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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Amiga1200User on March 30, 2010, 08:13:48 PM
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Ok..
I just dug my A1200 out of the closet. I have installed a IDE interface in it so I can add a internal CD rom. I ordered the 3.1 roms. I have the OS 3.9 CD now. I currently had WB 2.1 running on it.
Here are my questions:
How compatable is this unit? I want to be able to run my old A500/A1200 games. I heard a lot about OS 3.9 and 4.1, but no one has said anything about compatability. Can I load 3.9 and run my old games? If I out the 3.1 roms in it, will it screw up my compatability with the older software?
Also, there is no talk whatsoever about what to do with the new Amiga OS 4.1 or 3.9 software. I hear great things about 4.1, but what the hell can you do with it after you get it up and running? Are there any developers out there porting software to the new 4.1? Can you get an emulator to run the old Amiga games and software?? What about 3.9? Am I screwing myself by loading it?
If I upgrade to 3.9 with my 1200, will I be able to see a 40GB hdd? Right now, it will only see my 40GB HDD as 8GB.
If I get a scan doubler, what is the max resoution I can run with my 1200? 640x480,800x600??
Is it a good idea to get an accelerator for this unit or just buy a Sam440 or A-Eon X when it comes out?
I really loved my a1200, thats why I have held on to it for so many years. I have been out of touch with the Amiga communuity for a while. Don't flame me too bad. I'm jsut looking for some answers.
Thanks!!!
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I'm no expert so just a few notes/suggestions:
- you definitely need an accelerator (or at least some fast ram, but most people agree that 68030 is a reasonable minimum) to run OS 3.9; 4.1 can only be run on "newer Amigas" - A1, Pegasos, Sam440, if I'm not mistaken. The latest version you can run on a classic Amiga is 4.0, but even for that you need a PPC accelerator.
- the compatibility doesn't depend as much on the AOS version as it does on Kickstart version, in my experience there is no difference between 3.0/1 and 3.9 in games compatibility if the underlying HW is the same. With WHDload it is possible to run practically any game on any KS revision, because it uses the required KS version from a file saved on a HDD and fools games this way.
- the maximum resolution you can (reliably) use on AGA is 1024x768, but you need an Indivision scandoubler for that.
- when using bigger HDD you can either create an OS 3.9 emergency disk the OS 3.9 install program and boot with that (and OS 3.9 in a CD drive) and the HD toolbox included on the disk should detect the HDD correctly. Or, if the HDD is already installed and you have some data on it, which you don't want to lose, you can use the fixhddsize util (on Aminet) that will fix it for you.
Somebody correct me, if I wrote some nonsense...
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Amiga OS4.0 for classic Amigas is compatible Amiga 1200 equipped with a Blizzard PPC card.
Please see http://acube-systems.biz/compatibility/index.php for more details.
I do not have this myself, so I can't comment on reliability or user experience.
Amiga OS4.1 will not run on classic Amigas.
I have a MicroA1 with Amiga OS4.1 Update 1. My MicroA1 has a 750 GX PPC CPU, 256 MB RAM and onboard Radeon 7000 with 32 MB Video RAM. Currently I use a 350 GB hard drive and DVD-ROM Combo drive. For about 3 1/2 years, I used a 40 GB Maxtor hard drive as my only hard drive. It died of old age after serving many years in a pc and then about 3 1/2 years in my MicroA1 system.
I use the following software, some of it is 68K, some is native PPC for OS4.
Origyn Web Browser
DvPlayer
TuneNet
AmigaAMP
Final Writer 97
PPaint
TVPaint
Real3D
KingCON
MicroRexx (a helper program for ARexx)
WarpView (a picture viewer)
AmiDVD for backups to CD-R
NotePad
Multiview
AmiPDF
Soliton (an MUI card game)
LTris (a Tetris clone)
giddy3 (a game for OS4)
SimpleMail and YAM also work. I use OWB to read my email at my webmail site.
I also use SMTPpost and AmiPOP from INetUtils-1.4 package with my homebrew sendmail script and readmail scripts.
With earlier versions of OS4, I used IBrowse, AWeb, NetSurf, Cinnamon Writer, LimpidClock, and the AmigaOS4PPC version of E-UAE to run Amiga OS 3.1 for some very old favourites. These also work with my latest version of OS4.1 but I am still experimenting.
I do not have a SAM440 so cannot comment on performance or user experience.
My MicroA1 generally runs well. It is limited by the small amount of video RAM (32 MB). This cannot be expanded. I usually run my machine with compositing effects (transparency effects) disabled and minimum bells and whistles.
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redfox
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OS 3.1 will break compatibility with even more games so relokick is a must have. If you into any of the productivity software I recommend getting 030 or 040 when you can. If your just playing games don't bother.