New A1200 user, help?

[Lektroid]

Hello everyone! I had an Amiga A500 back in 1989, and recently got the bug to play those old demos & games again, as well as write a few tunes on Octamed. So I decided to go for a A1200 with CF reader, landed myself a nice machine with a 4GB CF and an additional MBX1200 card with 8MB RAM.

When I boot up, it loads straight into "Scalos" I never see the boot screen with the floppy and version number. Scalos has 3 HD icons, one called System, one called Media, and one called MyFiles, then there's a few other miscellaneous icons; Run, Drawers, CXHandler, RAM Disk, Shell, etc.

In the Media drive, there are Games, Demos, Programs drawers, each with a handful of files in. I downloaded a pile of .lha files to load into the machine so I have more games to play, each one I open loads "MiraWizARC v1.1b" and allows me to extract them. I have painstakingly extracted them all, one by one (the destination drawer resets each time you load the next file in, so very time consuming), once extracted I then deleted the .lha files to save space on the drive.

I now have all the files extracted into the drive: "Media" into the necessary drawers. They seem to run fine, but I noticed when I right click at the top of the Scalos window, one of the menu items is AGLaunch, this brings up a WHDLoad menu with heaps of games, but none of them load, not even the ones I have extracted into the Media drive. So what's the point of a list of all that stuff if it is not actually there?

Having only ever used an A500 with Workbench 1.3 back in the late '80s/early'90s, and never had an A1200, this is all new to me (so please go easy on me ). I may be wrong, but I get the feeling the previous owner didn't set the system up very well, and I'm just following a badly laid out file system, as I don't know how the default should be set up.

When I check the Scalos version from the top dropdown menu, it comes up with an Imagine Software Bloodwych graphic with v28 at the bottom - I checked online to see if I could update it, but it says v1.2d is the latest available, so I don't know what v28 is referring to? I'm also unsure if updating it will wipe all the games I've spent the past few days extracting?

Maybe everything is fine and I'm just not used to the system, but seeing a list of files in the WHDLoad app that won't open is a bit strange, no? I really just want to check and see if my system is maintained correctly, and if I'm going about everything the right way.

Any helpful replies are very much appreciated, and again, please go easy on me, this is my first experience of the A1200, which is very different to my old A500 / WB1.3. Thanks in advance!

[Samurai_Crow]

First of all, Scalos is a replacement for Workbench that has been released as open-source. It's as bug-filled as Workbench ever was, if not moreso.

Secondly, WHDLoad only helps install games to the CF drive and run them. Those you see in the menu are lists of the games it can install.

I hope this helps you get started.

[Lektroid]

I see, thank you! So if I’ve used another file extraction app, would it be a good idea to remove WHDLoad to free up drive space? Also, am I better off loading Workbench instead?

[Samurai_Crow]

Workbench is more standard. The archiver is probably fine.

I've never used WHDLoad myself but it comes highly recommended on AGA systems because, in addition to installing games on the CF card, it patches them to add compatibility that wasn't needed on older machines.

[Lektroid]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

Workbench is more standard. The archiver is probably fine.

I've never used WHDLoad myself but it comes highly recommended on AGA systems because, in addition to installing games on the CF card, it patches them to add compatibility that wasn't needed on older machines.

Since I installed all the games manually, WHDLoad is no more than just a list of games of which mostly I don't have. I can't see how it can pull the games in unless I get some kind of network adaptor to connect my Amiga to the internet? I wonder if it can patch the games I've manually installed? I no longer have the .lha files though, I trashed them after extraction.

[Samurai_Crow]

You shouldn't need the .LHA files even WITH WHDLoad. Perhaps someone else can help better than I can.

[d4rk3lf]

I am also noob at these stuff, but it's pretty straight forward.
This is how I do it on my Amiga 500 with Aca 500+

- Clean install workbench
- Install WHDLoad
- Download some torrent with bunch of prepared whdload games (unzip/unrar it on PC)

Copy to your Amiga and just play (no install needed).

Some games, however run better when you install them manually with their own installer. Dune 2, for example, was very slow for me, when using WHDLoad, and was much faster when I installed it.
But that's very very rare... 95% of the games just work fine for me.

[Lektroid]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

I am also noob at these stuff, but it's pretty straight forward.
This is how I do it on my Amiga 500 with Aca 500+

- Clean install workbench
- Install WHDLoad
- Download some torrent with bunch of prepared whdload games (unzip/unrar it on PC)

Copy to your Amiga and just play (no install needed).

