Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: sim085 on August 11, 2008, 11:44:08 AM
-
Hi,
Is it possible to convert a PC floppy disk to an Amiga (A500+) floppy? I have some adf games and I want to try them out on the A500+ but I do not have any A500+ floppies left!
Even if I buy A500+ floppies I would still not be able to save the adf on my computer onto those floppies since then the PC would not support them! So what am I to do?
Also would adf files be read directly by the A500+ or I need some conversion tool?
Regards,
Sim085
-
Simple ... get some more floppy discs
You CAN use 1.44mb labeled floppy discs in Amiga drives with no ill effects. The Amiga drive doesn't differentiate between both types and formats both to Amiga's880kb' standard.
ADF files are a track by track copy of an original Amiga game and cannot be loaded as per an original game
What you should buy is an external drive (DF1:) for your A500+ because it makes dealing with ADF files so mach easier
-
Sorry if I am asking again, did not understand your answer completely.
So I can just use 3 1/2 floppy disk of my PC as an Amiga floppy disk?
-
Do you mean using the Catweasel MK4 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=206) for the PC:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=206
-
To read Amiga disks on a standard PC is impossible as it cannot read 880K amiga disks.
You need a new floppy controller called the Catweasel which will allow the PC to read Amiga disks:
http://www.jschoenfeld.de/products/cwmk3_e.htm
There are various tools to create ADFs and convert ADFs to Disks:
http://www.pcguru.plus.com/uae_faq.html
-
No No, it is the other way round :) I have some adf games on my PC. I want to play these adf games on my A500+. How can I do that? :)
(I think asking this question like this is better :)
-
sim085 wrote:
So I can just use 3 1/2 floppy disk of my PC as an Amiga floppy disk?
are you talking about the disk ? or the disk drive ?
-
hmmm, quite tricky.
i think iirc, WinUAE comes with software to be able to read/write ADF files to and from the amiga over a serial link between the PC and amiga?
or you could get a serial terminal package, boot the A500+ with a basic(!)minimal workbench, just to load the serial software, and adf2disk exe. something like twin express or something. its probably on an old magazine coverdisk if that helps. then you want something like "adf2disk" from aminet to write the copied adf file to floppy disk.
or "amiga forever" package with amiga explorer. that apparently can hook into an amiga over serial, and allow to you drag and drop files/adf's straight to and from the amiga and its floppy drives.
if you just have a basic 1meg A500+, then your options are fairly limited... having some kind of hard disk really opens up possibilities...
over the weekend i copied files to my A600, by pulling the drive out, bolting it into a USB2IDE adapter, plugging it into my PC, and running winUAE to mount the drive as a native amiga drive, and allow access to PC drives from within WinUAE. then i could drag and drop straight from the PC drives, to the amiga drive. take it out, and put it back into the A600... much faster than over serial...
ideally, you either want a CD drive on your amiga to read a CD full of software you've burnt off your PC, or the catweasel, or just shuffle drives. :)
-
As ADFs are 880KB you cannot transfer them "natively" to an Amiga on a PC Floppy Diskette.
The Amiga can certainly read 750KB PC Diskettes with cross dos (WB2.0+) but not 1.44MB diskettes.
BTW: You cannot format 750KB PC disks on WinXP or above.
If you have a Win95/98PC you can format a PC Diskette at 750KB and read it on Amiga 500 with Workbench WB 2+ with cross dos.
You could also zip or lha an ADF file to be less than 750KB (IE:Fits on a 750 diskette) But unless you have a Hard Disk on the Amiga 500 its going to be very dificult to reconstitute the ADF file to an 880K Amiga Diskette.
Options are TRANSADF or other cable based connections.
Basically if you just want to play a few Amiga 500 games on a standard 1MB amiga 500 you need an Amiga Buddy with a Hard Drive and CD Rom Amiga to create the A500 Games for you from your PC files. Thats the easiest.
-
I bought a hard drive from eBay the other day so that should be coming soon. The next step I guess is to install Workbench on that hard drive. If I buy a Null Model then can I connect the A500+ to my Laptop and transfer all the software I need like that? or?
-
BTW: You cannot format 750KB PC disks on WinXP or above.
yes, you can, just some parameters are needed:
format a: /t:80 /n:9
(thanks Thomas and others for mentioning this earlier)
PS.
don't forget to cover the hole
-
You could use:
Serial Transfer Cable (PC to Amiga):
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=787
And
EasyADF software:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=694
-
Thanks to everyone for the comments ... but I am a little confused. I was hoping I could play some Amiga games easily but seems a much harder task.
