**Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)

[Pat the Cat]

Need some help on a couple of annoying items.

1) Is there some Video parameter config somewhere.  When I use different workbench disks, the Workbench border moves around, a bit off the Amiga Monitor screen.  The mechanical controls on the monitor help for left and right, but not up down.

Not sure if supported on WB 1.2, but on Amiga Prefs there should be an Overscan tool, to tweak display position and area. Its exasperating problem dealing with pre WB2.0 Amigas booting off different floppies from different people - because monitors all setup individually.

Much easier when you are just booting from one WB system partition on  HD.

2)  This one is annoying.  I know about the keyboard file maps, peeks at them.   But when I go into PC 8088 Emulation.   My "\" doesn't work.  It works on the amiga side.    Hard to copy files on the DOS side without that working.   Is there a good tool to fix this?

Amiga keyboards come in two basic styles - the American style with big Return and Left Shift keys, and the International style with extra keys to the right of Left Shift and to the left of the Return key. These are hardware mapped to key positions 2B and 30.

However, Bridgeboard keyboard driver probably assumes American keymap, so key should be remapped to a different place, as American Bridgeboard users would not have had the "/" key in the same place.

Check around, you might have to hack a keymap file, but more likely if you select USA keymap, the key will be mapped to a different key and will become available.

3) What is really weird, but not the end of the world, is I've downloaded all current libraries and SW.

Alink, Aread, Atime, etc Doesn't work (I run Adisk, and Jdisk.sys)

When I run Alink now it produce the multi Line message, and hangs.  Before it just hung.

No idea on that front. I assumed you would be happy enough to just dump the data from the RLL drive on an IDE hard drive. Which it looks to me like you can do, by using the 486...

... on the other hand, if you do get the SD card booting on the Bridgeboard with all Amigaside access too, would be a sweet system.

Perhaps you need to put DOS 3 on the SD card rather than 6.2? Strikes me that a lot of issues could be avoided if that can be accomplished.

[Pat the Cat]

Yes, I was going to try to hack they keyboard map file.  It appears to be documented within.  If I want to try International how/where do I switch it.

IIRC keymaps are kept on Extras disk on 1.2.

Amiga cannot tell what sort of keyboard is plugged in, User has to select from Preferences. Usually list is kept in devs/keymaps folder I think... Been a long time since I set one on a 1.2 Amiga.

So USA keyboard and keymap is "generic". Should work all Amigas.

In theory should also work on all applications. Obvously this last point not always true, as programmers often use the 2 extra keys in their software, not realizing some Amigas don't have them).

I've been having a lot of internet issues, very slow connection, horrible OS Linux issue I think. Was like 200 times slower than normal.

[Pat the Cat]

It will be on different key somewhere. Maybe with Shift too. American keyboards have \ character on | key top right of keyboard. International usually puts it bottom left of the keyboard next to left shift.

It is not like you could not use International keyboards with Bridgeboards, just that such keyboards were designed to add extra keys. Things like Kroner, French Franc, Deutschark symbols. Also accents in French, umlauts in German.

You might need to set USA keyboard to find the / character on a working key - all keyboards work with that, but setting a different keymap if you have a USA keyboard means some characters are unavailable.

Truth to tell, I nearly always found sticking with a USA keymap to be most compatible.

[Pat the Cat]

Yes, I think I will have to get some FDTI cables to programme most devices with these days.

That is one part of hardware tech that has changed a lot. Devices are faster now but not nearly so tough at taking high voltages.

Amiga keyboards seem incredibly reliable, only the rubber membranes give out after decades. Also the steel can rust in them. Apart from that, you certainly get your money's worth.

[Pat the Cat]

Sounds like you are getting there slowly.

I seem to recall a small flurry of complaints re Janus updates when they happened. A lot of existing BB users were very upset when the "latest version" broke their existing setup and they had to revert to the older version, copy all their data, and reinstall.

Nice work on the Gotek. Seems a bit hit and miss setting the thing up, but persistence gets you a working floppy emulator eventually...

[Pat the Cat]

L directory for Amiga handler files and file systems. Of boot disk.

It  looks from the "matched library and handler" screen shot that you tried  to Jlink the C drive but the Janus setting didn't match the hard disk  partition contents.

