Hardware recommendations for a new (to me) A1200

[ggerke]

I'm now a proud owner of an A1200 that has a 4GB compact flash card with AmigaDOS 3.1 installed on one partition. I used an Amiga or two back in ye olde days but, well... please don't hold it against me.

My question (hopefully without starting a holy war) is what would be good to order for h/w upgrades and it what order? I'm not talking a huge budget but I'm wondering what would be best.

- I know I need some way of getting software to it so if there's software that will let me read an MS-DOS floppy that'd probably be the easiest way.
- I'd like to get on the Internet to telnet to some BBS's so that'd mean some sort of network PCMCIA card... or I want to say I've seen something that attaches to a serial port and emulates a modem but actually does WiFi. Is there a preference or known better/smoother option?
- I've got it hooked to a 1084S and would like to get better video. Would connecting a flat screen TV allow for better/sharper video & more colors?

And I know it's not software forum but is there a general list of utilities that people can mostly agree to that would be a "you really need this" sort of list. I know there's NoClick and I found that DirOpus is now free and that's great. What about comm programs? I want to say I used to use Baud Bandit but without a dialup modem that might (?) not be of much use.

I really need to dig out my old box of software and see what's still there and hopefully hasn't turned to dust.

Thanks in advance!

[ggerke]

Oh - and something else just hit me. What's a cost friendly way of adding an optical mouse to this beastie? I've got my original ball mouse and it's less than ideal as compared to an optical.

[ggerke]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I'll try to summarize in to one reply rather than bulk reply.

I'm in the US. I used to do the newsletter for the Amiga Users of the Heartland (AUoH) back a hundred years or so ago.

This might be showing my age but I don't suppose the Fred Fish disks are still a useful source of apps and such...?

I'm thinking in order of importance I'd go the following route:

- EasyNet PCMCIA wireless card
- Indivision 1200 AGA MK2cr (my old eyes + 1084 @ 640x200 is not a primo combination)
- ACA 1221EC Accelerator + RTC module (unless there's an NTP available?)

Along those lines... is there a good reason to keep the RF shield in place any longer? I suspect I'll be abusing this little beastie in the not too distant future and the less I take out and put back is the less risk of breaking something.

@rob - I tried going to look for the Rys MK2 on amigakit (the US store) but it says "Stock Expected: T.B.A."

@gizmo350 - Oh, man - either gonna have to slip these past the Finance Committee (i.e. she-who-rules) or gonna have to go out and get my Chippendale's job back. But yeah, I'd rather buy something once than experiment on "iffy" products and then go redo a shopping run

AmigaOS 3.9 comes from where...?

@Oldsmobile_Mike - Ha ha! (Sorry, gizmo made me say that)

@scuzzb494 - I'll always respect the Amiga. It's just too darn cool not to.

@dovegrace - Thanks. I wouldn't have an easy way of hooking up an analog modem nor would have a place to dial in to.

I did start building a Raspberry Pi as a BBS (I'll get back to it Real Soon Now) so having some way to telnet in to it from the Amiga would be another cool thing.

[ggerke]

So first up is getting the little beast on the network. I order the wireless PCMCIA card from AmigaKit today so hopefully they see it first thing Monday and get it shoved out the door. It looks like I could've gone the AmiTCP plus buying an appropriate PCMCIA card but this just looked easier. Although the AmigaKit method could just be repackaging AmiTCP with an easy installer and a proven method of working. Either way - I'll be one step closer to being connected once more.

As far as doing AmigaOS 3.9 it looks like I'd need either a PCMCIA->SCSI plus SCSI CD-ROM (which if I dig deep enough in a closet I might still have) or do the Rapid Road USB (that connects to the clockport on an A1200?) along with the fancy 2x backplate connector. I've already got the external USB CD-ROM so that part would be covered. After that in theory I'd be able to read a CD-ROM and thus be able to install AmigaOS 3.9... yes?

My youngest kid came home from a trip yesterday and saw the CRT with the Amiga hooked up and running... I should've recorded her shaking her head and giggling at the same time.

[ggerke]

Okay, so I'll go with the clock when I get the accelerator and life will be good.

In the meantime, I figured I'd go spelunking through my Boxes of Olden Junque and see if I could find a null modem cable to connect my Windows machine to the Amiga and transfer some files that way while I'm waiting for the the stuff from AmigaKit to arrive. No such luck with a null modem cable or adapter but I did trip across some PCMCIA cards... seven of them. 3Com, Intel, Netgear, and SMC. Even found a Wireless Linksys card. But without drivers all they can do is sit on my desk and laugh at me.

Oh, well - guess I can still go digging through other Boxes of Olden Junque and see what I've still got.

[ggerke]

Cool - thanks!

The problem is actually getting any of these files to the A1200 in the first place. I don't have another Amiga that's able to get out to the 'net so that leaves being able to write a 720K msdos floppy (?) and then the CrossDos commodity under 3.1 being able to read it or getting files over electronically. Dialup isn't gonna fly so that pretty much leaves a null-modem cable from a Windows machine and a comm program on each end.  I'm gonna check with some guys at the office tomorrow if there's a null-modem cable laying around in a dusty corner somewhere. If not... well, c'mon AmigaKit!

No user group in the area or no buddy with an Amiga to snarf up a couple of files to get this little exercise going again. It's not a show stopper but dambit I want to play with this beast.

Unless there's an option I haven't considered...?

