Amiga CD32 - Accessories and Third Party Devices

Accessories and Third Party Devices

The CD32 can be enhanced using these devices: ProModule, Paravision SX-1 and DCE SX-32 (which optionally includes 68030 CPU).

Those devices extend the capability of Amiga CD32, allowing it to utilize hardware such as an external 3.5" floppy disk drive, hard disk and IBM PC keyboard. An Amiga CD32 can be turned into a de facto Amiga 1200 via the addition of third-party packages. The SX-1 appears to have been designed around Commodore's mechanical specs and not the actual production units – it did not fit very well and requires an internal 'modification' to fit properly. Consequently, the SX-1 can be jarred loose if the console is not handled gently. The upgraded SX-32 expansion pack (which included a 68030 25 MHz processor) solves these problems.

Not wishing to repeat its earlier mistake of offering a way to turn a CD32 into an enhanced A1200 as it did with the A500-based CDTV, Commodore itself made no hardware available for that purpose. One of its last hardware designs, however, was an external CD-ROM drive for the A1200 that featured the CD32's Akiko chip, thus turning any A1200 into a CD32-compatible system.

In addition to its own special controllers, the Amiga CD32 is also compatible with most 9-pin D-Sub controllers from the 80s and 90s, including the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis controllers, Sega Master System controllers, and all Amiga/C64 joysticks as well as Amiga mice and paddles.

CDs created for the CD32 conform to ISO 9660 level2, mode1; although the Rock Ridge and Joliet extensions are not compatible.