Amiga 600 problems

[Energy]

Hey there, first of all im new here, and i don't know that much about amiga, but i used few hours know looking around for some solution but found nothing special really.

Well my first problem is that my Amiga 600 got virus i think, some disc says a error when i', launching them.

Not a DOS Disk in device DF0, well i know what it means, that i can't read the disk in the DF0 that is the floppy drive, solution for me was always just but the black thingy on the disk and the game will work. well, i know that the disc information no longer is write protected. But back in the old days i never tough about it could spread virus. Im pretty sure my Amiga 600 got virus, because most of the games don't work anymore.

So is there a way to get a virus program that maybe could remove the virus on the amiga?

Is there a way to use a pc floppy disk to install Games/virus program tol the floppy drive and then use them in the amiga?

Many thanks for the help =D

[Thomas]

I am sorry but from what you say, those games probably cannot be repaired.

What happened is that your disks are infected by a bootblock virus. A bootblock virus behaves like a normal AmigaDOS bootblock and as such is invisible in most cases.

But in your case those games were copy protected originally. The copy protection was dones by using custom boot code in the boot block. This custom boot code was the only one who knew how to read the rest of the disk. Now that the custom boot code has been overwritten by the virus, the rest of the disk is worthless.

You can remove the virus, but this does not make the game run again.

In order to not spread the virus any further, do these steps:

1. switch off the computer to remove the virus from memory
2. write protect all your floppy disks and don't ever remove the protection
3. switch on the computer and insert the first disk
4. If it starts to boot and then says "not a dos disk", remove it, mark it as virus infected and don't touch it again
If it does not boot but returns to the disk animation, mark it as not infected and not bootable
If it boots ok mark it as possibly virus infected
5. switch the computer off
6. switch it on again and test the next disk.
7. after you have tested all disks, you have three stacks. One is surely infected, one is not infected, but not bottable and one is perhaps infected

Well, now you are screwed because now you need a bootable disk which is definitely not infected. And you don't have such.

Once you got a clean boot disk, you can use it to remove the virus from the other disks. No special program is needed to remove a bootblock virus. Just install a new bootblock on the disks. You do this by issuing the command

install df0:

in a Shell window. Just be sure that you never boot from an infected disk. And if you do, switch off the computer and start all over again.

Bye,
Thomas

[Energy]

Many Thanks for the answers Thomas

So im kinda screwed. Because even my Workbench disk got this problem. Thats the only way to get to a Shell window ?
And do i have to switch the power off everytime i tried to run a disk?

Well 1 thing i have to ask then, why those some of the games run when you remove the protection?

Well the only way to really fix this problem is to get fresh new games then? Well i saw some solution to use Amiga Explorer to connect to your amiga with a Null modem cable, but since my motherbord don't support this im kinda screwed, is there any other way?

After a few disk try with the reboot thing everytime my amiga starts up now with the power off and on, it gives a System Failure Error: 0000 0000 Task: 00002600 - What i found out, is this error just because i turn off the power and then on again?

And some of the games make the Green light to blink? in the old days when i was a kid i just ignore it and tough the game didnt work because it had a virus, but is this also the bootblock thingy?

[marcfrick2112]

Hi Energy, well, my 2 cents: it may indeed be a virus that's causing
your problems. I looked up  0000 0000 guru, it's a CPU Exception,
 which happened to me often when I had a virus years ago.
What you will need is a 'clean' Workbench disk, keep it write-
protected, and then run a virus program on your hard drive,
 I have a feeling that it's infected as well....(I use Virus
Checker II Version 2.5)

As for the games, you may have to try EBay (spit) or something.
Even without a virus, a disk's lifetime is limited, anyway...

Good luck....

[Flash]

Hi,

There may be other factors, eg a floppy drive not reading correctly, the games disks may for a different version of workbench, in which you should try relockick 1.3 before inserting your game disk, or even the disks are for workbench 3.0, which your version of workbench ie 2.1, will always give an invalid CPU exception/bootblock errors.
Do you have a hard drive on the A600, or are you booting up to workbench, prior to testing the disks, as Non Dos disks are usually game disks which boot straight from the flopy drive and contain a non standard boot-block.
It may be a good idea to name 1/2 of the specific games you are trying to boot.


Yours Flash    :madashell:  :rtfm:  :-?

[arkpandora]

Well,

Don't turn the power on and off too often in a limited time, as it may damage the computer.  Allow the computer to rest a few minutes between each session.

If none of your disks contain personal data you want to keep, don't spend time removing viruses from them.  Formatting them or copying another disk (or disk image you find on Internet) on them will remove any virus anyway.  However some of your disks might be restored by the "install" function Thomas described.  If these disks are original they may be worth restoring, as copies you will find on Internet are mostly pirated copies.  But instead of turning the computer on and off, you should first find and use a clean Workbench disk, run an anti-virus program in the background, such as Virus Checker, and then "install" these disks.  Thanks to the anti-virus running in memory you won't have to turn the computer off in order to clean the memory.

