Transfer PC -> Amiga500 with just 512kb ram

[Unregistered]

Whats the best way to transfer an Amiga game
from the PC to the AMIGA with just 512kb ram?

I suppose I should use a serial cable, but where
I keep the ADF file on the amiga before I
convert it to a disk ?

[Akira]

The best way I'd say is using that ADF Sender Terminal thingy, or using a combination of CrossDOS and a second floppy drive.

If you read the FAQ you would at least know about the first option :P

[Chain]

can someone write some stuff like "Direct serial to floppy" ???

im not programmer, but it may be easy, i think...

[Codetapper]

A few months ago somebody asked me for the Tracktool source to enable reading/writing directly from a floppy disk to the serial port. I think they wanted this because TrackTool is one of the few disk/adf type utilities which actually works with WB1.3.

I sent the source away but haven't heard from them for a while. I will get back in touch and find out how they are getting along.

[§ane]

Requirements:

1. Any amiga with a serial port and a copy of Workbench.

2. A PC with a terminal proggie such as "ADF Sender Terminal (http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/homepage/c725/c72578/amiga/)".

3. Null-modem serial cable (or LapLink cable).


Amiga Setup:

Set the Serial preferences as follows..

Baud Rate = 19200
Buffer Size = 4096
Read Bits = 8
Write Bits = 8
Stop Bits = 1
Parity = None
Handshaking = RTS/CTS

The transfer is most reliable at 19200 bps, any higher and the data sent may be more or less than expected.


PC Setup:

Install ADF Sender Terminal and configure the serial preferences to match the Amiga's, then open the Comm port.


PC ADF -> Amiga DF0:

Amiga: [CLI/SHELL]
transdisk -w ser: -d trackdisk 0

PC: [ADF Sender Terminal]
Press Send and select the ADF you wish to transfer to the floppy disk in drive DF0:


Amiga DF0: -> PC ADF

PC: [ADF Sender Terminal]
Enter the size of the destination file, for every track it's 11264 bytes, so tracks 0 through 79 is (11264 * 80) 901120 bytes, then click on Receive.

Amiga: [CLI/SHELL]
transdisk >ser: -d trackdisk 0


Both scenarios should return to the command line after the transfer completes, if either stops short then you should consider lowering the Baud Rate. Although i have been able to transfer at 115200 bps without errors using Transwarp in place of Transdisk.

If you don't possess Transdisk/warp and or have no way of getting it over to your amiga, refer to this (http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/homepage/c725/c72578/amiga/adfsenderterminal/methods.html) page.

[gizmomelb]

moderators / Paul!

could Sane's directions please be cut and pasted into the FAQ and possibly a copy of the ADF Terminal program be kept on the eab server (just in case the author's site ever disappears)? This would hopefully cut down on a lot of questions on 'how do I transfer files to/from my amiga?'

[Jope]

Also, you could split the ADF into several parts and use transadf to write it in bits (you can specify the start and end tracks when writing)

[Paul]

moderators / Paul!

could Sane's directions please be cut and pasted into the FAQ and possibly a copy of the ADF Terminal program be kept on the eab server (just in case the author's site ever disappears)? This would hopefully cut down on a lot of questions on 'how do I transfer files to/from my amiga?'

I've copied to FAQ here (http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=amiga_faq#faq_games_xfer_faq)

As for a mirror copy of ADF Terminal program...Maybe RCK can add to abime downloads (http://www.abime.net/?go=download#utils)?

[vroom6sri]

I'm getting a little more confident with the use of my A1200 and so wanted to try the serial link between Amiga & PC. I have a serial cable which we used to use to connect to Amigas together so presume this would be the right sorta cable. The problem is I don't seem to have a socket on my motherboard (Abit AT7 MAX2) to plug in the 9pin + 25pin COM port thingy. What are my options? Is there any USB adapters worth considering or will this screw up the serial transfers when (if) I get the link working?

[Jope]

USB->RS232 should work - it is visible as a (virtual) com port.. Most software should act nice.

[vroom6sri]

Isn't that little gubbins for the 9pin connectors? My serial cable is the bigger one...

[_ThEcRoW]

if you actually have the null modem cable, the easiest and effective way is using Amiga Explorer from cloanto. You only need a wb 1.3 disk for booting, then the program itself installs the needed files from pc to the amiga in order to work. And yes, it works even on a wb 1.3 512kb Amiga 500. You can load an adf on the pc then put a disk in the Amiga 500 diskdrive and write the adf to disk without probs. Try it, it's awesome!

[vroom6sri]

Cheers, TheCrow. But how do I connect the PC to the Amiga? I have the 20summin pin serial cable used for connecting 2 amigas together but no suitable socket on my PC (or motherboard).

[_ThEcRoW]

You have to do your own cable. I made mine with instructions on cloanto website for my siamese system.
Is easy, only basic soldering skills are neeeded.

