PC2Ami Help Required Please

[scrappysphinx]

Hello all, i am new to the forum so i'll start with an introduction.
My name is Michael, i'm 23 and i had an Amiga 1200 when i was a kid.
My girlfriend recently purchased a new Amiga Technologies A1200 from ebay which i now know came from http://www.analogic.co.uk
The Amiga seems to work flawlessly and i have had no trouble with loading disks as i have read others have had trouble due to a PC floppy drive being used.

Now my problem:

I have purchased PC TO AMIGA PARALLEL LINK CABLE from amigakit.com and i have downloaded PC2Am308.lha from aminet.
I have connected the cables to both machines and installed the software on both sides.
I run the software on the PC and then run the PC icon under Dos Drivers on the Amiga and the PC Disk icon appears fine.
I can then browse and access all of my PC hard Drives but i cannot transfer anything.
As soon as i start to transfer i get a "Cannot transfer packet for a long time" error.
I have tried this on both an old P2 233mhz laptop running win98 and my P4 3.2Ghz PC running WinXP and i get the same error on both.
I have followed the http://wiki.abime.net/transfer:pctoa...nxp?s=parallel guide and edited files and again i can browse PC Hard Drives but cannot copy.
When i try and copy after following the above guide my amiga just sits there frozen with a clock for an icon.

I apologise for the long first post but this is really frustrating and i am considering giving up and getting a serial cable and Amiga Explorer or a pcmcia CF adaptor.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Many Thanks

Michael

[ppill]

Try running the PC2AmSpeed (included in the archive) utility and report the results here.

[scrappysphinx]

Originally Posted by ppill

Try running the PC2AmSpeed (included in the archive) utility and report the results here.

Hi ppill and thanks for your help.

PC2AmSpeed

Writing
Am->PC (write) speed is approximately 7843 B/s = 7KB/s.

Reading
PC->Am (Read) speed is approximately 6382 B/s = 6KB/s

then it just sits there doing nothing.

Thanks

Michael

[ppill]

I guess it works. Which version of Windows were you running during that test? PC2Am struggles with WinXP.

Here's a great post that might solve some of your problems.

[scrappysphinx]

Originally Posted by ppill

I guess it works. Which version of Windows were you running during that test? PC2Am struggles with WinXP.

Here's a great post that might solve some of your problems.

Thanks again for your help,

I was running on the XP system at the time of the test, i have since tried this on the win98 machine with the same results.

I have read through that post and followed the instructions but i still cannot transfer anything. As soon as i try to transfer anything the amiga freezes. I have tried ADF images but Amiga freezes. I have even tried smaller 1kb txt files but again the amiga freezes, i cannot even move the mouse). I have left for over an hour and a half but the amiga never recovers.

Any more help greatly appreciated.

Michael

[Fingerlickin_B]

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

i am considering giving up and getting a serial cable and Amiga Explorer

Not a bad option, but as with PC2Am the transfer speeds are shocking. If you really want to go with that option, PM me for more details.

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

or a pcmcia CF adaptor.

This is by far the best option. Cheap, fast, reliable & when running WinUAE on PC you can move files from & to the card in a Workbench environment, which is a very good thing!

PZ.

[scrappysphinx]

Ok guys, i decided to give up on the parallel cable and just purchased the PCMCIA adapter off ebay.

Thanks to ppill and Fingerlickin_B for there help

Michael

[ppill]

If by any chance you're also running Linux why not try APCComm? It uses the same cable.

Or you can rewire the cable and run Paradise (fix for WinXp).

Still CF is probably a better solution (if you don't mind the swapping between computers).

[alexh]

I've had much better xfer rates with 8-wire parallel cables upto just below 3 figures. I wonder what was wrong?

[pbareges]

i use it pc2amiga as the main transfer tool as i find it really easy and efficient...i only had to "patch it" in 2 ways :

- first if you look through readme file, you will find an option to avoid the warning message you're referring...the computers will keep trying to exchange packets whatever the situation...

- second if you try to transfer large files (i would say over 4mbytes) with a simple copy command then you will get the computer freezing right at start...i guess the tool can't handle large packets and has not been designed to segment them if too large....but i found a getaround : i make huge zip (i have been up to 500mb) on the pc and i unzip them from the amiga...this way i transfer them bit by bit (as it uncompresses...transfer...uncompresses..transfer...etc...) without reaching the packet size limit....

hope this can help you.....

[scrappysphinx]

Originally Posted by pbareges

i use it pc2amiga as the main transfer tool as i find it really easy and efficient...i only had to "patch it" in 2 ways :

- first if you look through readme file, you will find an option to avoid the warning message you're referring...the computers will keep trying to exchange packets whatever the situation...

- second if you try to transfer large files (i would say over 4mbytes) with a simple copy command then you will get the computer freezing right at start...i guess the tool can't handle large packets and has not been designed to segment them if too large....but i found a getaround : i make huge zip (i have been up to 500mb) on the pc and i unzip them from the amiga...this way i transfer them bit by bit (as it uncompresses...transfer...uncompresses..transfer...etc...) without reaching the packet size limit....

hope this can help you.....