Some disks may decide to run when you remove the protection for various reasons, but any clean game should work on a protected disk, so keep your disks protected unless you want to write something on them, or clean them from viruses using an anti-virus - or the install command if only the bootblock is infected.

Yes the easiest way of cleaning a disk is to use another clean copy of the same software.  If your game is an original disk you may be unable to find an exact copy of your original, since most available copies are pirated copies that sometimes have altered the originals : in that case using WHDLoad may be a solution if you have a hard drive.

Even if you were able to connect the Amiga to a PC, you need at least a Workbench disk in order to connect the two computers, so I advice you to buy a working Workbench disk on eBay, or we may send one to you.  Then buying an old PC with a serial port is a cheap and versatile solution.  You may as well transfer files using the PCMCIA port of your Amiga 600, but I'm not a specialist.  If you have a hard drive, the easiest solution is to plug your Amiga hard drive into the PC and copy files on it using the WinUAE emulator.

[Energy]

Thanks for the answers guys

Hey Flash

Well i just boot straight from the "launch menu" im not that nerdy and i have never used workbench actualy, used to play on my amiga back when i was a kid, so i didn't really care if they gamed didnt work or something maybe where wrong. I don't have a harddrive or anything for that reason, just orginalt amiga.

Well the games that don't work and says this Boot-Block is Bubble-Bobble, moonstone, Jamse Pond II, Wings of Fure and Crazy football. I can ofc continue with alot more games, but i don't think there is any need to do. Only trick i know that is some games work with a program call Kickstart 1.3m always tough it actualy emulated and Amiga 500

If i had a clean Workbench is it better to launch the games from there?

[Energy]

Hey arkpandora

Well, some of the games a orginal, but that means nothing to me really, i more focus on just playing the good old games, even if pirat version skipped something. I looked for some amiga stuff on amigakit.com and i actualy tough for buyng this stuff

1 x  AMIGA PCMCIA NETWORK CARD MKIII
1 x  Competition Pro Classic (Double Pack)
1 x  A1200 / A600 Hard Disk (4GB / 2.5")
1 x  2.5" HARD DRIVE CABLE (5CM)
1 x  Floppy Disk Cleaning Kit
1 x  Kickstart 3.1 ROM chip (A600)
1 x  AmigaOS 3.1 (6 Disk Set)

Well i got some question, this Kickstart Rom chip, well what would it improve or help if i did buy it?, i guess my version is 2.05 since my workbench is 2.05. But is it worth paying for?

Well if i got all this stuff, what if my Amiga had a virus? or it can't have a virus because it don't have a hard drive?

[arkpandora]

If you just want to play games, then your 600 is fine as it is.  Only a hard drive will help you find more comfort.  There is no need to upgrade your Kickstart ROM or Workbench.

With a network card you will be able to transfer files through a network, but without a hard drive it won't be practicable.  I have never networked any Amiga (I am not much more myself than a game player), so I can't advise you on this subject.

Viruses won't be a problem once you have a clean Workbench and anti-virus, as long as you keep your disks write-protected.

[orange]

if the virus has overwritten just the bootblock then you can easily repair that. Send here the list of broken original games and someone might send you .DMS of bootblock, its that simple. (I think its not breaking any copyright rules)
but first clean the system of course

[marcfrick2112]

Hi Energy, everyone has given some good advice. As said before,
it may be possibly a floppy drive problem too, but never had
that cause a CPU Exception...
Not sure about copyright issues, but re-writing the boot block
should do the trick, as stated. But PLEASE get a good virus checker,
because IIRC, a virus can 'migrate' from memory to a disk and vice-versa.

So, write-portect your disks, and get something like virus checker II
(I have VC set to check boot-block of any inserted floppy disk.)

As for a HD and newer ROMs, well it certainly makes the Amiga
easier to use. Only idea for you is that you could (eventually)
install WHDLoad and play those games from the hard drive.
My father had quite a few games on his A600 (2 MB chip, 32MB Fast,
1GB harddrive, '030/33Mhz , pretty tricked out for a 600..)

[Flash]

Hi,

If you launch your games from the launch menu you must be booting into workbench first, but games disks especially those that appear as non dos disks in workbench need to be in the floppy drive at boot time to work properly. Some of those titles sound like Workbench 1.3 Amiga games to me, and if so you will probably need to use a software tool to emulate Workbench 1.3, such as re-lockick1.3. Thia will reset your A600 to an earlier version of Workbench, then when you insert your game, it will automatically run.


Yours Flash
 :madashell:  :getmad:  :lol: