Amiga survival gear

[Matt_H]

I'll be heading off to college in a few months, and it looks like my A1200 is coming with me since OS4 won't be available in time. This means that I'll be making the transition from my 1200 + Multiple other Amigas + a PC + a gigantic cache of spare Amiga hardware/software to just the 1200.

I'm prepping the system now so I'll have everything I need to survive in a hostile non-Amiga/no-support environment. I'm looking for hardware and software suggestions.

My main hardware specs are listed in my signature. I forgot to add SyQuest and ZIP250 (SCSI) to that list. I also have an IOExtender and an Emplant board I could add which would fill up my zorro slots. I do NOT have a scandoubler. My CDRW drive is broken. I could bring a tape backup drive along...

Software wise, I've got OS3.9.2. TurboCalc for spreadsheets, AmigaWriter and WordWorth for word processing, PerfectPaint for image manipulation, Cinema4D for rendering, some shareware audio tools, PCx/Fusion/ShapeShifter w/ important apps, Blitzpass on startup and with lockout key for security, IBrowse, AWeb, MiamiDX, Webplug, YAM, NewsCoaster, etc. for the Internet.

All input welcome and appreciated.
...except that which suggests I buy a PC. :-D Sorry, that's just not going to happen. If it's really my only option, I'll borrow one.

*EDIT* Seems the signatue didn't show up. Blizzard 1260 w/ SCSI (48Mb), Xsurf, Delfina Lite, Picasso II.

[iamaboringperson]

too much stuff dude!

[Quixote]

:-? I take it your A1200 is in a tower?  In your place, I'd want to include a CD-ROM drive (maybe from another computer,) and the largest capacity hard drive I had.  The external devices (SyQuest, ZIp) could sit atop the tower, if you thought that you really needed them, and your monitor would sit beside.  Don't take any of your spare hardware, except maybe a spare mouse.
 
;-) Spare bits that you might need could be boxed and labled ahead of time so that family could mail them to you more easily, if needed. ("Just mail the green box labled `Mother Board,' mother.")
 
If you can boot from the Zip or SyQuest, prepare a bootable catridge and install on it such diagnostic and repair software as you can think of, including drivers for all of your equipment. Especially your Internet stuff.  Keep this for emergency repairs.
 
Other than that, I can't think of anything more.

[lempkee]

when i was in the milletary in 1996 , i had all my amiga hw with me, i regret it really...

i had my own office there and threw out the pc(yeah i am so typical ; that was there, hooked up my a1260 noT in a tower with heaps and heaps of gear , zipdrive , jaz , cdrom's etc..
floating at the desk in my office.

The amiga did the job for the milletary very nicely but it was a risk all day long, would anyone jump into my office and steal anything? , i mean at that time i had 2gb disks floating at the desk with just a cable or 2 attached to em.

lucky me i didnt loose anything.

later that year i got 3 more people into my office, they also was amiga people and we used the office as a hangout place at evenings etc...yep i didnt spend much time in the barracks at all.

so in the end i was scared of someone entering my office when i or the 3 others wasnt there to steal one of the 4 amiga's there.... 1 had 060...the 3 others had 030'sMKIV. and none in tower

so a good tip would be ...if u really care about your hw then be sure to have it in a tower, lucky me the office i had was inside a restricted building and not too many would come by unless i invited them.
if not...i guess i would have been without a 060 etc at that time.

cheers

[Matt_H]

@ Quixote

Yes, it's towered up in one of those awful Micronik units. The only thing that case has going for it is that it's easy to open. I've got a DVD drive installed. I should probably replace the CDRW and add a second (large) hard drive.

I like that idea for the emergency ZIP boot. I think I'll just make a SYS: backup. I'll leave the SyQuest behind; no one uses them anymore.

I'm wondering If I should invest in USB...

@ lempkee

The odds of my roommates either knowing what an Amiga is and knowing how to override the startup-sequence are slim to nil. If someone did try to lug away a big tower case, they probably wouldn't even know how to hook it up again. Security through obscurity. :-)