Perhaps they can be incompatible between  different versions of Janus... Not sure how compatible they are between  different versions of DOS either.

[Pat the Cat]

"Off the cuff" thought...

... If you can get the DriveC file from the disk you started the Amiga with back in your university days working with an old version of BB software...

... That should allow you to DJMount properly and get the BB started up from the old hard disk?

[Pat the Cat]

Might be a repost, but apparently somebody did a set of PC utils to help BB PCs access the Amiga side...

https://www.uni-due.de/~be0001/atutilities/

Probably not much use to you, will keep hunting for very old BB software.

[Pat the Cat]

I have a site for you - I have no idea if any of these installs will  work, but there is quite a selection to try.... even original Sidercar  install. Also 1.2 for A2000. SOMETHING should work.

https://web.archive.org/web/20101118020635/http://amigadisks.co.cc

All ADFs, good job you have a Gotek.

[Pat the Cat]

Blast. Sorry for that, am using a crawly slow net access...

... actual files should still be on there, they've been moved somewhere else.

Will find correct links and post, but very slow job and will need a faster connection to do the job properly.

[Pat the Cat]

"The Zone" has had a problem for... some time now. Thanks anyway Paul, did find it useful...

Hand searching, I did find this - link is live, works for me.

ftp://ftp:amiga@grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/App/Disk/2088-2286%20install%20disk(1988).adf

Other files that might be of interest, if not directly useful...

http://ftp://ftp:amiga@grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/App/Disk/Driver/_a2088t.dms

http://ftp://ftp:amiga@grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/App/Disk/Driver/_janus-setup.dms

http://ftp://ftp:amiga@grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/App/Archive/Driver/-sidecar.lha

http://ftp://ftp:amiga@grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/App/Archive/Driver/JANUS-DOCUMENTS.lha

EDIT: Some of Pauls links work now, try them.

[Pat the Cat]

Fair enough. You've got plenty of other projects to get sorted.

If it's not fun anymore, stop and take a nice big holiday. You've already covered miles and miles of effort.

[Pat the Cat]

So ONLY real hardware problem was the WD hard drive controller. Glad you finally got the BB Happy.

Don't think I've ever come across an RLL hard drive that outlived it's controller card before.

You  were talking about upgrading the ROM... just going up to the 1.3 ROM  helps a lot, in that it allows autobooting and use of FFS for  partitions.

Original FS on 1.2 only allows 56MB partitions or so.  Just a heads up to get that SD adaptor working... Going straight up to  2.04 or 3.1 is a big culture shock if you've been used to 1.2 and 1.3.  Mostly positive, I have to say.

Got mine going at last, on an  A1200. Nice thing about FFS partitions - you can mount them on Linux  systems, even write data to them if you set permissions. Makes file  transfer a lot easier onto Amigas that don't have connectivity OR a  compatible file system handy for file transfer.

OK, it's not  perfect, flags on files sometimes messed up, so you have to set them  manually. I downloaded the LHA.RUN file from Aminet, had to set it to  "executable" to run the thing so I could extract lha archives on the  Amiga side. Unextracting on Linux is very hit and miss, usually half or  more of the data is missing.

[Pat the Cat]

Indivision maybe? Flicker fixers was best way to guarantee you could get a picture regardless of screen mode.

I doubt things have changed that much.

I would be more worried about RAM if you actually want it to run programs.

[Pat the Cat]

Yes, on A500 or A2000, only B/W greys on phono composite.

That  particular SCART-AMIGA cable was researched by Ian Steadman, "Stedy".  You can build yourself or buy ready made. It has won much praise. I  think for gaming and med res Workbench they are great. If you want  higher graphics res without 24 bit card in Zorro slot, read on.

One  possible solution for TV would be both VGA and SCART from a single  Amiga 23 pin video connector. Lot of pins to switch over though, leaving  them all connected to 2 different sets of TV input can cause feedback  problems with picture. More useful if you have ECS Denise and Agnus  fitted. That gets you Productivity screen modes, 31KHz, but you have to  setup in Workbench Display.

