Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: KatManDEW on February 02, 2009, 10:26:29 PM
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I got a A1200 on EBay, and it arrived without the floppy installed, and no cables to install the floppy. There is no operating system on the hard disk. It has a CCF adapter, but I'm not familiar with how those are usilized.
I have an external floppy disk which I connected, but when I try to copy files to the hard disk it s'not a valid DOS disk".
I had to manually type in a Startup-Sequence, one line at a time, from DF1 to get workbench to load !!!
Any idea what's up with the hard drive? ANy way to use DF1 until I get the internal floppy working?
I guess I should have gotten a new A1200 from a vendor :boohoo:
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nota valid dos disk means probably its borked (read=unvalidated)
first try to test externa drive with ie. xcopy, if it reads some disk and some not then disks are bad. If you cant read any disk then drive may be faulty, or mainboard (or it can be that escom one which is modified).
you can get a new internal drive with all cables, i will suggest ebay user airey36, he is sometime slow, but he sells 30 items per day,which is not a quick task.
when you have at least one workink floppy drive then you can continue with reformatting CF card and installing workbench.
actually if you have PC with CF card reader, you can do it here under WinUAE emulator.
there are many ways to obtain whdload gaming machine :D
...of to bed
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i'm pretty sure there's a Cia that fails and causes problems like yours...not sure on the details though...perhaps some of the other users can pick up on this...
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Thaanks for the feedback.
I have a CF reader on my PC, but I can't figure out how to format it as an Amiga disk with WinUAE. It keeps saying "Warning: The Drive Safety Check is active. The selected drive is not empty and non RDB partitioned."
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Read warning at the end before attempting attempting this.
Congrats on your purchase, with a little patience and some research I am sure you can get that little girl up and running for some retro-gaming-goodness!
WinUAE works great for getting your hard drive or CF card ready for use in your Amiga.
If you are using Windows Vista, you will need to run WinUAE as an administrator. You can do this a couple of ways. Right click and select run as administrator, or if you are going to be doing it regularly you can right click and select properties, then click on the compatibility tab and check the box to run as administrator.
This next step will enable the ability to add hard drives to WinUAE that do not already have RDB partitions on them.
Edit the the Target box with this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Cloanto\Amiga Forever\WinUAE\winuae.exe" -disableharddrivesafetycheck
Of course, this is the target for my install of WinUAE on 64 bit Vista. If you send a short cut to your desktop you will already have the target path there. Then you will need to add the -disableharddrivesafetycheck part to the end, outside of the quotes.
I have not used CF cards with UAE, do I am not sure how they are listed.
[color=ff0000]WARNING:[/color] Be careful which drive you select as you could destroy a partition, along with the data, of one of your windows drives.
Good Luck and Enjoy! :-)
EDIT - to add the following:
I think you just need to add the -disableharddrivesafetycheck part to the end of short cut for WindowsXP.
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A little more info for you...
Once you get your drive added to UAE, you will need to boot into WorkBench and use HDToolBox to prep and/or install the OS on it.
Good luck!
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The -disableharddrivesafetycheck thing worked, and I was able to format the CF drive in WinUAE. I mounted one of the Classic Workbench hdf's in WinUAE, and copied it over to the CF drive, but the A12000 still comes up and says DH0 Is not a DOS disk, and when I try to chande the CC0 it says not a DOS disk.
Maybe the CIA is bad, as mentioned? What/where is the CIA?
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KatManDEW wrote:
I got a A1200 on EBay, and it arrived without the floppy installed, and no cables to install the floppy. There is no operating system on the hard disk. It has a CCF adapter, but I'm not familiar with how those are usilized.
You can buy a new internal floppy drive, plus a floppy power and data cable from AmigaKit. :idea:
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KatManDEW wrote:
The -disableharddrivesafetycheck thing worked, and I was able to format the CF drive in WinUAE. I mounted one of the Classic Workbench hdf's in WinUAE, and copied it over to the CF drive, but the A12000 still comes up and says DH0 Is not a DOS disk, and when I try to chande the CC0 it says not a DOS disk.
