Transfering

[Sir Kidd]

OK, probably the 1000th question about this but...

I have recently bought a A1200, I have no HDD.
I have Workbench 3.0 but I don't know where the settings for the serial port are.
I have also an Extra's and a Storage disk.
I have connected a null modem cable between COM1 on my PC and the Amiga's serial port.
I have ADF Sender and Amiga Explorer but I can't seem to get it right.
Tried to copy Transdisk which failes, as well as Amiga Explorer.
I also only have HD disks, is this a problem ?
I read the documentation etc. etc. but there must be something I do wrong, any simple explanations ?
Thanks in advance!!!

[Amiga1992]

Originally posted by Sir Kidd
OK, probably the 1000th question about this

definitely the 1000th question about this. Use the board's SEARCH function to look for information, it has been posted A-PLENTY.

[Sir Kidd]

[jrom]

Originally posted by Sir Kidd
I also only have HD disks, is this a problem ?

All standard amiga's come with a 3.5" DD diskdrive... so better start searching for some DD disks which can be bought at plenty second hand sites (or buy a HD diskdrive).

Amiga 1200 fits a (laptop) 2.5" HDD... I fitted mine with a nice 2GB harddisk (also bought it second hand).

[Bloodwych]

You can use HD disks as DD again and again on the amiga, at least I have without a problem even though there ARE meant to be difficulties associated with doing so.

I'm unsure how reliable they'd be for long term storage however, I think the "cobolt" formulation is different between the two. Or the drives use different writing strategies. Or both!

As for transferring, I've never used those utilities you've mentioned. If your still stuck, try PC2Am308 found here.

I'll also cut and paste some text out of my ClassicWB transfer instructions.

Hope this helps.


Using Crossdos
--------------

CrossDOS allows an Amiga to read PC formatted 720K disks. In order to use it, the files
PC0: (1 DiskDrive) and PC1: (2 DiskDrives) must be copied from the storage/DosDrivers
drawer to the devs/DosDrivers drawer on either your hardrive or bootable Workbench disk
depending on which you use.

Once installed, you will see extra Icons appear for any disk inserted into the drive. Use
the icon(s) to format floppy disks for use on a PC.

Download Chunker.lha (or similar program) from Aminet and split the System.zip file into
approx. 700K chunks. Then use the PC formatted floppies to copy over the files to your
Amiga HardDisk. Once all have been copied over, use dechunk to join them back together and
re-create the System.zip file.

Using a serial cable
--------------------

A serial cable and relevant software off Aminet can be used to copy over System.zip.
I suggest placing the software on a bootable floppy disk. One such program is
PC2Am308.lha available from Aminet.

Using a 4-way LapLink Parallel cable
------------------------------------

The Classic WB has the software PC2Amiga pre-installed and setup for this method of
transfer once it's installed. Again the software PC2Am308.lha can be used on a bootable
floppy to copy over the file using this cable.

[Bloodwych]

Just found this on HD disk as DD:

"No, no, no, no!!! Bad advice,"claims Ross Wright, media professional. "Why? You stand a great chance of loss of data."
"High density disks are actually *half* as sensitive as DD disks. Since DD disks are more sensitive than HD disks, when you format a HD disk in DD format you are actually placing a recording on the disk at nearly twice the signal strength that it was designed for. Granted, you can perform this operation, and even write files to the disk. But eventually the magnetic domains WILL interact and result in data loss - which could take days or even months."

"If your machine manufacturers say use DD, and the manufacturers of the floppies are telling you to use DD, and people are telling us they lose data on HD disks formatted to DD then it's only logical to USE DOUBLE DENSITY FLOPPIES!!!"

And from another page:

The small hole in the upper left corner DOES make a difference. Back when you've been buying lots of disks, it was NOT just some trick of the floppy disk industry to make you buy expensive HD disks when you thought you could get away with cheap DD disks :-)

When you insert an HD disk into an HD floppy drive, the floppy drive actually changes physical parameters, for example magnetization thresholds and writing current strength. A floppy drive does not and can not write an HD disk in HD format with the same physical parameters as a DD disk in DD format!

If you use HD disks with HD format and DD disks with DD format, everything's fine. However, at some time in the nineties, the floppy disk industry stopped selling DD disks. Because many Amiga users still relied on the DD format (only the Amiga 4000 has an HD drive), they simply took HD disks and used them in their DD drives. Some users covered the HD indicator hole with a piece of tape, some didn't. Because their drives were only DD drives, the drive didn't care -- so it really didn't make a difference either! Most HD disks seem to work fine this way, even though they have been constructed for HD formatting. In fact, I've never come across an HD disk that could NOT be used in an Amiga DD drive. There have been people claiming otherwise, though.

However, if you insert an HD disk formatted in DD format into an HD drive, you HAVE to take care to cover the HD indicator hole! If you do not do this, the drive will think it is an HD formatted disk and adjust its physical parameters accordingly, leading to READ and/or WRITE ERRORS on a basically fine disk! Unfortunately, this can not be worked around in software.

So, if somebody gives you a disk with an HD hole and you can not mount it as either Amiga HD or MS-DOS HD, it could be a perfectly fine DD formatted disk -- only your drive is in the wrong mode to read it without errors, because it detects the uncovered HD hole and thinks it is in HD format. Cover the hole with some piece of tape, and everything will be fine.

So as I said above, short term storage fine but long term looks bad, but if you can't find any DD just use the HD.

[T_hairy_bootson]

Buy Cheap HD disks without any writing on the metal bit. I have had no probs so far and have even fished out 10 year old HD disks formatted as DD and they work fine.

[andreas]

Perhaps, but Kodoichi's suggestion with the sticky tape is mandatory for both my A1000 and A500!

I simply CANNOT READ THESE DISKS otherwise.
When I insert a HD disk without taped 2nd hole, I get 'DF0: BAD' in Workbench. Don't ask me why, though.

[T_hairy_bootson]

sticky tape is mandatory for both my A1000 and A500!

I dont use sticky tape on any of my HD disks and they work fine on my 2 A1000s, my A500 and a mates A2000.

I too cannot explain this...

[Bloodwych]

HD works fine here too without tape - I thought DD drives wouldn't have anything inside that checks for the presence of that particular hole.

Strange.

[T_hairy_bootson]

from reading the above I think if you intend to use a HD formatted as a DD on HD drive you need the tape...However if your DD formatted HD disk never needs to be used on a HD drive you don't need tape.

...if that makes any sense at all...

[Unknown_K]

You can still find new and used 3.5 DD disks around, its your best bet.