Need a little help getting started...

stevecole · 17 April 2009, 21:17

Hello. I need to tap someone's knowledge.

Here's my current setup, cobbled together over the last month or so:

Amiga 1200, 3.0 roms
Blizzard IV 68030 @ 50Mhz + 8MB RAM
Internal slimline CD-ROM
IDE CF card HDD mod, 1GB, wb 3.0 installed
PCMCIA CF adapter

I'm getting more RAM asap, either 64 or 128MB, whatever comes along first. I also plan to get a bunch of CF cards and install various systems and set-ups (3.5 and 3.9 once I upgrade the ROMs), the IDE/CF mod sticks out the back of the computer so it's easy to access and change HDD. Only problem is I need a hand to get started...

I'm an Amiga novice. I gamed on a 500+ when I was a kid (around 1990) and again for a short while when I dug the 500 out of storage about 10 years later but I have no (nada, zilch) experience with hard drives and installing stuff. What I want to have sharpish is a bunch of games installed on the hard drive and ready to play at the touch of a button, floppies suck.

From wide reading I understand the general principles of what I need to do but I haven't been able to get the level of understanding I need from the various forums and tutorials. There's a general expectation of knowledge in most discussions that leaves me playing catch up. And where I only get the odd hour or so here and there to devote to the Amiga it's hard to patch all the cracks!

So, can some kind soul give me a really basic and easy to understand lesson in getting files from my PC to my Amiga via my PCMCIA/CF card interface and getting them installed and operational?

I will be forever in your debt. And I do catch on fast, I just need my hand held for the first leap into the void...

Cheers!
Steve

prowler · 17 April 2009, 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevecole

Here's my current setup, cobbled together over the last month or so:

Amiga 1200, 3.0 roms
Blizzard IV 68030 @ 50Mhz + 8MB RAM
Internal slimline CD-ROM
IDE CF card HDD mod, 1GB, wb 3.0 installed
PCMCIA CF adapter

... can some kind soul give me a really basic and easy to understand lesson in getting files from my PC to my Amiga via my PCMCIA/CF card interface and getting them installed and operational?

Cheers!
Steve

Hi Steve,

The first thing you will need to do is configure your Amiga so that it will mount CF cards inserted into the PCMCIA adapter. Try to keep the adapter plugged into the PCMCIA port at all times and insert/remove the CF cards when you change them. The PCMCIA port pins are easily bent/broken and almost impossible to repair. Leaving the adapter in place will protect them.

Go to Aminet
http://aminet.net/search

Download cfd.lha, fat95.lha, cardpatch.lha and cardreset.lha using your PC.

Extract them using WinRAR.

Transfer the extracted files to your Amiga using a 720kB DOS-formatted floppy disk which your Amiga OS 3.0 will mount using its built-in CrossDOS
filesystem.

Insert lines for cardpatch and cardreset in your startup-sequence (see the docs)

Copy compactflash.device to DEVS: and CF0 to Devs/Dosdrivers

Copy fat95 to L:

Then you'll be able to transfer files back and forth between your PC and Amiga by using the CF card mounted in either machine.

My thanks go to BlueAchenar and Retro-Nerd for supplying some of these instructions to me originally.

Hope this helps you get started,

prowler

DoogUK · 18 April 2009, 00:21

Just burn all your fav games/proggys to cd and transfer em that way....1 cd holds a lot and i mean a LOT of amiga games/proggys/mods.

Yoto · 18 April 2009, 00:23

Hello Steve, and welcome to EAB!

When choosing a CF card please keep in mind that not all of them may work. So check this thread.
As for the adapters, most of them work with no problems, try to choose one that reads only the CF format. If you plan to use other cards such as SD and so on, i would advice you to purchase the adapter (multi card reader) sold by AmigaKit.
Here goes other usefull links that will help you install stuff.
(Useful for a real Amiga and WinUAE)
http://guide.abime.net/home.htm
http://classicwb.abime.net/

WHDLoad Games and Demos
http://www.whdownload.com/games.php?name=%&sort=0&dir=0
http://kgwhd.whdownload.com/

Also check here to get aquanted with many amiga utilities,terms and basic shell commands.
http://www.ghira.mistral.co.uk/amiga/utils.html

PS:
Some games like "Moonstone" may not run, to solve this you may have to install an utility called Skick346 and register WHDLOAD.

Good luck!

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 10:02

Thanks guys, that's helpful, I'll have a go at it shortly.

I don't have a floppy drive on my PC, so will have to stick these initial files on a CD. Bearing that in mind, I think I'll take Doogs advice and transfer as much as I can now. I do want to have the CF card transfer malarky setup though, so much easier to transfer the odd game here and there than CD! Better for the environment too if I'm not burning dozens of CD-R every month to transfer a few hundred KB! haha.

