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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: mrmobeus on January 12, 2008, 09:09:08 PM
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I have an Amiga A500 which I wish to restore/modify..
I have tons of spare hdd's floppy's, atx psu's etc
So can I use any of that hardware with an Amiga?
It feels kinda silly asking such simple questions when I build/re-build/modify pc's all the time lol!
Also, Nearer the time are there any free versions of an up to date amiga os?
Or will ubuntu etc run on an amiga?
Thanks, Paul;)
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Hi, some pc parts can be used, but not 1.44mb floppies, or hard drives of any modern size without a lot of fiddling about and expensive add ons.
As for Amiga OS, no there are no freebies available, and you will not be able to run Ubuntu on it (You do realise the cpu is running at approx 7Mhz ?)
Good luck !
Homer
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§MrMobeus:
Well, where to start? Let´s try with: You´re a brave man.
First of all, no version of the Amiga OS is freeware. So you´ll have to grab a copy from a dealer near you (or from a dealer on the net). Mind the Kickstart version needed! Ubuntu? Better use the PC!
The A500 is rather limited when it comes to expandibility. It only has the trapdoor expansion-slot and the slot on the lefthand side of the machine. This last slot is used by a few external Harddisk controllers. The Amiga 500 does not have an onboard harddisk controller, so you´ll need an external one or get yourself a turbo-board for the A500 (which will go in the trapdoor expansion slot) with a SCSI or IDE controller. Then if you´re really brave (and handy) you might be able to hack the casing to shoe-horn in a harddisk.
Other solution could be hacking a big box PC case to accomodate the A500´s mainboard. In such a case you´d be able to also hook a CD-ROM player as well. But prepare for a lot of hacking sharp metal. And you´d still need a harddisk controller, eather on the edge-connector or on the trapdoor expansion.
So, yes you can use any of that hardware, but you´ll need extra hardware as well and you might have to crawl the net a lot to get pin-outs and hardware hacks to get everything done. And the additional hardware needed offcourse.
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About the PSU; you do know that the PSU is not inside the Amiga but it is a seperate unit? Do you have the PSU or not?
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@ amiga3k and MrMobeus:
amiga_3k wrote:
§MrMobeus:
Well, where to start? Let´s try with: You´re a brave man.
Indeed he is/you are!
First of all, no version of the Amiga OS is freeware. So you´ll have to grab a copy from a dealer near you (or from a dealer on the net). Mind the Kickstart version needed! Ubuntu? Better use the PC!
The upgrade versions of Amiga Workbench are commercial, if you have the machine and the ROM (who is inside that Amiga), you have the right to own copies of the disks of that only version.
The A500 is rather limited when it comes to expandibility. It only has the trapdoor expansion-slot and the slot on the lefthand side of the machine. This last slot is used by a few external Harddisk controllers. The Amiga 500 does not have an onboard harddisk controller, so you´ll need an external one or get yourself a turbo-board for the A500 (which will go in the trapdoor expansion slot) with a SCSI or IDE controller.
The trapdoor connector is intended only for memory and RTC (real time clock) devices, nothing more!
The slot connector is for a multitude of boards, not only accelerators, memory and SCSI/IDE controllers. But accelerators for the A500 are rare and expensive.
And NO! you can't run Linux on it.
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@ mmobeus
You may be missing the point. Amiga OS (and it's marriage to and integration with the hardware) is everything to many of us. If there were no Amiga OS, there would probably be no community. The hardware is cool, revolutionary, exceptional, but without Amiga OS, who would care?
Try running a modest A500 with just 4 Megs of fast ram. Optimize the OS and all you need to fit on a 2 or 3 meg RAD:. Now do a warm reset - that's incredable!
Don't get me wrong, I use more expanded Amigas to do very modern things (Mp3s, surfing. etc). But, even modest Amigas are amazing and there is more software on Aminet than you will ever have the chance to try.
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@rkauer
There are 68k Linux flavours AFAIK.
If you want an up to date modern Amiga(like)OS you could try AROS which is open source and free but not an official Amiga branded product.
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Flashlab wrote:
@rkauer
There are 68k Linux flavours AFAIK.
If you want an up to date modern Amiga(like)OS you could try AROS which is open source and free but not an official Amiga branded product.
Yes, a flavour of Linux is still available to 68k, but it needs something better than AGA (only available in 1200/CD32/4000) to run a X-GUI.
And it needs full MMU running (means 68020 + 68551, or a full 68030/40/60). Things a bare A500 can't do.
Of course AROS can be an answer, but it needs a peecee to run, not an Amiga!
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Removed the post due to slightly misunderstanding the context. :)
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mrmobeus wrote:
I have an Amiga A500 which I wish to restore/modify..
I have tons of spare hdd's floppy's, atx psu's etc
So can I use any of that hardware with an Amiga?
It feels kinda silly asking such simple questions when I build/re-build/modify pc's all the time lol!
Also, Nearer the time are there any free versions of an up to date amiga os?
Or will ubuntu etc run on an amiga?
Thanks, Paul;)
@mrmobeus
Do youself a favor and forget about "Amigas", more pain than gain, offcourse IMO :)
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forget that a500 its rubbish, get instead an a1200 then you can start upgrading and have fun....
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A500s are great. Get yourself a Derringer 030, a Dataflyer IDE, and away you go! No screwing around with clockports! If you want, you can even add a Zorro II bus and have a network and video card too.
You *can* use an ATX power supply, you will have to wire it yourself. You *can* use PC floppies, but you will gain nothing over the built in A500 drive.