Noob needs help building an Amiga

26 November 2001, 15:57

Hi all, as you can guess from the title im an amiga noobie, and my amiga knowledge is from 10 years ago and involves 1)stick disk in 2)play game.

I've recently purchased a mint con. A600 and a load of boxed games (~25) from Ebay, but after browsing your forum and seeing all the excellent workbench set ups and hearing of the 2sec!! boot times im very interested in building an A1200 tower system as im in the process of turning my PC in to a purely DV editing suite and using my Amiga, DC and GBA (plus all my really old kit NES, etc) for gaming, but I would also like to get a super fast booting Amiga for wordprocessing and the like.

So here goes, can anyone help me or point me to a site that can, with the following. Im proficient in building and setting up PC but know nothing of the insides of an Amiga.

1) Towering an A1200 system, is the A1200 my best bet or should i go with another model?

2) Upgrading the RAM, graphics, and CPU (or is that installing an execrator for amiga's ?) I want it to be the best it can.

3) Fitting a nice big PC HDD & and a CD-ROM

4) Setting up the OS and programes so that it boots fast and looks great

5) What programs to use for word processing?

6) Is it possible to hook up a PC mouse and printer to an Amiga?

7) Any tips the pros of this site can give me.

8) how to get online with an Amiga?

9) I heard about emulation boads for the Amiga, is it possible for me to get an amiga to dual boot into either Workbench or MSDOS and how fast is would the Dos emulation be (i was hoping around 486 DX 50Mhz)

10) how mutch is this likeley to cost?

Im trying to get info now so I can get the system up and running some time around Jan-Feb. and ill keep my eye on ebay for any HW/SW your guys recommend.

Thanks

sgt_chimp

26 November 2001, 19:47

@sgt_chimp:

> im very interested in building an A1200 tower system as im in the process of turning
> my PC in to a purely DV editing suite

Are you joking ? A x86/Windows DV editing suite ? Good luck

> and using my Amiga, DC and GBA (plus all my really old
> kit NES, etc) for gaming, but I would also like to get a super fast booting Amiga for
> wordprocessing and the like.

No modern Amiga will boot in 2 secs. They will still boot much faster than any PC though.

> 1) Towering an A1200 system, is the A1200 my best bet or should i go with another model?

An A1200 is your best option as far as existing hardware is concerned, but "best" doesn't mean
"good" in this case. To turn a A1200 into a halfway decent desktop computer that fits today's
needs will be

- *very* expensive
- not satisfying (it'll still be slower than you expect when switching from a fast PC)
- hard to maintain

IMHO, there are two other options you should consider:

1. Wait until the new PPC Motherboards and OS4.0 are out (February/March 2002): Cheaper, faster,
standard hardware. Disadvantage: You'll need UAE to play old games (don't know if this is a
*real* problem though - once you tried to get old games running on an upgraded A1200, you'll
be happy that you can use UAE...)

2. Buy Amithlon. This runs on your existing PC! It's basically a modified Linux kernel, that
starts a *very* fast JIT 68k emulator (at least twice as fast as WinUAE-JIT) and then boots
AmigaOS 3.9. It's AmigaOS running on x86 hardware, including native driver support for GFX,
3D gfx, sound, ethernet, USB... Amithlon is part of the "AmigaOS XL" package distributed by
Haage&Partner (http://www.haage-partner.com). Prize is $150. Further infos at
http://www.amithlon.de (check if your machine suits Amithlon!). Disadvantage: Won't run old
games, as there are no custom chips. You can run the Amiga port of UAE on Amithlon, but this
port is not in sync with the Windows version.

> 5) What programs to use for word processing?

One of the weak points of the Amiga. There are Wordworth7 and Finalwriter97 (both no longer
maintained). But a port of "Papyrus" (check http://www.rom-logicware.de for a PC demo version)
will be available soon (December). Pretty good word processor with MS Word compatablity.

> 6) Is it possible to hook up a PC mouse and printer to an Amiga?

Yes, with adaptors.

> 8) how to get online with an Amiga?

Get AmigaOS 3.9. This comes with a demo version of a good browser and a TCP/IP stack that is
very easy to configure. Use YAM (http://www.yam.ch) for E-Mail (simply the best E-Mail client
on any platform) and AmiTradeCenter (http://amisource.de) for FTP.

