Catweasel Mk4 & Questions

Zeewolf · 25 March 2005, 00:04

Hi guys.

Sorry to be a pain in the bum, I've tried to catch up with a load of threads since I've come back to this site but I'm undecided on something! I remember a few years back I wanted to try and get hold of a catweasel drive but they were very hard to get hold of. Since I've come back I've noticed that they are selling a mk 4 version, but I've read that there has been a few problems with it. So I'm kinda put off by it all. Have many people here bought a mk 4 and if so would they recommend it?!

Am I right in thinking its possible to put ADF's back onto Amiga Floppy's to actually play on the real thing?

Can you still buy Amiga floppies easily enough?

& finally are they easy to fit? (baring in mind I'm absolutely sh*t when it comes to anything technical! Give me a joystick anyday!

)

Sorry again for the questions. (especially if they have been repeated!)

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

25 March 2005, 00:31

Welcome back

The problem is SID related. Right now I and many others experienced extreme problems with the C64's SID chip on catweasel but I didn't buy CW for SID so this doesn't bug me.

Catweasel MK4 is a standard PCI board and fits like just any other card. The drive is not required to be an amiga one. With Catwease,l you can read/write amiga floppies using ANY PC drive. And yes, you can write floppies back to disk to be played on real amiga.

Another important point is the ability to connect real amiga mice and joysticks to PC. Joysticks work well with winuae although mouse support isn't complete as far as I know. Unfortunately, windows doesn't detect them directly.

Zeewolf · 25 March 2005, 00:38

Thanks Pxscroll! Like I said I'm totally useless when it comes to technical stuff! I'm a quick learner though.

Thanks again.

So then in reality if I was to buy one next week, I could be playing all the good old games again?! I'm loving this! I've still got a lot of old games on floppy but I have a load of ADF's I wouldn't mind playing with a good old joystick again!

You're a star! Thanks!

tin · 25 March 2005, 10:58

I use mine primarily for getting C64 disk images and writing them onto 5 1/4 floppys to play on a real C64. Assumung you are going to do the same thing with amiga disks and a real amiga (?) then you should have no problems with it.

Unfortunately I think 90 GBP for a device that only writes ami/c64 disks (cos of the other bugs and lack of support for other formats) is a bit steep (but still I paid it

) I hope Jens can sort it out

Amiga1992 · 25 March 2005, 16:11

Yep tha's a bit steep for that thing, I use the XE1541 cable to transfer stuff to my C64 disks, it's a kickass system, and works mighty fast.

Dwyloc · 29 April 2005, 14:08

I am sure I only paid £70 for mine from amigakit, £90 sounds a bit much to me.

terryhan · 29 April 2005, 19:08

Is it the same as a regular Amiga - two ports, one of which can be used for the mouse?

Or does it have one joystick port and a Ps2 style mouse connector?

29 April 2005, 22:02

It has two 9pin ports but I could get only one working and current winuae doesn't support mouse yet.

tin · 29 April 2005, 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwyloc

I am sure I only paid £70 for mine from amigakit, £90 sounds a bit much to me.

HMmm just checked and £84.79 it was, from KDH. Price for early adoption I expect?

Dwyloc · 30 April 2005, 03:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by tin

HMmm just checked and £84.79 it was, from KDH. Price for early adoption I expect?

I know the feeling my DVD 4x +-R writer cost me £200 and are now selling for about £50 (Pioneer 106) now for a faster drive and my Blizzard 060/50 603e/200 with SCSI cost me £580 on preorder but I have no regrets with either of my purchases being an early adopter tends to be more expensive, but the quality tends to be higher, which has about a months pay at the time.

My BPPC card is production board number 12 (going by the serial number on the box) and apart from needing a new fan it has been running 24/7 since I purchased it back in 1997 and my DVD writer is also still going strong even though my friends have had to replace their cheaper writers more than once after failure in the same time period.

For that reason I have just ordered a new Pioneer 109 writer even though I now I can get other makes cheaper, I am quite happy to pay more for reliability, good write quality and media reliability.