[vroom6sri]

Basic soldering skills, eh? Oh dear. The last time I used a soldering iron I was 10 and was trying to fix one of my joysticks I'd broken in a GAME OVER rage. Silly me forgot to unplug it from my C64. Who would have thought the heat would travel that quickly to the computer and nacker it?!?!? Not me!

Will one of those USB->RS232 adapters with a 9 to 25 pin converter work?

[InTheSand]

Will one of those USB->RS232 adapters with a 9 to 25 pin converter work?

Yes, it'll be fine, but you'll need to make sure you also have a null modem RS232 cable.

So you end up with:
PC --- USB/RS232 --- 9-pin null modem --- 9-pin/25-pin --- Amiga

Or

PC --- USB/RS232 --- 9-pin/25-pin --- 25-pin null modem --- Amiga

- Ali

[vroom6sri]

I love these websites. Everyone helps one another out. THANKS EVERYONE!

I presume the null modem cable IS the serial cable used for connecting 2 amigas. Is this right?

[ElectroBlaster]

Yes, it'll be fine, but you'll need to make sure you also have a null modem RS232 cable.

So you end up with:
PC --- USB/RS232 --- 9-pin null modem --- 9-pin/25-pin --- Amiga

Or

PC --- USB/RS232 --- 9-pin/25-pin --- 25-pin null modem --- Amiga

- Ali

Learning new things all the time here :D I never even considored one of these usb devices let alone thinking it would work

I will try this out one day :)

[vroom6sri]

I'm keen to give it a try too! I have just discovered the true wonders of WinUAE so will be using this for all the games that need something more meaty than a standard A1200 with HD to run. However, nothing replaces the real thing for the true enthusiast and I love the satisfaction of trying something "technical" for me and getting it to work so will still be trying this null modem connection thingy.

[vroom6sri]

OK! Now have some spare time so have tried connecting the USB to Serial cable to both Amiga & PC. Amiga end seems OK but PC (obviously?) doesn't treat the USB cable as COM1 and TwinExpress wants to use COM1 on the PC. Is there FREE software out there for the PC that will treat the USB cable as COM1 so I can get the connection established? PLEASE help...

[dambuster]

You can also pick up 25 to 9 pin adaptors, plus some lap link cables have both 9 and 25 pin plugs at both ends - just in case you dont fancy welding

[vroom6sri]

Thanks, man. I've got the cables and connectors all sorted but the PC doesn't just assign the USB cable as COM1 and TwinExpress on the PC wants to use COM1. Is there (free) software out there for the PC that will treat the USB cable as COM1 so I can get the connection established?

[vroom6sri]

If no one knows of any (free) software out there for the PC that will treat the USB cable as COM1 so I can get the connection established can someone provide me with the file "kick34005.a500" and other equivalents for running my WHDload games. I have them on my A1200 but can't transfer them over as my PC won't read the floppy disks if they have been written to by the Amiga.

HELP!!!!:help

[Sune Salminen]

Your PC really doesn't have a serial port?

(Damn legacy free PCs)

I can't tell from your previous posts.

If it does, what you need is a female DB-25 (Amiga side) to female DB9 (PC side) null-modem cable.

You don't have to make one yourself, there are many stores that sell them. Here's one:

http://www.computercablestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=266

[Sune Salminen]

The problem is I don't seem to have a socket on my motherboard (Abit AT7 MAX2) to plug in the 9pin + 25pin COM port thingy.

You only need to use the serial port on the PC, not the parallel port.

[vroom6sri]

No Serial or Parallel option on my PC from what I have been able to tell.

[Jope]

Then you need to get an rs232 adapter that plugs into a PCI slot or into USB.

[vroom6sri]

I think that is the cable I've already got but I need the software for windows to treat the cable as a Serial port when plugged into my USB slot.

[Sune Salminen]

Didn't the RS232 adapter come with a driver CD?

Post the make and model of the adapter and we'll help you find a driver for it.

What OS are you using on the PC?

[vroom6sri]

Not sure of the make of the lead - it was a FleaBay purchase so perhaps I should have known better. The mini-CD that came with it seems to have no drivers or utilities to do what I need.

I know this sounds grovelly but if I was to copy the kickstart files on to Amiga formatted disks to prove I own them would some kind soul save them to a PC formatted disk for me???? It's doing me nut in not being able to get WinUAE playing the games that my A1200 does (badly in some cases).:banghead

[Sune Salminen]

Google is a powerful tool.

[P-J]

I know this sounds grovelly but if I was to copy the kickstart files on to Amiga formatted disks to prove I own them would some kind soul save them to a PC formatted disk for me????

Dude, seriously :

1) Use search engine of choice.
2) Download kickstart ROM.

[vroom6sri]

OK. I am too useless to be able to insert and image into my post but seem to have managed to upload it and view it with this link:

http://eab.abime.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12532&stc=1&d=1164140370

This is the messgae I get when trying to run certain games in WinUAE using WHDload. I have the required files on my A1200 but can't get them to my PC. Another file requested by a different game is "kick40060.a1200" so I assume these are specific files used by WHDload to improve compatibility!?!?!?!?

