Need to backup old A1200 data!

[cbmeeks]

I just recapped my A1200. I am the original owner and I'm having a blast looking at the awful code I created back in 1994. :-)


Anyway, I really want to get all of that data off and backed up to my Windows 10 machine. Eventually, I will replace the 40MiB drive in the A1200 with something larger but I don't want to loose anything.


It's a stock A1200HD. I do have a PCMCIA to CF adapter. I also have several CF cards in sizes of 8, 64, 256 MiB and a 4 GiB card.


I have no idea how to format these cards to work on the Amiga. I thought I would try PrepCard on the Amiga. It identifies the card. It shows the brand. When I try to "Prepare for Hard Disk" (or whatever it's called...can't remember), it gives me an error saying it can't write. I've tried messing with the Advanced Config but no luck there.


Then I thought I could maybe format the card on my Windows 10 machine and FS-UAE. But when I open PrepCard there it says no card slot available.


Other options that I have (but haven't tried yet) is a parallel port Iomega drive and a WiModem232. I also have a PCMCIA wireless card but the damn thing won't slide into the A1200 PCMCIA slot. It has some extra wide lip or something and physically won't go all the way in.


I do have an Amiga floppy drive but it's currently not installed at the moment. Not sure if floppies would be an option. There is less than 20 MiB of data to copy over so I'm up for floppies if it would work.


Anyway, I'm running out of ideas.


Do you guys know how I could get any one of those to work?



Thanks for any help.

[Jope]

PrepCard is only for old SRAM cards, it is not needed here.

Here's a recipe:
- format the card as fat32 in your Windows machine
- get fat95 and cfd from Aminet
http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/fat95
http://aminet.net/package/driver/media/CFD133
- install fat95 and cfd onto your Amiga HD
- mount cf0:
- use dd from fat95 to dump your entire hard disk into a hdf on the compact flash card
dd scsi.device 0 cf0:a1200hd.hdf

You will probably need to use floppies or rs232 to transfer fat95 and cfd to the Amiga.

[solarmon]

I would just take the hard disk and mount it WinUAE. You can then make an image of the drive or use it directly and emulate an A1200 to boot it, then mount a PC folder and copy the data that way.

You would obviously need an appropriate IDE USB enclosure/adapter to connect the hard disk to the PC.

EDIT: But definitely the PCMCIA CF solution is good and recommended for long term data transfer.

[cbmeeks]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I should mention that I already have a terminal program on the Amiga. Would it be possible/easy to use the WiModem232 and download the fat95 and cfd online somewhere on the Amiga? I don't have an IDE converter or enclosure at the moment.

Better yet, I wonder if the terminal program could connect to the aminet? I'll have to look.

Thanks.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by solarmon

You would obviously need an appropriate IDE USB enclosure/adapter to connect the hard disk to the PC.

It was mentioned that this is a 40MB drive. Most likely an USB IDE chip will not be able to cope with this old drive. A PC motherboard IDE connector will work.

Originally Posted by cbmeeks

I should mention that I already have a terminal program on the Amiga. Would it be possible/easy to use the WiModem232 and download the fat95 and cfd online somewhere on the Amiga?

Depends on what kinds of telnet servers you have available, do you have a linux shell somewhere with telnet enabled and the sz command installed (for smodem send).

If not, then an easier way is to get a null modem cable and connect that between your computers, start zmodem download on the amiga and zmodem upload on the modern computer.

Better yet, I wonder if the terminal program could connect to the aminet?

With an intermediate Linux or other Unix box, yes.

[cbmeeks]

Good news is that I got the WiModem232 to connect to a BBS. So at least I have some type of online ability.

Is there a way to browse aminet and download the files I need?

I tried the following but it does nothing:

ATDT aminet.net:80

[fitzsteve]

You could get someone to put the PCMCIA files on a floppy disk or even grab EasyADF from Amigakit which IIRC can do a backup of your drive.

[cbmeeks]

That would be awesome. If someone had the files I needed to setup my CF on my real Amiga, I would be grateful and could probably send a little cash their way. I just really want to files off that drive before I upgrade my A1200.

Thanks.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by cbmeeks

I tried the following but it does nothing:

ATDT aminet.net:80

This will not work, very well you need to "dial" some computer that offers you an interactive shell or BBS menu over the Telnet protocol.

It could be possible to write software that will fetch files over HTTP using the wimodem, if it supports raw TCP sockets, but a terminal program alone is not enough.

You could of course find some online BBS, upload the files to it from your modern computer using some retro BBS telnet program with zmodem support, and download them using your Amiga.