Maybe the CIA is bad, as mentioned? What/where is the CIA?
An easy way to see if you've setup your CF properly is just to boot with it in WINUAE :-D
If it works ok in WINUAE (eg your CF mounted as the one and only HD and nothing in the floppy drive), then it *should* also work fine when you stick it back into your real Amiga.
A green guide (http://guide.abime.net/).
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I can boot from the CF card with WinUAE, no problem (which amazes me because I'm a WinUAE rookie).
If I disconnect the hard drive from the real A1200, it will boot from a floppy in an external DF1 (which also amazes me), but the CF drive doesn't show up on Workbench. If I go to the System drawer and run Format, the CF shows up as CC0: but it only it only shows up as 20k in size (it's really a gig), and I can't format it.
Thanks for all the help.
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Are you using CF Card with an PCMCIA-CF Adaptor
or an IDE-CF Adaptor on the A1200?
Hold both mouse buttons for the bootmenu on your 1200 and select DF1: to boot from and you don`t have to disconnect your HD.
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The is a Amiga chip diagnostic software, I can't find mine at the moment but when I do I will get you the name. It might be available on Aminet.
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I found it, it is called A500/A2000 system test Final Test 2.4.3. I couldn't find on aminet so here is another on Aminet called PortDiag for cia and other chips.
http://aminet.net/search?query=PortDiag.lha
I hope this helps.
:-)
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KatManDEW wrote:
If I disconnect the hard drive from the real A1200, it will boot from a floppy in an external DF1 (which also amazes me), but the CF drive doesn't show up on Workbench. If I go to the System drawer and run Format, the CF shows up as CC0: but it only it only shows up as 20k in size (it's really a gig), and I can't format it.
CC0: is not the correct way to use a compact flash card in the PCMCIA slot on an Amiga. You need to use this (http://aminet.net/package/driver/media/cfd). That will mount a different device name which you need to use (i.e. not CC0:).
If you are seeing something on DH0:, whether it's a DOS disk or not, then it's not the Compact Flash card in the PCMCIA slot. There is probably also a hard drive inside the Amiga.
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moto
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mbueler wrote:
Are you using CF Card with an PCMCIA-CF Adaptor
or an IDE-CF Adaptor on the A1200?
this is probably crucial, as you cannot boot from PCMCIA, or CC0 (forget cc0 anyway its for sram card)
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Wow! Great information!
I've had a A2000HD since they first came out, but I'm new to A1200's and CF cards.
It is a CF Card with an PCMCIA-CF Adaptor.
I was able to hold both mouse buttons and boot from DF1, with the internal hard disk connected. If I try to format the hard disk or the CF card, I get the "Not a DOS disk" error after formatting. The hard disk and CF card apear on Workbench, but if I try to copy something to them I get an error that the disk is not validated.
I'll try some of this new info this evening.
Thanks very much for all the help. You folks here on amiga.org are great!
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It's hard to do anything, like mount devices, when booting from a floppy :boohoo:
I need to get the hard disk working. Is there supposed to be a power connector on the hard disk, or just a ribbon cable. Mine has two pairs of empty pins.
Here's a pic of my hard drive.
(http://www.katmandew.com/images/Misc/AMiga%201200%20hard%20disk.jpg)
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No power cable necessary. It's powered from the motherboard through the IDE cable. The extra pins are for jumpers.
Have you tried using HDToolBox to start again from scratch? Perhaps reinstalling a new RDB then creating a small partition less than 2GB in size, then try formatting it.
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moto
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I thought about HDToolBox, but I'm booting from a floppy, and it's not on my boot floppy. Where can I get HDToolBox if I boot from floppy? Can I get it off one of the OS 3.1 install disks?
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Yes, it's on the Workbench install floppy. I can't remember whether or not you can boot from that disk. If not, just boot from your Workbench disk then swap it for the Install disk and run HDToolBox.