[Sune Salminen]

I already sent you a link via PM that tells you what those files are.

[vroom6sri]

So is it just a matter of copying and renaming my ROM files from WinUAE to my emulated C folder of Workbench? If so how do I know which ROMs to rename as:

Kick34005.A500
Kick40068.A1200
Kick40060.A1200
Kick40068.A4000

I am baffled!

[P-J]

So is it just a matter of copying and renaming my ROM files from WinUAE to my emulated C folder of Workbench? If so how do I know which ROMs to rename as:

Kick34005.A500
Kick40068.A1200
Kick40060.A1200
Kick40068.A4000

I am baffled!

The files I sent you aren't all of these, although you do have two of them. Use your loaf to work out which two and I will supply you with the other two when I'm home from work.

[Sune Salminen]

@vroom6sri

1. You won't blow up your computer if you try.

2. Again, you can easily find that information on the page that i sent you a link to yesterday.

Scroll down to the end:
http://borrowedtime.emuunlim.com/bttp/Lazarus/features/kickstart.html

[vroom6sri]

OK. With a little (lot of) help from my friends on here I have got this sorted. It was a matter of copying over my ROMs from the ROM folder in WinUAE to DEVS/KICKSTART in my emulated Workbench HD partition then renaming them accordingly. The names of the ROM files helped me figure out which one WHDload was looking for. So all is well.

Just need to find V4 of xpkmaster.library now... Does anyone out there have it and can you send it to me please? I presume it's OK to share library files (isn't it?).

[P-J]

http://aminet.net/util/pack/xpk_User.lha

[vroom6sri]

Think I've tried that one and it's not the right version - I spent about 1hr in total searching for it but to no avail so far!

I need it to get Project X working with WHDload.


FORGET IT!

IT SEEMS THAT RESPONDING TO ONE OF MY THREADS OR REPLIES COULD BE CONSTITUTED AS CARE IN THE COMMUNITY DUE TO MY SHEER STUPIDITY!

If I had checked that WINRAR had unpacked the files in the right way and not in a folder, in a folder, in LIBS then I would have had PROJECT X working about 2 days ago.

Sorry all.

[GF_Workman]

Hi,

Yes, this is my first Amiga so I'm pretty green. Anyway, I have been attempting to move an ADF from a PC to an Amiga 500. The comp has 1M RAM, only one floppy drive, no hard drive. I'm not trying to split it (probably not necessary for this ADF) or unpack it yet.

I've been following instructions that appear to match what is in this thread, from:
http://adfsender.stoeggl.com/adfsenderterminal/methods.html
and
http://adfsender.stoeggl.com/adfsenderterminal/readme.txt

I made a copy of my Workbench 1.3 disk and it appears I sent transdisk over to it from the PC. When I change to the "c" directory on the Workbench copy, I do see a file: "transdisk" I don't know the significance of having it in that particular directory, but I suspect it is there because in the command:
copy ram:transdisk to df0:c
I'm thinking that if "df0" signifies my internal floppy, then the ":c" must have told it to drop it into that directory.

Anyway, when I follow the instructions to fire up transdisk to receive a file, I get the following response/error:
"unable to load transdisk: file is not an object module"

I've not been able to find anything on this error. Any idea where I made a wrong turn (probably Albuquerque)?

Thanks so much,
George

[Jope]

The transdisk exe is broken. Check your serial port settings, and reread the instructions for sending it and try to move it over again.

The significance of having it in sys:c is that then it is in the path.

[Andec]

Hi,

Yes, this is my first Amiga so I'm pretty green. Anyway, I have been attempting to move an ADF from a PC to an Amiga 500. The comp has 1M RAM, only one floppy drive, no hard drive. I'm not trying to split it (probably not necessary for this ADF) or unpack it yet.

I've been following instructions that appear to match what is in this thread, from:
http://adfsender.stoeggl.com/adfsenderterminal/methods.html
and
http://adfsender.stoeggl.com/adfsenderterminal/readme.txt

I made a copy of my Workbench 1.3 disk and it appears I sent transdisk over to it from the PC. When I change to the "c" directory on the Workbench copy, I do see a file: "transdisk" I don't know the significance of having it in that particular directory, but I suspect it is there because in the command:
copy ram:transdisk to df0:c
I'm thinking that if "df0" signifies my internal floppy, then the ":c" must have told it to drop it into that directory.

Anyway, when I follow the instructions to fire up transdisk to receive a file, I get the following response/error:
"unable to load transdisk: file is not an object module"

I've not been able to find anything on this error. Any idea where I made a wrong turn (probably Albuquerque)?

Thanks so much,
George

I had the same problem the first time I tried it. Try lowering the serial port speed. Anything over 9200 fails on my miggy.

Cheers
Andec

[GF_Workman]

Thanks - lowering the port speed on the PC didn't do the trick at first, but once I made the Amiga match the same speed, viola - success.

Thanks very much!
George

[Andec]

Glad to here it worked......

Cheers
Andec