[amigakit.com]

Here is a tutorial to backup on EasyADF:

http://www.amigakit.co.uk/support/easyadf-backup.php

[solarmon]

Originally Posted by Jope

It was mentioned that this is a 40MB drive. Most likely an USB IDE chip will not be able to cope with this old drive. A PC motherboard IDE connector will work.

I'm not sure what you mean. I have this IDE/SATA to USB 2.0 adapter:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-SATA-.../dp/B000R18ZNQ

and I am able to connect my old Seagate 127MB drive to it and it is recognised and mounted by WinUAE.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by solarmon

I'm not sure what you mean. I have this IDE/SATA to USB 2.0 adapter:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-SATA-.../dp/B000R18ZNQ

and I am able to connect my old Seagate 127MB drive to it and it is recognised and mounted by WinUAE.

You got lucky, congrats. It might be a good idea to post about this particular adapter in the old thread about this problem: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=87269 just to increase knowledge about compatible adapters.

If you just pick any adapter off the shelf, it probably does not contain a JMicron chip in it. I have three of various vintage, none of them have that chip. :-(

[cbmeeks]

Update:


I got Tera Term on my Windows 10 PC to connect to my Amiga 1200 over TCP/IP using a WiModem232.


I can send text files with no problem. So that's awesome!


However, it's failing when I try binary files.


I'm using A-Talk III, ZMODEM and I've set the type to Binary.


The baud, parity, etc. all match. I can type on the Amiga and see the characters on the PC. Like I said, I can also transfer ASCII files (using Type = TEXT) just fine.


Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I'm using 19200 baud if that matters.


Thanks

[cbmeeks]

OMG...I just tried KERMIT protocol and it work. LOL.

Disregard!

[cbmeeks]

Originally Posted by Jope

PrepCard is only for old SRAM cards, it is not needed here.

Here's a recipe:
- format the card as fat32 in your Windows machine
- get fat95 and cfd from Aminet
http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/fat95
http://aminet.net/package/driver/media/CFD133
- install fat95 and cfd onto your Amiga HD
- mount cf0:
- use dd from fat95 to dump your entire hard disk into a hdf on the compact flash card
dd scsi.device 0 cf0:a1200hd.hdf

You will probably need to use floppies or rs232 to transfer fat95 and cfd to the Amiga.

FYI, this was the key to backing up my data the fastest!


I didn't use the dd command, I just dragged-n-dropped to a CF after I figured out how to install fat95/CFD.


I ran into a couple issues where I had directories and files with "*" or "." in them but I was able to rename on the Amiga.


Thanks so much for the help. I now have my code and graphics that I did in 1992 on my modern PC being backed up every day!


Thanks everyone!

[Jope]

Filecopy is also an option, but as you noticed, there's problems with certain filenames and such. dd preserves the disk exactly so that you can just add the hdf into winuae's hard drive config and boot into your real environment.

[jotd]

I'm lucky to have been able to use a IDE to USB adapter during years. I tought they were all compatible. The brand is deLock and it works great (well now I don't have any drives in working condition so I'm using CF cards). I don't think it's still sold.

[Vipersan]

I always back up hard drives using HDclone and a usb to IDE adapter ..
or in the case of CF cards ...a usb to CF adapter.
HDclone or similar softwares will make RAW images of both IDE or Compact flash cards and store them to PC ..and this process can be reversed if needed to produce clones of those drives.
So ..not just for AMIGA ...in fact operating system becomes irrelevant as the images are RAW DATA ...so anything goes.
rgds
VS

[cbmeeks]

Well, for me, this was software and art I created in the early 90's. So they originated on an actual Amiga. In 2020, I will create stuff on my modern, multiple-backed-up PC and push to an Amiga. So Amiga backup is no longer needed. :-)

I will say this...it was a struggle. I bought two of those CF to PCMCIA adapters off eBay. Same seller. Same exact auction. Between the two of them, only one worked. In fact, one physically didn't even fit. I would have to shave off plastic to make it fit. They were super cheap so at least one worked.

Also, I have several CF cards. Even on my Windows PC, some of them just won't work in my CF to USB adapter. This stuff is so finicky. You need multiple copies of everything just to get a lucky combination that works. lol

[amigakit.com]

I will say this...it was a struggle ... Between the two of them, only one worked.

@cbmeeks

I share your pain! This is why we have put together a low cost package with everything in it that we fully test before sending to every Amiga customer:

https://amigakit.amiga.store/product...0&currency=USD