Amiga Forever 2016 with PPC support!

[Gryfon]

Failing the idiot test here!

I've got AF 2016, OS 4.1FE for Classic and managed to install it successfully once on my PC with a copy of the RP9 as the instructions suggest.  Then STUPIDLY tried to install the extras, not realising that 300MB was nowhere near enough space. Totally messed up the drive.  So started again, but since then I cannot build my own hard drive file AND make it work.

The instructions specifically relating to creating my own hard disk file are not specific enough.  Every time I copy the PPC RP9 as instructed and setup a large disk (1GB in this case), try to follow the steps, I end up either with a DHO is not a DOS disk error or a Guru Meditation loop.  The disk format and installation appear to work but after ejecting the CD and boot floppy then shutting down the emulation, I always get one or other issue. When I finish the install I get a prompt to "commit changes to my external disk" - whether I do or don't doesn't appear to make a difference either!

The instructions contradict the reset option (AF website says to "soft reset" but not with the AF icon, but the installer says to cold reboot and switch off machine).  Where AF website lists hard drive configuration requirements, the descriptions don't match those used in the Media Toolbox for creating the hard file, so I have no idea what part of the hard drive config I am doing wrong.

I hope Cloanto or someone smarter than myself can provide a step-by-step guide to creating a hard-disk file so that the OS 4.1FE installation can be performed without these issues.  Damn - if I could make it work I would write it myself!  I'll keep trying but any help would be very welcome.

[Gryfon]

Thanks for the update.  I'll give these a shot!

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

There are indeed many posts about this so apologies if everyone has worked it out.

The problem appears to be at the end of the process, after the installation has completed.  At the point you are asked to click "Finish" and reboot, the AF 2016 website suggest a warm reboot using CTRL + Left Amiga + Right Amiga.  I happen to have a PC keyboard where the right-hand Windows key is a Function key instead, rather like those you see on a laptop. So when I couldn't soft reset I was always using the icon in the GUI, which leads to the Guru Meditation problem.  Note - AF 2016 website have updated this, albeit in a tiny modofcation to their instructions, on their website now.

So once the install finished, I went into WinUAE config (F12) and changed the input for Right Amiga to be F11 - a key I know which is free to map.  Ejected my floppy and CD-ROM.

Then I performed a CTRL - Amiga - Amiga soft reset and hey presto!  A perfect launch into my newly installed OS v4.1FE.

And now I'm off to play! Be back MUCH later!

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

Sadly back too soon...

Played for a while, then clicked "Stop" icon at the top.  As the hard file is not embedded I didn't get a request to save it on closing.

Now every time I open the new system, I get the dreaded Guru Meditation.  Perhaps I should have taken a snapshot?  Trying that now.

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

Booted from the OS4.1 floppy, with OS4.1 CD image, but just launched directly to Workbench.  Once there, configured F11 to Right Amiga, ejected CD and floppy images and did soft reset.  Booted back to my hard file no problem.

I'll save a snapshot now...

[Gryfon]

Nope.  Start and choose the snapshot and all I get is a black screen.  Try to soft-reset that and I get a grey/black flickering screen - I think it's locked in a reboot cycle.

Hmm....

[Gryfon]

It appears that the AF 2016 website instruction to use SFS/00 might be something to do with the guru error, according to that post.

I'll try again with FFS tonight.  Thank you very much for the link my friend.

Regards,

Gryfon

For those also experiencing the Guru Meditation problem:

amiga-news.de (german)
amiga-news.de/en (english)

[Gryfon]

Failure again and again.  I just cannot get either the hard drive to be bootable ("Not a DOS disk" after installation and restart) or Guru Meditation using SFS/00.

I've read clicking F12 early start I can select the hard disk and make it bootable, when when I click F12 the display is sqiushed over the left hand side of the screen, I cant read all of the buttons or descriptions and the rest of the screen is black. I've tried just about every combination of fiddling with different display options in WinUAE but can't get the screen to render properly, so can't test my theory.

Also got an AF 2016 update today but this doesn't appear to have made a difference.

I can get everything configured more or less they way I need to, but a step-by-step guide to creating a hard file and selecting the correct Media Toolbox settings is what Cloanto need to produce.  There are some WinUAE guides out there which I may play with, but since I'm using AF 2016 I prefer to do it in a way that will work withing AF 2016.

I'm not giving up, but it's kind of frustrating.

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

Aha...of course the first thing I did was dive straight in without RTFM of course

Will have another try tonight.

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

Even following the manual isn't striaghtforward because when I select SFS as instructed there, I get an error suggesting to try to increase RDBBlocksLo by 4.  Leaving it or increasing it make no difference - I still get the error.

Can anyone help please?

My general issue is I can install AmigaOS4.1 but after rebooting the newly created install won't boot.  It looks like what I need to know is precisely how to configure the hard disk with the media toolbox step by step, something which none of the guides really do.

Regards,

Gryfon

[Gryfon]

Hi Aegis,
Excellent, I now have a fully bootable installed OS 4.1FE installation.  Thank you so much for the instructions, just what I needed.  SFS is indeed a lot quicker - I could see the difference in the installation process where the files were copying far quicker than normal.

Thank you everyone who got me to this point, I'm really looking forward to Christmas playing with the new OS.

Regards,

Gryfon