I'm too scared to use Magic Workbench

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 19:56

I've been jealous of the desktops people post here now and then, and I want to make my desktop look better. Is it possible? I have an 1200 with 10MBs of RAM, and a standard 1081 (yes, 1081!!) monitor.

Although I have installed several applications that increased my OS functionality, it still looks pretty much like it did 15 years ago.

I'm currently using a standard Workbench layout, with a 640x256 resolution. Laced resolution look awful in my monitor, and software solutions such as MagicTV do not solve the flickering problem efficiently, so not many choices there.

I've been thinking of Magic Workbench. In the documentation, it says that I must use a proportional resolution. Does this mean that the icons will look awful in my resolution? I'm too scared to try it because according to the guide, all my icon images will be replaced and it will be a real pain to install them again.

What do you think?

keropi · 07 April 2007, 20:04

why don't u try classicWB on winUAE ????

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 20:14

I'm talking about my real Amiga, not my emulated one.

ppill · 07 April 2007, 20:18

ClassicWb LITE is the way to go. It uses magic workbench's palette and icons scaled to suit the non-laced screens and it's designed to work on real hardware.

keropi · 07 April 2007, 20:23

@alkis:
I just say try it in winuae so to have an idea how it will look without messing your real setup...

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 20:36

Oh! I knew that.. and it just so happens that I have a perfect backup of my real Amiga in my PC... I'll create a hardfile and test ClassicWB Lite on WinUAE. I'll let you know how it goes.

keropi · 07 April 2007, 20:46

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 21:02

Hmmm.. I downloaded this file. I uninstalled the RealAmigaInstall ADF, and put the System.zip file in the root directory like prompted. I ran the disk, and now the installer "inflates" the content of System.zip (System.hdf), which appears to be hundreds of megabytes! No way this will fit in my real Amiga... Am I doing something wrong? Is there a different installation file somewhere? Because the one I downloaded seems to be optimized for emulated Amigas, despite the existence of the ADF.

ppill · 07 April 2007, 21:46

You're installing it to work with WinUAE or on real hardware?

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 21:56

Well, I want to install it on my real Amiga but first I want to test the procedure on WinUAE (I have an exact clone of my hard drive installed there).

ppill · 07 April 2007, 22:15

OK then...

There's no need to use the RealAmigaInstall ADF under WinUAE when installing ClassicWB. Simply load the configuration provided in the archive you've downloaded. Add the HDF file in the 'Hard Drives' tab. When you start the emulation you will be promted for a Workbench 3.x disk (so make sure you've got an ADF image of it ready to use). After all the necessary files will have been copied remove the Workbnech ADF and reboot. That's it!

Now if you want to install it on the real Amiga make sure you got an empty bootable partition at least 100Mb in size. Under emulation use lha to pack the SYS: drive and save it to a folder in windows (add another drive in the Hard Drives tab pointing to a folder somewhere on your PC's HD). Now you simply have to transfer the .lha file together with an lhex/lha command to the Amiga and unpack it onto the empty partition (use a CF adapter, CD-RW, etc.).

But the simplest solution would be to mount the hard drive you're using with the real thing in WinUAE and simply copy the files over (when both the HDF with ClassicWB and the HD are listed in the Hard Drives tab).

alkis21 · 07 April 2007, 23:16

That's what I thought. Unfortunately, I don't have that much disk space. Thanks anyway.

Peter · 08 April 2007, 00:08

I only use a basic monitor with a PAL display and Magic Workbench looks fine.
Classic Workbench is very recommended...

killergorilla · 08 April 2007, 03:57

How much diskspace do you have?

Why not use classicWB FULL? I do on my A1200 and it's awesome.

alkis21 · 08 April 2007, 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter

I only use a basic monitor with a PAL display and Magic Workbench looks fine.

I tried it yesterday, didn't like it much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killergorilla

How much diskspace do you have?

Well Toki, I only have a 340MB hard disk which is almost full, so I was thinking 20-30MBs at most. I also use USB drives, but as I turn those on and off I can't use them for that purpose.

Quote:

Why not use classicWB FULL? I do on my A1200 and it's awesome.

I assume that would need even more disk space, wouldn't it?

Anubis · 09 April 2007, 17:21

Yes, full version requires more diskspace.

ClassicWB Lite is only 27 MB.

To solve disk space problems I recomend you to get CF - IDE (44 pin) conector and a CF card.

I just got 2GB card working (costed me all together less then $40 with new card) and I have another card on the way (4GB). WIth PCMCIA CF reader I will have 4GB hd and another card to transfer files.

