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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: liamwhyoung on December 12, 2016, 06:31:49 PM
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Hi all,
I am new to the forums, so please excuse me if this question has been answered to death already.
Much of my childhood was spent in front of my Amiga 500 and later the 1200 playing Superstardust, Alien Breed 3D, Cannon Fodder, Chaos Engine, Monkey Island and all the other classics. I would like to relive some of these memories, but don't fancy emulation as I find WinUAE a bit clunky at times. Is there a way I can do this without buying original kit i.e. can the new AmigaOne boards, X5000 etc..., be stuck in a regular ATX tower and be loaded with Amiga OS 4 or something to play games natively? Also can this theoretical setup use TCP/IP and access modern Internet routers via wi-fi etc...? And do basic USB peripherals work like a wired mouse etc...? I'm after that native experience but using modern kit for a modern Amiga flavour. Can this be done?
Thanks,
Liam
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@ liamwhyoung
Welcome back to Amiga Land:)
you can run most if not all the 68k stuff you mentioned under AmigaOS4.1 running RunInUAE http://os4depot.net/?function=showfile&file=emulation/utility/runinuae.lha
or glUAE http://www.retream.com/glUAE/
Yes USB, net stuff, wireless mouse/ joystick etc all work fine and with a Catweasel you can read/write/ load up your old 68k floppies !
Some Amiga like/inspired OS's which also can run 68k programs are:
You can also check out AROS that runs on most PC's but best to check out the proper specs for drivers etc. http://aros.sourceforge.net/
If you have old Apple hardware lying around you can check out MorphOS
http://www.morphos-team.net/
have fun exploring !
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If you want a "modern Amiga" for mainly retro use then it you should be aware that the guys behind the Apollo Core/Vampire accelerators plan to have a stand alone board next year. Individual Computers also plan to release an A1200 Reloaded board but that may be further off as apparently work on it isn't starting until the new year (1 year behind the original schedule).
I don't know much about "classic" integration on new OS4 machines but it does involve emulation as they lack the 680x0 processor and chipset of "classic" Amigas.
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Well Ian, initially you could just buy a copy of AmigaForever.
And, if you are in the United States, AmigaOnTheLake has a good deal on an AmigaOS4.1 + AmigaForever bundle for $67.95 (or you can add Krzysztof "Radzik" Radzikowski's 'AmigaOS4.1 Emulation' book for an additional $17.00).
http://amigaonthelake.com/new-to-amiga-beginner-bundle/
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Isn't that exactly what he doesn't want, Amiga Forever (WinUAE+ROMs/Software) emulation and with the added complication of PPC emulation for OS4.
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TCP/IP, WiFi and USB mouse support is pretty universal no matter what platform you choose. Although WiFi and USB mouse may be a little less plug n play on some, needing more manual configuration.or add-ons for WiFi/USB.
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Isn't that exactly what he doesn't want, Amiga Forever (WinUAE+ROMs/Software) emulation and with the added complication of PPC emulation for OS4.
As far as I can tell, he only mentioned WinUAE.
AmigaForver does a fairly good job of automating many of the setup functions that are painful with just WinUAE.
And legacy hardware would offer much of the same difficulties.
And of course, you could always leave out the OS4 emulation.
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Any of these modern solutions is going to require emulation on some level, simply because they don't have the same custom chips and hardware of machines made in the 1980's-1990's.
That being said, some do it better than others. ;)
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Isn't that exactly what he doesn't want, Amiga Forever (WinUAE+ROMs/Software) emulation and with the added complication of PPC emulation for OS4.
As far as I can tell, he only mentioned WinUAE.
AmigaForever does a fairly good job of automating many of the setup functions that are painful with just WinUAE.
Of course, you could always leave out the OS4 emulation.
And legacy hardware would offer much of the same difficulties.
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Cheers for all the pointers guys. It sounds as though there are a couple of hardware options on the table with possibly AOS4.1 being the way to go for my desires. I will go check out AOS4.1 in the first instance along with this catweasel contraption and see where that takes me. Thanks for the info all.
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There are options like the minimig or a dedicated emulation platform like Ambian on the Rpi
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There are options like the minimig or a dedicated emulation platform like Ambian on the Rpi
And multiple FPGA options that will run the minimig core including Altera's DE-1 board, the Replay board, MIST...