I do not have a working workbench at the moment so I think I better start from there. From where can I buy the Amiga Workbench 3.1. I would be interested to later on buy the 3.9 version as well. At AmigaKit it seems the 3.1 Workbench is not for sale.
Also regarding the 'Serial Transfer Cable (PC to Amiga)'; is this the same cable I would need to share an internet connection from my PC to the A500+?
-
orange wrote:
yes, you can, just some parameters are needed:
format a: /t:80 /n:9
(thanks Thomas and others for mentioning this earlier)
PS.
don't forget to cover the hole
Well I'll be you can do the same on Vista too. thanks.
LSED
-
One of THESE (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMIGA-1200_W0QQitemZ320283656202QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320283656202&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318) could easily receive ADF files from your PC and write them to floppy disk for your A500+ :-)
(It's the way I'd go anyway :pint:)
-
sim085 wrote:
I would be interested to later on buy the 3.9 version as well. At AmigaKit it seems the 3.1 Workbench is not for sale.
Forget about the 3.9. You need at least a 020 accelerator card with 4mb+ RAM for that. And it will crawl on such a system (a 040 or 060 processor recommended), and it won't deliver you anything exciting if you just want to play old games.
Your best bet for 3.1 is ebay probably.
-
Is there an 060 accelerator card for the A500+?
Yes for now I was only going to install the Workbench 3.1.
btw - doesn't the Amiga Forever package include all the Workbench developed so far? If so then how could I install the Workbench version that come with such a package on my Amiga? Only by using a parallel cable?
-
sim085 wrote:
Is there an 060 accelerator card for the A500+?
Erm, no. I was not talking with A500 in mind. However, it's technically possible if you get one of those A500 tower kits which give A2000 processor slot, and a 060 for A2000. A Franken solution.
-
If you can compress the ADF to less than 720k then you can copy it to a PC formated disk and plug it into the Amiga. Then, provided you have enough free RAM, you can uncompress the file back into an ADF onto the Ram Disk and use a utility to write the ADF to a regular Amiga disk.
In some sense, it's easier than trying to setup a network connection between the PC and the Amiga. But if you're planning on doing this a lot, I'd spend the extra time setting up the network connection. I would save you time in the long run.
-
gertsy wrote:
BTW: You cannot format 750KB PC disks on WinXP or above.
Basically if you just want to play a few Amiga 500 games on a standard 1MB amiga 500 you need an Amiga Buddy with a Hard Drive and CD Rom Amiga to create the A500 Games for you from your PC files. Thats the easiest.
Yes, you can format 720K floppies still on the PC.
The command is -
FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9
Of course that won't help transferring files larger than 720K over unless they can be zipped to be small enough.
There are several solutions already listed but this info. might be useful to others.
-
>Is it possible to convert a PC floppy disk to an Amiga (A500+) floppy? I have some adf games and I want to try them out on the A500+ but I do not have any A500+ floppies left!
>Even if I buy A500+ floppies I would still not be able to save the adf on my computer onto those floppies since then the PC would not support them! So what am I to do?
Hi Sim, you can try the Floppy Simulator here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320283041600
You won't have to transfer them over; you can just boot the Amiga 500+ with the ADF file you want (upto 128 tracks). You can also transfer them over with this cable and software if you use the cable in conjunction with an external floppy drive.
>Also would adf files be read directly by the A500+ or I need some conversion tool?
ADFs are just sector by sector image of original disk (11 sectors/track*2 sides*80 tracks*512 bytes/sector = 880KB). Sometimes, they contain more than 80 tracks, but the floppy simulator can handle from 1 track to 128 tracks. A500 trackdisk software won't directly read files of ADFs unless you modify it.
-
gertsy wrote:
As ADFs are 880KB you cannot transfer them "natively" to an Amiga on a PC Floppy Diskette.
Of course you can!
All you need for that is a splitter/joiner tool from Aminet.
Split your ADF into two, put the two parts on two PC formatted 3 1/2" disks (720 kB), access them on your Miggy via CrossDos (included in WB since v2.0, IIRC) and (re-)join the splitted parts there.
gertsy wrote:
The Amiga can certainly read 750KB PC Diskettes with cross dos (WB2.0+) but not 1.44MB diskettes.
I have to contradict here.
