FASTEST,EAYSIEST,CHEAPEST WAY TO TRANSFER ADF IMAGES BETWEEN PC AND AMIGA(mostly 500)

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

In now offer  TWO VERSIONS of  the adf transfer kit:One with the cable and amiga boot disk and one  which also includes a pci parallel card for all of you that you dont  have a pc with parallel port onboard!

Thanks!  I've been struggling for a while with an idea how to get .adf's onto my Amiga 500, and was sort of resigned to having to upgrade the memory on it (enough to hold a complete .adf file), and then getting a serial cable, a USB->serial adapter for my PC, waiting for the slow serial transfer, etc.  Your kit sure makes this easier though, heck, I couldn't make my own cable for the low price you're charging, LOL.  ;-)

Just ordered it off your ebay site, looking forward to trying it out!  

[ikonsgr]

Or how about this?  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-to-PRINTER-DB25-Parallel-Port-Cable-Adapter-25-Pin-parallel-printers-/290635789061?pt=UK_Computing_USB_Cables&hash=item43ab3e3305

Well i'm not sure this would work.The paradise utility which actually make the transfers,use the parallel port at a very "low" level (uses registers and parallel port directly and not through OS) ,so it needs a REAL parallel port.
PCI parallel cards have a real IEEE 1284 parallel port chip on board, so they create a real parallel port in your pc. This is a very different thing from having a usb adapter that "mimics" a parallel port through driver's emulation! The only way this adapter could work is if it has a real 1284 chip inside it ,like the pci card!
Anyway, any of you could give it a try and tell us if it works with usb to parallel adapter too (actually i might bought one too, and try it:) )!
For the moment, pci parallel cards are VERY cheap (check the price difference of the 2 versions of the my adf transfer kit and you'll know what i mean... ) and works 100% perfect on any windows OS!

Thanks!  I've been struggling for a while  with an idea how to get .adf's onto my Amiga 500, and was sort of  resigned to having to upgrade the memory on it (enough to hold a  complete .adf file), and then getting a serial cable, a USB->serial  adapter for my PC, waiting for the slow serial transfer, etc.  Your kit  sure makes this easier though, heck, I couldn't make my own cable for  the low price you're charging, LOL.  ;-)
Just ordered it off your ebay site, looking forward to trying it out!  

I was EXACTLY at your place about 1 year ago!:laugh1:
 I first made this kit for my personal need, and then i thought, "if it helped me so much,  maybe there are many out there who might needed too"!
So, i made this presentation of the project primarily for EVERYONE to use it FREELY, by giving instructions on how to make the cable and share any extra needed software i made, for free. Of course i make and sell the kit too, for anyone that don't have time,skills  etc to make it by himself. BUT,  as you already mention, price is so low, that even if you can do it yourself, you might still want to buy it "ready made" from me!
As there are many people nowadays, who sees the amiga community as only a "big wallet" for overpriced exploitation, fortunately  there are still some, who still want to PRIMARILY offer and help the community.
And these are the ones that still have the "TRUE AMIGA SPIRIT" inside them! I want to think myself as a small contributor to this "spirit" too! :rolleyes:
Thanks for your support!

[desiv]

...and was sort of resigned to having to upgrade the memory on it (enough to hold a complete .adf file), and then getting a serial cable, a USB->serial adapter for my PC, waiting for the slow serial transfer, etc.

It is MUCH nicer to be faster..  I love this new option..

But you wouldn't have had to wait for more memory..
Using serial and transdisk or transwarp (and ADF Sender Terminal on the PC), you can can send ADFs to the Amiga straight to the floppy.  Takes very little Amiga memory.
Works fine with a 512k Amiga (and should even work with a 256k A1000 also).

I did that for quite a while with my 500.
And the USB serial adapters are cheap and work great on my laptop.

I like serial.  It's great..
But, it is slow..  So this solution is VERY nice to have as well!!
(Unfortunately, it's unlikely to work with USB parallel ports, so laptops are out).

