My Amiga 2000...

[scuzzb494]

I hadn't heard of Parnet before. It looks like it needs another custom cable so it's probably just as good/bad as the Amiga Explorer solution via null-modem cable. I have no idea why my standard cables aren't working so I'll need to track down a multimeter and go from there.

The ZIP drive is a good idea - I found a bunch of ZIP disks in my shed just the other day. There is supposed to be an external drive that goes with the disks but I don't remember if I gave it away years ago. I see more searching in my shed in the near future... :lol: The main issue is going to be getting drivers to my Amiga.

I feel like I am in a egg before the chicken situation - I need to connect to my Amiga to get drivers so that I can connect to my Amiga

This site still exists...  

http://www.graner.net/parbench.htm

scuzz

[Tenacious]

What is the purpose of having those small partitions, as opposed to just leaving it as one big filesystem? I gave up partitioning my drives in the PC world over 10 years ago as I was sick of having to shuffle files around and resize partitions...

.

Amiga OS can benefit from logical partitions.  It might be one the best organized (and most user accessible) OSes available.

Multiple small partitions allow flexibility in running and trying different OS configurations and different versions.  Unless you are well versed in AmigaOS, backing your boot partition (to another partition or drive) can have advantages.

Also, separating static partitions (those that are written less frequently) from Apps that are constantly writing and revising small files might greatly facilitate data recovery when the HD eventually fails.

[TomJ]

Amiga OS can benefit from logical partitions.  It might be one the best organized (and most user accessible) OSes available.

Multiple small partitions allow flexibility in running and trying different OS configurations and different versions.  Unless you are well versed in AmigaOS, backing your boot partition (to another partition or drive) can have advantages.

Also, separating static partitions (those that are written less frequently) from Apps that are constantly writing and revising small files might greatly facilitate data recovery when the HD eventually fails.

I agree if you put the 1.3 compatible programs in one partition and 3.1 compatible in another you will already have it sorted when moving it WinUAE or set up your partitions like the HDF's you would want to run in WinUAE assuming that's what you want to do.

[schlubadub]

If you already have Amiga Explorer and a null-modem cable, you can't be too far from getting it to work. It really is a good solution.

How far have you gotten? Did you use the setup feature to send the AE client to the amiga? Did that part work?

Have you set the packet size to 512 and set the baud rate low?  9600?
Also, what version of Windows are you using? XP works well with AE.

Maybe describe the problems you are having with AE.

Yeah I've try many different variations of baud and packet size. I run the Amiga shell command and start the AE Setup side of things but it doesn't send any packets and then fails. What is weird is that I cannot cancel the Amiga side (it says to press CTRL-C) no matter what I do. I usually reboot the machine and try again. Yes, I'm running Windows XP on the PC side.

I am currently using a DE9-DE9 cable and a DE9-DB25 adapter, with a DB25-DB25 null-modem adapter and a DB25-DB25 cable - so maybe that's half the issue. I can also use a DE9-DE9 null-modem cable with the DE9-DB25 adapter and a DB25-DB25 cable so there is only one adapter between the 2 cables.

I am trying to get hold of a multimeter so I can test the pin-outs at the ends of  the cables... failing that I will build my own cable (DE9-DB29 directly).

[schlubadub]

This site still exists...  http://www.graner.net/parbench.htm

Thanks for that, I still need someone local to put the software on a disk for me so I can use it...

[motrucker]

You really should add a SCSI interface card. A 2091 with at least 6.6 ROMs (7.0 is better) is an OK choice. That way you can use a real SCSI drive, and add a CD-ROM in the case. If you add a CD writer then you can move files both ways, but even with a simple reader, you can get files from your PC (assuming it has a CD writer) to your Amiga with ease.

[TomJ]

Yeah I've try many different variations of baud and packet size. I run the Amiga shell command and start the AE Setup side of things but it doesn't send any packets and then fails. What is weird is that I cannot cancel the Amiga side (it says to press CTRL-C) no matter what I do. I usually reboot the machine and try again. Yes, I'm running Windows XP on the PC side.

I am currently using a DE9-DE9 cable and a DE9-DB25 adapter, with a DB25-DB25 null-modem adapter and a DB25-DB25 cable - so maybe that's half the issue. I can also use a DE9-DE9 null-modem cable with the DE9-DB25 adapter and a DB25-DB25 cable so there is only one adapter between the 2 cables.

I am trying to get hold of a multimeter so I can test the pin-outs at the ends of  the cables... failing that I will build my own cable (DE9-DB29 directly).

Check your com ports if you have 2 make sure your hooked to com1. if you have already done that then check in device manger on the pc to make sure your drivers are installed. Beyond that is beyond me at this point.

I have 3.1 roms and kickstart version40.63 workbench version 40.42 I just go to the amiga explorer Icon and doubleclick(double clicking again stops it on the amiga side) after it starts on the amiga i open it from the pc.(with xp pro sp3)

[schlubadub]

Check your com ports if you have 2 make sure your hooked to com1. if you have already done that then check in device manger on the pc to make sure your drivers are installed. Beyond that is beyond me at this point.