The Amiga CANNOT read 750KB PC Diskettes - no matter if with or without CrossDos - as such things as "750KB PC Diskettes" do not exist and never did!
floppy disk formats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_formats)
And you can very well read and write 1440 kB PC formatted floppy disks (1760 kB if formatted in Amiga HD-format) on an Amiga - all you need for this is an (Amiga-compatible) HD floppy drive and CrossDos!
Works flawlessly here since over a decade!
3 1/2" disks on an PC can either have a capacity of 720 kB, 1440 kB, 1680 kB, 1720 kB or 2880 kB (most common being 720 kB and 1440 kB).
gertsy wrote:
BTW: You cannot format 750KB PC disks on WinXP or above.
Of course you are right - you cannot format 750 kB disks on any x86-PC - but you can format 720 kB.
Click on "Start - Execute", enter "cmd" and press "Enter".
A DOS window opens where you can type "format a: /f:720" and press "Enter". Other values for "f:" are e.g. 360 (5 1/4"), 1.2 (5 1/4") and 1.44 (3 1/2").
(precondition being that you have an appropriate floppy drive fitted to your PC)
gertsy wrote:
If you have a Win95/98PC you can format a PC Diskette at 750KB and read it on Amiga 500 with Workbench WB 2+ with cross dos.
...
No.
You can format 720 kB, but then you're not limited to Win95/98 PCs.
-
not being funny, but i haven't heard of anyone using those "floppy simulators".
and to be honest, a cable going directly from the amiga floppy port to a parallel/serial port on a PC? yeah, right oh. but unless someone is willing to try this and risk blowing up either their PC or amiga, a call shinanigans on that... as surely if it was that easy, we'd have had this nailed years ago?
looks to me like someone wants to get rid of a job lot of PC floppy cables, and made a botched job of the connections. :-( (not that i would be able to do any better :lol: )
-
null modem cable to write adf to your amiga 500 is the cheapest & good solution.
-
Yes I plan to buy one of these to share internet connection on my A500+ as well :)
-
pm me if interested in one. :-D
-
uh internet? nuts. with 68000 this will be at best "slow". need 68060/68040 at least, maybe 68030.
-
pjhutch wrote:
To read Amiga disks on a standard PC is impossible as it cannot read 880K amiga disks.
In fact, it is possible with ADFread (http://www.winuae.net/files/adfread-1.1.zip). :-)
-
I´ve read about using a null modem cable but i have never seen one so where might i get one ? Do i have to order one online or can i get one from any computer store ?
-
i think www.amigakit.co.uk have them... :-)
-
sim085 wrote:
Yes I plan to buy one of these to share internet connection on my A500+ as well :)
If you're planning to access the web with your A500+, my posting in your other thread (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37680) might be of interest for you:
Dandy wrote:
redfox wrote:
@Sim085
...
Not sure if there are add-on parts for USB and network connections.
...
AFAIK you can get an clockport (like the A1200 has) interface for the A500 ( A500 clockport interface (http://www.vesalia.de/e_a500clockport.htm) ), to which you can connect either an ZorroII Highway card or clockport Subway card from E3B (http://www.e3b.de/usb/index_e.html).
I could very well imagine that there are USB-NICs available that basically should enable your A500 for broadband access
(if browsing the web is much fun with those specs remains to be seen - in case you try it your report would be very welcome here, I think).
As driver serves the Anaiis USB stack for limited Amigas:
anaiis.readme (http://de5.aminet.net/driver/other/anaiis.readme)
EDIT:
There's a thread on this topic at amigaworld.net (http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=23159&forum=27&start=20&23)
Especially, as it not just offers a possibility to access the web with your A500+, but also gives you access to a wide range of USB devices...
EDIT II:
I forgot to mention that a minimum requirement for the "Subway" is a 68030 CPU @ 25 mHz. So if you want to have USB in an A500, you have to get hold of an A500-accelerator with at least an 68030 @ 25 mHz onboard.
-
>by darksun9210 on 2008/8/12 7:57:42
>not being funny, but i haven't heard of anyone using those "floppy simulators".
Your limited experience is the reason for your erroneous conclusions.
>and to be honest, a cable going directly from the amiga floppy port to a parallel/serial port on a PC? yeah, right oh.
No, not serial port. Parallel port. If you had studied your Amiga and PC before blurting out your erroneous conclusions, you would know that parallel ports and the amiga floppy ports use TTL voltages whereas serial ports use higher voltage levels.
