New A2000

[k4lmp]

Hello, all.  I have been into Commodore for years, and just now took the plunge and bought an A2000.  I know this is probably a stupid question, but remember, I am new to Amiga.  The unit has a hard drive, but when I turn it on, it is asking for a floppy, and will not boot off of the HD.  Is there something I need to do, or do you still need the floppy to boot.  Here is the info:

Commodore Amiga A2000 computer..  Works great.. Has the following: Standard floppy drive, commodore 2630  accelerator running at 030 by 25, with 2 megs of ram onboard, 2091  controller card with 2 megs of ram and 6.6 roms.  100 mb Quantum hard  drive.. 2.1 operating system.. REV 6.3 motherboard.. 1 meg chip ram  suppra sup ram card with 6 megs on card but only using 4 megs.. Total 1  meg chip, 8 megs other.. Battery was taken out by previous owner.. Comes with CPU, Keyboard and Mouse.. Everything  works good.

Do I need a Workbench floppy?  Thanks to all in advance.

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Got it...I was investigating the HD to make sure it was spinning, which it was.  I thought I would reseat the SCSI card, and noticed the screw was stripped that holds the board down.  The board wasn't seated at all.  Must have come loose in shipping.  Booted up fine.  Only problem is the only thing I have to hook it to is an old 1702 monitor, which is in BW due to the monochrome output on the back.  I have an A500 on the way, that has an A520 with it, so hopefully I can use that interim, and at least have color.  I have a 1902A that I use on my C128, but don't know if it would work, as I know the RGB is different on the C128.  Also, no cables for the A2000.  So now I'm going to investigate CrossDos a little and see if I can get some software on there to play with.  Thanks for the help, and any more suggestions for my new to me system would be appreciated.  I looked at the Indivision ECS, but they are out of stock on them and didn't have a date on when they would have more.

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Well, I wouldn't mind having everything internal, but, according to the seller of the Microway boards, they don't really cut it on LCD monitors.  I have several VGA CRT monitors, but those are slowly going away.  The one from England http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-Flickerfixer-Scandoubler-A500-A600-A1200-A1000-A2000-A3000-A4000-/200740994672?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item2ebd187e70 is nice, as it comes with a cable and is powered internally, however, big price, considering it is the same as the $32 one, without the fancy case.

[k4lmp]

Any suggestions or links I can look at?  I am new, so don't know anything, but do read a lot.  Also, how hard is the upgrade to 3.1?

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Where can you buy the Workbench disks?  Seems like I saw them on ebay, maybe.  Does it matter, say, if the 3.1 disks are for an A1200, or does that matter?

[k4lmp]

So, I've been looking at Classic WB.  That page totally confuses me.  Do you have to download and install with WinUAE on a drive?  All of the versions listed are for different target machines.  I am sorry to ask so many questions, I try to read up all I can.

[k4lmp]

Well, I bought one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/330605923350?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 and one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/290696088135?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649  Cheaper than a monitor, and gives me something to mess around with.  I'll let you know how it works for me.  Thanks.

[k4lmp]

OK, so I am intrigued by the comments on putting a HD in a pc and formatting it using WinUAE.  I have several SCSI HD's laying around, but how do I know if they will work with the Amiga?  I think I even have a couple of SCSI controllers for a PC, but I guess need to know what version of SCSI that the Amiga takes.  The drives I have are I think around 18 Gb.  Thanks so much for all of the help.  You guys, and this site are great!

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Well, I bought one of the CF to SCSI adapters that you linked to in a previous post.  My computer has a card reader built in.  Now I have to figure out how to run WinUAE from Linux.

[k4lmp]

OK, so I have ordered a compact flash adapter for my scsi card, and my computer has  a compact flash reader.  I have ordered the 3.1 kickstart rom for my A2000 off of ebay.  Now for the workbench disks that I don't have.  There is a set on ebay that says they are 3.1 for an A1200, will those work?  Now, for the main trouble.  I want to use WinUAE to install Classic WB on my compact flash to use as the hard drive in my A2000.  If I replace the Kickstart ROM with the 3.1 version I ordered, How can I use the workbench disks to install the OS on the compact flash using WinUAE, when I can't do anything with those floppies on my PC?  If the disks off of ebay will work, and I own them, would it be legal for someone to email me a copy of the disks in adf format to use?  Am I overcompicating this?  If so, sorry.

Jeff

[k4lmp]

I ordered the Workbench 3.1 disks that said they were for an A1200.  I figured even if I get the Classic WB done, I will still need them at sometime anyway.  

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Does anybody know if the A2091 RAM is just used by the SCSI controller, or should it show up in showconfig?  It has 2mb, and I verified the jumper is set for 2mb on the card, but in showconfig, it only shows 64k on a590/2091.  Also, one person asked what type of HD it had, and yes, it is 105S.  Thanks.

I almost forgot, the A2091 is a rev. 4.1 board running 6.6 roms.

[k4lmp]

Wow, this board is GREAT!  Darrin, thanks for the tip.  I tried it and found out that the supra board had also came out during shipping.  Memory is kinda confusing, though:

via showconfig-

chip ram=1meg
fast ram=8meg

accelerator=2meg
scsi card=2meg
ram board (unidentified)=4meg  These two are on the one supra card.
ram board (unidentified)=2meg

Workbench shows:

9meg graphics, and 8meg other.

This kinda confuses me, as I see 10meg total, but the total chip plus fast is only showing a total of 9meg.  I probably just don't understand how  it works.  Could it be a version 2.05 issue, not supporting the 10meg total?

Thanks,
Jeff

[k4lmp]

Well, I guess I just like to tinker.  I used Commodore 64/128, in the early years, and like the retro feel, and just seeing if I can make something work.  I use Linux as my primary OS, I guess because it is different, and like I said, it is something to tinker and experiment with.  I never did know much about Amiga back in my Commodore days, as they were too expensive for me, but now I see how much ahead of the times they were.  Not really much of a gamer, however I will play one now and again.  

Darrin, good point on the HD limits with version 6.6 roms.  The chips look like they are just EPROMS.  If that is the only difference, if anyone knows what type of chip they are, and has the ROM files that are used, I could burn version 7 chips and replace them.  I don't know if those ROMs are still copyrighted or not, someone else might know the answers to these questions.  Thanks.

Jeff

[k4lmp]

Well, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the A2091 version 7 roms take a 2764 EPROM.  Anybody know if that is correct, or have the roms?  Of course, if this is not legal, I understand.

Jeff