> 9) I heard about emulation boads for the Amiga, is it possible for me to get an amiga to dual
> boot into either Workbench or MSDOS and how fast is would the Dos emulation be (i was hoping
> around 486 DX 50Mhz)

There are "PC on a Card" boards you can plug into your Amiga 2000/3000/4000. 486 is available
(as a used item), but expensive. Not worth the effort IMHO. The PC emulator "Bochs" is available
too, on one of the upcoming PPC Amigas, this one should easily reach 486 speeds.

> 10) how mutch is this likeley to cost?

A1200 - 50$
Accellerator "Blizzard 060" (faster CPU (68060), memory sockets (PS/2), SCSI controller): $350
PPC accellerator "BlizzardPPC 060" (all of the above + PPC co-processor): $600
PCI-Busboard for normal accellerator ("Mediator 1200"): $220
PCI-Busboard for PPC accellerator ("GRex PCI 1200"): $200
Tower case: $150
PC keyboard adaptor: $10
PC mouse adaptor: no idea

SCSI HD/CDROM, PS/2 memory chips, keyboard, mouse, soundcard, PCI-gfx-card: Standard PC items

TikTok · 26 November 2001, 19:49

I can't offer much help I'm afraid, but here are a few things I do know:

Quote:

3) Fitting a nice big PC HDD & and a CD-ROM

Fitting a 3.5inch PC HD is no problem; if you use the original IDE interface you will need a 2.5in->3.5in cable though. There size of supported HDs is limited to 4 Gig under OS3.1 (and below). Apparently this has been removed under OS3.9, but I not sure if there is another limit.

Quote:

5) What programs to use for word processing?

Many people thought Final Writer and Wordworth were the best a few years ago, and I dont think there have been any real developments since then.

Quote:

6) Is it possible to hook up a PC mouse and printer to an Amiga?

Printer and serial mouse, yes. You will have to check Aminet for drivers though. Not sure about PS/2 or USB devices though.

Quote:

10) how mutch is this likeley to cost?

Power Computing (www.powerc.com) probably have a lot of the stuff you are looking for. I've used them once and found them to be perfectly reliable.

Hope some of this helps

.

kriz · 27 November 2001, 09:31

yeah, get an used A4000, with or without ppc (with if you can afford)

At least you got space for gfx cards, network cards and stuff like that ...

very expensive getting zorro slots for the 1200....

MethodGit · 01 December 2001, 17:27

'Noob needs help building an Amiga?' What did you mean in that title? At first I thought you were referring to Noob Saibot.

Amiga1992 · 03 December 2001, 19:32

Noob means Newbie :P

Newbie, Noobt, Noo-B, yo gangsta bitch aint getting my gangsta mumbo jumbo? bounce!

26 November 2001, 15:57	#1
sgt_chimp Posts: n/a	Noob needs help building an Amiga Hi all, as you can guess from the title im an amiga noobie, and my amiga knowledge is from 10 years ago and involves 1)stick disk in 2)play game. I've recently purchased a mint con. A600 and a load of boxed games (~25) from Ebay, but after browsing your forum and seeing all the excellent workbench set ups and hearing of the 2sec!! boot times im very interested in building an A1200 tower system as im in the process of turning my PC in to a purely DV editing suite and using my Amiga, DC and GBA (plus all my really old kit NES, etc) for gaming, but I would also like to get a super fast booting Amiga for wordprocessing and the like. So here goes, can anyone help me or point me to a site that can, with the following. Im proficient in building and setting up PC but know nothing of the insides of an Amiga. 1) Towering an A1200 system, is the A1200 my best bet or should i go with another model? 2) Upgrading the RAM, graphics, and CPU (or is that installing an execrator for amiga's ?) I want it to be the best it can. 3) Fitting a nice big PC HDD & and a CD-ROM 4) Setting up the OS and programes so that it boots fast and looks great 5) What programs to use for word processing? 6) Is it possible to hook up a PC mouse and printer to an Amiga? 7) Any tips the pros of this site can give me. 8) how to get online with an Amiga? 9) I heard about emulation boads for the Amiga, is it possible for me to get an amiga to dual boot into either Workbench or MSDOS and how fast is would the Dos emulation be (i was hoping around 486 DX 50Mhz) 10) how mutch is this likeley to cost? Im trying to get info now so I can get the system up and running some time around Jan-Feb. and ill keep my eye on ebay for any HW/SW your guys recommend. Thanks sgt_chimp Last edited by sgt_chimp; 26 November 2001 at 17:21.