The CF card I think will be OK. I stuck it in my Amiga yesterday and it popped straight up on screen as "Canon EOS" and I could open the folder on the card and view the camera RAW files on there. I wondered for a few seconds if there was a plug in for Deluxe Paint 4 that could open Canon 1Ds RAW files... ;-) I'll format the card in my camera but then what do I do? Guessing follow the steps above first and then stick card in and go to drop down menu and select "format" ???

:-D

DoogUK · 18 April 2009, 10:34

you can actualy keep writing to a cd until it is full up if you dont "close" the cd.

One cd lasts me several months of transfers.

Gordon · 18 April 2009, 11:33

How do you get round the file name problem Doog? when i do it, it only accepts 3 character extentions, so for a .slave, it becomes .sla etc

DoogUK · 18 April 2009, 11:40

i dont have that problem, do you have joliet/long filenames support in your cd filesystem?

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 12:03

A-HA! I have made progress, I think...

Prowler, I checked to see if what you said was already on the Amiga and it is! Huzzah! So, I can skip that step.

I stuck the CF card in and did "quick format" (just "format" wouldn't work) and have now put that in my card reader on my PC. It mounted straight away as a drive and the file system is FAT. Does that all sound gravy so far??

I just downloaded WHDLoad and unpacked it, then dragged the folder tto the CF card. Going to drag a bunch of .adf files on too and the matching stuff from whdownload.com. Is it as simple as dragging to the Amiga desktop???

:-D

prowler · 18 April 2009, 12:31

Hi Steve,

I see you've made some progress. Well done!

I don't use WHDLoad myself, but whenever I introduce new programs onto my amiga I use a separate partition on my hard disk, which I have formatted as a separate drive "Work:".

The documentation which comes with WHDLoad will tell you if there is a technique for installing the software, or there might be an installer program included.

Other than what the WHDLoad instructions tell you to do, you are free to drag the files anywhere you like. So, if you don't have a separate 'scratch' drive to use for this, I suggest you create a folder on your Amiga hard drive to hold these files until a more convenient approach occurs to you.

Personally, I don't like littering the desktop with such files, as it makes things look very messy.

Good luck!

prowler

PS. I'm not sure that dragging a file from your CF card to the Amiga desktop actually copies the file, but only modifies the file's icon to 'leave it out' on the desktop. I may be confusing Amiga OS behaviour with that of Mac OS here, so you'll have to try it yourself to be sure.

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 13:15

hey Prowler. Thanks again, good advice. I too don't like cluttering my desktops, my macbook and G5 desktops are completely clear apart from the hard drive icon and a couple of folders for whatever my current photo projects are.

Well, I'm really pleased. I've got whdload installed, feel confident about transferring stuff n the card and about installing things. What made me even more happy was realising that the downloads from whdownload are ready to go, no need for mucking about with original disks! I just doubleclicked the icon and the game loaded straight away, from my pcmcia cf card!!! Sure I'll find a tidier solution in due course, but for the time being that'll do!!!

Taking my son out now but will be back later with more questions as they come to me :-D

Thanks again, this is a great community!!!

prowler · 18 April 2009, 13:21

Hey Steve,

Did you see my edit above about dragging files to the desktop? What is your experience of this? Have you tested it / can you test it, please?

prowler

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 15:50

I've just got back in and read that. I dragged the folders to the desktop and that moved it from the CF card to the desktop (ie; it wasn't on the card anymore). I think. I'll check again shortly...

DoogUK · 18 April 2009, 16:16

Here's a suggestion...get a bigger ram stick for that blizzard

prowler · 18 April 2009, 16:17

Hi Steve,

Thanks. Normally, dragging from one logical disk drive to another will copy the file, whereas dragging from one location to another on the same disk will move the file. I'm not sure what happens when you use the desktop.

It sounds as if the folders have been moved, but to where? If the desktop is stored on the hard drive. then the files should only have been copied. Do you see what I mean?

prowler

Yoto · 18 April 2009, 16:36

It does not really move the file, its only a visual aid. Dragging the file to the Desktop area "moves" the file only visually, but the file remains in its original place.

prowler · 18 April 2009, 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yotoxionomai

It does not really move the file, its only a visual aid. Dragging the file to the Desktop area "moves" the file only visually, but the file remains in its original place.

Hi Yotoxionomai,

Thanks, mate. That's what I had assumed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

PS. I'm not sure that dragging a file from your CF card to the Amiga desktop actually copies the file, but only modifies the file's icon to 'leave it out' on the desktop. I may be confusing Amiga OS behaviour with that of Mac OS here, so you'll have to try it yourself to be sure.

What you've said confirms it.

prowler

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 20:55

Well, I've got my transferring card about a quarter full of games now (1GB card). Been reliving some memories as well as taking the chance to play some stuff I never got round to first time. Ah, brilliant! Going to spend a bit more time tinkering with this, decide what I want to install on my HDD.