[ggerke]

Progress! I checked around the office and found a USB->9pin serial and a null modem cable. I combined that with the 9-pin -> 25-pin adapter I already had. I did find an old floppy with Handshake on it for the Amiga side... then after setting the port speed and finding a serial program for my Windows machine I was able to transfer the Amiga Explorer from the Amiga Forever over to the Amiga and shovel over a few files. Granted, it was the equivalent of molasses in winter but I've got nothing but time.

I did get NoClick and DirectoryOpus over there along with lha so I can undo whatever I run across. Now the question is what handy stuff do I need while I can hog this cable. Is MUI still a thing? I'm not terribly big on games (with the reaction time of a 19.2K serial transfer) but there's gotta be some must haves for general use... although that's leaving the hardware forum and heading towards software so maybe I should fire up a new thread over in that forum (if I can't find something already there).

I can't keep the cable forever (and honestly at 19.2K I'm not sure what I'd really want to send that wouldn't end up being an overnight transfer). Even the 10MB PCMCIA card is looking like a speed demon at this point.

[ggerke]

I do have a wireless card on the way from AmigaKit but with the talk of no WPA2 maybe I'll need a fall back position...

Wired:
3Com: 3C589D, 3C589D-TP
3Com Megahertz: 3CCE589ET
SMC: SMC8040TX
Netgear: FA410TX
Intel: PRO/100 LAN+Modem56 PC Card

Wireless:
Linksys: WPC54GS v2

[ggerke]

So I figured I'd give an update on the current status of the A1200 in case anybody has been having real problems sleeping at night waiting for the current state of affairs

I did receive the wireless Easynet card in the mail (surprisingly quick considering it's coming from across the pond from AmigaKit). I don't think there were any problems loading the drivers for it but then I went to go do MiamiDX and started having a few issues. I'm wondering if it's because I still have the base memory & cpu that the thing just doesn't have the horsepower or if it's because I've been slapping on different pieces of software in a desperate attempt to revive long dead brain cells. It's not frustration, mind you - it's just a blast being on an Amiga again. I've added alot of stuff that wasn't what I was expecting or just wasn't worth it to me in the short run... and I wouldn't rule out the possibility that something I added is getting in the way of the Easynet drivers and/or MiamiDX. I do know that the memory was getting sucked up and didn't seem to be getting returned once I killed apps.

Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and get the accelerator + memory and stop putting myself through misery...? Or really save myself the trouble and get the video card at the same time and start out from where I can get to having some real fun...

So at this point, since I'm not that far in to it is to just wipe and start over and see how it ends up. No real reason to back up everything since I've got the packages elsewhere that I can always copy back via Amiga Explorer.

P.S. copying files at 19.2K is a good task to let run overnight... even if the files tend to be on the small side.

I figure once I restart I'll go with the stuff that I know I liked:

- DOpus
- KingCON
- MagicWB
- NoClick
- ReqTools
- WindowToFront
- lha
- MUI
- WBGauge
- TurboText

I did try sending an email off about registering the MUI & MagicWB as the registration for MagicWB wasn't available... but no response yet.

Anyway, still more to come.

[ggerke]

Okay - after some unexpected expenses ("But grandkids - don't you want me to have new toys before you get them? No? Sigh, okay...") I'm back for another round of fun. I did go and order an Indivision AGA MK2cr and the ACA1221ec so now I've got more speed, memory, and better video. What a difference over the stock machine.

I did read about adding in HighGFX from Aminet and that lets me get the screen to use from top to bottom but I've got about 2"-3" black bars on the side of the screen. Since I'm apparently a greedy guy is there something I'm missing that'll let me use that screen real estate as well? The monitor I hooked up is a Viewsonic VS13239 (that is suppose to do 1920 x 1080) if that makes a difference.

Even if I can't I'm a much happier camper now... although my old 1084S is looking pretty depressed since I only seem to drag it out for the odd emergency every decade or so.

With the better video there's now the minor issue of the mouse pointer. It's not exactly a resolution that looks good with this video. I guess I'll start in on aminet looking through the mouse pointer directory for something that'll fit the bill.

[ggerke]

Well, that answered that question. So with the hardware I've got here then a widescreen monitor is pretty much overkill and I could go with a "regular" width monitor and get a full screen... yes?

[ggerke]

Because I know everybody has been waiting anxiously to hear about what's been going on (other more important life issues got in the way so once again my little A1200 had to sit idle) I figured I'd put out an update.

I went and bought a WiModem232 with the OLED and it arrived last Friday - right at the start of a three day weekend where the weather pretty much says "Keep your large arse inside 'cause it's freakishly cold out here." Not being one to argue I did as instructed. I will say the installation was nothing but easy - plug it in to the serial port and away I go. I'm on my quest to find a comm program that I'm happy with to get to the various telnet bbs sites. So far Terminus is in the lead as the rest aren't quite cutting it. I thought I'd I'd give ncomm a try but it goes right to the guru meditation error every time on my setup.

Anyway, since up until this point I've just been plopping on any old thing from ye olden days the machine was acting all kinds of flaky so I figured since there's nothing really vital I'd go ahead and just wipe it out and start over from scratch now that I've had a little time with it.

Sure wish I'd saved lha and Amiga Explorer off to a floppy before I'd done the big wipe. Oh, well - there's a reason I'm more pretty than smart. Anyway, went through the steps of getting Amiga Explorer back on so I can copy files from the PC over to the Amiga and now I can at least populate files over to the A1200 again. Granted, it's at a blazing 19.2K but still - it works in a pinch.

So now I'm off to reload just the stuff that I know I want before moving forward to more goodies.