Some games, however run better when you install them manually with their own installer. Dune 2, for example, was very slow for me, when using WHDLoad, and was much faster when I installed it.
But that's very very rare... 95% of the games just work fine for me.

Thanks! I will definitely do this, I have Workbench 3.1 on disk. Not sure if I would need to install drivers for the MBX1200 card though. Also, the ROMs in this machine are by Amiga Forever, not sure if these any better or worse than the original Commodore ROMs?

[d4rk3lf]

Originally Posted by Lektroid

Not sure if I would need to install drivers for the MBX1200 card though

Not sure either (probably not),
BUT,
You have to stop thinking of Amiga, as it is PC. Back in the day, when I had my first Amiga, I had no idea what freaking driver is. Never needed one.
You plug it - it works.
Only Amiga makes it possible.

Do you have adapter so your PC can read/write to your CF card? If not, purchase one asap (they are very cheap). That way, you can set up your system completely on PC (with winuae), and if you make a mistake, you just start over. Should be very fast process, and there is a bunch of tutorials on you tube how to do it.
So,
- Purchase cf to usb adapter for pc, if you don't have one already.
- Look at youtube tutorial how to do a clean install on WB 3.1 and Whdload, and download preinstalled Whdload games, and place it on your CF card, in folder of your choice (first, unzip/unrar them on PC)

Then you just plug it into your Amiga, and everything should work.

[fxgogo]

I would also suggest you backup the current system before starting a clean install. Just in case you need to go back to get some drivers, settings or applications, you will have it to hand. One of the ways of doing this is with Amiga Explorer from Cloanto.

[d4rk3lf]

Yeah, that's a great idea fxgogo.

[Lektroid]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

- Clean install workbench

Ok, I'm stuck at the first hurdle... I've been at this all day and got absolutely nowhere.

I am stuck formatting the CF card (this is a different CF to the one that is in my machine as I don't want to destroy any data on the working device), I have followed this to format the CF card and watched many videos, each one giving completely different informaton to the next, the last one looked most interesting, which installs WB 3.9 onto a 8GB CF card as seen here:
[ Show youtube player ]
but I can't seem to get any of the stuff she shows in the video, a partition tool just pops up onto her desktop without any explanation of where it came from or a download link, which looks way easier to use than the one I've been fighting with on 3.1 install. It seems she has got all the stuff installed already, and doesn't explain what I need or how to get it into WinUAE. I downloaded AmigaOS 3.9 from haage-partner.de, but none of the files in the disk image are clickable. I tried doing it on the Amiga itself after cleaning the CF card but that just throws up a unit is not a disk (type 7)

Anyone know a simple way to partition and format the CF card for use inside my A1200?

[d4rk3lf]

Did Winuae sees your CF card?

This is the idea:
You setup Winuae as regular A1200 (you will need kickstart 3,1), and then you will need adf flopies for Workbench 3.1. And your Winuae needs to see your CF card as harddrive.
So, set winuae so that HD is your CF card, and in floppy, load first workbench ADF disk.
When you click the start, Workbench will be loaded (virtually) from floppy, from there, start instalation of Workbench (Workbench should see your CF card), and will probably ask you if you want to format it.
I did it several times, not with CF card, though, but with virtual HD.

Maybe this tutorial will help you understand better the process.
[ Show youtube player ]

I did something like this.

Btw... if you want... I can copy you all stuff from my CF card (that contains Workbench), and upload you somewhere (contact me on PM, because here's not allowed sharing stuff like that).
You then just unpack and copy on your CF card root, and it should work right away, when you plug it on your Amiga.
It's WB 3.1.

This is just to get you started, but sooner or later,you should learn how to clean install WB.

[Lektroid]

Most of the videos I've watched are doing pretty much the same thing. When I did the partition, it tells me things will change and that a reboot is needed (it doesn't seem to do this auto reboot on any of the videos I've watched). The HDD's do not show up on the desktop as I've seen happen in all other videos. Holding both mouse buttons during reboot that he suggested also does nothing in my winuae. Also seems I have a different version of Winuae to every other video I've watched.

The MaxTransfer is strange too, some videos I've watched say it should be 1fe00, others 1ffff, and some don't mention it. When I set the MaxTransfer, then go back into that partition, it has reset back to ffffff.

