Can I install OS 3.9 without a CD drive?

[KatManDEW]

Hopefully the copy of OS 3.9 that I ordered will eventually arrive someday....

When that day comes, I don't have a CD drive on my A1200, but I have a CF. Can I copy the OS 3.9 files to the CF with my PC, and then install OS 3.9 on my A1200, from the CF?

[KatManDEW]

Wow! This is great information. Thank you all very much!

Now if OS 3.9 would just get here. I ordered it a month ago  :boohoo:

[KatManDEW]

save2600 wrote:
From thevintageamigan? lol

SoftHut...

[KatManDEW]

I dealt directly with Joe. The entire process has been one of the most frustrating deals I have ever endured.

But then again, I have never purchased ANY Amiga items from a vendor, both back-in-day, and present day, that wasn't an extremely long drawn out excruciating experience for one or more reasons.

At this point I'm about so happy that I could spit nails.

I've been a "mail order" freak for 30+ years, and when I order anything but Amiga stuff, I receive the item(s) promptly (usually amazingly promptly). But purchasing Amiga items from vendors has always been, and remains to be, a giant PITA.

It's almost enough to make me wanna give up on Amiga and go retro with Timex-Sinclair only. I can order Sinclair stuff from the far reaches of the earth, and I receive it promptly.

[KatManDEW]

Classic Sinclair computer resellers are prompt and thoughtfull. Purchasing Amiga stuff was a long drawn out PITA 20 years ago (for me anyway).

By the time I get the dog gone stuff that I ordered, I just wanna throw it and the corner and be glad the ordeal is over with, and I finally got what I paid for. Sure takes much of the fun out of it.....

[KatManDEW]

Thanks for the info. Do I need a 2.5" to 3.5" IDE adapter to attach my Amiga 1200 HD to my PC?

mbueler wrote:
you can install os39 with no cd (iso or file).
But the updates wont work with no os39 cd and it
also detects `virtual CD` and aborts instalation of updates(boingbags).
 
the only way is attach the HDD to yor PC
install, updated and copy/extract all your stuff through
WinUAE.
Let your PC do the hard work and save your A1200 for Fun stuff.

 

[KatManDEW]

If I was the owner of a 20 year old operating system, that poeple were still purchasing today, I would make dog gone sure there were ample copies laying around, so I could take money from people who wanted to purchase it. What does it cost to keep a meager stock of CD's? This isn't cutting edge viable technology, so there's a good chance that potential customers will pass it by if it isn't readily available. This is the PayPal it and download it age...

This same kind of business practice is what I always encountered when pruchasing Amiga items 20 years ago, so it's no wonder to me that the Amiga went down the tube. Commodore isn't the only one responsible for the Amiga demise, because the supply chain was never customer focused.

Life is short. People have better things to do that wait months for a measly CD.

[KatManDEW]

I really appreciete all the info!

The wagon train arrived today, with my copy of OS 3.9! But I think I'm hosed for installing it on my A1200 because I have the 3.0 ROM in my A1200. I guess I will have to see how long it takes to get 3.1 ROMS. I need to wait until I get my Apollo 1240 anyway, because right now my A1200 runs out of memory if I look at it crooked :-D

[KatManDEW]

I can't get it to boot from a floppy with the files in cf-boot-disk.lha. I format a floppy and extract that archive onto the floppy, but it won't boot from the floppy. It just goes back to the hard drive and boots from the hard drive.

I tried creating an Emergency-Disk from the OS 3.9 installation on the CF, and when it asked for the device to use I replaced scsi.device with compactflash.device, but when it boots from that floppy it says it can't find compactflash.device xx, and then it of course says it can't find volume AmigaOS3.9 which is on the CF card.

portarinos wrote:
As Tomas said, create an iso and then boot the system with an emergency disk that mounts the CF as boot disk instead of the cdrom. For that purpose you can happily use the emergency disk that amije (he's a member here and of course in amigahellas.gr forum) has created.

http://files.amigahellas.gr/data/Utilities/cf-boot-disk.lha

I had the same question to do regarding OS4. Could someone avoid cdrom usage and use a CF instead or even a USB stick? Maybe this requires more tweaking.

[KatManDEW]

Thanks for the tips nishtek. I'll take a hungry look at it.

I think my CF card is setup crrectly, with all the correct files on it, and the proper name (AmigaOS3.9).

My problem is that I can't boot from a Emergency Disk and have the CF card available. I've beat my head against it all day, and all evening this evening.

I've tried creating Emergency Disks from the OS3.9 setup on the CF card, and adding the FAT95 and CF files, and editing everything under the sun (on that floppy) to try to make it see the CF card at boot. No matter what I do it comes up and says it can't find volume AmigaOS3.9.

I can't boot from a disk with the files from this archive;
http://files.amigahellas.gr/data/Utilities/cf-boot-disk.lha
I just plain can't get a bootable disk by copying those files to a floppy.

So I tried adding those files to a bootable disk created by the OS3.9 setup on the CF card. No luck. Tried editing everything I could find on that disk that might be causing the problem. No luck.

I've tried to edit a copy of the Emergency Disk from my A2000 OS 3.9 setup, and adding the FAT95 and CF files. No luck.

I'm at my wits end.

[KatManDEW]

That allowed me to boot from the floppy, but now I get the error "Cannot open filedisk.device unit 16924756" and then the "Please insert volume AmigaOS3.9 in any drive".

[KatManDEW]

I think I figured out what my problem it - I can't name the CF as "AmigaOS3.9". Windows won't allow me to use that name, and if I rename it to that with the Amiga, it ends up being "AmigaOS3_9".

I'm dead in the water if I can't name the CF properly.

Is it possible to name it as "AmigaOS3.9"?

[KatManDEW]

I got OS 3.9 to install from CF using the ISO method. I don't have a working A1200 floppy drive, and I've been esing an external floppy drive. I had to temporarily sit an old A2000 floppy drive inside the A1200 and use it as DF0 to get OS 3.9 to install.

Many thanks for all the help!