I feel the same about my Catweasel purchase, as it allows me to backup my Amiga software that I started purchasing in 1990, with the added advantage that I will be able to use my kemston joystick I got as a present for my spectrum when I was about 9 to play Amiga and spectrum (after we get windows drivers) games under emulation.

Dwyloc · 30 April 2005, 03:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by pxscroll

It has two 9pin ports but I could get only one working and current winuae doesn't support mouse yet.

But if you are running under Linux both the PS/2 ports and the two joystick port are now fully supported for normal use and use under UAE and E-UAE so I expected the windows drivers wont be to far behind.

Dwyloc · 30 April 2005, 03:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by pxscroll

Welcome back

The problem is SID related. Right now I and many others experienced extreme problems with the C64's SID chip on catweasel but I didn't buy CW for SID so this doesn't bug me.

If you have a faulty board give Jens a call or an e-mail as I am sure he will get your problem sorted out. In my exeriance they are first rate for support and I would recomend them as how thing should work in a small market such at the Amiga one.

But there web site could do with being updated with new drivers a bit more frequently.

amigakit.com · 30 April 2005, 20:35

As you have mentioned, AmigaKit.com sell the Catweasel MK IV at £69.99 + p&p. Jens Schoenfeld has stated that only the early models had problems with the SID chips. To date we have never had any customer issues with any of the boards we've sold, but we only started selling them recently.

All our boards are latest spec and have a 2 year manufacturer warranty. We had a big shipment delivered yesterday so we have plenty of stocks...

THX1138 · 12 October 2005, 20:27

Can the Catweasel make a disk image of an original amiga disk with copy protection ?

dirkies · 13 October 2005, 13:18

hey THX

from the spec:

- Dual-ported memory
Contrary to it's predecessors, the new Catweasel MK4 can pass the data that it is currently reading from a disk to the computer while the read access is running. This allows realtime emulation, and error-free function of copy-protected software on emulators.

Toni Wilen · 13 October 2005, 13:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirkies

This allows realtime emulation, and error-free function of copy-protected software on emulators.

Yes but this is not yet (and it has been ages since last update..) implemented in Catweasel's firmware. Disk-controller part currently only emulates MK3's controller.

stainy · 18 October 2005, 23:10

Just a thought... if the mk IV is half height.. hows that fitting on a standard pc tower?
Either have to take the plate off or... something else?

InTheSand · 19 October 2005, 00:03

The card fits fine in a standard PC tower - it comes with a full-height bracket as well as two half-height ones so you can just use the one you require with it.

- Ali

stainy · 19 October 2005, 09:25

ahh... I thought it would have to have something... but it never mentioned it in everything i`ve read so far! thanks Inthesand

Phiber · 19 October 2005, 13:15

AFAIR Catweasel's features can be used through emulators, not directly from Windows.. There should be support for Catweasel MK4 in WinUAE and WinVICE.. Just read the instructions how to set it up..

Edit:

Err.. Scratch WinVICE for now.. just looked at the manual and couldn't find CW info there.. My memory played tricks on me... or i'm just blind

25 March 2005, 00:04	#1
Zeewolf I am an Amiga man. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Wales Age: 46 Posts: 113	Catweasel Mk4 & Questions Hi guys. Sorry to be a pain in the bum, I've tried to catch up with a load of threads since I've come back to this site but I'm undecided on something! I remember a few years back I wanted to try and get hold of a catweasel drive but they were very hard to get hold of. Since I've come back I've noticed that they are selling a mk 4 version, but I've read that there has been a few problems with it. So I'm kinda put off by it all. Have many people here bought a mk 4 and if so would they recommend it?! Am I right in thinking its possible to put ADF's back onto Amiga Floppy's to actually play on the real thing? Can you still buy Amiga floppies easily enough? & finally are they easy to fit? (baring in mind I'm absolutely sh*t when it comes to anything technical! Give me a joystick anyday! ) Sorry again for the questions. (especially if they have been repeated!) Thanks guys, much appreciated!

19 October 2005, 13:15	#20
Phiber Hardware Freak Join Date: May 2002 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 50 Posts: 222	AFAIR Catweasel's features can be used through emulators, not directly from Windows.. There should be support for Catweasel MK4 in WinUAE and WinVICE.. Just read the instructions how to set it up.. Edit: Err.. Scratch WinVICE for now.. just looked at the manual and couldn't find CW info there.. My memory played tricks on me... or i'm just blind Last edited by Phiber; 19 October 2005 at 13:36.

