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spooner
12 July 2002, 18:15
hi peeps,

just before i rip my pc apart and slap in an additional 3.5", i was wondering these things:

1) will i be able to run DISK2FDI from an MSDOS 6.xx or Windows 95/98/me boot disk? even if i do have to tweak autoexec and config. Reason i ask is because ive just recently managed to get rid ot the constant nightmare of 16bit win9x, and have migrated to XP. I realise that the NT HAL part of XP does not allow ANY application direct access to hardware, so i appreciate why DISK2FDI doesnt work under an NT kernel.

2) The reason i want to get DISK2FDI running is so that i can make images of my original a500/a1200 games, of which i have a pile of. I did manage to recover stuff off of my 1200 some time back with crossdos and a 720k fd, but now my 1084 has died, i cant use the 1200. Will DISK2FDI make images of my original games? i know they have custom boot blocks and file systems. It would be superb if it does!

ta in adv

:D
jmmijo
12 July 2002, 19:39
This should work just fine, be sure to strip off all the extra hidden system drivers that Win9x likes to create when using the Create Startup Disk function.

You'll find things like the drivespc.sys driver hidden, just delete the damn thing if you don't use drive compression which you shouldn't need to anymore with the sizes of hd's out there now ;)

I know that there was a GUI frontend for this app as well, again this is for running in the Windoze environment and not the DOS mode.
spooner
12 July 2002, 19:57
@jimmijo

thanks dude, i dont actually have a windows 9x OS installed anywhere, so i couldnt run the "create startup disk" wizard if i wanted to. I have several win95b booty disks floating about with custom config/auto files.

and on my p4 2.26 with a maxtor 80gb d740..... i definetly dont need drivespace.... hehe

:D

what about the custom file systems / boot blocks on the amiga original disks, wil DISK2DFI image those do u know?
jmmijo
12 July 2002, 20:32
Probably not the custom jobs liek those from Psygnosis and Readysoft as many of these used long data tracks too :(

But you will find many :NDOS disks that can be dumped as they use a direct sector/track access but the data doesn't show up as a checksum or any other kind of disk error ;)

BTW - if you need a boot disk created I can create one for you and use an app called WinImage to create the disk structure?!?
spooner
12 July 2002, 20:53
thanks again Jimmijo, im off now to install an additional FDD....

fingers Xd i will have some original games dumps.

i have a suitable boot disk. many thanks for the offer of an image.

:D
Akira
13 July 2002, 04:45
Isn;t there an FDI tool for the Amiga?
spooner
13 July 2002, 13:35
probably.....

but..... my 1084 monitor has died, so i cant see whats going on on the screen!

:(
Akira
13 July 2002, 16:08
Well, use a TV then :)
spooner
13 July 2002, 17:59
now theres an idea....

need to look for one of them funny aerial cables...

:D
Akira
14 July 2002, 03:20
If you have an A1200 or A600 you just need an RCA to RCA cable and connect it to the composite video plug of the A12k, and to the Video In plug of the TV.
spooner
14 July 2002, 17:13
standard RCA for RF ?

i never knew that..... thanx!

i have an earlier a1200... <silence>

<gap of about 2 hrs>

ok... ive just been to the lockup.... ive managed to find my a1200, and around about 300 880kb ds dd diskies..... watch this space..

wheres my digicam?

:D
Akira
15 July 2002, 00:52
No! I mean, why dont you use the Composite video out port instead of RF? RF is cack quality and any TV today has video input.

You can get an RCA to 75 ohm arial thingy adaptor too, if you need it. but again, if you can use composite, use it.

I'm forced to use RF with the TV on my side right now, because it's a 13 years old TV :P
spooner
15 July 2002, 17:23
this is supercool.....

my geforce 4 on me PC has a VIVO pod! s-video and composite i/o

so i can actually run my amiga through my pc!
Akira
15 July 2002, 17:59
You can try that, but expect no great quality. it will be blurry and pixelated
spooner
15 July 2002, 23:14
hehe...

check out my amiga shrine site:

spooners temp site (http://robindene.users.btopenworld.com)

need to get my gf4 book out and suss the VIVO in xp...

:D
jmmijo
16 July 2002, 03:09
Ah yes, an Asus man like I am ;)
spooner
16 July 2002, 03:21
indeed one of the finer manufacturers of a PC mobo... Once you get one, ur hooked for life i reckon....hehe

:)
Akira
16 July 2002, 04:02
Aye Spooner, what the hell is that blue socket connected at the rightmost part of your Amiga? Its conencted through a ribbon to the motherboard...

That doesnt seem to be the clockport...
jmmijo
16 July 2002, 04:12
Could that be a video port of some sort or even a serial port???
spooner
16 July 2002, 04:12
its the mouse port?

why? doesn't it look right?

