Getting an Amiga 600 - some questions

10 September 2009, 20:48

Hello,

I think I should give a quick introduction first. My name is David Mackay, I live in a small town in Scotland, and I program in PHP sometimes.

Anyway, I owned an Amiga 500 some years back, which I sold for some reason (I regret it deeply now!).

I decided not long ago to 'get back into' the Amiga scene, and settled on an Amiga 600 as a machine to use.

I've ordered one, and tomorrow I'm paying the money to the seller, and it should hopefully be delivered within a week.

I feel the need to ask some questions, though. First, will the network card for sale at http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=116 work with the Amiga 600 using Workbench 2.05? Or will I need to use 3.1 to get it going? I also have a thought it may need a RAM upgrade to 2MB chip RAM total.

Second, what options do I have in the category of accelerators? I can't find any for the 600.

Thanks in advance.

prowler · 10 September 2009, 21:41

Hi, David. It's great to have you aboard!

It's always good to welcome another enthusiast back to the Amiga world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revival9001

First, will the network card for sale at http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=116 work with the Amiga 600 using Workbench 2.05? Or will I need to use 3.1 to get it going? I also have a thought it may need a RAM upgrade to 2MB chip RAM total.

Yes, that PCMCIA Network Adapter should work in your new A600. Amigakit usually watch these forums, so you might soon find your questions regarding Kickstart/Workbench versions and RAM requirements answered in this thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revival9001

Second, what options do I have in the category of accelerators? I can't find any for the 600.

Have a look at this thread for something being created to fill that gap:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36596

PS. Don't forget to let us know how you get on with the A600 when you have received it.

11 September 2009, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Hi, David. It's great to have you aboard!

It's always good to welcome another enthusiast back to the Amiga world.

Yes, that PCMCIA Network Adapter should work in your new A600. Amigakit usually watch these forums, so you might soon find your questions regarding Kickstart/Workbench versions and RAM requirements answered in this thread.

Have a look at this thread for something being created to fill that gap:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36596

PS. Don't forget to let us know how you get on with the A600 when you have received it.

Hello,

Thanks for the welcome! I'm sure this will be very interesting.

I've just payed for the A600. Hopefully it'll be delivered sometime next week.

14 September 2009, 18:52

Good news! The 600 should arrive on Wednesday. At the latest, Friday. I'll post some pictures when it's up and going.

cosmicfrog · 14 September 2009, 19:17

that is indeed good news Revival9001

but just out of courisoist what made you decide to go for an A600

oh and welcome ribbits you`ve found the right place 2 be

14 September 2009, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

but just out of courisoist what made you decide to go for an A600

I was going to get an A500 originally, but several discoveries changed my mind. The A600 has a lower failure rate, internal IDE (for WHDLoad), and up to 2MB chipram is the main reasons.

cosmicfrog · 14 September 2009, 20:15

thats good

yep the a600 has more to offer than the A500 but it still only comes with 1meg chip ram as standard

still its a great little machine but i can`t help feeling you should have gone for an A1200

Boom^ · 18 September 2009, 14:01

Yeah I agree, I would have gone for the A1200, with 2mb as standard + AGA and 020 processor. Iirc there was an 030 accelarator for the a600 but they were hard to come by. You can get a 1MB upgrade for the 600 via the trapdoor slot, and you can increase the Fast RAM via a PCMCIA card, however this will then get in the way of your network card. With the A1200 you could have increased the Fast Ram via the trapdoor slot with an accelerator or memory card.

The 600 is still a great little machine though. I wonder if my brother still has my old one!

Merlin · 18 September 2009, 14:47

@ Revival9001

Watch this space; work is in hand on here to create a new A600 accelerator...

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36596

You can get an A602 expansion from Amigakit that takes your A600 to 2Mb and adds a clockport, handy if you are thinking about adding other thing as even USB expansions can be obtained to use the clockport. My learned friend Zetr0 created his uber-impressive A600 Project and you should look this up on here.

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...t=A600+project

There's even an 8Mb A608 expansion being worked on..

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=A608

You chose the right machine!!

[/shameless plug on]
I would also recommend that you sign up at AmiBay, as there are some retro bargains to be had on our trading site.
[/shameless plug off]

tonyyeb · 18 September 2009, 15:14

Does whdload work on an A600? I thought it was 020 only?

Graham Humphrey · 18 September 2009, 15:52

No, it does run on a plain 68000. It does need at least Kickstart 2 though.

tonyyeb · 18 September 2009, 15:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham Humphrey

No, it does run on a plain 68000. It does need at least Kickstart 2 though.

Good stuff.

Boom^ · 18 September 2009, 17:16

Yeah A600s have Kickstart 2.04. Be aware, not all A600s had the clock port. early revisions didnt if i remember correctly. You can get 3.1 roms for the A600 too. Could be worth doing. Then you can run WB 3.9

20 September 2009, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom^

Yeah A600s have Kickstart 2.04. Be aware, not all A600s had the clock port. early revisions didnt if i remember correctly. You can get 3.1 roms for the A600 too. Could be worth doing. Then you can run WB 3.9

I actually just bought Kickstart 3.1 ROMs & the Workbench 3.1 diskset.

Oh and Merlin, what's the difference between the A602 memory expansion & the A603? They seem pretty similar. I'll join Amibay very soon

.

Anyway, I've also ordered a 2.1GB laptop HDD, 2.5". Going to put it in the A600 & install Workbench 3.1 on that.