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If you really just want to relive old classics, you'd still better buy a second hand A600/A1200, get a budget accelerator and CF card as Harddrive. These machines can be hooked up to the net if you want via a PCMCIA card and USB is possible via a clockport device.
Or, get a vampire accelerator (available for A600, expected for A1200). The A1200 vampire is expected to have USB/Network capabilities as addon hardware.
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If you really just want to relive old classics, you'd still better buy a second hand A600/A1200, get a budget accelerator and CF card as Harddrive. These machines can be hooked up to the net if you want via a PCMCIA card and USB is possible via a clockport device.
Or, get a vampire accelerator (available for A600, expected for A1200). The A1200 vampire is expected to have USB/Network capabilities as addon hardware.
ALTHOUGH, this IS one of the more costly options (outside PPC OS4.1 hardware).
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Hi all,
I am new to the forums, so please excuse me if this question has been answered to death already.
Much of my childhood was spent in front of my Amiga 500 and later the 1200 playing Superstardust, Alien Breed 3D, Cannon Fodder, Chaos Engine, Monkey Island and all the other classics. I would like to relive some of these memories, but don't fancy emulation as I find WinUAE a bit clunky at times. Is there a way I can do this without buying original kit i.e. can the new AmigaOne boards, X5000 etc..., be stuck in a regular ATX tower and be loaded with Amiga OS 4 or something to play games natively? Also can this theoretical setup use TCP/IP and access modern Internet routers via wi-fi etc...? And do basic USB peripherals work like a wired mouse etc...? I'm after that native experience but using modern kit for a modern Amiga flavour. Can this be done?
Thanks,
Liam
If it's just the old games then the best option is to get an A1200 and a trapdoor memory/accelerator card. The cheapest option is the the ACA1221ec.
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=18&products_id=1296
The reason for adding one of these cards is that you can run the old games direct from hard drive using a tool called WHDload which works best if you have some more RAM of the A1200's standard 2MB.
http://whdload.de/
An cheaper alternative would be to use a Gotex USB floppy emulator which won't require extra RAM to make use of but I presume it will only load games at the same speed as floppies while WHDload installed games load really fast.
Many people use a compact flash card as a hard drive using readily available adapters. Amigakit can supply the cable, adapters and a CF card pre-loaded with workbench 3.1 although it also needs a kickstart 3.1 roms installed in the machine. Many A1200s still have 3.0 so you may prefer to install Workbench 3.0 on a blank CF yourself if you get an Amiga with that version ROM although 3.1 are available from most dealers.
There's a number of options for transferring files to the Amiga including the PCMCIA network card, CD-ROM drives (these require an IDE 4way splitter), an additional CF adapter (I think it requires a splitter too) or a USB cards such as the Rapid Road. The ACA1221ec has a dedicated port for the Rapid Road USB which is faster than the standard A1200 clock port.
Regarding OS4.x.
All OS4.x hardware will fit in standard cases and the motherboards from Acube and A-EON have plenty of USB ports and ethernet built in. You can run the old games but it requires emulation although RunInUAE comes with the OS and allow you to run games simply but double clicking on an ADF file so it is a little more integrated compared to emulation on other platforms.
I recommend that you have a good read Espsilon's X1000 blogs. Over the last few years he's covered a lot of the features of OS4.x and the software available to run on it. I should help you determine if it is something you'll enjoy using or if you're better off with an A1200 based system which will be much less expensive to build than something like an X5000.
http://amigax1000.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00%2B10:30&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00%2B10:30&max-results=41
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X5000 etc..., be stuck in a regular ATX tower and be loaded with Amiga OS 4 or something to play games natively?
No and yes, all of the games you listed won't run on AmigaONE's (naively), AmigaONE's are almost like PC hardware (with exception of PowerPC cpu part), but is running a special PowerPC version of AmigaOS. But most of old games don't need the OS, it needs the Amiga hardware.
There are only few games that depends on the OS, and not on the hardware, and this games are mostly the games that where not originally Amiga games to begin with.
For most old games, emulation is required, simply because Amiga there where no Audio drivers back then, back then games where accessed the hardware directly. audio drivers came late to AmigaOS, some time in 1992 i think, but even then it was only really for audio expansion cards. the same with graphics.
