AmiTCP 3.x is really, really old and its Unix roots, as kolla notes, are very apparent and - in my opinion - extremely difficult to configure. What's happening during the installation is that it's asking you to define the root account, not provide unknowable credentials for a hitherto unknown root account. With that information undefined, that's probably why the login system is getting confused post-installation. The documentation should explain this, but I recall the AmiTCP 3.x documentation to be lacking, so perhaps it doesn't. I highly recommend any other TCP/IP stack. Roadshow is the newest one and its author, Olaf Barthel, is one of the best documentation writers on the planet.

@ kolla

The user/group stuff added to 3.2 is likely related to Envoy, which is where C:Owner and C:Group originally come from. If you're using the machine as an Envoy server you can allow/restrict files based on the client's username/group. These extensions have been semi-official for decades, so it's good they're finally formalized. Now if we could just get the rest of Envoy integrated into the OS...

AmiTCP (and Miami, Roadshow..) is a very minimal BSD unix kernel running on top of AmigaOS, and as such it has concept of users and groups. Similar concept of users and groups was also in the native LAN package Envoy (but with the unfortunate difference that root uid 0 for posix was “nobody” in envoy, iirc).

OS 3.2 has updates that deals owner and group flags in the filesystem - why this suddenly had become relevant one can only speculate.

  Rest in Peace.

@Pat I have a video toaster unfortunately so that's right out

I'll have to test some different mice.  i only tried one, though it was one that works with my A1200.  It's probably just that. 

I see a number of ps/2 to 9pin adapters like this one.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/383611674085?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=383611674085&targetid=1262779893289&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9001994&poi=&campaignid=13917593257&mkgroupid=128459893881&rlsatarget=pla-1262779893289&abcId=9300613&merchantid=113781450&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqp-LBhDQARIsAO0a6aI4nEdp1GJnICIgJgGYmT-cQAa_P2HklYz9J30ucAjzSGSKHIClE5AaAnIsEALw_wcB

I would feel better using a ps/2 mouse rather than usb just because i could see it being closer to the era.. less voltage expectation..

the 9 pin connectors are healthy.  so i don't think it's a connectivity issue, but i'll have to troubleshoot further

I have a 6.2 rev board.  So that also makes me feel more confident its the mouse not the motherboard.

Cool glad to know the visuals are 1:1 in all situations with composite (except grayscale)

Yea i'll take the drives out and give a good cleaning.  Lord knows they have earned it! 

Thanks for those shortcuts.. i've never used any of this even back when i was an exclusive user of the amiga.. heh.      the more you know! 

Using copper to get interlace is involved, consult Hardware Reference Manual.

Using Blitz 2 to open an Intuition screen in interlace is pretty easy as per page 173;-

https://ia801009.us.archive.org/33/items/bb21manual/BB21Manual.pdf

EDIT: The problem with interlace is that the start address of each bitplane has to be changed after each raster frame.

On a non-interlaced screen, the data read position is just reset back to the start address at the end of each frame.

This is no good for interlace, first the even frame is displayed, and the next video frame, the odd lines are displayed.

This makes for a convoluted copper list, having to change the bitplane start position on each frame.

Hey, you wanted total control in assembler. You got it.