Amiga puzzle - disconnected worlds! help?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Hi!  Sounds like you've got a healthy number of systems already, we should certainly be able to get at least one of them "up to speed" for you.  

If you just want to play games and you don't want to spend much money on the hardware, you've got pretty much two options, as you already surmised:

A Gotek or HxC-style floppy replacement: exactly what it sounds like.  Typically replaces the internal floppy drive with a board that allows you to interface to a USB flash drive or SD card.  You'd plug that flash drive or card into your PC, load it up with ".adf" files (Amiga disk images), and play-away.  Logic in the unit is smart enough that for multi-floppy games, there's usually some option (such as a button on the device or a keypress on the system) that triggers it to "switch disks".  This typically requires very little hardware expansion beyond the unit itself and there are many options available.

WHDLoad:  my preferred solution, especially if you have an upgraded system.  WHDLoad uses "install" packages to make many older programs compatible with more modern software.  This would allow you to, for example, boot your Amiga to Workbench, double-click a game icon to play it, then press a quit key (usually F10) to return back to Workbench after you're done playing.  WHDLoad is probably the more "sophisticated" of the two options, games load faster (because they're not relying on the floppy drive interface), and usually requires your Amiga to have at least a small amount of fast memory expansion.  (the target system is something along the lines of an A1200 + one of the new ACA accelerators).

Sorry we can't point you directly to links for Amiga games to download, the copyright police here won't let us, but Google is your friend.  The main WHDLoad support page (contains installers, but no full games) is here:  http://whdload.de/   And here's a cheap link (among many) where you could buy a Gotek from a reputable Amiga vendor:  http://amigastore.eu/en/323-usb-floppy-emulator-gotek.html

Good luck, happy gaming, and all that.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The Megademo2 WHDLoad version that I downloaded has a Megademo2.Slave.asm file in the Install/Src/ folder.... but it's only 6k.

There are no files large enough in that WHDLoad "version" to suggest the whole demo content is there...

what am I missing?

You are missing the demo file itself.  

The WHDLoad .slave file itself only fixes it for compatibility with hard drives and "modern systems", you still need to install a copy of the demo - from Aminet, or where ever it's hosted.    Look for a .readme associated with the WHDLoad installer.

Not sure which "Megademo2" you're trying to watch.  A search on Aminet and the WHDLoad site turns up several different results.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Questions remain above regarding "degrading" a 1200 to run A500 content via CF or HDD... (anyone?)

Yes, WHDLoad.  

With regard to the CF internal drive I had another question.
Has anyone tried one of these?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-SD-TF-SDHC-To-Type-I-1-Compact-Flash-Card-CF-Reader-Adapter-UDMA-S9DS-/271841081961?hash=item3f4afdba69

Seems like a cheaper way to get a CF card... (they're crazy expensive for some strange reason!)

Thoughts?

A MicroSD to CF adapter?  Why in the world would you want that?  You can buy 4GB and 8GB CF cards all day long on amazon.com for under $20.  And really, how often do you see an Amiga needing more than 4GB or 8GB of "hard drive" capacity?  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Try writing the .dms image to a disk and then run the "Install" file located in the WHDLoad archive.  It'll be a lot easier for you when you find sites that already have ready-to-go games, just unarchive and click the icon.  Google, man!  I'll take a look at that particular demo tomorrow and see if I can't figure out a walk-through, if you haven't gotten it squared away by then.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

It's not about the capacity, it's about saving cash... I have a few microSD cards of about 4 gb capacity... but finding a CF card for a decent price is very hard. Adaptor would be cheaper...

$13.79 for a 4GB CF.  $15.99 for an 8GB CF.  If you have Prime you get free two-day shipping.  That's pricey?

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-133x-CompactFlash-Memory-TS8GCF133/dp/B000W05O5O

Or, try the adapter.  Let us know how it works out!  

Edit: that adapter is "Item location: Hong Kong".  Have fun waiting a month for it to arrive!  :lol:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I tried the installer icon in the WHDload package... "Unable to open your tool "Installer"

Gah!  Unfortunately this is a common, common problem.  You need the "Installer" tool to be able to install anything!  Right-click and get the properties of the "Install" file.  Look for a default tool, it should be something like "C:Installer".  If it says something else, change it to that.  Then drop down to a shell prompt and type "version C:Installer".  Sometimes people have Installer stuck in Utilities, or all kinds of other random places.  But generally it should be in C:, that's where most programs look for it.