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moto
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The Install disk is bootable, you can run HDToolbox from it.
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taunusand wrote:
The Install disk is bootable, you can run HDToolbox from it.
That worked! The hard disk is 15 gig, and I tried to partition and format it, but I got the "Not a DOS disk" error. I figured I was hosed because of the 4 gg limit.
I remembered that I had an old laptop drive laying on a shelf, so I stuck it in there, ran HDToolBox on it, and got it installed and working.
My A1200 has the 3.0 Kickstart ROM, so I didn't figure I could run the 3.1 Installation, right? I don't have 3.0 installation disks, so I took am Amiga Forever 3.0 Workbench ADF, and wrote it to a floppy with my Amiga 2000. Then I booted with it on the A1200 and Xcopied the 3.0 WOrkbench floppy to the A1200 hard disk, and - PRESTO! I booted from hard disk! Whoo hoo!
I ran that port test utility, and I didn't understand what I was looking at. So I'm going to get FAT95 and that CF device and see what happens.
At least I know my HD controller isn't hosed. If I could the the CF card working, I could install Classic Workbench on the A1200. That would be sweet...
Edit: I checked the Amiga OS website, and it turned out my Kickstart ROM is good enough for OS 3.1, so I got 'er on the hard drive now.
Whoo hoo!
(http://www.katmandew.com/images/Misc/Amiga%201200%20in%20shop.jpg)
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I got FAT95 and the CF driver installed, and now I can read CF crads! Yee Haw!!!
Next thing I gotta do is get DOpus on there (should be much easier with the CF Card. And then see if I can get Classic WB on there. I've never installed Classic WB on a real Amiga. I had a devil of a time getting it installed in WinUAE last weekend...
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KatManDEW wrote:
I've never installed Classic WB on a real Amiga. I had a devil of a time getting it installed in WinUAE last weekend...
If you have trouble you could always try AmigaSys (http://amigasys.extra.hu/).
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I screwed up and got a A1200 on EBay...
What were you trying to get instead?
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Sounds like he just wiped the drive......You may just want to re-install 3.1 just to be safe. That's just me, though.
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Going by that screenshot you only have 2mb of Ram
If you atleast get a 8mb Memory expansion Card,
AmigaSYS4AGA will work and most importent WhdLoad&iGame will have enought ram to play almost all games.
AmigaSYS is very well setup and all thats left to add is:
Your own WhdLoad Key & all the Kickrom files(for Whdload)
this way you wont need the real 3.1 roms installed either to play some games.
And the kgwhd Game packs there about 1.5gb and contain more than 2500 Classic Games.Imoho its the ultimate Amiga gaming setup and Whdload is the best piece of software
I ever spent $20 on to register.
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weirdami wrote:
What were you trying to get instead?
I was hoping that I could install the internal floppy that was supplied with it, and that I could use the hard drive that was supplied wiht it.
But no data and power cables for the floppy were supplied, and the hard drive is 15 gig, so I can't use it until I get OS 3.9 (which I ordered weeks ago)
I was lucky that I had an external floppy, and an old laptop hard drive that I could use. I was also lucky to have my trusty old A2000 connected to my PC with a null modem cable, for getting files from the net and copying them to floppy to use on the A1200, until I got the CF reader working. The null modem link between my A2000 and PC isn't too hatefully slow since I have a GVP 040 in my A2000, with a high speed serial port, so I can run it at 115,200bps.
With the help of the nice folks here on Amiga.org, my A1200 is up and running. I can't do much with her because she doesn't have much memory.
I've been looking, and I can't figure out how to expand the memory without getting an accelerator?
I will definately need to get the Indivision video card because the screen is so sooo cramped on the 1084 monitor.
AmigaSYS4AGA looks awesome. I'll have to read up on that. I already registered WHDLoad, so I'm good to go there.
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Is there any way to add memory to a A1200 without adding an accelerator card?