:confused

hang on.... ill rip it open again and take a closer shot of that part of the board.....
spooner
16 July 2002, 07:17
there ya go.... ive updated me site

Spooners temp site (http://robindene.users.btopenworld.com)
RetroMan
16 July 2002, 12:56
There belongs an additional mouse/joystick port on a seperate board that will connect to the CN1A connector, what you got in there might be any PC Part but it does not belong in there :D
spooner
16 July 2002, 14:00
well ill be blowed.....

has any one got a picture of what it should look like?

i did buy my 1200 2nd hand, and the guy promised me it was in perfect condition. i wonder what he did to it!

:D
RetroMan
16 July 2002, 14:47
Look at the right side of this pic :)

http://www.amiga-society.de/ahwbook/a1200mbr2bbig.jpg
Akira
16 July 2002, 18:23
What's this for then? An extra mouse port????


[edit] OOHH I noticed the difference!!! You are missing a port or something! damn that is strange!!! And your mouse port is upside-down! :D :D :D What's teh deal with his board Retro?
jmmijo
16 July 2002, 19:47
Perhaps this is a different rev of the mobo?
spooner
17 July 2002, 00:03
well it looks like retromans board is a rev 2D.something, and mine is a 1D.4

i bet someone broke the mouse port, and what i have is a "bodge it up Barry" repair...

i know the port is upside down, but is the gender as standard? i have to use a 9 pin genderbender to reverse it, to plug in my cbm mouse, and as i was the only one of my friends to own a 1200, ive never had the chance to look at another that closely...

:sad

edit: actually looking at Amigahardware.com, they have a pic of a rev 1D.4, and its the same.... check it out Here (http://www.amiga-hardware.com/a1200mb_rev1d4.jpg)
RetroMan
17 July 2002, 00:29
Yep :rolleyes Sorry haven´t looked close enough, so all you need is such adapter with a suitable mouse/joystick port :p
jmmijo
17 July 2002, 00:36
Actually if you take a standard DB-9 cable adapter from an older 386/486/Pentium mobo, this should suffice. I think the pin outs are the same but you'll have to look carefully at were pin 1 is located and make sure it lines up with the connector on the A1200 mobo.

I've got a few of these ribbon cables with the correct male pins rather the female pins like you have.

In fact I got one of these in my hand comparing it to the pin outs on your A1200 mobo, they do match up quite nicely and it should work just fine. If you want it, lemme know or if you can find these locally then go for that first!!!
spooner
17 July 2002, 04:29
:D :D :D :D

hehe.. ive got my original 486dx33 board in a box somewhere.... what a great idea for a fix thanks jimijo..... ive got an rs232 break out box, so i can easily check the pins..

thanks guys... u lot are great.... what a able minded bunch u really are..

:laughing :laugh :laughing
jmmijo
17 July 2002, 05:30
Shush, we don't want this to get out and spread that we actually help people here in this forum :laugh :laughing :cheese
Akira
17 July 2002, 06:15
I dont know which rev I got but it surely isnt like that... How interesting!
Shadowfire
17 July 2002, 12:43
ROFL!!!!

That ones almost as funny as the "volume adjustment" I found on a Pacman machine once! (Someone had put a piece of cardboard between the speaker and the grille)
spooner
17 July 2002, 16:18
@ jimmijo: hehe... ok my lips are sealed...:rolleyes

@ akira: why not have a look.... you might have a rare one! :D

@ shadowfire: ? eh? whats that got to do with the price of fish?


:D :laugh :laughing
spooner
19 July 2002, 03:07
well after all that.... DISK2FDI wont write back to an NTFS partition, which is expected really... could use a ramdrive command, but my a1200 is now operational.

Thanks for the advice akira, im using a scart >< Svideo/RCA stereo cable, which ive got plugged into the back of an oldish sony portable. the pictures not great, not as good as the 1084, but im back in business! :D :D :D

now for a new prob! nondos / original game adf dumping on the amiga in workbench....

ive sussed out transfering files to/from pc/amiga using cross dos and a couple of 720kb's, ive got LHA / unzip and essential stuff on the amiga,

ive dumped my ROM, LHA'd it and got it working in UAE on PC. have imaged my workbench and DOS type disks and got those transferred across and working.....

but one game in particular is having probs dumping.... Jurassic Park (a1200, 4 disk version). ive tried a number of downloaded utils; disk2file, adfblitzer, diskmate, transdisk and several others, but im not having much luck.....

any suggestions?

:confused :confused :confused

if its any help, my 1200 has a Kickstart version 39.106 and is running a HD installed Workbench version 39.29