Session Manager CPX

Using the Session Manager CPX

In order to use the Session Manager CPX (SESSION.CPX), you must have Atari's XCONTROL accessory (or third-party equivalent) installed. The CPX should be located in the system CPX directory, and activated. It will then appear in a standard CPX slot in the XCONTROL accessory window.

Select the Session Manager by double clicking on the slot and, if you have more than one CD-ROM/CD-R(W) drive under ExtenDOS Gold's control, the CD-ROM drive selection screen will be displayed, as shown below. 

Clicking on the drive selection button will display a popup list of available drives; select the one you wish to access with the CPX. You may click on Save to save the selection you made as the default next time you open the CPX.

Once you have selected a drive, click on Scan CD to access the CD and prepare a selection list. The list produced depends on the type of CD that is currently in the drive: multi-session, or CDbackup.

NOTE: If you have only one CD-ROM/CD-R(W) drive under ExtenDOS Gold's control, the screen above will be bypassed, and the currently inserted disk will be automatically selected and scanned, producing one of the two types of list shown below.

Multi-session disks

Multi-session disks are those created in more than recording session. The most common example of this is a photoCD. In most cases, each session contains information about the files created in all previous sessions, so access to the last session (which is provided by ExtenDOS Gold as a default) will give you access to all files. However, should you have a disk where each session is independent, or if you are just curious about what's recorded in what session, you can use the Session Manager to select a specific session. When accessing a multi-session CD, the selection list is as shown below. 

On this screen, you can click on a specific session, and then click on OK (to select the session and close the CPX), Apply (to select the session and leave the CPX open), or Cancel (to ignore the selection and close the CPX). If you change the CD in the drive while the CPX is open, you should click on Refresh to scan the CD and obtain a new selection list.

NOTE: the sessions that will be shown in the selection list depend on the drive firmware as well as the contents of the CD. Some older drives allow access to the first session only; more recent drives allow access to the first and the last session; most current drives (including CD-Rs and CD-RWs) allow access to all sessions.

CDbackup disks

This is the format created by the CDbackup program which is part of the CDWriter Plus software package from Anodyne Software. These CDs contain one or more partition backups; each backed-up partition is stored as a separate track. When you insert a disk created by CDbackup into your drive, ExtenDOS Gold will automatically recognise the special format, and mount the first backup (the first track) on the CD as a standard TOS partition. In order to access other backups on the same CD, you must use the Session Manager CPX. When accessing a CDbackup disk, the selection list is as shown below. Backups are listed with the most recent one at the top. 

On this screen, you can click on a specific backup, and then click on OK (to select the backup and close the CPX), Apply (to select the backup and leave the CPX open), or Cancel (to ignore the selection and close the CPX). If you change the CD in the drive while the CPX is open, you should click on Refresh to scan the CD and obtain a new selection list. When you switch between backups, even on the same CD, the switch is automatically recognised as a media change, and the new partition is mounted.

IMPORTANT: Unless you are running under MiNT or MagiC, you will not be able to access a backup from the desktop if the CD-ROM drive has a letter greater than P. This is a TOS restriction.

Last updated 3 August 1999 by Roger Burrows