I do have another question. 1200s have 2MB chip RAM, right? Why does it only say that there is 1MB then along the top of the workbench screen? See attached picture:

I may just be being stupid. Feel free to brandish the clue stick at me.

Whilst I'm posting pictures...

Here's my baby. She's a little yellow and the previous owner was a bit ragged with the case adding the internal CD and external CF HDD, as well as changing the floppy, but I have plans to spruce her up and paint her matt black, finished off with CDTV keys. Ahhhhhh, lovely.

And here she is in situ in my den. I think she's in rather good company here!

Need to go to Ikea and buy another table though...

Steve

prowler · 18 April 2009, 21:00

Hi Steve,

What is shown is the free memory. You're using the rest of it!

prowler

stevecole · 18 April 2009, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Hi Steve,

What is shown is the free memory. You're using the rest of it!

prowler

Do you know, I thought of that shortly after I sent that... So it was just me being stupid! :-D

17 April 2009, 21:17	#1
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	Need a little help getting started... Hello. I need to tap someone's knowledge. Here's my current setup, cobbled together over the last month or so: Amiga 1200, 3.0 roms Blizzard IV 68030 @ 50Mhz + 8MB RAM Internal slimline CD-ROM IDE CF card HDD mod, 1GB, wb 3.0 installed PCMCIA CF adapter I'm getting more RAM asap, either 64 or 128MB, whatever comes along first. I also plan to get a bunch of CF cards and install various systems and set-ups (3.5 and 3.9 once I upgrade the ROMs), the IDE/CF mod sticks out the back of the computer so it's easy to access and change HDD. Only problem is I need a hand to get started... I'm an Amiga novice. I gamed on a 500+ when I was a kid (around 1990) and again for a short while when I dug the 500 out of storage about 10 years later but I have no (nada, zilch) experience with hard drives and installing stuff. What I want to have sharpish is a bunch of games installed on the hard drive and ready to play at the touch of a button, floppies suck. From wide reading I understand the general principles of what I need to do but I haven't been able to get the level of understanding I need from the various forums and tutorials. There's a general expectation of knowledge in most discussions that leaves me playing catch up. And where I only get the odd hour or so here and there to devote to the Amiga it's hard to patch all the cracks! So, can some kind soul give me a really basic and easy to understand lesson in getting files from my PC to my Amiga via my PCMCIA/CF card interface and getting them installed and operational? I will be forever in your debt. And I do catch on fast, I just need my hand held for the first leap into the void... Cheers! Steve

18 April 2009, 00:23	#4
Yoto 1 Potato to Spam´em all! Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lost in a Wine Country Age: 48 Posts: 572	Hello Steve, and welcome to EAB! When choosing a CF card please keep in mind that not all of them may work. So check this thread. As for the adapters, most of them work with no problems, try to choose one that reads only the CF format. If you plan to use other cards such as SD and so on, i would advice you to purchase the adapter (multi card reader) sold by AmigaKit. Here goes other usefull links that will help you install stuff. (Useful for a real Amiga and WinUAE) http://guide.abime.net/home.htm http://classicwb.abime.net/ WHDLoad Games and Demos http://www.whdownload.com/games.php?name=%&sort=0&dir=0 http://kgwhd.whdownload.com/ Also check here to get aquanted with many amiga utilities,terms and basic shell commands. http://www.ghira.mistral.co.uk/amiga/utils.html PS: Some games like "Moonstone" may not run, to solve this you may have to install an utility called Skick346 and register WHDLOAD. Good luck! Last edited by Yoto; 18 April 2009 at 01:47.

18 April 2009, 12:31	#10
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Steve, I see you've made some progress. Well done! I don't use WHDLoad myself, but whenever I introduce new programs onto my amiga I use a separate partition on my hard disk, which I have formatted as a separate drive "Work:". The documentation which comes with WHDLoad will tell you if there is a technique for installing the software, or there might be an installer program included. Other than what the WHDLoad instructions tell you to do, you are free to drag the files anywhere you like. So, if you don't have a separate 'scratch' drive to use for this, I suggest you create a folder on your Amiga hard drive to hold these files until a more convenient approach occurs to you. Personally, I don't like littering the desktop with such files, as it makes things look very messy. Good luck! prowler PS. I'm not sure that dragging a file from your CF card to the Amiga desktop actually copies the file, but only modifies the file's icon to 'leave it out' on the desktop. I may be confusing Amiga OS behaviour with that of Mac OS here, so you'll have to try it yourself to be sure. Last edited by prowler; 18 April 2009 at 13:17.

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18 April 2009, 00:21	#3
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	Just burn all your fav games/proggys to cd and transfer em that way....1 cd holds a lot and i mean a LOT of amiga games/proggys/mods.