Also can this theoretical setup use TCP/IP and access modern Internet routers via wi-fi etc...? And do basic USB peripherals work like a wired mouse etc...? I'm after that native experience but using modern kit for a modern Amiga flavour. Can this be done?
This is what AmigaONE's / AmigaOS4.1 are for, a modern Amiga experience on modern hardware, but with touch of the compatibility, if you did not use workbench on your Amiga500, then this is a completely new experience for you.
If you just like to play games, I think MIST is better option; MIST is more like your Amiga 500.
AmigaONE's are more like Amiga2000/3000/4000, desktop/tower Amiga machines.
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The Minimig is awesome, it's not emulation in a traditional sense, but synthesizes the original hardware in an FPGA. I have one I built a few years ago and it feels just like the A500 I used to have.
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Hmm...I quite like the look of AOS4.1 final edition as it looks like a modern take on workbench which can realistically be used in the 21st century for basic tasks - mail, browsing, media playback etc...Is this a fair assessment? Also can AOS4.1 definitely play any original Amiga game using WHDload?
Can anyone recommend the best cost effective hardware for AOS4.1 and where to buy?
Thanks,
Liam
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Hmm...I quite like the look of AOS4.1 final edition as it looks like a modern take on workbench which can realistically be used in the 21st century for basic tasks - mail, browsing, media playback etc...Is this a fair assessment? Also can AOS4.1 definitely play any original Amiga game using WHDload?
Can anyone recommend the best cost effective hardware for AOS4.1 and where to buy?
Thanks,
Liam
Any OS4 fans want to address this?
I don't have a copy of OS4.1, and probably won't until at least mid-February.
And I'm not that familiar with how well RunInUAE handles legacy gaming.
As to hardware, once the A1222 (aka Tabor) is released, that will be the cheapest way to run OS4.1 outside of emulation via WinUAE.
Obviously, that board hasn't been my personal favorite, but the X5000 is a much more expensive (if more competent) option.
However, I do feel more comfortable running Amiga emulation under an NG OS, as there is a similarity between the host interface and the emulated interface that is missing in a Windows or Linux emulation environment.
AND an NG system will run native applications better than UAE will as UAE is limited to emulating rather dated and slow NG hardware.
Further, the pace of NG development seems to be accelerating slightly (if moving a bit bit faster than glacially slow can be said to be an improvement).
So...the legacy fanatics might discourage you from pursuing this option (which you seem interested in), but remember, if you follow their advice you'll ONLY be able to run legacy code.
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i think wdhload doesnt work with os4, but i may be wrong.
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i think wdhload doesnt work with os4, but i may be wrong.
You just need to have RunInUAE (comes with the OS) running. WHDload games can then be run from OS4 by clicking on the game icon in Workbench while RunInUAE automatically takes care of loading the EUAE and launching the game.
From a user perspective it is almost identical to using it on a native 68k Amiga. The WHDload installed games can be stored anywhere you like on your HD and don't need to be kept in a dedicated UAE partition or drawer.
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Hmm...I quite like the look of AOS4.1 final edition as it looks like a modern take on workbench which can realistically be used in the 21st century for basic tasks - mail, browsing, media playback etc...Is this a fair assessment?
Pretty much but with some limitations. There's no Flash support although you can watch HTML5 Video so it can be used with Youtube and some other video sites but you'll be limited in terms of resolution you can play video at since there is no support for the video decoding hardware built into modern video cards.
The X1000 can play some 1080p content from disk depending on what format the video was encoded in.
Also can AOS4.1 definitely play any original Amiga game using WHDload?
See my post above.
Can anyone recommend the best cost effective hardware for AOS4.1 and where to buy?
Thanks,
Liam
Either wait for the A1222 to be released or look for second hand hardware. The Sam460 is probably the best hardware to go for since while some AmigaONE XE and Pegasos 2 systems have faster processor the Sam460 has a PCIe x16 sot so you can use video cards support by A-EON's latest drivers.
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Thanks for all the info guys, it's been invaluable. So a quick update, I purchased Amiga Forever and AOS 4.1 FE and it works brilliantly through AF - I have a spare Microsoft Surface with a nackered screen and keyboard interface so that is being repurposed as an emulated Amiga 4000 whilst I play test (emulation on this seems flawless so far).