Mine also comes up with "Volume Install3.1 is full" Retry/Cancel when I OK the read configuration, unless I change the Filename, which seems odd

The question remains, how can I partition my CF? I'm using an 8GB Sandisk, exactly the same as the one in the video I posted with the girl talking. Only thing is, the partition software in 3.1 is very fussy, and easiset to simply do a 50/50 (4GB/4GB) partition table. Is there a better partition app for the Amiga? Seems the one that girl used is way better.

[Lektroid]

Day 2: Still no further along. This is exactly what I'm doing step by step...

Firstly, the Install Disk is 100% full and won't allow you to OK the Read Configuration (as I posted above). I have downloaded AmigaOS 3.1.4 for 68K Amiga 1200 - 46.196 from Hyperion, and still have the same issue, so to get around this, I moved HDTools Drawer to a new virtual floppy in WinUAE which only uses 11% of the drive and allows you to OK the Config.

I also set up WinUAE with the new ROM (.143 file), which brings up the new splash screen with the ball.

On Workbench Screen:

• Open HDTools/HDToolBox
• Get message: "Drives have been added or removed from the system..." (Continue)
• Change Drive Type
• Delete Old / Define New / Read Configuration / OK / OK
• Save Changes / Continue
• Partition Drive (resize, etc.) / Rename UDH0/1 to DH0/1
• Advanced Options / Change /set MaxTransfer (both partitions) OK / OK
• Save changes / Continue (warning about destroying data on UDH0: UDH1)
• Exit / Continue
• System reboots

No new drives appear on the desktop. When I go back into HDTools, I get the message "drives have been added or removed..." as before.

Drive type has retained all configuration data ok, but when I go into "Partition Drive", it only has DH0: filling the entire space, and file system has changed from International FFS to Custom Drive System.



What am I missing?

This is all on WinUAE, I have not yet physically installed the drive into the A1200.

Thanks for everyone's input so far, it's very much appreciated.

[lilwshu]

Are you running WinUAE as an administrator, as it may be mounting the CF card as read only if not?

[Lektroid]

Originally Posted by lilwshu

Are you running WinUAE as an administrator, as it may be mounting the CF card as read only if not?

Yes, running WinUAE as admin, and also Diskpart as admin to clean the CF.

I've uploaded what I have as HD settings in WinUAD:

[crazyc]

With the system you have I would not consider os3.9 - your machine doesnt have the oomph to run it.

the Scalos version of classic workbench (V28 is the version of classicworkbench should run well on your system and load quickly. http://classicwb.abime.net/


Last time I did this I think I used this guide (or something similar):
https://johan.driessen.se/posts/Sett...miga-600-1200/

[Lektroid]

Day 3: Tried without success directly on the A1200. Still no partition.

I had a couple of identical Sandisk 8GB CF cards, as well as a Duracell brand 16GB CF, so I thought I'd give those a go too, just in case the first Sandisk had a write problem. I tried with the settings (as I posted above), but get the same result with all 3 cards. So after several more failed attempts in WinUAE, I tried setting up the partition on the Mac version, FS-UAE, also without any luck.

So, I thought it would be an idea to take the cleaned cards and partition them on the A1200 itself using the 3.1.4 install floppy. Firstly, the 16GB card only shows up as 8GB, and then only allows me to make a maximum partition size of 4GB (I didn't go any further as it seems a waste to use a 16GB card and only get 4GB). I'm guessing that's because the Amiga Forever ROMS installed in my machine are only Kickstart 3.1?

I was planning to set up the whole thing in WinUAE and soft boot the Kickstart 3.1.4 rom, but seems I need to burn the ROMs onto physical EPROMs since I can't partition the CF on WinUAE. I've ordered a pair of 27C400 EPROMS from China which should be adequate to burn the 512KB 3.1.4 ROM files onto, but they are going to take a couple of months to arrive.

I had a hunt around to see if I could download a working WinUAE config and just enter my HD, ROM & Install floppy, as I'm clearly doing something wrong here, but I couldn't see anything online.

I'm starting to think this fresh install of WB is a bad idea and just to accept that I'm stuck with the 4GB Scalos install that this machine came with. I've already wasted 3 solid days on this already. I just wish I could buy a preinstalled 16/32/64GB CF plus physical flashed ROMs direct shipped from Hyperion, that would save this massive headache. If anyone knows of anyone selling this as a package, please let me know.

[Tomislav]

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