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26 November 2001, 19:47	#2
Unregistered Posts: n/a	@sgt_chimp: > im very interested in building an A1200 tower system as im in the process of turning > my PC in to a purely DV editing suite Are you joking ? A x86/Windows DV editing suite ? Good luck > and using my Amiga, DC and GBA (plus all my really old > kit NES, etc) for gaming, but I would also like to get a super fast booting Amiga for > wordprocessing and the like. No modern Amiga will boot in 2 secs. They will still boot much faster than any PC though. > 1) Towering an A1200 system, is the A1200 my best bet or should i go with another model? An A1200 is your best option as far as existing hardware is concerned, but "best" doesn't mean "good" in this case. To turn a A1200 into a halfway decent desktop computer that fits today's needs will be - very expensive - not satisfying (it'll still be slower than you expect when switching from a fast PC) - hard to maintain IMHO, there are two other options you should consider: 1. Wait until the new PPC Motherboards and OS4.0 are out (February/March 2002): Cheaper, faster, standard hardware. Disadvantage: You'll need UAE to play old games (don't know if this is a real problem though - once you tried to get old games running on an upgraded A1200, you'll be happy that you can use UAE...) 2. Buy Amithlon. This runs on your existing PC! It's basically a modified Linux kernel, that starts a very fast JIT 68k emulator (at least twice as fast as WinUAE-JIT) and then boots AmigaOS 3.9. It's AmigaOS running on x86 hardware, including native driver support for GFX, 3D gfx, sound, ethernet, USB... Amithlon is part of the "AmigaOS XL" package distributed by Haage&Partner (http://www.haage-partner.com). Prize is $150. Further infos at http://www.amithlon.de (check if your machine suits Amithlon!). Disadvantage: Won't run old games, as there are no custom chips. You can run the Amiga port of UAE on Amithlon, but this port is not in sync with the Windows version. > 5) What programs to use for word processing? One of the weak points of the Amiga. There are Wordworth7 and Finalwriter97 (both no longer maintained). But a port of "Papyrus" (check http://www.rom-logicware.de for a PC demo version) will be available soon (December). Pretty good word processor with MS Word compatablity. > 6) Is it possible to hook up a PC mouse and printer to an Amiga? Yes, with adaptors. > 8) how to get online with an Amiga? Get AmigaOS 3.9. This comes with a demo version of a good browser and a TCP/IP stack that is very easy to configure. Use YAM (http://www.yam.ch) for E-Mail (simply the best E-Mail client on any platform) and AmiTradeCenter (http://amisource.de) for FTP. > 9) I heard about emulation boads for the Amiga, is it possible for me to get an amiga to dual > boot into either Workbench or MSDOS and how fast is would the Dos emulation be (i was hoping > around 486 DX 50Mhz) There are "PC on a Card" boards you can plug into your Amiga 2000/3000/4000. 486 is available (as a used item), but expensive. Not worth the effort IMHO. The PC emulator "Bochs" is available too, on one of the upcoming PPC Amigas, this one should easily reach 486 speeds. > 10) how mutch is this likeley to cost? A1200 - 50$ Accellerator "Blizzard 060" (faster CPU (68060), memory sockets (PS/2), SCSI controller): $350 PPC accellerator "BlizzardPPC 060" (all of the above + PPC co-processor): $600 PCI-Busboard for normal accellerator ("Mediator 1200"): $220 PCI-Busboard for PPC accellerator ("GRex PCI 1200"): $200 Tower case: $150 PC keyboard adaptor: $10 PC mouse adaptor: no idea SCSI HD/CDROM, PS/2 memory chips, keyboard, mouse, soundcard, PCI-gfx-card: Standard PC items

27 November 2001, 09:31	#4
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 41 Posts: 3,185	yeah, get an used A4000, with or without ppc (with if you can afford) At least you got space for gfx cards, network cards and stuff like that ... very expensive getting zorro slots for the 1200....

01 December 2001, 17:27	#5
MethodGit Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: The Streets Age: 39 Posts: 2,731	'Noob needs help building an Amiga?' What did you mean in that title? At first I thought you were referring to Noob Saibot.

03 December 2001, 19:32	#6
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	Noob means Newbie :P Newbie, Noobt, Noo-B, yo gangsta bitch aint getting my gangsta mumbo jumbo? bounce!

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