Whilst AF seems to run ADFs nicely, I would like to install them into AOS4.1 and am at a loss as to how to do this. I gather I need to get WHDLoad installed inside of my AOS 4.1 virtual disk somehow and then install the ADFs which thus far appear as uninitialized disks under AOS 4.1. Any ideas guys? I have the WHDLoad lha file as it stands.
Also, can AF auto run a system when Windows 10 boots up? Surprisingly my knackered Surface is proving to be decent emulation hardware with no lag whatsoever. If I can get Windows to load straight into AOS 4.1 full screen then I could be on to a winner.
Cheers,
Liam.
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Can anyone recommend the best cost effective hardware for AOS4.1 and where to buy?
Thanks,
Liam
Well, not OS4.1, but you may consider a used PPC Mac (G4 or G5*) with MorphOS.
Don't know much about MorphOS? Then start here: http://via.i-networx.de/wim.htm
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mind the compability list from http://www.morphos.de/hardware
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Thanks for all the info guys, it's been invaluable. So a quick update, I purchased Amiga Forever and AOS 4.1 FE and it works brilliantly through AF - I have a spare Microsoft Surface with a nackered screen and keyboard interface so that is being repurposed as an emulated Amiga 4000 whilst I play test (emulation on this seems flawless so far).
Whilst AF seems to run ADFs nicely, I would like to install them into AOS4.1 and am at a loss as to how to do this. I gather I need to get WHDLoad installed inside of my AOS 4.1 virtual disk somehow and then install the ADFs which thus far appear as uninitialized disks under AOS 4.1. Any ideas guys? I have the WHDLoad lha file as it stands.
Also, can AF auto run a system when Windows 10 boots up? Surprisingly my knackered Surface is proving to be decent emulation hardware with no lag whatsoever. If I can get Windows to load straight into AOS 4.1 full screen then I could be on to a winner.
Cheers,
Liam.
Did you install RunInUAE when you installed OS4.1? WHDload is included on the CD and RunInUAE handles the installation. Don't try and install it directly because it will break RunInUAE's ability to load WHDL installed games.
When you install RunInUAE an icon should be added to your main icon dock . If not I can tell you how to add it manually.
To run it you simply click on the icon. Now you can double click on .ADF files and they will be loaded up in EUAE automatically.
Most games disks appear on Workbench as uninitialised, NDOS or whateverdue to copy protection schemes. Don't worry about mounting ADFs on Workbench because there's no need. You can find pre-installed WHDload games online. Try starting with the links section of
Lemon Amiga (http://www.lemonamiga.com/). I can't guarantee the legality of all the files but nobody seem to be actively enforcing the copyright.
For full documentation for RunInUAE you can refer the ChrisH's online manual.
http://cshandley.co.uk/runinuae/
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Thanks for that. The problem I have at the moment is that I don't know where to even find the RuninUAE installer. I have a presh install of aos4.1 FE but can't mount any disks or host windows directories/drives to even be able to import files into AOS4.1 - is this because PPC is selected perhaps? I also tried adding the AOS4.1 ISO to the media config, thinking RuninUAE might be on there, but the system keeps trying to boot the main AOS4.1 installer again from the CD even though it is not set to bootable and HD0 is. I must be missing a trick here as at present I can't even get files and installers into AOS4.1
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I have managed to claw my way forwards a bit more with AmigaOS 4.1 FE. Whenever I mount any Windows directories etc... from the Media tab when configuring the system, the system subsequently fails to boot and stops at an Amiga DOS screen - even putting the CyberStorm PPC into parallel mode does not allow the system to boot. I did, however, manage to get RuninUAE installed along with WHDLoad from the original AmigaOS 4.1 FE ISO and have downloaded some WHDLoad games for testing to Windows. The last remaining piece of the puzzle is trying to find a way of getting the games from Windows into AmigaOS 4.1 FE. Any advice anyone?
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If you mainly want to use all the classic games from a500 and a1200 days I would steer clear of any OS4 hardware. Its extortionately priced and you'll gain nothing (in fact you'll lose things like performance and compatibility) vs a 10 year old junk PC).
OS4 euae is based on the very, very old version of uae called euae.
The double click an adf icon thing is very, very easy to implement on any other system.