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part of my message! The Amiga 600 arrived, and it's working perfectly. I need to find some fresh batteries for my camera, then the pictures will come.

alexh · 20 September 2009, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom^

Yeah A600s have Kickstart 2.04.

No they don't. They have 2.05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom^

Be aware, not all A600s had the clock port.

No A600 motherboard revision has a clock port. You can add one using Individual Computers A602 or A603 trapdoor chip RAM upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revival9001

what's the difference between the A602 memory expansion & the A603? They seem pretty similar.

The A602 has a leak proof battery. The A603 has a CR2032 coin battery & an Indivision ECS connector. The A603 is cheaper, but it is physically incompatible with the Apollo A620 & A630 accelerators. But you'll never get one so might as well get an A603.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom^

[Get Kickstart 3.1 for your A600]Then you can run WB 3.9

No you cannot, AmigaOS3.9 is 020+ only.

DDNI · 20 September 2009, 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

physically incompatible with the Apollo A620 & A630 accelerators. But you'll never get one so might as well get an A603.

lol, yup A630 = rockin horse poo.... AND if you do get one, chances are it wont work...

DoogUK · 20 September 2009, 14:15

Alex a lot of them were shipped with 2.04 KS

Correcting myself...all 3 revisions of the rom were 2.05...

alexh · 20 September 2009, 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoogUK

Alex a lot of them were shipped with 2.04 KS

Interesting, I've never seen one. Not sure I believe you 100%

I've got a rev 1 motherboard here and it came with KS2.05 v37.299. In that version neither the PCMCIA nor the IDE was functional.

Edit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoogUK

Correcting myself...all 3 revisions of the rom were 2.05...

Heh, thought so.

DoogUK · 20 September 2009, 14:22

I always thought that was the 2.04...my mistake.

alexh · 20 September 2009, 14:25

The PCMCIA and IDE didn't work, so I have no idea what the differences were between 2.04 v37.175 and 2.05 v37.299?

10 September 2009, 20:48	#1
Revival9001 Posts: n/a	Getting an Amiga 600 - some questions Hello, I think I should give a quick introduction first. My name is David Mackay, I live in a small town in Scotland, and I program in PHP sometimes. Anyway, I owned an Amiga 500 some years back, which I sold for some reason (I regret it deeply now!). I decided not long ago to 'get back into' the Amiga scene, and settled on an Amiga 600 as a machine to use. I've ordered one, and tomorrow I'm paying the money to the seller, and it should hopefully be delivered within a week. I feel the need to ask some questions, though. First, will the network card for sale at http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=116 work with the Amiga 600 using Workbench 2.05? Or will I need to use 3.1 to get it going? I also have a thought it may need a RAM upgrade to 2MB chip RAM total. Second, what options do I have in the category of accelerators? I can't find any for the 600. Thanks in advance.

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14 September 2009, 18:52	#4
Revival9001 Posts: n/a	Good news! The 600 should arrive on Wednesday. At the latest, Friday. I'll post some pictures when it's up and going.

14 September 2009, 19:17	#5
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	that is indeed good news Revival9001 but just out of courisoist what made you decide to go for an A600 oh and welcome ribbits you`ve found the right place 2 be

14 September 2009, 20:15	#7
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	thats good yep the a600 has more to offer than the A500 but it still only comes with 1meg chip ram as standard still its a great little machine but i can`t help feeling you should have gone for an A1200

18 September 2009, 14:01	#8
Boom^ Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Estepona, Spain Posts: 38	Yeah I agree, I would have gone for the A1200, with 2mb as standard + AGA and 020 processor. Iirc there was an 030 accelarator for the a600 but they were hard to come by. You can get a 1MB upgrade for the 600 via the trapdoor slot, and you can increase the Fast RAM via a PCMCIA card, however this will then get in the way of your network card. With the A1200 you could have increased the Fast Ram via the trapdoor slot with an accelerator or memory card. The 600 is still a great little machine though. I wonder if my brother still has my old one!

18 September 2009, 14:47	#9
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	@ Revival9001 Watch this space; work is in hand on here to create a new A600 accelerator... http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=36596 You can get an A602 expansion from Amigakit that takes your A600 to 2Mb and adds a clockport, handy if you are thinking about adding other thing as even USB expansions can be obtained to use the clockport. My learned friend Zetr0 created his uber-impressive A600 Project and you should look this up on here. http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...t=A600+project There's even an 8Mb A608 expansion being worked on.. http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...highlight=A608 You chose the right machine!! [/shameless plug on] I would also recommend that you sign up at AmiBay, as there are some retro bargains to be had on our trading site. [/shameless plug off]

18 September 2009, 15:14	#10
tonyyeb Has the Amiga bug again Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hull, UK Age: 43 Posts: 791	Does whdload work on an A600? I thought it was 020 only?

18 September 2009, 15:52	#11
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	No, it does run on a plain 68000. It does need at least Kickstart 2 though.

18 September 2009, 17:16	#13
Boom^ Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Estepona, Spain Posts: 38	Yeah A600s have Kickstart 2.04. Be aware, not all A600s had the clock port. early revisions didnt if i remember correctly. You can get 3.1 roms for the A600 too. Could be worth doing. Then you can run WB 3.9

20 September 2009, 14:15	#17
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	Alex a lot of them were shipped with 2.04 KS Correcting myself...all 3 revisions of the rom were 2.05...

20 September 2009, 14:22	#19
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	I always thought that was the 2.04...my mistake.

20 September 2009, 14:25	#20
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,330	The PCMCIA and IDE didn't work, so I have no idea what the differences were between 2.04 v37.175 and 2.05 v37.299?

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