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25 March 2005, 00:31	#2
oldpx Posts: n/a	Welcome back The problem is SID related. Right now I and many others experienced extreme problems with the C64's SID chip on catweasel but I didn't buy CW for SID so this doesn't bug me. Catweasel MK4 is a standard PCI board and fits like just any other card. The drive is not required to be an amiga one. With Catwease,l you can read/write amiga floppies using ANY PC drive. And yes, you can write floppies back to disk to be played on real amiga. Another important point is the ability to connect real amiga mice and joysticks to PC. Joysticks work well with winuae although mouse support isn't complete as far as I know. Unfortunately, windows doesn't detect them directly.

25 March 2005, 00:38	#3
Zeewolf I am an Amiga man. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Wales Age: 46 Posts: 113	Thanks Pxscroll! Like I said I'm totally useless when it comes to technical stuff! I'm a quick learner though. Thanks again. So then in reality if I was to buy one next week, I could be playing all the good old games again?! I'm loving this! I've still got a lot of old games on floppy but I have a load of ADF's I wouldn't mind playing with a good old joystick again! You're a star! Thanks!

25 March 2005, 10:58	#4
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	I use mine primarily for getting C64 disk images and writing them onto 5 1/4 floppys to play on a real C64. Assumung you are going to do the same thing with amiga disks and a real amiga (?) then you should have no problems with it. Unfortunately I think 90 GBP for a device that only writes ami/c64 disks (cos of the other bugs and lack of support for other formats) is a bit steep (but still I paid it ) I hope Jens can sort it out

25 March 2005, 16:11	#5
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Yep tha's a bit steep for that thing, I use the XE1541 cable to transfer stuff to my C64 disks, it's a kickass system, and works mighty fast.

29 April 2005, 14:08	#6
Dwyloc Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Age: 47 Posts: 81	I am sure I only paid £70 for mine from amigakit, £90 sounds a bit much to me.

29 April 2005, 19:08	#7
terryhan Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: a zombi filled shopping mall Posts: 103	Is it the same as a regular Amiga - two ports, one of which can be used for the mouse? Or does it have one joystick port and a Ps2 style mouse connector?

29 April 2005, 22:02	#8
oldpx Posts: n/a	It has two 9pin ports but I could get only one working and current winuae doesn't support mouse yet.

30 April 2005, 20:35	#13
amigakit.com Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: www.amigakit.com Posts: 2,017	As you have mentioned, AmigaKit.com sell the Catweasel MK IV at £69.99 + p&p. Jens Schoenfeld has stated that only the early models had problems with the SID chips. To date we have never had any customer issues with any of the boards we've sold, but we only started selling them recently. All our boards are latest spec and have a 2 year manufacturer warranty. We had a big shipment delivered yesterday so we have plenty of stocks...

12 October 2005, 20:27	#14
THX1138 Amiga Centurai Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: UK Posts: 526	Can the Catweasel make a disk image of an original amiga disk with copy protection ?

13 October 2005, 13:18	#15
dirkies Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Belgium Age: 51 Posts: 1,296	hey THX from the spec: - Dual-ported memory Contrary to it's predecessors, the new Catweasel MK4 can pass the data that it is currently reading from a disk to the computer while the read access is running. This allows realtime emulation, and error-free function of copy-protected software on emulators.

18 October 2005, 23:10	#17
stainy Zone Friend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Concord, NC, USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,712	Just a thought... if the mk IV is half height.. hows that fitting on a standard pc tower? Either have to take the plate off or... something else?

19 October 2005, 00:03	#18
InTheSand Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Nelson, New Zealand Posts: 43	The card fits fine in a standard PC tower - it comes with a full-height bracket as well as two half-height ones so you can just use the one you require with it. - Ali

19 October 2005, 09:25	#19
stainy Zone Friend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Concord, NC, USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,712	ahh... I thought it would have to have something... but it never mentioned it in everything i`ve read so far! thanks Inthesand

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