18 April 2009, 10:02	#5
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	Thanks guys, that's helpful, I'll have a go at it shortly. I don't have a floppy drive on my PC, so will have to stick these initial files on a CD. Bearing that in mind, I think I'll take Doogs advice and transfer as much as I can now. I do want to have the CF card transfer malarky setup though, so much easier to transfer the odd game here and there than CD! Better for the environment too if I'm not burning dozens of CD-R every month to transfer a few hundred KB! haha. The CF card I think will be OK. I stuck it in my Amiga yesterday and it popped straight up on screen as "Canon EOS" and I could open the folder on the card and view the camera RAW files on there. I wondered for a few seconds if there was a plug in for Deluxe Paint 4 that could open Canon 1Ds RAW files... ;-) I'll format the card in my camera but then what do I do? Guessing follow the steps above first and then stick card in and go to drop down menu and select "format" ??? :-D

18 April 2009, 10:34	#6
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	you can actualy keep writing to a cd until it is full up if you dont "close" the cd. One cd lasts me several months of transfers.

18 April 2009, 11:33	#7
Gordon Settler Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Serf City Posts: 1,760	How do you get round the file name problem Doog? when i do it, it only accepts 3 character extentions, so for a .slave, it becomes .sla etc

18 April 2009, 11:40	#8
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	i dont have that problem, do you have joliet/long filenames support in your cd filesystem?

18 April 2009, 12:03	#9
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	A-HA! I have made progress, I think... Prowler, I checked to see if what you said was already on the Amiga and it is! Huzzah! So, I can skip that step. I stuck the CF card in and did "quick format" (just "format" wouldn't work) and have now put that in my card reader on my PC. It mounted straight away as a drive and the file system is FAT. Does that all sound gravy so far?? I just downloaded WHDLoad and unpacked it, then dragged the folder tto the CF card. Going to drag a bunch of .adf files on too and the matching stuff from whdownload.com. Is it as simple as dragging to the Amiga desktop??? :-D

18 April 2009, 13:15	#11
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	hey Prowler. Thanks again, good advice. I too don't like cluttering my desktops, my macbook and G5 desktops are completely clear apart from the hard drive icon and a couple of folders for whatever my current photo projects are. Well, I'm really pleased. I've got whdload installed, feel confident about transferring stuff n the card and about installing things. What made me even more happy was realising that the downloads from whdownload are ready to go, no need for mucking about with original disks! I just doubleclicked the icon and the game loaded straight away, from my pcmcia cf card!!! Sure I'll find a tidier solution in due course, but for the time being that'll do!!! Taking my son out now but will be back later with more questions as they come to me :-D Thanks again, this is a great community!!!

18 April 2009, 13:21	#12
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hey Steve, Did you see my edit above about dragging files to the desktop? What is your experience of this? Have you tested it / can you test it, please? prowler

18 April 2009, 15:50	#13
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	I've just got back in and read that. I dragged the folders to the desktop and that moved it from the CF card to the desktop (ie; it wasn't on the card anymore). I think. I'll check again shortly...

18 April 2009, 16:16	#14
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	Here's a suggestion...get a bigger ram stick for that blizzard

18 April 2009, 16:17	#15
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Steve, Thanks. Normally, dragging from one logical disk drive to another will copy the file, whereas dragging from one location to another on the same disk will move the file. I'm not sure what happens when you use the desktop. It sounds as if the folders have been moved, but to where? If the desktop is stored on the hard drive. then the files should only have been copied. Do you see what I mean? prowler

18 April 2009, 16:36	#16
Yoto 1 Potato to Spam´em all! Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lost in a Wine Country Age: 48 Posts: 572	It does not really move the file, its only a visual aid. Dragging the file to the Desktop area "moves" the file only visually, but the file remains in its original place.

18 April 2009, 20:55	#18
stevecole Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kent Posts: 28	Well, I've got my transferring card about a quarter full of games now (1GB card). Been reliving some memories as well as taking the chance to play some stuff I never got round to first time. Ah, brilliant! Going to spend a bit more time tinkering with this, decide what I want to install on my HDD. I do have another question. 1200s have 2MB chip RAM, right? Why does it only say that there is 1MB then along the top of the workbench screen? See attached picture: I may just be being stupid. Feel free to brandish the clue stick at me. Whilst I'm posting pictures... Here's my baby. She's a little yellow and the previous owner was a bit ragged with the case adding the internal CD and external CF HDD, as well as changing the floppy, but I have plans to spruce her up and paint her matt black, finished off with CDTV keys. Ahhhhhh, lovely. And here she is in situ in my den. I think she's in rather good company here! Need to go to Ikea and buy another table though... Steve

18 April 2009, 21:00	#19
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Steve, What is shown is the free memory. You're using the rest of it! prowler

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