I just use my Kryoflux now tho..  Although it is slightly (cough cough cough) more expensive..  ;-)

desiv
(OK, I think I need a few more cough's there..  It's much more expensive, but FUN...)

[ikonsgr]

Well, you don't need any extra memory using this transfer method with parallel port ,either!
The amiga program only buffers 4 tracks( e.g. 44kb) at a time,add another 25kb for the program itself and maybe some 10-20kb for a couple of extra commands, so i believe it's very possible this method could even work on Amiga 1000  with only 256kb!
I agree the serial transfer is cheap and easy solution especially because usb2serial adapters work just fine with laptop , but ,man, having spent MANY,MANY hours to transfer ~100disks with serial cable in the past (just imagine... ~8minutes for EVERY disk!!!:eek: ) i really CANT describe you the feeling i had, the first time i transfer an adf image to a disk using a plain 512kb A500 in just 1min and 50seconds! :hammer:

[ikonsgr]

I've just updated the adf transfer program.
I got feedback from a couple of friends that use the kit on a pc with 2  parallel ports, so i've added a list box with all the available port  addresses to choose. You can download the new version from the same place.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Awesome, love software updates!  

BTW, I still need to leave you positive feedback on Ebay!  I got my kit a couple weeks ago and have used it successfully now to make about a dozen disks.  My first problem was (as you suggested in your response to me on Ebay) that I needed to right-click on the application and run it as administrator.  I assumed since my account is already admin that I didn't need to do that.  Once done, however, it's working great!

Also I've discovered that many of my old 3.5" disks are bad, it seems like sometimes when the utility hits a bad disk the only way to get it running again is to restart the program on my PC and reboot the Amiga.  I tried hitting various combinations of Esc and Enter, to no avail.  Don't have a monitor hooked up to my Amiga when I'm doing this (have to drag it over next to my PC), so no idea if it's prompting me with any kind of error message on the screen.  :-/

But, 20+ year old disks aside, it works great, thanks!  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Side question, what is the possibility of making a longer cable?  Don't recall offhand the cable length limitations of a parallel port.  Do you think if I just threw a regular parallel port extension cable off newegg in-line with your adapter it would work, since the swapping of the wire pairs would already be taking place inside your custom cable?

My Amiga setup is about 20' from my PC, any closer and my PC would get jealous, LOL.  :p

[ikonsgr]

Awesome, love software updates!  

BTW, I still need to leave you positive feedback on Ebay!  I got my kit a couple weeks ago and have used it successfully now to make about a dozen disks.  My first problem was (as you suggested in your response to me on Ebay) that I needed to right-click on the application and run it as administrator.  I assumed since my account is already admin that I didn't need to do that.  Once done, however, it's working great!

Also I've discovered that many of my old 3.5" disks are bad, it seems like sometimes when the utility hits a bad disk the only way to get it running again is to restart the program on my PC and reboot the Amiga.  I tried hitting various combinations of Esc and Enter, to no avail.  Don't have a monitor hooked up to my Amiga when I'm doing this (have to drag it over next to my PC), so no idea if it's prompting me with any kind of error message on the screen.  :-/

But, 20+ year old disks aside, it works great, thanks!  

