Amiga questions you've always been too embarrassed to ask

[Daedalus]

Mastersystem pads are perfectly safe and are wired just like standard 2-button Amiga controllers.

[alkis21]

What do the initials WHD mean in WHDLoad?

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by alkis21

What do the initials WHD mean in WHDLoad?

Probably something obvious like Workbench Hard Drive Load

[Gryfon]

Originally Posted by alkis21

What do the initials WHD mean in WHDLoad?

I’ve always thought:
Workbench
Hard
Disk
Load

Since you are installing to hard disk (usually a game with no installer) and running it from Workbench. Only guessing though.

[kremiso]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Mastersystem pads are perfectly safe and are wired just like standard 2-button Amiga controllers.

thanks for this
never had a Mastersystem, so I didn't know his joypad was also connectable to c64 and Amiga

can i ask how does it performs, in a longplay session? being a joypad i mean;
is it accurate? pain in the hands/wrists?

[Weasel Fierce]

The official master system pads are kind of not great, but there are some after market ones that do better.

The problem with most D-pads is that amiga games assume you can do diagonals easy. Platformers often get patched to use the second button to jump (and many later ones had it in a menu anyways, if you see a "gamepad" option thats usually what it does) but games like Alien Breed or even Speedball get awkward to play when you cant reliably use diagonals.

[ajk]

Originally Posted by alkis21

What do the initials WHD mean in WHDLoad?

"Wepl's HD load", Wepl being the nickname for the creator, Bert Jahn.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Weasel Fierce

but games like Alien Breed or even Speedball get awkward to play when you cant reliably use diagonals.

These kind of games are actually fine if you have a decent pad (and the quality MD ones are).

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by kremiso

thanks for this
never had a Mastersystem, so I didn't know his joypad was also connectable to c64 and Amiga

can i ask how does it performs, in a longplay session? being a joypad i mean;
is it accurate? pain in the hands/wrists?

Well, I'm not a fan of Mastersystem pads (or Megadrive pads for that matter), so I haven't used one in anger for a long, long time. I can tell you though that while both buttons will work on the Amiga, only button 1 will work on the C64.

[Weasel Fierce]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

These kind of games are actually fine if you have a decent pad (and the quality MD ones are).

Yeah, it depends a lot on the kind you have. I have one of the (rare?) Amiga versions of the Gravis gamepad and it would be lovely if the Dpad was not so slippery.

[kremiso]

Originally Posted by Weasel Fierce

The official master system pads are kind of not great, but there are some after market ones that do better.

The problem with most D-pads is that amiga games assume you can do diagonals easy. Platformers often get patched to use the second button to jump (and many later ones had it in a menu anyways, if you see a "gamepad" option thats usually what it does) but games like Alien Breed or even Speedball get awkward to play when you cant reliably use diagonals.

Originally Posted by dreadnought

These kind of games are actually fine if you have a decent pad (and the quality MD ones are).

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Well, I'm not a fan of Mastersystem pads (or Megadrive pads for that matter), so I haven't used one in anger for a long, long time. I can tell you though that while both buttons will work on the Amiga, only button 1 will work on the C64.

was instantly wondering if perhaps i had missed out on a better alternative to the original megadrive pad, but seems not

[alkis21]

Originally Posted by ajk

"Wepl's HD load", Wepl being the nickname for the creator, Bert Jahn.

Interesting! Do we know this for a fact?

[NLS]

Originally Posted by alkis21

Interesting! Do we know this for a fact?

Yes it is a fact.
Why, you think he was joking?

[mech]

Originally Posted by jolly11

amiga 4000 was originally called amiga 800, is it true?

It was the A3400 originally and looked quite different.


https://bigbookofamigahardware.com/b...uct.aspx?id=28

[mech]

Originally Posted by slaapliedje

I've got a question, perhaps good for this thread...

Why has no one engineered a straight SATA zorro bridge board? or other expansion? Instead we're stuck with IDE ones with adapters, or SCSI with adapters, but no one (besides maybe the full FPGA expansion boards, like the Vampire?) has SATA for the Amiga. Any particular reason?

A Zorro 3 card with sata would only do a max of around 14MB/s(in theory) and would use alot of cpu overhead to do it(depending how it was engineered).



SCSI on the accelerator is the absolute best you can do on an A4000 because its local bus, DMA capable, and synchronous. It uses very little CPU time to move data. A CSPPC with SCSI to IDE bridge will net around 24-27MB/s with a quality CF card. A real SCSI HD will net around 38MB/s depending on the HD. There is nothing wrong with SCSI to IDE bridges or SCSI to SATA except maybe cost these days.

[mech]

Originally Posted by slaapliedje

I'll throw this one in here....
All about Elbox.
1) What happened to the SharkPPC, and Dragon Coldfire?
2) If they're releasing updated versions of the A4000D Mediator that requires a towerised A4000, why not also sell more A4000 Tower kits? They brought back the A1200 tower kits...
3) Thought of ordering the updated A4000Di Mediatior for the 3v compatibility, but does it really only just allow a larger selection of Radeon cards? I finally replaced mine (I think it partially fried) with a Voodoo 3 3000. Is there any other benefits from the MK-III version over (I think) the MK-I?

I have the original Elbox mediator in the power tower,and since it used the ATX power supply i just ran 3.3v(orange) wire to the PCI slots of my board to give 3.3v compatibility. Its easier than hacking cards and 3v/5v cards work.

[alkis21]

Originally Posted by NLS

Yes it is a fact.
Why, you think he was joking?

I reckoned he might be guessing, just like the ones who gave a different answer earlier.

[wiz12]

When deleting a directory or file in DOpus you get the message - "Do you really wish to delete the selected entries?" and the options "Delete All Cancel". My question is what's the difference between Delete and All because they seem to do the same action?

[grond]

Originally Posted by wiz12

When deleting a directory or file in DOpus you get the message - "Do you really wish to delete the selected entries?" and the options "Delete All Cancel". My question is what's the difference between Delete and All because they seem to do the same action?

If you selected more than 1 entry, "Delete" will step you through the selected entries one by one, "All" will not query but proceed to delete all entries.

[dgurv]

Hi everyone, with a PiStorm is it possible to see the Amiga “insert disk” screen without a floppy inserted, or will it always attempt to boot from the HD?