WHDLoad is about worthless with no more memory than I have on my A1200 :boohoo:
I had never seen any AGA graphice in person, and the only way I've been able to see some is to boot a game from floppy.
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KatManDEW wrote:
Is there any way to add memory to a A1200 without adding an accelerator card?
You can add a fast ram upgrade in the trapdoor slot but you'll only be able to have 4mb if you want to use the pcmcia slot at the same time. One of my 1200's is set up that way. You can add ram using the pcmcia slot but afaik it's slow and of course uses up the slot you're using for the compact flash reader.
A decent 030 accelerator really would be the best thing.
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I wouldn`t bother using the pcmcia,You should Attach your
A1200 HDD to your PC at any cost!
USB 2.0 To IDE 2.5/3.5 Adaptors are cheap
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/USB-2-0-To-IDE-2-5-3-5-2Connector-Cable-Power-adaptor_W0QQitemZ220353875332QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Components?hash=item220353875332&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
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Ruud wrote:
You can add a fast ram upgrade in the trapdoor slot but you'll only be able to have 4mb if you want to use the pcmcia slot at the same time.....
That isn't so. It depends totally on the card used. But - go for broke and get a good '030 card. Many of them will allow 128Mb of RAM. That should be enough....
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Thanks for the info.
An 030 card is good enough? The 060 Blizzard isn't really necessary if I won't be doing quantum physics? :-D I have a 33mhz 040 in my A2000.
Which 030 card for my A1200?
Thanks.
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KatManDEW wrote:
An 030 card is good enough?
Depends. What are you going to use it for?
KatManDEW wrote:
The 060 Blizzard isn't really necessary if I won't be doing quantum physics? :-D
Well, some games and high-end apps would benefit from an 060. But if you're not going to use them, then there's no point having much more than an 030.
KatManDEW wrote:
Which 030 card for my A1200?
You really can't go wrong with a Blizzard 1230-MKIV. Possibly the most stable accelerator for the A1200, allows lots of RAM, can be upgraded to SCSI later if you want, and is 50MHz.
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moto
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motrucker wrote:
Ruud wrote:
You can add a fast ram upgrade in the trapdoor slot but you'll only be able to have 4mb if you want to use the pcmcia slot at the same time.....
That isn't so. It depends totally on the card used. But - go for broke and get a good '030 card. Many of them will allow 128Mb of RAM. That should be enough....
I was talking about a straight ram upgrade board without cpu upgrade. Without upgrading the cpu you can only upgrade the ram to 8mb. If you want to use the pcmcia slot at the same time you can only have 4mb. This is because it uses the same address space as some of the ram. There might be some way to hack round this but I've not heard of it. Of course if you get a decent 030 or better card this isn't a problem as a full 030 (or better) has more address space.
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I did a Google search for "Amiga 4 gig limit" and stumbled onto some info stating that OS 3.1 could use the first 4 gig on drives larger than 4 gig. It said to use HDToolBox and "Get Information", and just ignore it when it shows "-128 meg" as the drive size.
I did that and created 1 gig and 3 gig partitions, and it worked!
It's a 15 gig drive, so I'm "wasting" 11 gig for now, but I don't have enough memory for OS 3.9 right now, and I still haven't received the copy of OS 3.9 that I ordered anyway.
I might just order a data cable and power cable for the internal floppy for now, and see if it works. I need more memory and an accellerator, more than I need the internal floppy anyway.
Is there any way to change the icon for the CF cards? I got some icons and tried copying them to the CF card, and renaming the to "Disk.info" but it didn't change anything.
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KatManDEW wrote:
I did a Google search for "Amiga 4 gig limit" and stumbled onto some info stating that OS 3.1 could use the first 4 gig on drives larger than 4 gig. It said to use HDToolBox and "Get Information", and just ignore it when it shows "-128 meg" as the drive size.
Correct. The 4GB limit is a restriction on the size of the partition, not the size of the drive.
KatManDEW wrote:
Is there any way to change the icon for the CF cards? I got some icons and tried copying them to the CF card, and renaming the to "Disk.info" but it didn't change anything.