I have 3.1 roms and kickstart version40.63 workbench version 40.42 I just go to the amiga explorer Icon and doubleclick(double clicking again stops it on the amiga side) after it starts on the amiga i open it from the pc.(with xp pro sp3)

Yeah, I only have one COM port that is Com1. Everything seems fine in device manager. I might try to get a serial mouse to work just to make sure that side of things is working okay. It's an onboard com port if that makes any different. I have some com port cards, but I seem to recall that they are ISA instead of PCI, so I'm no longer able to use them unless I dig up an old PC.

I am still trying to get the setup files to the Amiga... so I have to run the shell command to copy the data from the serial port (SER:) to RAM: It is failing at that point. I'll make sure my cables match the specifications and proceed from there...

[Tenacious]

Maybe your serial cable is a straight-thru type.  IIRC, the transmit pin at one end is supposed to be connected to the receive pin at the other.  This is actually true of both ends.

Just a thought, easily checked with a continuity tester or meter.

[schlubadub]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to get an SD card reader into my stock Amiga 2000? I would like to use it as a HD. This would be usable on a PC as well wouldn't it?

I'm thinking IDE card with an IDE-SD adapter? Where can I source a cheap Buddha card or similar? The Catweasel ZII S-Class looks pretty good but I haven't seen any for sale.

[MelbourneBen]

AE works really well, I reacon its probably your cable. I got mine from Jaycar electronics in Adelaide, I think they have brances in WA??...on either side it has 9pm serial and 25 pin and is specifically sold as a null modem cable. For the sake of 20 bucks I'd try that before splashing out on something more expensive (unless u want to ofcourse :lol: )+ you could return it if it doesnt work.

[schlubadub]

AE works really well, I reacon its probably your cable. I got mine from Jaycar electronics in Adelaide, I think they have brances in WA??...on either side it has 9pm serial and 25 pin and is specifically sold as a null modem cable. For the sake of 20 bucks I'd try that before splashing out on something more expensive (unless u want to ofcourse :lol: )+ you could return it if it doesnt work.

Yeah I did consider buying one, but I have so many cables and adapters it just seems like a waste of money and space :lol:

I *finally* got it working today... I just played switcheroo with the cables and adapters until I got it working. Surprisingly it was the straight-through cables that were causing the issue in each variation I was using. They were professionally made / moulded cables - a DE9-DE9 and another DB25-DB25 that both don't seem to pass through data on all the pins. The null-modem adapter (DB25-DB25) and DB25-DE9 adapter were working perfectly. I only needed the other cables due to the distance between the computers (1.5m I guess).

I copied the workbench disk to test it, and ended up having to copy it file by file as it failed due to a bad sector if I copied the adf file. Pretty crummy you can't just copy the disk with the bad sector in place :/

Hopefully I'll be able to get my network card up and running and I can copy files a bit faster.

I'm still thinking about how to get a SD card reader into the Amiga in the cheapest way, to use as a HD. I saw the SD card floppy-drive project, but it's not quite what I'm looking for.

[schlubadub]

In case anyone is interested...

My Amiga 2000 is running happily and I have started backing up my disks via null-modem cable. I'll work on getting the network card running this weekend.

I only just noticed that in WB it said I had 800KB free memory, which seemed a little low considering I have a 2MB A2052 card inside. I just thought perhaps it was disabled in some way. Looking at avail showed 512KB chip and 512KB fast... hmm very strange. In my sleep-deprived brain (its after 2am now) I thought that it was somehow only using 512KB of my 2MB card - forgetting of course that the 2000 has 512KB of onboard fast.

I took out the A2052 card and had a look at it, to see if there was any signs of damage or modification or missing chips etc. It does have two sets of jumper pins, but I can't find out what they're for. Anyway, the card looked fine and wasn't dusty. So I put it back in the Amiga and turned it on. The Amiga disk screen came up, so I put in WB and it started to load... it got half way and gave some error that I could either hit Retry or Cancel to. Retry did the same thing and Cancel ended up rebooting the machine.

It was at this point that the Amiga totally freaked, power light pulsing, and wouldn't load the disk screen (stayed white). I soft-reset and then hard-reset the machine and it totally refused to do anything. So I'm thinking that the A2052 card was partially working before and now it's fried! I took the card out, checked the zorro slot for dust etc, then reseated the card to make sure it was in properly. No dice. Amiga wouldn't boot up. I took the card out entirely and the Amiga booted up fine. Bugger - I guess the card really is dead...

On a whim I put the A2052 into the slot next to it, and turned on the machine... it booted up fine! Loaded WB and its now reporting something like 2.6MB free... avail shows 512KB chip and 2.5MB Fast (so 3MB total)

So faulty Zorro slot or something? Weird!