Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Jammeista on July 17, 2007, 01:01:20 AM
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I have googled this & searched through this forum, I couldn't find the answer, that's why I wrote this post.
I also know that it is possible to transfer and convert
ADF files as I wrote, but the point in this is to run ADF files directly without using floppies or harddisk.
Anyone else know anything about if this is possible or not?
EDIT:
sorry about this new post, somehow made a new one when trying to answer thisones:
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=30331
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no....
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Yes.
but don't ask me how :)
I use classic workbench (http://classicwb.abime.net/), on it there's a utility called FF0: which creates a virtual floppy drive. All you need to do is write a floppy image to it by a intuition interface.
works with dms files too !
EDIT : ahh, you want a no-harddisk solution. That's not possible. At least, not yet ... You'll have to wait for this (http://torlus.com/floppy/). But still, having a hdd for your A1200 is very handy. Time to spend some bucks for that miggy ! :crazy:
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Our EasyADF (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=440) program self-boots from floppy and will automatically create a RAD device in RAM and unarchive the ADF to there- you can then run the ADF from RAD
Alternatively you can use EasyADF (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=440) to transfer the ADF to the Compact Flash card and use the Compact Flash card as a hard disk - you can even copy WHDLoad onto it.
(http://shop.amigakit.com/catalog/images/easyadf-rad.jpg)
(http://shop.amigakit.com/catalog/images/easyadf-rad-mount.jpg)
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thanks alot, I will definately check out the EasyADF which sounds like a good solution for this :)
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hmm, I have actually been thinking of a harddisk lately.. especially if the answer to this post would end up being a definate no-no :)
Any harddisks to recommend?
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If you have OS 3.1 or less, then without patches you can go for a hard disk upto 4GB.
If you have any third party patches or AmigaOS 3.5 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=190) or AmigaOS 3.9 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=153) then you can use larger sizes of hard disks.
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Whether you can run ADF from some virtual device (RAD, FFx, or otherwise) depends on the ADF itself. If it has custom floppy loader routines (many games do), then you can not (no, not even with EasyADF).
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The patches are (in case you can't or don't want to buy AmigaOS 3.5/3.9):
- IDEFix (http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/IDEfix97)
- scsi.device 43.x
more here (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16830)
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thanks Piru, a bit on the side here but:
If I upgrade the AmigaOS on my 1200, will that also make
the 1200 run older 500 games easier or does one still have
to use a Relokick disc?
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NDOS ADFs you should use WHDLOAD- potentially you could run them direct from the Compact Flash card (no hard disk required). This has the option on some games of using older kickstarts images in devs:kickstarts/ drawer - you wont need Relokick necessarily.
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Just out of interest, on an expanded Amiga (say a 68030 or better), would Amiga-UAE for the classic be able to run ADF files as if they were real floppies at 68000 or 68020 speeds?
I assume that the emulation would still be quite fast as things like the processor and the custom chips can be accessed without resorting to emulation.
I've downloaded Amiga-UAE, but I'm stuck at work for the next 10 days and can't test it on one of my real classic Amigas.
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by the way, would it be possible to make some kind of virtual Amiga share on a Windows PC and load the ADF's off that share, with a WLAN card connected to the Amiga PCMCIA port?
This might be way off but just thought I'd ask, would have been very practical if this could be done.
After all there are WLAN cards that can be used on the Amiga out there :)
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Yes, easiest way is to setup a ftp on the pc and transfer files. Samba is also possible ofcourse.
But dont mess around with floppys, Whdload is the way to do it now. Hd installed, fixed for all machines and the quit button :)
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@Jammeista
If I upgrade the AmigaOS on my 1200, will that also make the 1200 run older 500 games easier
It doesn't.
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would it be possible to make some kind of virtual Amiga share on a Windows PC and load the ADF's off that share, with a WLAN card connected to the Amiga PCMCIA port?
Sure. Then again you'd still need to move the file over completely before being able to use them (at least with WHDLoad, it just doesn't like network stack being running on the background, it'll easily lock up). Without WHDLoad, mounting the file remotely would only work for things that work mounted locally aswell.
Yet using remote samba mount is handy, indeed. I have >1TB data on a debian server, accessable from all other computers.
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Oki, I seem to have been pretty persuaded by this post to get a HD for my Amiga now (or the CF-solution perhaps),
would have been great to use WLAN for ADF transfer.
However can Relokick be installed on the HD for games that do not work with WHDLoad?
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However can Relokick be installed on the HD for games that do not work with WHDLoad?
Sure. Booting with kickstart 1.x leaves you without HDD support, though, so you're pretty much forced to use real floppies then.
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There are many many games supported by WHDLoad. I don't think you really need ReloKick.
