. For reasons which are very complicated, that solution is not likely to happen.

You can have as many file systems read the disk as long as no writing occurs. However, if you must write, there are things that can be done to significantly minimize disk corruption.

• Create two partitions. One for CrossMAC to write to and the Mac to read from and the other for the Mac to write to and CrossMAC to read from.
• Manually prevent multiple file systems from simultaneously writing to the disk.
• After writing the disk with the Mac, first drop the disk into the Mac trashcan. Next perform a DiskChg (diskchange) for the CrossMAC device. This action will flush the Mac side and reread the disk from the Amiga side.
• After writing the disk with CrossMAC, pull the disk out of the Mac trashcan. This action will reread the disk for the Mac side.

FAQ: I format a low-density Mac disk on the Amiga using CrossMAC and put data on it. I then put the disk in the Mac and it complains it can't read it.

Check to see if you have any of the following hardware on your Amiga: + AMAX or AMIA cartridge and an 800K Mac floppy drive. + AMAX II plus/AMAX IV cards and standard Amiga floppies. If you don't any of these hardware options you will not be able to read or write true Mac low-density (800K) floppies.

Without the above hardware, CrossMAC and the standard Amiga drives will only be able to format/read/write 800K AMAX and EMPLANT format disks. These formats are quasi-Mac disks are used with the Mac emulator programs of the same name. These formats cannot be accessed successfully on a true Mac drive.

FYI: The reason why true 800K Mac disks are so hard to access on the standard drives is that Apple choose to write these disks with a non-standard variable speed drive. There are five speed ranges: one speed for every 16 cylinders. The standard Amiga drive cannot vary its speed. Additional hardware is needed on the Amiga to access these disks.

FAQ: I'm trying to read a high-density disk on my Amiga but I either get no CrossMAC icon or I get "MAC0:????".

It's highly possible that the drive you're placing the high-density disk in is not an Amiga-compatible high-density drive. Without this drive, you will not be able to read high-density disks.

Officially, only the original A4000s had these drives. (Currently the A4000Ts don't). All other Amigas were shipped with low-density drives only. There were a few A3000s that unofficially had them. You can also purchase them from third party to upgrade your Amiga.

FAQ: Can I access my SyQuest (Bernoulli, Jaz, Zip, etc.) drive with an Mac formatted cartridge in it?

Yes. These drives are considered hard drives to the Amiga. Removable drives are little different from non-removable hard drives on the Amiga's

CrossMAC floppy drives come preconfigured since we know exactly where they are. However, with hard drives we're not so lucky. To use a hard drive, it must first be 'configured' as a CrossMAC device. You can do so by one three methods. The "Install" program has an option, the "READ.ME" file has buttons, and lastly you can use the "ConfigDisk" program. The manual covers this utility in Appendix C. You need only configure the CrossMAC once for each unique device. The configuration program will place a 'mountfile' that describes the device to the Amiga in a place that gets 'mounted' each time you boot.

FAQ: My CrossMAC removable hard drive doesn't sense when I put in another cartridge.

Unlike the Amiga's floppy hardware, hard drives and controllers (both SCSI and IDE) don't have a established mechanism for informing when a disk change occurs. The way most controllers simulate disk change sensing is by polling removable drives about once every three seconds (You may notice the disk light flashing). If they get an error report when polling, they assume the disk was ejected. It is then the responsibility of the device driver (controller) to send a disk change message to file systems (such as CrossMAC) using that device. Sadly not every controller supports this or supports it correctly. If this is the case we provide a program called "DiskChg" to force a disk change.

FAQ: I configured an CrossMAC device for my hard drive and it worked for a while. Now it stopped recognizing the drive.

If the WorkBench icon shows ":NDOS" or ":????" following the device name, you probably put a non-Mac formatted disk in the drive. Use the Dr_CrossMAC program to help determine if this is the case.

If you don't see the icon at all from WorkBench, check to make sure the drive is set to the exact same SCSI ID when you first configured it successfully. The mountfile created by the configuration program depends on both the device driver name and unit number to be correct to access the drive in any form or fashion. If you continually remove the drive from the Amiga and put it back again, you may have changed SCSI ID to accommodate the Mac.

FAQ: Can I read Mac CD-ROMs with CrossMAC?

Yes. Configure your CD-ROM drive as detailed in Appendix C of the manual.

FAQ: You have a program called "Finder_Manager" in the manual but I can't find the program anywhere.

Sorry. For legal reasons, we decided to change the name to the "File_Type_Manager" after the manual was near completion at the printers. Substitute the name "File_Type_Manager" for "Finder_Manager" anywhere in the manual.

FAQ: I write data onto a Mac formatted disk using CrossMAC. I bring the disk to the Mac and the disk icon shows up. I run my Mac program and try to access the data on the disk but the files don't show up.

It's possible that when you wrote the file on the Mac disk with CrossMAC you didn't set the correct 'filetype' required by many Mac programs. These Mac programs filter out files not containing the 'filetype's they recognize.

This is a complicated subject (thanks to Apple). We go into some detail in the manual. Refer to page 27 and Appendix D (Mac 'Finder' Information) page 51. In short, if you use one of the file extensions we provide for the filetype you need, you'll get that filetype set.

FAQ: Why is there a program called "CrossMAC"?

I realize it may have been a bad choice for a name. "CrossMAC" is actually what is called a commodity. The purpose of the commodity is to control specialized aspects of how the CrossMAC file system handles files and the data.

Generally, unless you're doing text or MacBinary transfers you probably don't need the commodity.

FAQ:I configured an CrossMAC device for my hard drive and it worked for a while. Now it stopped recognizing the drive.

Installing MagicWB (a program that installs nice icons in place of older ones) may also cause a similar problem. Some versions of this program installs a new icon for the one we create for the mountfile of the CrossMAC configured device. The problem is not the graphic for the icon but the changes the program makes to the ToolType of the program.

To fix the MagicWB problem: From Workbench, go to the "DEVS" drawer. In this drawer, go to the "DosDrivers" drawer. In this drawer you should find the icon for the CrossDOS device. Select the icon and do an "Icons/Information" from the Workbench menu. The ToolType parameter "ACTIVATE=1" is the correct one. Make the change if necessary and select "Save" when done.

FAQ: I have a Toaster-Flyer and a Mac formatted hard drive (such as a Zip). I can't get CrossMAC's hard drive configuration program (ConfigDisk) to work to create a mountfile.

Sadly, NewTek's Toaster-Flyer (with the on-board SCSI controller) is the only controller we know of that we can't interface to. Their interface is proprietry and not Commodore device driver compliant. This means you have to purchase another SCSI controller and attach the drive to it to get CrossMAC to talk to it.

We spoke to NewTek about this problem. Their answer: They have no plans to make a Commodore compliant device driver interface. If YOU think they should please contact them at (913) 228-8282.

CONSULTRON CrossDOS CrossMAC