Newbie 1200 questions.

[thefunkygibbon]

Hi guys/gals, new here so a big hello from me.

Used to have a 500 many years ago and recently been given a 1200 so wanted to get it all up and running

I've now put a 4gb laptop drive into the box (as i read that its a bit pointless putting larger drives in as it doesnt use the bigger space)

so so far i have the following questions and would really appricate any pointers

1) I've got the media for workbench 3.0 and 3.1, I also have latest amiga forever (2008 i think it is) and have found from searching, AmigaSYS4. Can I just use the system folder from amiga forever on the drive and expect it to work fine (i read that it is 3.9) or should i stick with 3.0/3.1? Is amigasys4 worth using... how can i install it if using amiga forever's system folder?
edit:
1.5) is kickstart 3.1 the latest kickstart available? i've seen references to 3.5 and 3.9 but also read that they were fake?? what differences will getting new kickstart roms give me? (i've got 3.0c in mine currently)

I've got a squirrel interface and also a couple of pcmcia network cards (3com 10bt one and a buffallo 11mb wireless (uses prism chipset I think which i read works on amigas).. I would like to put a cd/dvd drive into the 1200 (got a spare laptop one) but didnt know if the best so I think the best way would be to use the internal IDE. but
2) can I get hold of a cable which will do the job? the laptop connector i think should be this
and the "ide splitter" I have found is this one although there is a much more expensive splitter which mentions cd drives on it, so i guess my question is can i use the one I just linked to run the hard drive and the dvd drive or can it only be done with the more expensive cable (this one) I didnt much fancy forking out £30+ on something I was hoping to do with spare bits and bobs i had lying around.


umm i guess thats it for the time being. if you've got this far then thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings.

andrew
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=532

[JuvUK]

Hi,
here are some relavent links

http://amibay.com/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=1165

and

http://amibay.com/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=1251

i'd use a buffered ide interface for the cd/dvd drive, as for the roms 3.1 is the latest (real) roms but there are people (far smarter than I) that make thier own roms, i believe it helps free up chip ram and some slight speed increases (correct me if i'm wrong guys) but these are hard to get hold of unless you know someone that has already burnt some roms and is willing to sell them.

cheers, JuvUK

[thefunkygibbon]

thanks, I know someone who has an eeprom writing device thing that he's used to make kickstart roms before. (just need to know which eeprom chips to buy and to know if its actually worth it)

[hit]

as JuvUK wrote, 3.1 was last kickstart in hardware. Workbench 3.5 and 3.9 came with some kickstart fixes in software, which can be combined with kick 3.1 and finaly burned as a new kickstart. i guess you can get the correct eeprom types here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=21599
here you find the tools to extract and build the kickstart of your choice: http://www.doobreynet.co.uk/flash.html (Remus and Romsplit).

but i wont start this way, use what you have and get a working system.
http://amigasys.extra.hu/amiga.html#Install: has instructions on how to install the system in different ways.
AmigaSys works with kick/wb 3.x but also with wb 3.5 / 3.9.

4GB harddrive is ok, but you have to partition it. startup volume must not bigger than 2GB (IIRC).

do you have an expansion for this a1200, something in the expansion slot? for wb/kick 3.9 its suggested to have a 030/50MHz or 040/060 system. more ram is always good, at least 8MB.

[thefunkygibbon]

yes I have a expansion card in there.. i'll get details of it later. not sure if it is any good or not.

[Thorham]

Welcome to the board, thefunkygibbon

Originally Posted by thefunkygibbon

I've now put a 4gb laptop drive into the box (as i read that its a bit pointless putting larger drives in as it doesnt use the bigger space)

The 4gb limit is caused by the driver not handling larger than 4gb drives properly. There are several solutions available for this, and they are all software based, no extra hardware needed.

Just thought you might want to know, because hds don't last for ever, and buying a new hd is always the best thing to do. Without the extra software, you can still use new drives, you just can't use more than 4gb of it.

[thefunkygibbon]

well i have got a 20gb drive kicking about I could use i guess. I just thought that having about 10 diff partitions would cause a bit of a headache

also, I dont suppose there is any tool to "mount" adf files is there? like a amiga floppy version of daemon tools? I know there is WHDLoad but that is a bit different.

[TheCorfiot]

@thefunkygibbon

Hello there my friend,

Just a bit of advice, you can use HD's> than 4GB such as your 20GB however, you cannot allocate more than 4GB max of the total HD. so as a guide.

1) Max of 4GB can be partitioned for Amiga use & must be at beginning of HD
2) each partition must be < 2GB max

OF course using OS3.9 or even SFS you can use the entire drive...

