Can I install Amix on a regular 3000 without a tape drive?

joethezombie · 11 February 2019, 03:02

First off, can I use a regular A3000? Or did the A3000UX have some special hardware?

Second, I don't have a tape drive. I've read some tricks to image the tape archive to a hard drive, then edit the installer script. But all the links explaining how to do this are dead. Anyone know?

Noth · 12 February 2019, 00:16

Yes you can install on a stock A3000 so long as you have a 6030 with MMU & FPU and enough RAM on the motherboard, not via a Zorro II/III board or an accelerator. The A3000UX is tricked out with a network card (A2065) and a tape drive ( A3070) and sometimes if you're lucky a graphics card (A2410). These are all very nice to have but you don't need them to run AMIX.

The best way to get AMIX on without a tape drive would probably be using the Workbench version of the dd command, available on Aminet http://aminet.net/disk/misc/dd.lzh. Prepare an installation of AMIX in WinUAE using a drive the exact size of the combined boot+root+swap partitions of AMIX and then transfer over to the Amiga on the Workbench side and write them into place using dd. You're going to need to repartition your Workbench installation for all this, and Amiga partitioning isn't for the faint of heart using the stock HD tools. Here are the codes for the various partition types (from the rdb manpage):

Code:

     0x444f5300      DOS\0        AmigaDOS old filesystem
     0x444f5301      DOS\1        AmigaDOS fast filesystem (ffs)
     0x554e4900      UNI\0        Unix boot partition
     0x554e4901      UNI\1        Unix s5 filesystem
     0x554e4902      UNI\2        Unix ufs filesystem
     0x72657376      RESV         Reserved partition (Unix swap)

I suggest you practice all this in WinUAE and get the steps down pat before trying on real hardware. Don't bother if you have less than 8 megs of Fast Ram, it'll be dog slow, and 16 is really really recommended. Ideally you'd have two SCSI hard drives so you can keep Amiga and AMIX stuff separately. Also make sure your AMIX hard drive is on SCSI ID 6! This is is very important for the installer and probably the kernel too.

Tahoe · 12 February 2019, 13:11

If at all possible (meaning you have a SCSI controller in your PC, or are willing to get one) is to connect the SCSI drive to your PC and map the physical device to WinUAE. You can do the full tape install from WinUAE and then swap the drive in your A3000 and you're pretty much good to go. The HD hack method introduces new problems when it comes to for instance patching.

joethezombie · 12 February 2019, 21:09

Well, I'm planning to use SCSI2SD device. I think I can mount the partitions directly from the SD card? Problem is, I use FS-UAE, and I'm not sure FS-UAE supports SCSI Tape Drive.

Really, I haven't even searched much or even read the topics in here. I should brush up a bit before asking too many questions.

Noth · 12 February 2019, 22:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by joethezombie

Well, I'm planning to use SCSI2SD device. I think I can mount the partitions directly from the SD card? Problem is, I use FS-UAE, and I'm not sure FS-UAE supports SCSI Tape Drive.

Really, I haven't even searched much or even read the topics in here. I should brush up a bit before asking too many questions.

Then you should be able to install directly to the SD card. Fairly sure FS-UAE has tape drive support but otherwise use WinUAE in WINE? How much ram do you have in the A3000? Got a network card?

joethezombie · 12 February 2019, 23:54

I’ve 16MB RAM and I do have an A4066 EthernetPlus. Good thinking running winuae under wine if fs-uae gives me problems... Thanks!

Noth · 16 February 2019, 20:45

Managed to transfer the AMIX install to the A3000 yet? Your network card won't be recognized I'm afraid.

joethezombie · 17 February 2019, 00:15

Not yet. I've been playing around in the emulator for the moment. It'll be some days before I can get back to my real hardware. I'll be sure to update everyone when I can.

pneron · 22 February 2019, 20:10

Can I install AMIX on A2000...here are my specs: Blizzard 68060 SCSI-II DMA Controller 68060 @ 50 MHz?
I believe the specs are "High-End acceleration board for the AMIGA 2000 with 50 MH-68060 processor with FPU and MMU for
highest and maximum performance"
http://amiga.resource.cx/manual/Blizzard2060.pdf

mark_k · 22 February 2019, 20:44

No, AMIX requires a 68020 or 68030 and a Commodore SCSI controller (A2090 or A2091).

k0x · 22 February 2019, 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by joethezombie

I’ve 16MB RAM and I do have an A4066 EthernetPlus. Good thinking running winuae under wine if fs-uae gives me problems... Thanks!

So you are the "#$G#$#$r" who bought the 3000UX from amibay while breaking the forum rules?!

Hedeon · 23 February 2019, 01:40

Why not go for a NetBSD install?

tohtoris · 10 April 2019, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by joethezombie

Well, I'm planning to use SCSI2SD device. I think I can mount the partitions directly from the SD card? Problem is, I use FS-UAE, and I'm not sure FS-UAE supports SCSI Tape Drive.

Really, I haven't even searched much or even read the topics in here. I should brush up a bit before asking too many questions.

