Amiga questions you've always been too embarrassed to ask

[Leffmann]

I've always wondered what the system directory "L" stands for.

Originally Posted by Peter

I thnk my last question got missed... just wondered if any of you Amiga Guru's could answer this for me...

"When I install Class Action (including keyfile) I still get prompts to insert volume "progdir" and also "Bin" when clicking on actions.

What assigns do I have to make (and how) to rid myself of these requester's?"

Cheers...!

The PROGDIR: volume was introduced in Kickstart 2.0 and is automatically assigned for each program to the directory where the executable sits. It's possible Class Action requires KS 2.0 because you get this error dialog, but you can try opening a command line and running

assign PROGDIR: ram:classact

or wherever you extracted the archive, before running the installer.

[Mrs Beanbag]

L:

handLers?

[Leffmann]

Why not H: then? It has to be something else, but what

[quarkx]

Originally Posted by ajack

Anyone has experience installing an A500 motherboard into a PC housing?

Again, I too would say "don't".
if you sell it later, ANY mod actually hurts the resale Value of any Amiga, as 90% of buyers will demand as close to factory as possible.
Even so called "towered" units are Much Much harder to sell, unless they have something like a Mediator board.
"painted" units also are harder to sell, and don't get me on the topic of how many CD TV keyboards were butchered just so idiots could have black keys on their Amiga's. They should ALL be hunted down and shot!

[ransom1122]

I don't recall that image with a missing arm? Is the image above the original or corrected. Looks original to me. So what's the issue?

[ajack]

Originally Posted by quarkx

Again, I too would say "don't".
if you sell it later, ANY mod actually hurts the resale Value of any Amiga, as 90% of buyers will demand as close to factory as possible.
Even so called "towered" units are Much Much harder to sell, unless they have something like a Mediator board.
"painted" units also are harder to sell, and don't get me on the topic of how many CD TV keyboards were butchered just so idiots could have black keys on their Amiga's. They should ALL be hunted down and shot!

I asked because I have a spare motherboard which I initially got as a backup in case my A500 got kaput!

[quarkx]

Originally Posted by ajack

I asked because I have a spare motherboard which I initially got as a backup in case my A500 got kaput!

Go to ebay and look for a user named Airy36. He sells all sorts of parts for Amiga's. You can basically get a shell and all the parts you need, to put that Motherboard back in an A500 case. If you order slowly, piece by piece, you will save a whole bunch of money on shipping.
I order my A1200's that way and I pay basically half of what I would if I ordered one of his A1200 packages (shipping overseas i am talking about)

[ajack]

Originally Posted by quarkx

Go to ebay and look for a user named Airy36. He sells all sorts of parts for Amiga's. You can basically get a shell and all the parts you need, to put that Motherboard back in an A500 case. If you order slowly, piece by piece, you will save a whole bunch of money on shipping.
I order my A1200's that way and I pay basically half of what I would if I ordered one of his A1200 packages (shipping overseas i am talking about)

Yes, I got the motherboard from him...

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Leffmann

I've always wondered what the system directory "L" stands for.

L is original Tripos Library directory. (pre 2.0 AmigaDOS is Tripos, more or less)

I guess Commodore decided to create separate library directory for "real" AmigaOS libraries (Resident structures, no BCPL and s on..).

Search for "tripos manual" for more information. (It is quite interesting that WB disk tree structure, device names and more comes directly from Tripos)

[Leffmann]

Thanks that must be it I have read about AmigaDOS being built from Tripos, and I think it was a good choice compared to other systems. The BCPL legacy stuff is a real annoyance though.

[Hewitson]

What's the difference between a CLI and a Shell?

[daxb]

Thomas will tell you but I guess Shell is just an enlarged CLI.

[Toni Wilen]

In my opinion CLI = KS 1.x ROM built-in CLI. Shell = WB 1.3 L:Shell-Seg (enabled from startup-sequence) or KS 2.0+ ROM built-in. Shell supports resident programs (and more).

[zipper]

Was command history one of the (main) differences?

[thomas]

The original CLI (command line interface) cannot do much more than executing command lines. It's accompanied by the original CON handler which has only very basic editing capabilities, i.e. you can only delete the last character and enter new characters at the end of the line.

WB 1.3 introduced the NEWCON handler which has true editing features, i.e. you can move the cursor back and forth and can insert or delete characters at any place in the input line.

The NEWCON handler also introduced the input line history which means you can retrieve previous input lines with Cursor-Up and Cursor-Down and you can even do a simple search by entering a few characters and press Shift + Cursor-Up.

The Shell was also introduced in WB 1.3. It's main features are resident commands and command aliases. I think using the contents of environment variables in scripts is also a function of the shell. As is the use of command output as arguments to other commands using the ` character.

In Kick 2.0 they replaced CON and CLI with the functions of NEWCON and Shell so that there is no difference any more since then.

[Lonewolf10]

Thanks for the info, Thomas

[ajack]

Does anybody has a list of capacitors, values, location and label for both the A500 (rev 6A, PAL) and A1200 (PAL)? I would like to get somebody to recap my boards but would like to know the values used and their locations. Can also use it as a checklist to make sure none of the capacitors are missed.

[roy bates]

Originally Posted by ajack

Does anybody has a list of capacitors, values, location and label for both the A500 (rev 6A, PAL) and A1200 (PAL)? I would like to get somebody to recap my boards but would like to know the values used and their locations. Can also use it as a checklist to make sure none of the capacitors are missed.

most if not all capacitor ratings are written on the capacitors in question.

locations for them all are on the motherboards.

and if you get really stuck there are schematics for both machines.

[ajack]

I am more a software person... thus my asking. .

[roy bates]

Originally Posted by ajack

I am more a software person... thus my asking. .

bud, i never said there was anything wrong with asking lots ask this question.

good luck.