HELP! Cannot transfer files from PC to Amiga 500 in ANY way!

[Amiga1983]

Hi everyone,

My name is Laura. I have been registered to this forum for long time, but never been really active. First of all I hope I posted this question in the right section, if not I apologize.
I'm not new to the Amiga world: I grew up with an Amiga 2000, then I switched to a A1200, and for a short period of time I also had a A600 and A3000. About 6 years ago, after spending money and time to expand it, I made the terrible mistake to sell my A1200 for a ridiculous price. I regretted that soon, and have been unable to find or afford another one during the years.

Two weeks ago I won the auction for an Amiga 500 Rev.5 with 1MB RAM and ROM 1.3. Before I explain the problems I am having with it I would like to state that I spent days trying to solve this issue and I've done online searches for hours, but the info I found where either unhelpful or incomplete for my particular situation, and most of the time even confusing. I know that after more than 8 years I'm a bit rusty, but this is something that I used to do that in less than a minute with my old A1200. I am having a VERY hard time trying to transfer files from my iMac (with dual boot Win7/ OSX) to my Amiga 500.
My (limited) resources are: an old Workbench 1.3 floppy disk, an unbranded null modem cable with USB adapter, and external Mitsumi FDD 061M USB floppy drive, an authentic copy of Amiga Forever+Amiga Explorer, WinUAE3300_x64, and some empty floppy disks.


These are the ways I am trying to transfer files between my computer and Amiga, and the problems I am facing:

1) The serial connection via Amiga Explorer fails after the "RAM:Setup" command: many other users complain about the same issue. I assumed it could be caused by a bad quality (or badly wired) null modem cable, so I decided to purchase the highly recommended Monoprice 6-Feet Null Modem DB9F/DB25F Molded Cable. I should receive it in a couple of days so I still don't know if that will solve my problem or not, but I'll let you know.

2) I installed WinUAE and formatted a 1.44MB floppy disk in Amiga format with the emulator; whenever I place Amiga files on it or try to write an .adf image via transdisk, no matter what I do, I always get the "DF0:BAD" or "DF0:DOS" error when I insert that back in the Amiga (even if I cover the second hole with tape). Moreover, when I use the "transdisk > floppyname:filename.adf -s 0 -e 79" command in a new shell, the transfer gets interrupted by the "Disk is Full" error whenever it reaches Track 74 or 78.

3) Tired of all this, I installed Total Commander with the AmigaDX plugin and tried to write an .adf file on a floppy. The Amiga still won't recognize it.

4) I also tried ADFMaster for Mac OS, but my Mitsumi USB FDD is very unrealiable (sometimes it fails to format, and won't appear in the list of devices, especially in Mac OS environment). Uunfortunately I don't have any other external floppy drive to try.


Any idea of why this is happening? Am I doing something wrong? Is Workbench 1.3 too obsolete for this procedure?

I have already tried different things, such as cleaning both A500 and Mitsumi floppy drives heads with a head cleaning diskette, but nothing changed. I also noticed that the Mitsumi USB FDD is very unrealiable (sometimes it fails to format, and won't appear in the list of devices), but unfortunately I don't have any other external floppy drive to try.
If all else fails, there are other solutions for my problems that I would like to try, but I'm not sure which one is the best one. Can I upgrade its ROM to Kickstart 3.1.4 and use OS 3.1 (since it comes with CrossDOS drivers) without making the system unstable or having to solder something? Or should I purchase an internal Gotek drive and say goodbye to floppy disks and frustration? Believe me, reselling this A500 and purchasing another A1200 is on my wishlist, but unfortunately I cannot afford one at the moment. So here I am, stuck with all my ideas and doubts and unable to use this Amiga.

Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Matt_H]

Welcome, Laura!

Unfortunately it's not possible to write ADFs to disk without an actual Amiga or without other specialized hardware (Catweasel, Kyroflux, etc.). While the Amiga can read and write PC-format 720K disks (with CrossDOS), the reverse isn't true. You can't write ADFs to disk with just a standard USB floppy drive.

So I think your best bet is to try to get Amiga Explorer working. Then you'll be able to write ADFs over the serial connection using the 500's floppy drive. I've only ever used Amiga Explorer over TCP/IP, so I don't have any advice on using it over Serial/USB, but it sounds like you're on the right track with getting the new cable. Is the USB adapter definitely working? Cloanto has some decent support documentation on their site about making the hardware connection.

One thing that jumps out at me is that your WinUAE version is fairly old, which makes me wonder if your version of Amiga Explorer might also be out-of-date. Make sure you've got the latest to take advantage of bugfixes. While it's not likely, there's also the possibility that the 500's serial port is fried. (Just in case you forgot: never hotplug anything into an Amiga.)

What are your plans for the system? i.e., are you just looking to play games or are you looking to set up an actual computing environment to do other things as well? The answer to that question will influence recommendations for upgrade paths.

[utri007]

Amiga Explorer should just work, so cable must be a problem. Here about wiring https://www.amigaforever.com/kb/13-105

[giZmo350]

This kit on eBay is still the easiest, cheapest, fastest way to transfer adf images to your real Amiga....   

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amiga-Pc-ADF-File-to-3-5-Disk-Parallel-cable-Transfer-Kit-Easy-Fast-Cheap/272363110828?hash=item3f6a1b41ac:g:g-4AAOSw~G1Z2kcG

[Matt_H]

This kit on eBay is still the easiest, cheapest, fastest way to transfer adf images to your real Amiga....   

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amiga-Pc-ADF-File-to-3-5-Disk-Parallel-cable-Transfer-Kit-Easy-Fast-Cheap/272363110828?hash=item3f6a1b41ac:g:g-4AAOSw~G1Z2kcG

No slots for a parallel port/card on an iMac, unfortunately.

[TribbleSmasher]

The best way is probably joining a local meeting with likeminded people to get the initial setup smoothly running.

[Amiga1983]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to thank all of you for welcoming me and for your replies! 

I apologize for not mentioning, in my initial message, that the first thing I did when I started this process was reading all the documentation on the Amiga Explorer website. I followed all the steps to make sure the settings for the serial connection are the same on PC and Amiga.

Although I still remembered something from the past and I just needed to refresh my memory, I found and printed useful guides such as how to use CrossDOS (it was introduced with AmigaOS 3.0 and 3.1, so there's nothing I can do with my primitive 1.3), HDToolBox, and the different ways to transfer files PS<->Amiga. I also found useful notes that I wrote in the past, but unfortunately while those info worked perfectly for my old Amiga 1200, the same cannot be said for this very limited Amiga 500.
For this reason I don't think I will waste money expanding it too much, especially if it's impossible to add an HDD or internal/external CF adapter like I did with my old A1200. My plan is to make it functional enough to enjoy it until the moment I'll be able to resell it (I also have its original box) and finally afford another Amiga 1200. I even kept the internal CF adapter, CF cards, cables, external CD Rom, network card and many other things from my old one.

Matt_H: it may sound silly, but the reason why I uninstalled the latest version of WinUAE and I am now using an older and more stable/complete one is because the possibility to mount external/removable devices in the Settings has been removed (my USB floppy drive, in this case). Moreover, I also noticed bugs in the latest version. For example, the keyboard becomes unresponsive when emulation is on, and many adfs won't load, making the emulator unusable. Until the developers fix those bugs, for the first time ever I will only use an older version.

You're right, utri007. I realize that the null modem cable I have might have become defective during the years. After all, I bought it about 15 years ago for my old A2000 when I was still living in Europe. It could have got damaged when I moved to the US. Also, I opened it and even tho I'm not an expert, I believe it may be improperly wired for this purpose (according to the scheme posted on the Amiga Forever website). I'll post here a couple of photos of the wiring of my cable so you can have a look and eventually let me know what you think about it.

Yes, unfortunately the cable that giZmo350 recommended is for older computers with a serial port. The only solution that works for me is a DB9F/DB25F null modem cable, and a DB9F to USB adapter. That Monoprice cable I purchased after doing some online searches and reading about that in some post should work for Amiga 500, or at least that's what I read in some positive reviews. Keeping my fingers crossed.  I should receive it between November 10-16. If it won't work, I think I'll go ahead and purchase an internal Gotek drive.

Well guys, I'll keep you posted.  Thank you again for your help! 

[Amiga1983]

Matt_H: please pardon my ignorance...I totally got confused with FS_UAE for Mac. That's what happens when you work with two different OS at the same time. You are absolutely right: the latest version of WinUAE for Windows (the 4.4.0) works perfectly fine, and nothing has changed in the Settings menu. It's the Mac version of this emulator that, unfortunately, has compatibility issues and various bugs.

[Matt_H]

I think you've got the right plan: New null modem cable with Gotek as a secondary option. There *is* a standalone version of CrossDOS that's compatible with 1.3 (CrossDOS v5 or below) but if you can get either of the other methods working you won't need to transfer via floppy disk.

(Another option if you don't want to replace the internal floppy: an external Gotek. You could then diskcopy from DF1 to a real disk in DF0 or remap DF0 to DF1 with a tool like Degrader.)

I don't quite follow you re: FS-UAE and the USB floppy, but the same hardware limitations apply: it wouldn't have worked as an Amiga floppy drive. It might have been presenting as a floppy-sized storage device passed through from the host system, but it wouldn't have worked as a "true" Amiga floppy. But that doesn't matter if you can get Amiga Explorer or the Gotek operational.

Hope you get up and running soon - let us know how it goes.

[kolla]

Personally I avoid nullmodem cables (it’s too easy to fry CIAs) and instead use a tiny bluetooth-rs232 dongle that is powered with 5V from within the Amiga. It’s then easy to establish a wireless nullmodem connection on top of that.

[Matt_H]

Personally I avoid nullmodem cables (it’s too easy to fry CIAs) and instead use a tiny bluetooth-rs232 dongle that is powered with 5V from within the Amiga. It’s then easy to establish a wireless nullmodem connection on top of that.

That’s some 21st-century thinking . Can you explain more about how those work? You plug it into the Amiga, power up, then push a button and it becomes discoverable by the other computer? How do you adjust settings like baud rate, null modem vs. straight-through, etc? Is there a particular model you can recommend?

[OldAmigan]

@lauramacfan

Hi. You've tried formatting a 1.44Mb floppy but the A500 disk drive can only read a 720Mb floppy.

Can you reformat the floppy on the PC as 720 Mb?

Fred

[redfox]

@lauramacfan

First, welcome to Amiga.org ...

My first Amiga was an A2000HD with AmigaOS 1.3 ... Later upgraded to OS 3.1.

After I purchased my AmigaOS4 system in 2004, I used Amiga Explorer to transfer programs from my A2000HD to a PC, where I burned them to CD.  I then installed these programs from CD onto my OS4 system.  Worked quite well.

I used a DB25/DB9 serial null cable between the A2000HD and the PC.

Later, I used Amiga Eplorer between my OS4 system and the same PC using an ethernet connection through my router.  The PC became my backup device for the OS4 system until I learned how to backup files to USB sticks and CD-R discs.

---
redfox

[scuzzb494]

Hi

Old skool this ... I have actually been writing a series of blogs recently on how to create your own Workbench disks from old floppies and one thing I do is customise the disks with both Messy and MultiDOS plus CrossDOS. I only use disks that I find lying around. I have a series of blogs coming up with a variety of ways to create disks.

The way to get an ADF onto a 720K is to ZIP it using UNZIP [tool ] and Dface [ GUI ] and then copy to a 720K disk created on a Win98 machine that can format 720K with the hole blocked out for 1.4MB disks. And then use CrossDOS that came free with Amiga Format Collection No 8 and which works specifically with the A500. The PC will auto unzip any file . My Win7 does. Just need to get an old Win98 machine or laptop.

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_march20/scuzzblogdmarch20_2401.htm

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_september20/scuzzblogdseptember20_0501.htm

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october20/scuzzblogdoctober20_1601.htm

http://aminet.net/package/util/arc/UnZip

I do have the AmiPC cable and software but its a pig to get working and very slow. I was only able to get it working with a Win98 machine and OS3+

Once I used the CrossDOS tool on that disk which simply mounts your Amiga drive as a PC drive I was carrying my disks to the PC and copying at will. Bit old skool but works. 1.3 can be a bit of a pain but it makes you use the CLI[shell] and AmigDOS commands more and soon it gets very easy. Just a different way of working.

I will be posting more blogs on how to create Workbench disks from old junk disks and so on over the next few weeks.

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog.htm

[First Ninja]

The Amiga 500 - along with the CDTV, the A1000, and the CD32 - are somewhat of oddities within the classic range of Amiga computers. They the Zorro ports that the "big box" Amigas have, while also missing the PCMCIA port the A600 and the A1200 have. All of this makes expanding them a bit more troublesome - but not impossible.

In the year 2020, a lot of people would probably agree that every Amiga belongs on a network - including Amiga 500 personal computers. Having a standard Ethernet port, or for that matter wifi connectivity, opens a lot of doors - including easy and fast file transfers. Fortunately, all of this is doable on an Amiga 500. The proper, quickest and certainly most elegant way of doing this is by equipping your Amiga 500 with a native networking solution, adapted for the Amiga 500's left most expansion port. Even better, there is brand new hardware made using modern manufacturing methods available for this particular purpose.

What you need, for a fashionable and - most importantly - future proof way of letting your Amiga 500 access your local network and the Internet at large, is the X-Surf 500 - an Ethernet networking interface card for the Amiga 500. Moreover, you'll also need the ACA 500 Plus card, which plugs straight into your Amiga 500 expansion port. Once the ACA 500 Plus is in place, you'll plug the X-Surf 500 into it and install an appropriate TCP/IP service stack. AmiTCP is one option (included with the X-Surf 500 for free), and Roadshow another option (a brand new TCP/IP service maintained and under active development by AmigaOS developer Olaf 'Olsen' Barthel - highly recommended).

The combination of these two pieces of hardware not only gives your Amiga 500 an Ethernet port, but also a brand new MC68SEC000 processor capable of running at much, much higher frequencies than the stock A500 processor, another 8 MB of much needed RAM memory and two compact flash card slots - efficently working as two Amiga hard disk units. On top of that, the ACA 500 Plus should easily let you switch between the old AmigaOS 1.3 version and the upcoming, brand new AmigaOS 3.2 release. While you wait, upgrading the Amiga 500 to the latest version of AmigaOS for the legacy range - Release 3.1.4 - is advisable.

All in all, consider investing in...

• The ACA 500 Plus expansion card
• The X-Surf 500 peripheral card
• AmigaOS 3.1.4 (including a ROM chip and a set of system software floppies)
• The Roadshow TCP/IP stack

Your Amiga 500 will thank you for it. Zippy file transfers over the network and accessing all sorts of networking services will be a breeze. In combination with the ACA 500 Plus' silent and speedy hard disk implementation, a ton of more RAM and a faster processor, your Amiga 500 will feel like a lot snappier and fun to work with. Best of luck!