If you don't like to upgrade your amiga, then just erase your drive, install ClassicWB Lite or Full (full should work as well) and then games you like. It's collection of the needed tools to do everything with your amiga?! (create ADFs from your floppies or floppies from ADFs, downgrade KS to 1.3, WHDLoad, Web Browser, archiver/unarchiver just to name some

)

Chain · 09 April 2007, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by alkis21

Well Toki,

07 April 2007, 19:56	#1
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	I'm too scared to use Magic Workbench I've been jealous of the desktops people post here now and then, and I want to make my desktop look better. Is it possible? I have an 1200 with 10MBs of RAM, and a standard 1081 (yes, 1081!!) monitor. Although I have installed several applications that increased my OS functionality, it still looks pretty much like it did 15 years ago. I'm currently using a standard Workbench layout, with a 640x256 resolution. Laced resolution look awful in my monitor, and software solutions such as MagicTV do not solve the flickering problem efficiently, so not many choices there. I've been thinking of Magic Workbench. In the documentation, it says that I must use a proportional resolution. Does this mean that the icons will look awful in my resolution? I'm too scared to try it because according to the guide, all my icon images will be replaced and it will be a real pain to install them again. What do you think?

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07 April 2007, 20:04	#2
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	why don't u try classicWB on winUAE ????

07 April 2007, 20:14	#3
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	I'm talking about my real Amiga, not my emulated one.

07 April 2007, 20:18	#4
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	ClassicWb LITE is the way to go. It uses magic workbench's palette and icons scaled to suit the non-laced screens and it's designed to work on real hardware.

07 April 2007, 20:23	#5
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	@alkis: I just say try it in winuae so to have an idea how it will look without messing your real setup...

07 April 2007, 20:36	#6
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	Oh! I knew that.. and it just so happens that I have a perfect backup of my real Amiga in my PC... I'll create a hardfile and test ClassicWB Lite on WinUAE. I'll let you know how it goes.

07 April 2007, 20:46	#7
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040

07 April 2007, 21:02	#8
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	Hmmm.. I downloaded this file. I uninstalled the RealAmigaInstall ADF, and put the System.zip file in the root directory like prompted. I ran the disk, and now the installer "inflates" the content of System.zip (System.hdf), which appears to be hundreds of megabytes! No way this will fit in my real Amiga... Am I doing something wrong? Is there a different installation file somewhere? Because the one I downloaded seems to be optimized for emulated Amigas, despite the existence of the ADF.

07 April 2007, 21:46	#9
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	You're installing it to work with WinUAE or on real hardware?

07 April 2007, 21:56	#10
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	Well, I want to install it on my real Amiga but first I want to test the procedure on WinUAE (I have an exact clone of my hard drive installed there).

07 April 2007, 22:15	#11
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	OK then... There's no need to use the RealAmigaInstall ADF under WinUAE when installing ClassicWB. Simply load the configuration provided in the archive you've downloaded. Add the HDF file in the 'Hard Drives' tab. When you start the emulation you will be promted for a Workbench 3.x disk (so make sure you've got an ADF image of it ready to use). After all the necessary files will have been copied remove the Workbnech ADF and reboot. That's it! Now if you want to install it on the real Amiga make sure you got an empty bootable partition at least 100Mb in size. Under emulation use lha to pack the SYS: drive and save it to a folder in windows (add another drive in the Hard Drives tab pointing to a folder somewhere on your PC's HD). Now you simply have to transfer the .lha file together with an lhex/lha command to the Amiga and unpack it onto the empty partition (use a CF adapter, CD-RW, etc.). But the simplest solution would be to mount the hard drive you're using with the real thing in WinUAE and simply copy the files over (when both the HDF with ClassicWB and the HD are listed in the Hard Drives tab).

07 April 2007, 23:16	#12
alkis21 Zone Friend Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Age: 49 Posts: 1,409	That's what I thought. Unfortunately, I don't have that much disk space. Thanks anyway.

08 April 2007, 00:08	#13
Peter Still an Amiga user Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kent Age: 55 Posts: 2,715	I only use a basic monitor with a PAL display and Magic Workbench looks fine. Classic Workbench is very recommended...

08 April 2007, 03:57	#14
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	How much diskspace do you have? Why not use classicWB FULL? I do on my A1200 and it's awesome.

09 April 2007, 17:21	#16
Anubis Retro Gamer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Underworld Age: 51 Posts: 4,072	Yes, full version requires more diskspace. ClassicWB Lite is only 27 MB. To solve disk space problems I recomend you to get CF - IDE (44 pin) conector and a CF card. I just got 2GB card working (costed me all together less then $40 with new card) and I have another card on the way (4GB). WIth PCMCIA CF reader I will have 4GB hd and another card to transfer files. If you don't like to upgrade your amiga, then just erase your drive, install ClassicWB Lite or Full (full should work as well) and then games you like. It's collection of the needed tools to do everything with your amiga?! (create ADFs from your floppies or floppies from ADFs, downgrade KS to 1.3, WHDLoad, Web Browser, archiver/unarchiver just to name some )

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