WHDLOAD Help

[Dreedo]

Yes im back, everyones worst nightmare to deal with. :/ I don't enjoy asking these questions anymore than you guys like answering them. :P

I was just wondering if the WHDLoad method of playing Amiga games is similar to the usual put games on a CF card then transfer them to an Amiga floppy to play.

Do you have to open your Amiga up and do some technical things to install a HD? And then use a CF card to copy whdload onto the HD? Then use CF to copy amiga games from the CF to the HD, where they can be played via WHDLoad? Or am i getting it totally wrong?

Really sorry about all these questions :P.

Thanks.

[fitzsteve]

Hi Dreedo,

Its no trouble to answer your questions, so don't worry

I'm guessing this is for your A600 right?

If you want to play WHDLoad games on your A600 you will need a Ram expansion, I don't think any games will run from 1mb Ram so you'll need at least a 1mb Chip Ram upgrade. This fits in the trapdoor and unless you get an A603 you won't need to open your A600 to fit it.

However even with 2mb Ram not many games will run, just your 1 disk games from the A500 days so you'll probably want a 2mb SRAM card, this fits in the PCMCIA port and will give you a total of 4mb Ram enough to play many WHDLoad games

But this does to start to get expensive once you take in to account these upgrades you may be better off getting an A1200 and an 8mb Ram upgrade if you can afford that as it will give you a much better WHDLoad experience and you'll be able to enjoy AGA games as well.

Now to fit a hard drive you will need to open your Amiga, on the A600 there are 4 screws to remove underneath and the case unclips, but do this carefully and be also aware that the LED cables can easily break so you need to take care and unclip those as you are taking the case apart. Next step is to locate the IDE header and install you CF card or HDD.

For preparing the CF or HDD prior to install I suggest using WinUAE, at some point I really must write a step by step guide for this, but if you decide after reading all the above you want to go ahead we can cover it here.

Also, you will need at least 37.300 Rom on your A600 to run a CF-IDE or HDD and even then some larger drives require 37.350 - you can tell what revision you have from the Disk Splash screen.

Hope that helps,

Steve.

[Dreedo]

OK thanks alot for the details.

Geez i wish the Amiga was more user friendly . Possibly the most complicated piece of technology since the PC itself.

And as i've said before, someone should start selling things for Amiga's via Amazon UK, would make it much easier for me to buy things.

[Dreedo]

Mmmm having a lot of trouble removing the middle screw (with the warranty sticker over it) seems almost impossible to turn. :/

[Jimbo]

Steve has told you everything, but I want to stress what Steve said about the led wires. I snapped 2 when doing this, they can be very brittle. I fixed it but it was tricky with my limited skills.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by Dreedo

Mmmm having a lot of trouble removing the middle screw (with the warranty sticker over it) seems almost impossible to turn. :/

To be honest, unless you have all the bits to do the upgrade its probably not worth pulling it apart as you risk damaging it for no gain.

[Dreedo]

Aye your right, decided to go for a safer route and not ruin my A600, im not too good at being gentle.

Got all the screws out but case refused to come off around floppy drive area so decided to quickly put it back together again. :P

Thanks for all your help nontheless.

Might as well focus my attention on fixing my Amiga Tank Mouse now hehe.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by Dreedo

Aye your right, decided to go for a safer route and not ruin my A600, im not too good at being gentle.

Got all the screws out but case refused to come off around floppy drive area so decided to quickly put it back together again. :P

Thanks for all your help nontheless.

Might as well focus my attention on fixing my Amiga Tank Mouse now hehe.

Good call, its very easy to break the LED cables and clips on the case. The A600 is probably the most difficault of the wedge shaped Amiga's to get open.

There are clips at the sides by the floppy drive and oposite side and also clips along the back and they're fragile and break if you're not gentle.

For a fully WHDLoad friendly Amiga I really suggest an A1200 anyway, with a ram upgrade and 4gb CF Hard Drive you're looking at about £80-£100 all in unless you really shop around.

All the best,

Steve.