Now regarding your second question, have a browse on Aminet, it does appear to me however that you could do with a superb professional pre-configured Workbench Enviroment and for that I have to recomend our own Bloodwych's Classic Workbench Packs, new versions being released any day.

TC

[thefunkygibbon]

Thanks guys.

FYI i tried last night to boot the machine using the system folder from the amiga forever and i just get a CLI screen saying SETPATCH (i think, i'm not near it now) is not a valid executable
i tried deleting the contents of the boot partition and putting the backup stuff from my 3.1 install i made and still get the same message which i thought was a tad bizarre.

Am i right in thinking i need kickstart 3.1 to run os3.9?

Also another quick question, i've got about 4 amiga rgb > scart cables but when i plug them into my telly (32" sammy lcd) i just get nothing.. well i say nothing but in one scart socket i get black and the other i get white (one is a rgb scart) do you think its my amiga that is knackered or could it be the telly not liking the output from the amiga (or do i need to do something else to get it to work)

[JuvUK]

to be fair the tv should show an image my Samsung 42" has not troubles

[thefunkygibbon]

cant seem to download the bloodwych workbench files.. files offline for now

cant seem to get hdtools to see my 20gb drive to mount it.
agh

SETPATCH not executable .. would that be kickstart related? i have put the drive into a usb caddy and used winuae and it boots it fine

is there any way of mounting it in winuae without it wanting to boot from that drive instead of the main one?

[prowler]

Originally Posted by thefunkygibbon

Also another quick question, i've got about 4 amiga rgb > scart cables but when i plug them into my telly (32" sammy lcd) i just get nothing.. well i say nothing but in one scart socket i get black and the other i get white (one is a rgb scart) do you think its my amiga that is knackered or could it be the telly not liking the output from the amiga (or do i need to do something else to get it to work)

The Amiga RGB to SCART cables you have are probably compatible with older CRT TVs (you could try one of them with an older television to confirm this).

Modern LCD and Plasma screen TVs are more fussy regarding the RGB signals and require a modified cable, and it is this type of cable which is more widely available now.

Keep an eye out for mention of Amiga RGB to SCART cables in the threads, as details of the more recent cable are sure to appear soon (well, let's hope so, anyway ).

prowler

[prowler]

@thefunkygibbon:

girv has just posted details of the long-awaited Amiga to RGB SCART cable suitable for LCD and plasma TVs here:
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=492721&postcount=11

[thefunkygibbon]

wow thanks prowler. that is great info.

pity i dont have anything other than the main pc tv to check the cables out on but hopefully its just dodgy old cables which arent compatible.

do you think it would be just a matter of swapping a couple of wires over in an existing cable or would i need to grab some resistors too?

cheers again chap.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by thefunkygibbon

do you think it would be just a matter of swapping a couple of wires over in an existing cable or would i need to grab some resistors too?

Yes, it looks like it's just a matter of swapping wires. The links made via resistors appear common to both type of cable.

Good luck!

prowler

[thefunkygibbon]

well i've opened up all 4 of my cables and it seems that none have any resistors so god knows how they previously managed to work! looks like i'll be visiting maplin to grab some resistors at some point soon.

[thefunkygibbon]

another quick question, I suppose i could put each one in its own thread but i'll see how much attention i get this way instead... really appreciate all you guys help here. love the community spirit.


the hard drive i have in the 1200 currently, when i browse to folders which have a fair few files in them, i seem to get disk errors (cant rememeber the exact error)
knackered drive i thought... but when i put the same drive in pc and used winuae to browse the same folders i didnt get those errors at all.

running 3.1 workbench and kickstart 3.0 , its a 4gb drive partitioned into 2.

could it be worthwhile trying to source someone to burning me some kickstart 3.1 roms?

[rkauer]

Not a partitioning error, but maybe bad capacitors causing ripple on the +5V line, who causes those random errors.

Also check the voltage level on the +5V line, who must be in the 4.85 to 5.05 range for reliable operation.

[TheCorfiot]

I would check your maxtransfer settings too

TC

[DoogUK]

Originally Posted by TheCorfiot

@thefunkygibbon

Hello there my friend,

Just a bit of advice, you can use HD's> than 4GB such as your 20GB however, you cannot allocate more than 4GB max of the total HD. so as a guide.

1) Max of 4GB can be partitioned for Amiga use & must be at beginning of HD
2) each partition must be < 2GB max

OF course using OS3.9 or even SFS you can use the entire drive...

Now regarding your second question, have a browse on Aminet, it does appear to me however that you could do with a superb professional pre-configured Workbench Enviroment and for that I have to recomend our own Bloodwych's Classic Workbench Packs, new versions being released any day.

TC

Another option is using idefix97...the boot partition can then be just under 4gb, i have been using this option with no problems.