I did let you feedback when you gave me yours, but for some reason ebay didn't inserted! Anyway i gave you feedback yesterday! Thanks again for your support!
Now, about the usage of the program, if you read the paradise manual you will understand why you have these small annoyances but i will try to explain it also here:
For transferring amiga disks to pc, i use a small batch file on boot disk ,which restarts the program (which of course is loaded to the ram drive) every time a disk is transferred, and if it stacks, you can press esc+enter to restart it again.So, for amiga->pc transfers, boot disk needs initially about 25-30 seconds,but after that, no rebooting is needed what ever happens!
For opposite transfers ( from pc to amiga ) i choose a different approach:i use the parameter "-stay" on amiga side of the program, in order to make multiple disk transfers in a row without even pushing a button on amiga! The "drawback" for this,is that if an error occurs (usually a bad disk as you noted) you must restart amiga with the boot disk to continue the transfers. But if you noticed, booting time for pc->amiga transfers only takes about 10seconds instead of 25-30! ;-)
Now,why i make the program function like this, you may ask? Because after many hours of usage, i noticed that program hangs or stacks (for any reason) rather often on amiga->pc transfers, so it would be rather annoying having to reboot and wait for 10 seconds every 2-3 disks!
On the other side, pc->amiga transfers is much more stable (provide that disks you are using are not bad of course) and after all, rebooting only takes ~10seconds! Of course i could make the program to behave the same like on amiga->pc transfers  but then, you should wait for boot disk to load the first time for 25-30secs instead of 10 (did i told you i'm inpatient? :-) )!
Anyway, if you know a little about amiga's batch files and read the paradise manual you can modify boot disk to make it behave as you like! Don't forget also, that paradise is very powerful, it gives you the  ability to transfer stand alone files or even hole directories instead of adf images only! For this you must use amiga shell and windows cli of course.
But i believe that 99% of people want to transfer adf images to amiga disks and try them on the "real thing", right?
That's why i make the hole procedure so simple,fast and automated that not even a monitor connected to your amiga is needed! (btw ,this is how i use the kit too no amiga monitor connected! :-) ).

[ikonsgr]

Side question, what is the possibility of making a longer cable?  Don't recall offhand the cable length limitations of a parallel port.  Do you think if I just threw a regular parallel port extension cable off newegg in-line with your adapter it would work, since the swapping of the wire pairs would already be taking place inside your custom cable?

My Amiga setup is about 20' from my PC, any closer and my PC would get jealous, LOL.  :p

There are 2 reasons for making the cable about 1.5-1,6meters long:

1) This way you insure that no problem with data transfer will occur.
2) Weight of package. If i make cable even a little longer, postage would cost ~1.5euro more.

I have made a ~2,5 meter that seems to work right, but the longer the cable the more often you might get transfer problems.
To "solve" this problem, you can use either a thicker cable (to minimize cable impedances) or even  individual screening  cable (if you can find one with at least 10 strands of course). Of course these cables are rather expensive and also much more time and effort would required to make the cable.
Anyway, you can try to use a parallel cable extension,but i cant guarantee you it would work!:rolleyes:

[ikonsgr]

Another minor update:
I received some messages from people trying to use the 64bit version of the program, complaining about an error message of "can't find dosbox-svn-daum.conf file".
This will mostly happen if the dosbox configuration file is "Read only", which usually happens when the hole adf transfer folder is "read only".
So i update the 64bit version of the program, to automatically "uncheck" the read only attribute of dosbox.conf, and eliminate this nuisance!

Also with the new versions, you can try the program on windows 8 too!

[AmigaBruno]

I've bought one of these kits and first of all, I must say that it arrived in the UK from Greece only 2.5 days after I ordered it one night, beating orders of other items from UK sellers made on the same night! I've transferred a load of games and applications onto Amiga floppy disks, including various software I've never used before. It's been great!

Unfortunately, this kit can be a bit temperamental. I've already had and solved one problem, which was actually caused by some ADF files available online being too large, although this happened after I accidentally unplugged the transfer cable from the Amiga while it was switched off, but the PC was still turned on. These files were 891K, instead of 880K. They included Assassins games compilations from the website Back 2 the Roots. After this, the Amiga Paradise software kept complaining about the wrong file length and aborting the file transfers. I found out that this also affected other files of 880K, which had their lengths increased to 891K. The solution was to rename a file called temp.adf which was 891K and in the ADF transfer directory. I then deleted it.  