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I have managed to claw my way forwards a bit more with AmigaOS 4.1 FE. Whenever I mount any Windows directories etc... from the Media tab when configuring the system, the system subsequently fails to boot and stops at an Amiga DOS screen - even putting the CyberStorm PPC into parallel mode does not allow the system to boot. I did, however, manage to get RuninUAE installed along with WHDLoad from the original AmigaOS 4.1 FE ISO and have downloaded some WHDLoad games for testing to Windows. The last remaining piece of the puzzle is trying to find a way of getting the games from Windows into AmigaOS 4.1 FE. Any advice anyone?
You could download the games directly in OS4 but I think that you should be able to mount Windows directory. Maybe post a grab of the media tab and anything else related to drives might offer some clues as to whether or not something is configured incorrectly.
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If you mainly want to use all the classic games from a500 and a1200 days I would steer clear of any OS4 hardware. Its extortionately priced and you'll gain nothing (in fact you'll lose things like performance and compatibility) vs a 10 year old junk PC).
OS4 euae is based on the very, very old version of uae called euae.
The double click an adf icon thing is very, very easy to implement on any other system.
Your latest signature seems very apt.
When running legacy apps under OS4, the hosting OS looks, feels, and has similar controls to the OS that the legacy app ran under.
That is not the case in a Windows environment.
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If you mainly want to use all the classic games from a500 and a1200 days I would steer clear of any OS4 hardware. Its extortionately priced and you'll gain nothing (in fact you'll lose things like performance and compatibility) vs a 10 year old junk PC).
OS4 euae is based on the very, very old version of uae called euae.
The double click an adf icon thing is very, very easy to implement on any other system.
I think the reason why he's experimenting with running O4.1 under emulation is to determine whether the hardware is suitable for his purposes before committing his money. It's a better strategy than blindly believing that it either will or won't be suitable.
All the options have been explained so if it doesn't fit his needs there is still plenty of other systems to choose from that will.
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@iggy
My latest signature?
Its the only one I've ever used and has been in use for years. :)
And I was simply being honest. If a persons interest lay specifically in custom chip set hitting software then OS4 hardware is the last thing I'd suggest to them.
I'd rather be honest than try to convince someone to make such an expensive purchase only to find its (compared to other options) a pretty average experience.
A decade old pc (ie. something that can be had for nothing, or next to) will be a better option than the thousands a person needs to spend on OS4 hardware. AROS is a great choice there (faster, better version of UAE), and so would be an old Mac with MorphOS. Granted UAE isn't as good there, but its good enough, plus you can do it cheaply.
Its simply about providing facts, and not misleading someone hoping they'll join a particular "camp", which is the tone the thread was taking.
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And conversely, if someone wants to run both AmigaOS 3.1 and 4.1 software on the same machine, a PC isn't an ideal choice as you are forced to run the emulation as legacy hardware supplemented by a PPC add on card of limited power (with a 603 or 604 cpu).
So, if you're running PPC software, an PC is a poor choice, AND while some PPC systems ARE a pricey option, they do provide a more authentic look and feel and certainly ARE capable of running both legacy and NG code.
Its all up to what you value and how much you are willing to spend.
And, as I've mentioned a few too many times, that means I'm buying an X5000 system and running a triple boot MorphOS, OS4.1, Linux system.
I've had AmigaForever for about a decade, and I own legacy hardware, but when I want to run Amiga software these days, I ever use my CD32 or an NG system.
I don't use a PC.
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Again thanks for all the advice guys. At the moment I am experimenting with AmigaOS 4.1 FE on hardware which I already own before potentially moving forwards. I like the look of AmigaOS 4.1 FE - it certainly feels like a modern take on WB which is what I was after. Now I just want everything to run under it so I'm not flicking in and out of the OS. Once I crack that part I will look at hardware, though I have to say the nackered Surface Pro 2 is doing a grand job. I have some spare PS3 controllers too so am also thinking about hooking those up. Either way, I will try and post a screen dump of my config tonight so you can see where I'm at. As it stands I just can't mount any Windows storage devices.
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Again thanks for all the advice guys. At the moment I am experimenting with AmigaOS 4.1 FE on hardware which I already own before potentially moving forwards. I like the look of AmigaOS 4.1 FE - it certainly feels like a modern take on WB which is what I was after. Now I just want everything to run under it so I'm not flicking in and out of the OS. Once I crack that part I will look at hardware, though I have to say the nackered Surface Pro 2 is doing a grand job. I have some spare PS3 controllers too so am also thinking about hooking those up. Either way, I will try and post a screen dump of my config tonight so you can see where I'm at. As it stands I just can't mount any Windows storage devices.