You should be able to find a copy of Installer on your OS disks or CD, depending on which version of the OS you're running.

Here's a link to one version:  http://aminet.net/package/util/misc/Installer-43_3

Here's a link to another:  http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=21788&styleid=1

Both of these are just ones I googled up real quick, but you want to take that file, Installer, and dump it in C:.  Then you'll be able to point installs to use it, and go from there.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Also since you have an A1200, you might want to consider this beautiful little piece of kit:

http://kipper2k.com/cfadapters.html

http://kipper2k.com/cfextender/CFguide.pdf

Great for transferring files between an A1200 and a PC running WinUAE.  Of course there are many other options.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Hey bud!

About that demo.  Got it installed, working great.  Honestly this is the first time I've used an installer for a demo, so it was good practice for me.  Here's what I did:

• After faffing around with the "part a" and "part b" files available here:  http://ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/demos/Rebels/  I found a better source.  What that is with the A & B, is each is half of the image of a floppy disk.  Part A is tracks 1-40, part B is 41-79.  A really annoying way of distributing something, IMHO.
  
• Eventually found a complete DMS copy of that demo, here:  http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=2742  Use this file, instead.
  
• Next use DMS to write a copy of that file onto a blank floppy disk.  If you do not have DMS installed, you can download it here:  http://aminet.net/package/util/arc/dms111   Stick the program file itself ("DMS") into your C:, then use the command "DMS write [filename] to DF0:" (without the quotes) in a shell prompt.  There are GUI-based tools for using DMS, but I use it so infrequently I don't have one installed.
  
• Next download the WHDLoad installer from here:  http://www.whdload.de/demos/Rebels_MegaDemo2.html
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• Extract the LHA archive of that installer to RAM:.  If you do not have LHA, you can download a copy of it from here:  http://aminet.net/package/util/arc/lha   Same as with DMS, extract the main program file ("LHA") into your C:.  There are also graphical tools for using LHA available.
  
• So now you have two things:  a floppy disk with the uncompressed DMS file of the demo, and a directory in RAM: containing a readme and the Install file.  Double-click the install file (you did fix your copy of Installer per my previous comment, right?) and follow the instructions (see screenshots):
  

(continued in 2nd post)

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

...And, done!  Just stick that new directory wherever you plan on keeping your demos.  Double-click the icon whenever you want to watch the demo.  Press F10 to quit.  Works great on my A2000, but I had to reach for that 'quit' key pretty fast, otherwise I'd probably get strange looks from folks walking by my office and hearing the music, haha.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

It would seem the missing crucial ingredient for my situation is the "Installer" tool- which still remains elusive.

So I guess "install" is not the same as "installer".... Many people have said this is a definite feature of the Workbench OS... can you confirm? (which directory & which version does it feature on? I've searched everywhere)

You missed a post - two different links to download it, here:  http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=794164&postcount=24

Generally I would say "just go with the latest version".  I have 44.10 and have no problems.  But I'm using 3.9.  If you're still using 3.1 you may need the slightly older version from the first link.  But try 44.10 first.    You need it, it needs to be in your C:, and all your install files need to point to it, and you'll never have this problem again.  

Also- I don't understand why you went to all the trouble with the dms extraction to floppy etc... this demo is available as an adf already (I noticed your Installer gave you an adf option)? I have the adf, the DMS, the WHDLoad files, all the hardware, and determination... but still my efforts are in vain!

Because I didn't take the time to find an adf version of the demo.  I found the dms version and went with it.  Obviously you can save yourself a step if you have it as an adf.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

You have the latest WHDLoad and Installer installed?  Could just be a bad install script.  Do they all do this or just Turrican 2?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I really want to have some sense of a reliable procedure to work across all the adfs I have.

Yeah, this is an Amiga. That's not going to happen!  Trial & error, man. Trial & error.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

You need the Kick 1.3 image in your DEVS: directory to get past that error message.  And if by "very small game icons" you mean "they look like little squares", that's because they're "NewIcons"-style icons.  To view them correctly install the Peter K. icon library.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Unfortunately, although I already knew I needed the files above ending in A500 and A500.RTB, I'm not sure where to get them or how to install them

Oh for the love of...

http://bfy.tw/1WUO

And just stick them in Devs:kickstarts, as already mentioned above.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Try playing around with the "Preload" option in WHDLoad.  You might be able to save a little bit of memory that way.  Also boot with no startup-sequence, etc.  But you probably already know that, already.