It should work. Did you reboot afterwards? You could try copyicon:
http://aminet.net/search?query=copyicon
Though I have just tried on 3.1, and just copying any icon to volume:disk.info worked after a reboot.
[EDIT]
I had AfA_OS running... when I disabled it, the icon I had copied didn't show up. So it's not enough to just copy any icon to disk.info and expect it to work. You can open the original icon in to IconEdit (in SYS:Tools), change the Type to "disk" then re-save it as volume:disk.info. Or just use CopyIcon above, which should copy the image but preserve the attributes of the original disk icon.
[/EDIT]
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moto
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Changing the tool type with IconEdit did the trick. Thanks!
So where's the best place to get a Blizzard 060? I don't see it on AmiKit. When I click on Accelerators is takes me to a little jumper plug.
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Accelerators are rareish,and Blizzard 060 cost and arm and leg. even an 030 can go for over $200 on ebay.
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I've already talked myself into the arm and a leg :-D Does any place sell them new(ish)?
I really HATE the video on my A1200, with the 1084 monitor, but I can't really do anything with the A1200 without some more RAM, so an accelerator is gonna have to come first...
What's the deal with the Blizzard 603's? Are they not as compatable as the 030/040/060?
Thanks for all the info.
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Maybe here
http://asb-computer.com/shop/index.php?cPath=27_32&osCsid=d4b93f6674773ef47f55ad1ce2770fc2
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KatManDEW wrote:
I've already talked myself into the arm and a leg :-D Does any place sell them new(ish)?
No. Your best bet is to get one is as good used condition as possible. I recently bought a Blizzard 1230 and it looked brand new.
KatManDEW wrote:
What's the deal with the Blizzard 603's? Are they not as compatable as the 030/040/060?
The 603 is a PPC accelerator. They also have either an 040 or an 060. If you want to run PPC software or run MorphOS on your Amiga then you need a BlizzardPPC. If all you're interested in is classic Amiga software then don't bother.
Put another way, the 603 side of a BlizzardPPC won't make your Amiga any faster unless you're actually using it by running PPC software. 68k software will still run on the 040/060.
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moto
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Well, since I can't find an accelerator for my A1200 anywhere (boo hoo hoo :boohoo: ), I ordered a Indivsion to satisfy my Miggy jones for the moment. But I suppose that will mean that I have even less memory available..... :nervous:
I also ordered data and power cables so I can install my internal floppy drive.
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Many thanks for the order- it will ship as a priority tomorrow (EDIT: Just noticed we sold out on the weekend whilst I was out of the office and you back ordered the Indivision- we will ship the item when back in stock later this week).
BTW: we have some refurb accelerators in stock for the A1200 that havent yet hit our webstore, mostly 030s and 040s
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amigakit wrote:
Many thanks for the order- it will ship as a priority tomorrow.
BTW: we have some refurb accelerators in stock for the A1200 that havent yet hit our webstore, mostly 030s and 040s
Wow! Thanks for the respones, AND the quick order shipment!
I would prefer a Blizzard 060, but if I can't get one of them in the near future, I may have to settle on an 030 or 040.
Do you think there is a chance that I might be able to get a 060 in the forseeable future? What accelerators do you have now?
THANKS AGAIN!
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KatManDEW wrote:
Do you think there is a chance that I might be able to get a 060 in the forseeable future? What accelerators do you have now?
060's are very rare and very rare == very expensive :-(
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NovaCoder wrote:
060's are very rare and very rare == very expensive :-(
I'm not married... :-D
But seriously, my new (to me) A1200 is next to worthless without more memory, so I'll take whatever accelerator I can get, so my A1200 can have some more memory. The way it is, I haven't been able to use any AGA games with WHDLoad :boohoo: This A1200 is my first AGA Amiga.
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KatManDEW wrote:
I'm not married... :-D
I'm not marrid either :-D
A BIG advantage, I decide how to spend my money.