Thanks for all the help guys, all i was trying to transfer was some 880kb adf's to then put to disk so i can play on real amiga instead of emulated.
Just kept freezing whenever i tried to copy anything.
Anyway i've paid £10 for the pcmcia CF adapter with a 16mb CF card from ebay and bought a 2gb CF card for £11 from local shop with the CF to 2.5" ide which i plan to use for the hdd instead of the 3gb laptop hdd i have now which has recently started to clunk a little.

I may however look into modding the cable for paradise as a side project, i like to tinker and i don't mind breaking in the name of science lol

Anyhow thanks to everyone for your help with this problem.

One more question to anyone who may be able to help?

I have an M1230 XA accelerator 50mhz with 8mb ram that i've had since my father purchased with the original amiga i had as a kid (early 90's) which when i plug into the slot in the A1200 trapdoor i cannot get Workbench to boot. It maybe cause its old and its been in storage for years.
I plug in the accelerator switch the machine on but it just sits on a dark grey screen with the power light on but never goes anywhere.
I have been looking at some pictures of the board on the internet and the only thing i notice thats different to mine compared to others on the web is that mine seems to be missing too little peices which i have highlited in the attached picture.
I dont know if they are meant to be present or not but it is the only difference i can see with mine.

I have just purchased this accelerator from ebay but have no idea what it is yet or if it works.

If anyone can help i'd be very grateful.

Michael

[alexh]

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

the only thing i notice thats different to mine compared to others on the web is that mine seems to be missing too little peices which i have highlited in the attached picture. I dont know if they are meant to be present or not but it is the only difference i can see with mine.

Those are the CRYSTALS. They are quite important, but perhaps not 100% essential depending on the board. I'd need to research. However I would say this is likely your problem. Replacements would cost a few pence.

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

I have just purchased this accelerator from ebay but have no idea what it is yet or if it works.

It doesnt, because it isnt an accelerator! Your old one (if you can get it working) is a lot better.

[alexh]

Yes I think this board needs at least one crystal. Not necessarily two. Anyone got the Manual?

A 50MHz xtal from Maplin in the left hand socket should bring this accelerator back to life.

[scrappysphinx]

Originally Posted by alexh

Yes I think this board needs at least one crystal. Not necessarily two. Anyone got the Manual?

A 50MHz xtal from Maplin in the left hand socket should bring this accelerator back to life.

Thanks for the help alexh, i am searching for xtal on Maplins website but nothing seems to be listed, i'm sorry to be a pain but would you have a link anywhere at all?

i did find these on ebay but they look square instead of rectangle so i imagine wouldn't fit the socket on the accelerator?
There is also this box full.

and just a matter of interest if i wanted to replace both what would the one on the right be for and would it be the same crystal (xtal?) as the left?

Sorry for all the questions just trying to increase my knowledge of the amiga and to try and ressurect the old piece of hardware lol

Thanks for the help so far.

Mike

[davideo]

Mike,

I had a problem with one expansion board in one of my 1200s a long time ago. I seem to remember that the metal shielding inside the 1200 was touching the connecting pins/tracks and shorting out the expansion stopping the miggy starting up.

I had to bend the shielding back away from the expansion slot and all worked fine after that.

I'm not sure (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong ) that not all expansion cards need a crystal. Only those with either a faster processor or FPU unit on board

[davideo]

Mike,

P.S. have you looked on the Amiga Hardware Database http://amiga.resource.cx/ ?

There may be some help on that website.

[scrappysphinx]

Hi davideo, i'll take a look at the shielding tomorrow morning, (too late for me to open the amiga now, missus would kill me )

Thanks for the help

Mike

P.S.

I have found these crystals on Amigakit.com
If i were to order these would i need to order 2 50mhz crystals, one for each socket or would the socket on the right need a different sort of chip?
And would it be a 8-pin or 14-pin?
Sorry, i'm not very savvy on the amiga hardware. Can get my way around the pc but i've not been near an amiga since i was about 12 years old!

Many Thanks for all the help

Mike

[davideo]

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

Hi davideo, i'll take a look at the shielding tomorrow morning, (too late for me to open the amiga now, missus would kill me )

Mine's nodded off on the sofa watching tv

Have a look at this picture http://amiga.resource.cx/photos/mbx1230 and see what you make of it compared to yours - it may help you

[scrappysphinx]

Mine's still playing with neopets online (we cant have a real pet so she has a virtual one!)

My card is exactly the same except for the number on the left chip, although i assume this just the serial number?

Picture

XC68030RC33B
10B67R
DEAE8902

Mine

MC68030RC50B
O9C7AN
QEAF9105

Right chip is pretty much same.

I still have the box (but no manual) and on the side of the box it says
X-1389A-00000 835 :50MHz MMU 030

Includes Simm: 824 4 Meg

Includes PGA FPU: None

[davideo]

Originally Posted by scrappysphinx

My card is exactly the same except for the number on the left chip, although i assume this just the serial number?

Picture

XC68030RC33B
10B67R
DEAE8902

Mine

MC68030RC50B
O9C7AN
QEAF9105

Right chip is pretty much same.

I still have the box (but no manual) and on the side of the box it says
X-1389A-00000 835 :50MHz MMU 030

Then I'd guess that you'd need a 50MHz for the left chip and 33MHz for the right chip. Now I assume you need to count the gaps for the pins so you would know what to order

I've checked the previous website and there aren't any manuals but there is some software. Version 3.1 Kickstart auto configures the memory - with a version 3.0 Kickstart you need the software to configure the Ram for you.

Hope that helps