Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: zeke1312 on December 21, 2007, 05:21:37 PM
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Hi:
I'm new to the Amiga world and I'm using WinUAE on my PC. I have a question concerning the use of the "virtual" floppy drives. I have some adf files I'm attempting to load into a floppy drive.
Here is what I understand. In order for me to use one of the floppy drives, even though it shows an icon when reviewing I/Os under "System", I need a driver or some kind of software interface to allow the WinUAE to see and use a floppy drive. I've been directed to web sites that have some software that purports to enable this but so far I have not been able to. One piece of software requires me to make changes to the "startup" file. I'm not sure where to include the code lines in the file and more importantly, I don't want to mess up the file and crash the system!
The second solution looked more promising but when I unarc the file and opened the file drawer icon, northing was there. Oh, one last comment. The reason for doing this I want to be able to download adf files such as demos, games, etc., and use them. I understand if I "insert" an adf file into a floppy drive, it will "read" the "floppy" and I can run/execute the program, demo, etc.
Can you assist me in finding a resolution?
Thank you
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I'm a bit confused. What are you trying to do, use the ADFs in WinUAE or copy them on to real floppies? If the former, you just follow the UAE instructions for "inserting" the floppy image. No extra software required. If you want to put the ADF on to real floppies then you need either a Catweasel or a real Amiga.
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moto
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WinUAE can read ADFs. Just put the virtual floppy (ADF) in one of the virtual floppy drives.
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OK. I should have mentioned I'm using AmiKit from Amiga Forever.
When I attempt to drag an adf file to a "floppy drive" (not a real one) I get an error on cylinder one.
If I look at the floppy drive under "System I/Os and click on the disk icon is says "not available".
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Here are the steps I take to attempt unpacking of adf file.
Download zipped adf file to "download cabinet" desktop icon
Drag to ram desktop icon. It unzips file
Click on unzipped file it shows 2 icon disks
Click on disk icon begins unpacking adf image
System asks "where to mount, rad0,rad1,dfo,df1
Select any and error "cylinder zero" error asks to mount?
Tried mounting...get error.
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Why are you trying to unpack or mount the ADF? Just add the ADF file itself to WinUAE. You don't need to extract anything from inside the ADF.
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moto
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OK. How do I add the adf file to WinUAE?
Please, step by step....I'm gettin' old.
Thanks :-)
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No idea, sorry never used WinUAE. I just know how ADFs work. Try having a look at the WinUAE menu.
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moto
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OK. I'm back to square 1. I take it you have a true Amiga and not emulating one on a PC?
As far as I know at the point, WinUAE does not have a menu to look at.
I've been trying to do this for the last few days...frustrating :-?
The solution is "zooming right over my head". Gosh. I wish there was an Amiga (WinUAE) where I live....Pix (handholding) is worth a thousand words :-)
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Press F12 during the emulation to bring up the menu.
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Thank you. That brings up a "properties" window with WinUAE tree displayed. When I click on floppy, it displays floppy 1 and 2. A drop down box allows me to select where I want to load from.
Well, how is the WinUAE configured so when I download an adf file it runs without going through several steps. I'm still confused. Sorry.....
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Just put an adf file in the drop down box and press ok. Then the disk will be visible in Workbench.
If you want to play games on adf disk images chances are big that it's not Amiga DOS compatible and won't work within Workbench/Amikit. You have to boot from the floppy disk. To do this just press the Reset button after you have selected the adf file in the floppy drop down box. This will reset Winuae and boot from floppy.
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Also no need to unzip adf as winuae read the packed file as well
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I have printed help files from the WinUAE config screen. Very much info there! I'm off to work and will try your suggestions when I'm back. Thank you
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I'm still pursuing this problem of mine. One item of interest (at least for me), when clicking on "Help" on the configuration screen, you'll see a wealth of information that covers each item on the tree.
OK. My goal is to load files of any type, be it games, demos, audio, video and business to my WinUAE/AmiKit PC from the internet and use. What do I need to accomplish that?
