This is the most removed I've ever felt from the Amiga community. I now realize that I have neither the knowledge, nor the equipment (and in some cases, the software) to do pretty much any of the steps you've mentioned in your reply. I never realized getting the PCMCIA slot to work on the 1200 was such an absolute crap shoot, and that it was blind, stupid luck that I got a machine where it just miraculously worked.
As for Workbench 3.2, it's staying off my 1200. I give up. I've had enough. Another $50 that I shouldn't have spent gone right down the crapper. And now that my faulty hard drive is more sensitive than a sunburned back, the last piece of the karma pie is that I'll reformat it, reinstall WB3.1, and have the card slot not work again for literally no reason. But, I'm being defeatist. Tomorrow is another day, and all that.
“Welcome to Amiga ownership!”
I see where you are coming from in your frustration above. Unfortunately this is how it is with Amiga systems. They are not plug and play PCs. You do have to think about what you are doing with the latest stuff being introduced.
I went from Amiga OS 3.1 to 3.9. That was a great OS but very RAM and system heavy. Then when 3.1.4 came out, tried that, but was very disappointed as it resembled 3.1 but with a few extras and patches.
When 3.2 was released. Then I held back. Number one rule before buying any new Amiga stuff. Research and keep an eye out on the user forums. I didn’t adopt 3.2 until 3.2.2.1 was released. Even now it’s still has it’s problems.
I know this is frowned upon. But I combine my OS3.9 OS builds with the Os 3.2.2.1 updates. But I do use Accelerator cards such as 68030, 68040, 68060, Vampire V2 and PiStorm 32 lite. Theses have the 32bit RAM addressing that gets around PCMCIA issues you describe.
As a rule of thumb. Always backup anything before you attempt any updates or Software installs just in case. The Amiga can be an expensive hobby I’m afraid.
At the Moment V 3.2+ also has issues with older software as well. Such as IDEFIX, where it isn’t compatible anymore.
Good luck.