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Check the www.whdload.de for all the installs, and all games that are allready fixed.
Forget floppies, get a hd or CF and get stared :)
Check your PM also.
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thanks alot again, I have read a bit around on www.whdload.de and it seems like a great solution to get rid of my floppies :)
Would it be as easy to install & use WHDLoad on a CF-card as on a harddisk, any known problems at all or should both work just as fine for playing games/progs together with WHDLoad?
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Cf apapter and card will work fine. As long as you use it mainly for reading, you should get faster loading than off HDD. Writing to CF though is slow
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Sounds good then, plan was mainly for reading as I will probably install all necessary games once to the card together with WHDLoad.
Which brings me to the (hopefully) last question.. can WHDLoad ready games be copied over to & unpacked directly on the CF-card, hence being able to play the games on the Amiga directly from the CF-card?
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Yes.
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just some added info, I have been informed that a lot of WHDload games require Fast Memory and that a 4MB Fast Memory expansion is advisable. Was hoping to avoid spending money on upgrading my 1200 as well but if it's necessary I'd have to do it, any recommended upgrades?
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sorry to ask on this again guys, is it something like one of these I need for my Amiga 1200 to run all WHDLoad games:
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-mb-64-Pin-GVP-Ram-Amiga-accelerator-500-2000-1200_W0QQitemZ150143828139QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4598QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiga-1200-4-meg-ram-expansion_W0QQitemZ110151047181QQihZ001QQcategoryZ98930QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Any other links or items I should search for?
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Piru wrote:
However can Relokick be installed on the HD for games that do not work with WHDLoad?
Sure. Booting with kickstart 1.x leaves you without HDD support, though, so you're pretty much forced to use real floppies then.
No hard disk support in 1.3? I used to know someone with an A500 and the A590... did the HD take care of the software side then? (My A500+/A570 does similar tricks, built-in software for the CD.)
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@ Jammeista,
Pleas go here: http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29933
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ok, I am obviously to hungover today to catch any hints in that thread :crazy:
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have received the CF-card reader, will see if I can sneak in some time to test WHDload this weekend. Still need an expansion for my 1200 tho, can anyone recommend what kind of expansion I should get pls? Where they sell and what they usually cost etc..?
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Jammeista wrote:
have received the CF-card reader, will see if I can sneak in some time to test WHDload this weekend. Still need an expansion for my 1200 tho, can anyone recommend what kind of expansion I should get pls? Where they sell and what they usually cost etc..?
If you aiming just old games, the better bet is a '030 accelerator with at least 4 Mb.
But bear in mind (BEER IN MIND? GREAT IDEA, AGAIN!:pint:) that are some games who requires lots more than this (I love to play TotalChaosAGA, who requires 32Mb!).
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1.3 supports Harddisks, thats the only major change between 1.2 and 1.3 on the prom.
-Tig
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amigakit wrote:
Our EasyADF (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=440) program self-boots from floppy and will automatically create a RAD device in RAM and unarchive the ADF to there- you can then run the ADF from RAD
That sounds awesome, and I would buy it if you sold just the software. I've accumulated a whole stack of those damn PCMCIA Compact Flash cards though (I work at an ISP and many routers come with those) so I cant justify buying another one when all I want is the software.
Soon as you guys start selling the disk without the flash adapter though, I'm ordering!
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No hard disk support in 1.3?
A600 / A1200 / A4000 IDE.
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@Tigger
1.3 supports Harddisks, thats the only major change between 1.2 and 1.3 on the prom.
Actually no, it's not.
The only difference between Kickstart 1.2 and 1.3 is a bugfix in expansion.library:
bug explained (http://www.iki.fi/sintonen/why_ks_1.3.txt)
This bug resulted in AUTOCONFIG(TM) autoboot malfunctioning. Everything else worked, but you just couldn't boot from the HDD directly. AFAIK booting from floppy and then using the HDD worked. This is the reason why many older HDD controllers such as A590 have a jumper to disable the autoboot (to avoid crash with 1.2, but still allowing to use the HDD when booted off floppy).
What I meant with losing the HDD when you boot to KS 1.3 was with A600, A1200, A4000 built-in IDE. KS 1.x doesn't have the driver in the ROM.
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@murple
Quoting myself from earlier in this thread:
Whether you can run ADF from some virtual device (RAD, FFx, or otherwise) depends on the ADF itself. If it has custom floppy loader routines (many games do), then you can not (no, not even with EasyADF).
Which means, most games will not work when booted from RAD:. That isn't exactly EasyADF's fault, but IMO it's a bit misleading to market the thing as enabling such a feat.
NOTE: This does not mean EasyADF would be useless or anything like that. I just wanted to point out the limitation.