A new development is that I moved my Amiga from a small table onto a computer desk which I've just got. After doing this, I tried another file transfer and suddenly got the message "Time out - No answer. Retrying...". I noticed that the transfer cable had fallen out of the back of the Amiga, probably while it was turned on! I turned off the Amiga and PC, reconnected the cable to the Amiga, turned both computers on and tried again. Unfortunately, since then, no matter what I've tried, including re installation of ADF transfer, different ADF images, trying to transfer from Amiga to PC instead of from PC to Amiga, running from the Windows command prompt, all I ever get is the message "Time out - No answer. Retrying..."! I tried to run the 64bit version of the program, but this just confirmed that my Windows XP Professional installation is a 32 bit version, although my PC is 64bit. I think my next step will be to uninstall the installation of ADF transfer I was using, before I re installed it again, then wipe the original downloaded zip archive and use a fresh version of the download. This is because it never appears on the Start menu and I have to navigate to the directory Downloads, then to the program's own directory. In spite of this, it was working before, but stopped all of a sudden just after the transfer cable fell out of the back of the Amiga. There are no screws to hold these plugs in place, otherwise I don't think this would have happened. I really hope this is just a software problem and that I haven't damaged my Amiga parallel port! If all of this fails to work, then I'll finally install the PCI parallel card I bought with this software. Unfortunately, I don't know enough to check the transfer cable pins and I haven't got anything else I can plug into my Amiga parallel port to check it.

I hope to be able to report that it's all working again in the near future. Meanwhile, at least I can play some RPGs I never got round to in the past and study some raytracing using AmigaBASIC and compiled programs which I transferred using this kit.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I don't recall off-hand if the CIA chips affect parallel port operation, but you might try swapping those and see if anything changes?

[AmigaBruno]

I don't recall off-hand if the CIA chips affect parallel port operation, but you might try swapping those and see if anything changes?

I remember that they do, because I investigated years ago, then thought that my printer wasn't working any more, because of some problem I had with a NewTek video digitiser, but after replacing the chip, it didn't get my printer working again. Only replacing the printer cable solved the problem, although that cable worked on someone else's printer. I don't know if swapping the CIA chips round is a good idea, though.

Anyway, after doing nearly everything with the software which I listed in my last post, all that's left is to plug in the PCI parallel port, but I'm not looking forward to unscrewing the PC case, which looks like a difficult one!

[AmigaBruno]

The side of the PC case just needed to be prised or slided open while pressing a button. I've fitted the PCI card, then found I immediately got the message "ERROR Resource Conflict PCI Slot 04 BUS 0B Device 05 Function 00" while booting up. I pressed F2 to try and set it up. I had no real idea what to do, except look for PCI, so definitely not Plug and Play. I changed the PCI IRQ to almost every value available from the menu, but the error message above still came up, no matter value I chose, apart from IRQ14, which resulted in the system freezing during boot. I was then lucky to get back into the BIOS setup after several attempts, and finally changed the setting back to Auto, then saved and exited. In all attempts I was setting the first item on the list, as I had no instructions on what to do. After all this, I didn't try setting it to IRQ15, the only value left on the list.

Of course, as you may have guessed, the end result of this was the message "Time out - No answer. Retrying...", no matter what I tried to do. I hope the seller of this kit or someone on here can tell me how to solve this.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Unless the cable got damaged when it was pulled out, I'd suggest you test your parallel port on the Amiga. Have an old printer lying around or anything?

If you're using the parallel port card that came with the kit you'll need the drivers from the website for it.  IRQ settings sound like maybe your motherboard is too old to support it though?

[Amiga_Nut]

Hi,

If you use Cloanto's Amiga Forever on your PC, you wouldn't have to go through all that trouble. Just boot up AF and play or run the program you want, and it is rather cheap. i believe about $39.95 or less for a digital download, and it can be cheaper if you owned AF before.

This also saves your Amiga 500 hardware, unless for some reason you like burning up old silicon.

smerf

Talk about missing the whole point of OP original intention lol