>but unless someone is willing to try this and risk blowing up either their PC or amiga, a call shinanigans on that... as surely if it was that easy, we'd have had this nailed years ago?
That's what they told Newton as well when they ridiculed him:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Yn64kRZiUvcC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=newton+was+ridiculed&source=web&ots=WUjr2ggAez&sig=xDxI1Z2KhvUFSi3NUzZ5kyVX27I&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
I hate googling but you need immediate answers. As I stated your errorneous conclusions are a result of your limited experience.
>looks to me like someone wants to get rid of a job lot of PC floppy cables, and made a botched job of the connections. (not that i would be able to do any better )
Why don't you try it out or ask someone who has or ask for a reference to a person from me who has tried it out instead of speculating your brains out. I have been using the floppy simulator for a few years now. Only in 2006, I released it for general purpose use. I have a PC hooked up to an Atari and an Amiga simultaneously and can write a program that splits itself and shares resources on all three-- beats any PC that you will ever have since I'll always have the advantage of running Atari/Amiga stuff along with PC stuff.
-
>by sim085 on 2008/8/15 2:20:42
>Yes I plan to buy one of these to share internet connection on my A500+ as well :)
I thought the thread was over but I'm glad I decided to re-read it. Anyway that floppy simulator link is now different:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320287359400
Yeah, it does come with 14-day money back guarantee. And there is no botch-job on the cable. There is purposefully a cut in the cable to allow for jumpers for simulating DF2: and DF3: and the cables are made by a cable manufacturing company not at home. Some people don't even read the description before they post their narrow-minded opinions.
-
>by arion on 2008/8/15 3:48:42
>I´ve read about using a null modem cable but i have never seen one so where might i get one ? Do i have to order one online or can i get one from any computer store ?
I tried that using Amiga Access and Windows Terminal and it does allow you to transfer stuff, but it's really slow and clumsy way to do things. Storage is one of the reasons I developed the floppy simulator-- PC storage is definitely better with CD-Rs/DVD-Rs, more robust hard drive technology, etc. so it's better to keep data there and use it when needed on the Amiga/Atari end without having to rely on read/write errors of floppy disks. Of course, PC HDs also crash eventually and I wonder why the modern OSes don't support a redundant system-area so even if the boot-area goes bad, it can use another part of the hard drive to boot from.
-
Thanks to everyone for the replies - I feel I have a good set of potential solutions now and I just have to decide which one to adopt.
@Dandy
So this clockport just gives me the possibility to connect usb devices to my A500+? If so, where would I have to connect it on my A500+?
-
sim085 wrote:
...
@Dandy
So this clockport just gives me the possibility to connect usb devices to my A500+? If so, where would I have to connect it on my A500+?
Hum - if you follow the link I provided to the "A500 clockport interface (http://www.vesalia.de/e_a500clockport.htm)", you'll see that the text there starts with:
"The Clockport Adapter for the 68k socket of your Amiga 500..."
So it should be clear that you have to remove the 68000-CPU from its socket, plug the clockport interface into the emty CPU socket and plug the CPU into the empty socket on the Clockport Adapter.
As this "A500 clockport interface" offers two clockports, I would bet you can connect all the clockport expansions (mostly with "loop through" clockports) that are available for the A1200 to it - aside from all the USB devices (e.g. memory sticks, SD-card readers, BlueTooth, ...) you can attach, if you connect either an ZorroII "Highway" card (also with clockport connection) or clockport (only) "Subway" card from E3B (http://www.e3b.de/usb/index_e.html).
____________________________________________________________
EDIT:
-----
I forgot to mention that a minimum requirement for the "Subway" is a 68030 CPU @ 25 mHz. So if you want to have USB in an A500, you gotta get hold of an A500-accelerator with at least an 68030 @ 25 mHz.
____________________________________________________________
I still have two A500 with Viper520 lying around (for one of them I even have a brandnew and unused Zorro-II bus expansion board with A2000 CPU-slot (for e.g. a 2060 accelerator card - too sad that the planned CSPPC for A2k never went into production - imagine an A500 with OS4!) from the Micronik A500-tower-conversion-kit with Micronik keyboard interface for PC keyboards) - and I'm considering to buy an clockport interface together with an "Subway" clockport USB card (http://www.vesalia.de/e_subway.htm) for both of them. Hopefully I will have the spare time one day to fit it all together...