New to A1200 advice

[richfr]

Hi I have recently fired up my A1200 after many years in storage.
I will get it recapped to make sure it stays healthy although the caps do look ok at the moment.
It is completely stock what would you guys recommend I do to it first? I only want to play games. I need to buy them or download them from somewhere if that's possible.

I'm thinking of getting
Kickstart 3.1 ROM chips and a Workbench 3.1 CF Hard Disk Drive by Cloanto not sure if I need 32gb or if a 16gb will do?

Am I right in thinking no real need for a floppy SD emulator? I can use a PCMCIA CF adaptor instead on the A1200? so I can transfer from my PC to the A1200 hard drive.

I will get an accelerator later once I get it up and running.
I need a screen solution too only works on my TV at the moment.

Sorry I am new to the Amiga and keen to get it up and running again kind of have information overload at the moment reading through threads not sure what to do.

Appreciate any help/advice

[ajk]

If you get a hard drive replacement of some description (like the CF card you have been looking at) and some extra RAM, you'll be good to go for the majority of games. The stock 2MB of RAM will allow you to run some games via so you won't need to get a RAM expansion immediately, but having some extra would be best in the long run.

You can indeed use a PCMCIA adapter to transfer files, or alternatively you can just set up the entire hard drive with the help of an emulator.

You'll want to read up on WHDLoad, which is a software utility that makes it possible to run almost all games from the hard drive - there is no need for a floppy drive emulator.

[demolition]

The typical setup is a CF HDD and 16GB should be plenty of space. People often use 4 or 8GB cards. KS 3.1 and WB 3.1 is a good place to start. ClassicWB is a popular choice as it is already setup up with a lot of software ready to go:
http://classicwb.abime.net/

A PCMCIA adapter with a CF card is useful for transferring files between the PC and Amiga.

For games, you will use WHDLoad which makes it possible to run almost any game from HDD so you won't have to deal with floppy disks. Look here to find what you need: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=61028

You will also need at least some basic accelerator to provide you with some extra fast mem or you will not be able to use WHDLoad and will be stuck with plain ol' floppies (which you don't want to after trying WHDLoad). I would also recommend to not bother with a floppy emulator in a 1200 since running games from HDD with WHDLoad is so much more convenient. You can either buy some old used accelerator/mem expansion or go for a new one like the ACA1221ec:
https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/...aca1221ec.html

[richfr]

Thanks guys really appreciate the advice.
Hmmm so I need to spend a bit more than I planned on an accelerator (as you always do lol) Is the ACA1221 good enough or would I just end up wanting to update it later on?
Also it mentions you can load the Kickstart rom into it would I still need the updated ROM chips or does this bypass that and I dont need them?

If I go with ClassicWB does that mean I can just get any compatible CF card and put that on it no need for the Cloanto card?

Thanks Again

[demolition]

The ACA1221ec is a quite nice little accelerator and will suit you well for WHDLoad and other basic WB usage. Do you expect to be running any other kind of programs or perhaps 3D games?

An 020 will not be enough for web browsing, mp3 playback etc. An 030 will give a bit more oomph but still not really enough for web+mp3. The price is also about double that of an 020 so it quickly goes up. For web+mp3 you need an 040/060 but they come with seriously hefty price tags. :-)

In regards to WHDLoad, the only 'problem' with the ACA1221ec is the memory size if you want to play large adventure games with preload, for example those with speech, but it should do fine for 99% of old school games.

And yes, with Maprom you do not need a physical 3.1 ROM chip since you can load it from a .rom file (which is easy to find online). You can use any compatible CF card and install ClassicWB on it, however you will still need to partition the card and do some manual steps to get it installed which is not too simple if you've never it before. Buying a pre-installed card is a bit more expensive but is a very easy way to get started.

Another cheap way would be to just find some nice person who will share an image of their CF card with everything already installed, so you can just write it to a suitable card, connect it inside the Amiga and turn it on. :-)

[richfr]

I will only be playing games so will need something that will run 3D well.

If some really nice person can help me out with an image of a CF card I could go that route but the Cloanto cards aren't much more and as you say will get me going without messing around.
This is what I think I will be ordering then will decide on an accelerator.
https://amigastore.eu/en/165-compact...sandisk.html#/ Might as well get the 8gb for price difference
https://amigastore.eu/en/300-workben...cloanto.html#/ 44 pin adaptor with 44 pin to CF cable 16gb card
https://amigastore.eu/en/457-capacit...for-a1200.html

Have been looking at screen solutions. RGB to scart would work but I would still need to find a thin tv with scart, maybe if I got a RGB to scart then find a scart to HDMI converter I can use my current 24" PC screen?
Would an old CRT be any good? Have read the picures are unbeatable for the Amiga. I guess I would need RGB to VGA adaptor for that and can find the screen cheap but they are huge could do without a huge screen but if the picture is better. Be good if I could put a PS1 on it too maybe a Megadrive if I can find one later.


Thanks again for the help.

[Mr. Toast]

I recently went through the same experience with my first A1200 (stock but came with a CF install). RAM upgrade was top priority as WHD Load overhead on a classic WB setup means most games will refuse to start (unless they're DF0: games). 4MB RAM expansion is sufficient for most WHD Load titles. 8MB means that you lose the PCMCIA transportability-unless you look to accelerator options.

I am very happy to have a GOTEK setup as well for a reliable solution. But RAM was the first priority.

[demolition]

Are you sure that you need something that can run 3D well? There are very few 3D games for the Amiga and it seems excessive to pay an extra 200 EUR just to be able to run a couple of games.. Notice that many of the old 3D games like Stunt Car Racer will run the same speed no matter which CPU you have so buying a faster accelerator to play those would just be a waste of clock cycles.

RGB to SCART is a good solution but SCART to HDMI converters are generally not good in my experience, particularly for gaming since they usually have a high latency. There's some good solutions like the Open Source Scan Converter but it is not exactly cheap. A plain LCD TV with SCART is a decent and cheap solution. I regularly see people throwing out working 32" LCD TVs simply because they want something newer and larger. Can't get much cheaper than free. :-)

You cannot use a PC VGA monitor for the Amiga since it cannot handle PAL resolutions. If you want CRT, either go with a CRT TV with SCART or a monitor like a 1084S or CM8833-II. Nice as they can be, CRT TVs are quite bulky as you say so they are generally not too desirable.

[richfr]

I aren't sure of anything that's good then I dont need the expensive accelerator.
Havent seen any 4mb ram upgrades, thanks will see what I can find but the ACA1221ec would do away with changing the ROM chips so might be the better option.

Used TVs etc tend to be expensive in France will have a look around I guess I need a non widescreen or it will look stretched? (might check parents loft might find something)

Again thanks for all the help looking forward to playing some game on it

[demolition]

Think of it this way - most Amiga games were designed specifically to run on an A500 with a 7 MHz 68000 so there's little point in having a faster CPU. Actually with WHDLoad, many games have delays added make them run properly on machines with faster CPUs.

Widescreen should be fine - most TVs have the option to change the aspect ratio so you can disable the stretching.

[richfr]

Thanks again for the help have ordered the above less the accelerator will get that once I get it up and running