I've been led to believe certain or maybe all file formats need to be converted by some mechanism be it unarc, unzip,etc type program. As an example ADF files, since they are images in a format that are written or read by a floppy disk, need to be "read" by the virtual "non-hardwre" floppy drive(s) that can be configured within the WinUAE framework. This will allow ADF files to run on the WinUAE platform.
At this point I'm no further along in my effort to resolve this problem of mine.
Is there anyone out there that currently has a working WinUAE/AmiKit PC based machine that does what I' trying to do? If so(and since I'm dense) please if you would, give me a step by step process of how I configure my machine so I can implement what I'm trying to achieve.
Thank you
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I think you're mixing up some things here.
AmiKit/Winuae is an emulated Amiga. If you want you can just use it as you would normally a computer. So use a browser to download any files you want within Amikit. Just as on a PC. What you do with those files depends on what they actually are; just as on a PC. So archives (zip lha...) need to be extracted, video files played in a player, music etc...
As for adf files, they are images of floppy disks. You can mount them from within Amikit/Winuae in a virtual floppy disk (like Diskimage) or write them to floppy. Writing them to a real floppy can only be done on a real Amiga or a Catweasel card because the PC floppy drive uses a different format. Luckily Winuae offers virtual floppy drives itself. So you use an adf file in Windows and select it in the Winuae config menu in a drive. The emulation will then treat it as if it were a real floppy on the Amiga. A lot of adf files are images of floppies that are not AmigaDOS compatible. That means that they are not useable in Workbench (the OS desktop) but will work if you boot from the disk.
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OK, do understand WinUAE is an application that runs on a PC based hardware platform and emulates the Amiga environment.
I have downloaded files such as .adf, .zip, .iha. I believe they are all of the type that when unpacked, unzipped, can then be run in the WinUAE environment.
Now, step by step this is what I have done in this area. For an example, I select a file from an internet site, let's say it is in .adf file format. When that type of file comes from the internet, it needs to be unpacked/unzipped before use(?)
Next, when the file is downloaded by me, it ends up in a drawer/cabinet/ labeled "Download" that is displayed on the Workbench.
Next (this what I've been doing), I drag the file from the "download cabinet" to another icon on the workbench that says "ram" where is "automatically" unpacked.
From there, I can read the text file (usually without problem but not always). I can run/execute maybe 1 of of 100 (well you know what I mean), files.
Now this is where I get confused. Some say I need to move the unpacked .ADF file to the pseudo floppy drive in order to read the file, and in the case of games as an example, it is read by the "floppy drive".
So this is where I get confused. What do I do and how do I do it when the file is now on/in the WinUAE platform?
How do I set up the environment in my WinUAE ("floppy drive" (non hardware type) so I can do this?
What is DiskImage? Where do I get it? How do I install it? Is there and can I use whatever "make a floppy disk drive" software that is included with the WinUAE software. Is it, as an example within AmiKit?
When I try to mount an .ADF file in a disk drive, it gives me a cylinder 0 error. Looking at system/devices/rad1,rad2, d01,d02, etc I see "not available". How do I make available? Once these files are unpacked, read by a floppy disk drive, where do they go? In a folder? Which one? On the Workbench as an icon?
Thank you
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First, adf files are not archives. They are images and don't need unpacking. It really depends on what is on the image how you should use it. A lot of adf files (especially games) won't work in a normal DOS environment. These are non-DOS filesystem floppies. Like I said you need to boot the virtual Amiga from these disks to use them. In that case only using them from the Winuae config menu would work.
If you are a Amiga newbie and don't really get the differences in all different aspects of emulation but do want to learn it I suggest you just use Winuae and start with a simple WB3.1 install to learn about how things work on an Amiga. Amikit comes with a lot of different patches to AmigaOS and that can confuse people. IMHO it's all a bit too much and I don't like using it.
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WB3.1= Workbench 3.1? I'm using AmiKit 1.4.1 and WinUAE 3.9. I just have to keep reading and playing with thing until I understand the WinUAE emulation and the Amiga. Yes, I'm new at the Amiga world.