Flickerfixers just WORK. They fix all  the Amigas output into what a 31KHz display expects. Indivision does  that but also includes RTG graphics card. So 2 for price of 1 expansion,  no Zorrro slot used.

What do you want this machine to do? That's the question you must answer.

[Pat the Cat]

Pat,

I not trying to build a computer to do anything other than have a Retro Demo machine:
->> Real retro feel (So Amiga Monitor is Fine, 8088 Bridgeboard is perfect, RLL drive nice touch).
->> Show old games, history of Amiga OS, PC OS, etc
 ->> Using (Real A2000 Keyboard, Mouse and Epyx Joystick adds to the feel).  
 ->> Even throwing in 5.25" and 3.5" floppy is an experience not replicatable elsewhere.

Of course a few modern convinces like the Gotek-USb-Stick, the XT-IDE SD card are a bonus to move software around and boot in many old settings (workbench's ) with EASY flip to each.

Have these Gotek/ISA-IDE cards eliminate the need for Network on Amiga. Even if I did, 68000 just too slow from what I read.
I'm better off putting back that RS232 Card into PC side, and running a Null modem to Amiga side to demonstrate old Serial communication.
(would it be cool to run Amiga Explorer on PC and talk to Amiga within the A2000/Same screen. But I doubt Explorer will work on 8088)

Having a Kickstart Switcher to allow me to Boot WB1.2, old games and also Amiga WB1.3 OS2/3 would be ideal. I am on waiting list for one, since can't seem to find any available.

Ideally a real Hard Disk on the Amiga side would be nice, since I can tell now with things working, the Cross-bridgeboard access to RLL drive isn't that fast. But I haven't tried Cross-bridge access to the Lo-tech SD card yet (if possible via a AMIGA PARTITION on SD card)

And last but not least as you say, memory might be needed for higher OS, and demo higher demanding Amiga SW.

So as I mentioned before, I have my mind set something like this unit... (GVC-Impact A2000+HC+8) which would give me a SCSI amiga Drive and 8 Mb of DMA memory.

(You originally recommended I get a SCSI controller, before I decided on the Lo-Tech Adapter [No regrets, it was frustrating to get fully working, but FUN to see PC fly compared to RLL drive, PLUS removable media is GREAT!!] )

http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact2000hc8

So to summarize MY GOAL. I want a demo machine, to experience the Retro Past (Exactly like it was). With ability to expand fun projects within (like LED chasers etc)
Kind of like reading the "Future was Here Book by Maher" and then Experiencing hands on some of the Software described.

Upgrading this A2000 with a Vampire card is the last thing I want.  (I tried WinUAE and it just isn't the same)

The horror.... :rtfm:

Look Wally... there are two bottlenecks to your design.

First though, I must correct myself. I earlier posted that Linux had messed up a flag. It didn't, that's how the flag appears on the aminet.net mirror I was using. Linux/Ubuntu access to FFS partitions works just fine, for big files and little files, at nice speed onto the SD card with an FFS card. It was noob Linux user me who said otherwise.

Plug that card into an IDE, adaptor, into an ISA controller, into an XT running at a fewish Megahertz, and then mounting the card with Janus DJMount is going to make access very slow from the 7MHz 16-32 bit Amiga side. Test the speed for copying stuff around.

ISA network card and Etherbridge software through Bridgeboard and Janus might be bit quicker, but still not a quick drive? That's where just some fast RAM on the Zorro II or an accelerator will help. If you do go SCSI controller, be very very choosy. They are not all equal. Likewise, SD or IDE or CF adaptors or whatever.

Goteks can probably be awesome for Bridgeboard users, but again, slow data access - another snag, they are limited to file size length. It's a common bottleneck from the floppy era... OK, some people did use floppies for big archives, but I don't know of anybody that found them long term reliable.

If you want to deliberately recreate a floppy speed maximum experience, OK.

If you just want it to run funky demoscene stuff, then look into maybe chip RAM switcher, fast RAM expansion, ROM switcher. I don't know the dark arts of Denise switching, and am not really proficient at which Agnus is best for which demos either.

To me, an A2000 without at least one hard drive to read and write at good speed and some fast RAM is a nightmare... me, I just hack up a few Amiga mobos into a mobile rig... to each their own way. You do what's fun for you.