I have a scsi2sd v5 configured as 4 different "emulated" hard drives. To my knowledge the scsi2sd v5 can be mounted via usb, but if you have a configuration with several emulated harddrives (as I do), then it might get tricky. But I used a pci SCSI card on my linux pc to plug it in to my computer. Then I used Winuae to make the first part of the installation to a hardfile (wine cannot use devices such as hardrive directly), then wrote the file with dd to the scsi2sd and finished the installation on my amiga. This worked great! I filmed most of this an my goal was to document it to youtube, but never had time to finish it. Maybe one day.

Good luck

k0x · 13 April 2019, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by tohtoris

I filmed most of this an my goal was to document it to youtube, but never had time to finish it. Maybe one day.

Good luck

Looking forward seeing this on youtube!

11 February 2019, 03:02	#1
joethezombie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Idaho Posts: 24	Can I install Amix on a regular 3000 without a tape drive? First off, can I use a regular A3000? Or did the A3000UX have some special hardware? Second, I don't have a tape drive. I've read some tricks to image the tape archive to a hard drive, then edit the installer script. But all the links explaining how to do this are dead. Anyone know?

12 February 2019, 00:16	#2
Noth Registered User Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 184	Yes you can install on a stock A3000 so long as you have a 6030 with MMU & FPU and enough RAM on the motherboard, not via a Zorro II/III board or an accelerator. The A3000UX is tricked out with a network card (A2065) and a tape drive ( A3070) and sometimes if you're lucky a graphics card (A2410). These are all very nice to have but you don't need them to run AMIX. The best way to get AMIX on without a tape drive would probably be using the Workbench version of the dd command, available on Aminet http://aminet.net/disk/misc/dd.lzh. Prepare an installation of AMIX in WinUAE using a drive the exact size of the combined boot+root+swap partitions of AMIX and then transfer over to the Amiga on the Workbench side and write them into place using dd. You're going to need to repartition your Workbench installation for all this, and Amiga partitioning isn't for the faint of heart using the stock HD tools. Here are the codes for the various partition types (from the rdb manpage): Code: 0x444f5300 DOS\0 AmigaDOS old filesystem 0x444f5301 DOS\1 AmigaDOS fast filesystem (ffs) 0x554e4900 UNI\0 Unix boot partition 0x554e4901 UNI\1 Unix s5 filesystem 0x554e4902 UNI\2 Unix ufs filesystem 0x72657376 RESV Reserved partition (Unix swap) I suggest you practice all this in WinUAE and get the steps down pat before trying on real hardware. Don't bother if you have less than 8 megs of Fast Ram, it'll be dog slow, and 16 is really really recommended. Ideally you'd have two SCSI hard drives so you can keep Amiga and AMIX stuff separately. Also make sure your AMIX hard drive is on SCSI ID 6! This is is very important for the installer and probably the kernel too.

22 February 2019, 20:10	#9
pneron Registered User Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Boston MA Posts: 20	Can I install AMIX on A2000...here are my specs: Blizzard 68060 SCSI-II DMA Controller 68060 @ 50 MHz? I believe the specs are "High-End acceleration board for the AMIGA 2000 with 50 MH-68060 processor with FPU and MMU for highest and maximum performance" http://amiga.resource.cx/manual/Blizzard2060.pdf Last edited by pneron; 22 February 2019 at 20:19.

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12 February 2019, 13:11	#3
Tahoe Registered User Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Wilnis / Netherlands Posts: 9	If at all possible (meaning you have a SCSI controller in your PC, or are willing to get one) is to connect the SCSI drive to your PC and map the physical device to WinUAE. You can do the full tape install from WinUAE and then swap the drive in your A3000 and you're pretty much good to go. The HD hack method introduces new problems when it comes to for instance patching.

12 February 2019, 21:09	#4
joethezombie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Idaho Posts: 24	Well, I'm planning to use SCSI2SD device. I think I can mount the partitions directly from the SD card? Problem is, I use FS-UAE, and I'm not sure FS-UAE supports SCSI Tape Drive. Really, I haven't even searched much or even read the topics in here. I should brush up a bit before asking too many questions.

12 February 2019, 23:54	#6
joethezombie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Idaho Posts: 24	I’ve 16MB RAM and I do have an A4066 EthernetPlus. Good thinking running winuae under wine if fs-uae gives me problems... Thanks!

16 February 2019, 20:45	#7
Noth Registered User Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 184	Managed to transfer the AMIX install to the A3000 yet? Your network card won't be recognized I'm afraid.

17 February 2019, 00:15	#8
joethezombie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Idaho Posts: 24	Not yet. I've been playing around in the emulator for the moment. It'll be some days before I can get back to my real hardware. I'll be sure to update everyone when I can.

22 February 2019, 20:44	#10
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,335	No, AMIX requires a 68020 or 68030 and a Commodore SCSI controller (A2090 or A2091).

23 February 2019, 01:40	#12
Hedeon Semi-Retired Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Leiden / The Netherlands Posts: 1,993	Why not go for a NetBSD install?

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