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

[Matt_H]

It looks like the only boards plugged into the system are the Bridgeboard (this seems to be the one you have, not a 386) and 2 ISA cards to support the Bridgeboard. The hard drive is connected to one of the ISA cards, suggesting it would have been used by the PC "side" of the system.

Did you upgrade the Kickstart chip just recently or long ago? Kickstart 1.2, which you said the machine originally had, can't autoboot from hard drives. You would have had to boot from a floppy disk containing the driver for a hard disk controller.

So, 3 theories:
1. This Amiga was primarily used as a PC. Whatever boot floppy it had years ago was used to launch the Bridgeboard software and the bulk of the machine's productive work was done using software on the PC side's hard drive, or via floppy disks on the Amiga side.
2. The hard disk controller board for the Amiga side (with hard drive) was removed some time ago. This seems unlikely given that all the board slot covers are in place. Usually when someone pulls a board out of a machine before putting it into storage they don't replace the slot cover.
3. The hard disk contains BOTH Amiga and PC systems. If I'm remembering correctly, it was possible with the Bridgeboard software to put Amiga partitions on hard drives connected to the PC side. (Can someone confirm/refute this?) They wouldn't have been bootable, but since the machine had Kickstart 1.2 anyway, that wouldn't have mattered. The system's boot floppy would have contained the the appropriate configuration files and mountlists to make this work.

[Matt_H]

I'm determined to end this multi-year project, and close this chapter in my life.
 
 Would this help?
 
 I'll video tape my setup, my boot up, my internals and post the video on youtube.
 
 This system was working when I put it into storage.  I just need to figure out the proper sequence and which workbench disk I need to put in.

Yes, it sounds like you just need to find the right floppy disk(s).

Remember, the hard disk controller in the machine is in an ISA slot. So by default, that means only the PC would be able to see it. I don't know what determines if a PC disk controller is bootable, but theoretically when you power on the machine the Amiga side will boot up asking for a floppy and the PC side will boot up from the hard disk.

If the PC disk controller is not bootable, then you will also need a floppy in the 5.25" floppy drive (connected to the PC side) with a driver for the hard disk controller.

Janus is the Bridgeboard software that interfaces the Amiga and PC sides. If it is possible to put an Amiga partition on a PC-side hard drive, you'd need Janus to make it work. Hopefully somewhere in your disk collection there's a functional working copy of Janus that you used in the past that has all of the correct configuration details on it. I'm hoping that if you find and boot from that disk you'll find your system exactly as it was when you last used it.

[Matt_H]

That's the key - the command "DJMount". There is an Amiga partition on the PC hard drive. That command mounts it as the Amiga device JH0:. The subsequent commands reassign the system paths to the hard drive.

The command "rbk pc/pcdisk" may also be important for getting the PC side to boot, but I'm not certain. I'm wondering if it might be the driver for the hard disk controller.

So, the question is whether the command DJMount is self-contained (i.e., could you just boot from another Janus disk and run that command) or whether it calls a config file elsewhere on the disk (a JH0: entry in the file devs:mounlist or something else).

A Bridgeboard or Janus manual would answer these questions. I'm sure there are (English) PDF versions kicking around somewhere online.

Since you have Amiga Explorer, try to make an ADF image of the disk for safekeeping. It might be able to bypass the error (if the error isn't too severe) and give you a clean copy.

You're making progress! I think we'll get this.

[Matt_H]

@ Oldsmobile_Mike

Well said!

@ wbrejnia

All signs so far point to this being a software issue rather than a hardware one. DJMount is part of the Janus package - it should be on that disk in the C: directory. As long as the file containing the drive geometry is intact (although we have yet to figure out exactly what that is) you should be able to get the system working with the tools that you have. As Mike said, you'll need to create a new boot floppy, probably mixing and matching files from a few different disks. Get a few blank disks ready

[Matt_H]

@ Wally

I was looking at documentation for the A2386 and the A1060, other Bridgeboards that also use the Janus software. According to those docs, DJMount appears to be self contained. It's apparently able to detect the partition layout on hard disks connected to the PC side and automatically mount Amiga partitions. This is good news. In case that floppy disk can't be salvaged, you should still be able to mount the hard drive from another Janus disk.

I'm surprised that DJMount isn't on that disk. It should be in the C: directory. Can you check again? Another possibility is that your system originally booted with that disk in DF0: and another disk in DF2:. Can you post a picture of the very beginning of the startup-sequence? I'm wondering if there are some commands in there that would indicate a dual-floppy boot setup.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that ultimate success depends on the hard drive itself still being functional. I don't think we've definitively confirmed that yet. But progress is being made!