Cool. Look forward to see it as I haven't explored that option.
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@iggy
Yeah, that may be the case for someone who is interested in NG stuff, but I was writing in the context of someone interested in classic, chip set hitting stuff, which is what the OP here said and implied multiple times, and why I kept saying that.
I was answering the actual question, not hypothetical scenarios infused with my own interests.
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@iggy
Yeah, that may be the case for someone who is interested in NG stuff, but I was writing in the context of someone interested in classic, chip set hitting stuff, which is what the OP here said and implied multiple times, and why I kept saying that.
I was answering the actual question, not hypothetical scenarios infused with my own interests.
Sure you were because he has repeatedly said he wanted to explore a modern equivalent of Workbench AND run legacy apps, and you apparently have ignored the fact that he's already using Amiga Forever and OS4.1.
WHICH is a good solution to explore the option of running both OS3.1 and OS4.1, but like all PC based solutions is NOT ideal.
I use PCs everyday, but not to run Amiga software.
And we aren't discussing hypothetical situations, like settling on continuing to use PCs.
We're discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the direction HE wants to explore.
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To be fair, I probably jumped the gun a little.
The OPs focus has been custom chipset hitting software and whdload.
These are the things I've been responding to. I did mostly disregard the few mentions made in regards to Workbench.
Can't say I agree about PCs not being an ideal vehicle for Amiga use though.
My 4ghz i5, dopus mag based AROS box running the best version of the best amiga-oid browser, wookiechat irc client, Audio Evolution and a bunch of other Amiga software, the ability to run 68k Amiga software by double clicking their icons, etc, etc sure seems a pretty nice experience to me (and I say that as someone who also uses both os3.x and 4.x).
Ditto my Amithlon system.
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To be fair, I probably jumped the gun a little.
The OPs focus has been custom chipset hitting software and whdload.
These are the things I've been responding to. I did mostly disregard the few mentions made in regards to Workbench.
Can't say I agree about PCs not being an ideal vehicle for Amiga use though.
My 4ghz i5, dopus mag based AROS box running the best version of the best amiga-oid browser, wookiechat irc client, Audio Evolution and a bunch of other Amiga software, the ability to run 68k Amiga software by double clicking their icons, etc, etc sure seems a pretty nice experience to me (and I say that as someone who also uses both os3.x and 4.x).
Ditto my Amithlon system.
I envy your possession of an Amithlon system, its a pity the drivers for those are so dated.
I do have WinUAE and FS-UAE installed on the i7 laptop I'm typing on right now, and the AM3+ FX8300 based system I have at my desk.
Further, I'm seriously consider AMD's new Ryzen processor, if its performance comes even close to the i7 6900K that AMD has been comparing it to.
SO...I do agree with you on the direction we are headed, AND what generally works well in a typical productivity system.
Amiga's however...still linger a bit behind.
Should UAE emulation ever support full PPC emulation, that will eliminate one of my complaints.
Then there's the hope of running an X64 derivative of MorphOS as a primary OS or in a virtual box.
But that's the future.
So right now, again, I'm buy a last PPC system. :bitch:
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As promised, here are the screen shots of my config. Whenever I mount a directory to try and get files into AmigaOS 4.1 FE the OS fails to boot and gets stuck on an Amiga DOS screen.
http://host.guide-to.net/misc/ebay_images/1.jpg
http://host.guide-to.net/misc/ebay_images/2.jpg
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Had to give up on this - think AOS4.1 FE shuts down 68k compatibility thus preventing host drives from being accessible. Got around it in the end by enabling Internet access in AOS4.1 and downloading files directly from online sources via http.
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Well, thanks for trying. It's helped me make my mind up on getting all my Amiga apps back into useful service.
Rather than go the emulator route to begin with, I'll use an A1200 with a network card for the non-games apps, old school A500 for the legacy stuff and parnet to the A1200. Archive what I have first.
THEN I'll worry about getting the apps to work on modern hardware, once it is off magnetic media and onto something more reliable, in an accessible form. 98% of it I can download, I know.
I would like to rackmount a big stack of old hardware, with some modern additions, but I better start with a secure software and hardware base.
"Secure" being a relative term in these rather hectic "internet superhighway with bad guys everwhere" times.