How to get files to an amiga

[badalias]

Somebody else wanna try this? I got energetic, and tried, the Amiga doesn't seem to react quite the way it seems that it's supposed to, according to the FAQ. It seems to get the file (if I open a second shell I can see the file using dir), but, says "object in use" if I  try to copy it anywhere.

[McTrinsic]

Well I did it.

Its a hassle sometimes but works.

What you should do:

- read the links above
- make sure you end the transfer by both hitting Ctrl-C AND sending somethin again from the PC
- you should have one of the programs for the amiga for transferring disk images now in your RAM.
- copy it to your workbench disk, or make some bootable disk with it
- use the program to transfer any adf to your amiga disk

- it helps to have a working UAE installation. You can make disks with tools, bootdisks and the like and transfer them to the amiga.

and make sure your cable is correct. I think I remeber its not a stock serial nullmodem-cable, but I might be wrong.

Have fun,
McTrinsic

[badalias]

Thanks McTrinsic. :-)

I'm still having trouble...

I checked my cable's pinout (25 pin to 25 pin, homebuilt, with Cat3 cable for the wire, about 4' long...) it seemed to be right  according to what Noster said and what the transdisk website says in part 3.

I'm following the steps in the FAQ and when I get to the step where I + on the Amiga, things  seem to not work from there on...

This is what I have in my shell window on the Amiga  when I finish the step by step...

________________________________________________________________________________________
1.SYS:> type ser: to ram:transdisk
copy ram:transdisk to df0:c

________________________________________________________________________________________

[McTrinsic]

Hhhhmmmm....

ok, at that point you need to press Ctrl-C.

You DID initiate another transfer from the PC side as stated in the manual?

You should then get a prompt.

If not, make sure you use very slow and compatible transfer rates. Be patient with this beginning.

Have fun,
McTrinsic

[badalias]

McTrinsic wrote:
Hhhhmmmm....

ok, at that point you need to press Ctrl-C.

You DID initiate another transfer from the PC side as stated in the manual?

You should then get a prompt.

If not, make sure you use very slow and compatible transfer rates. Be patient with this beginning.

Have fun,
McTrinsic

I meant it when I said I followed the directions. Yes I pressed + (nothing happened) and then sent a second file to the Amiga...

I should get a prompt on which computer? There is a prompt on the PC that asks if I want to send another file, is  that what you mean?

How's 9600? The files seem to zip right accross...

[Noster]

Hi,

> Yes I pressed + (nothing happened).

You have to press +C at the Amiga (while the Cli is the active window)!

The time you initiate the second transfer, the text "***Break" should appear in the Cli of the Amiga and then a prompt should appear in the line below that immediately, waiting for new commands to be entered.

Noster

[badalias]

Noster wrote:
Hi,

> Yes I pressed + (nothing happened).

You have to press +C at the Amiga (while the Cli is the active window)!

The time you initiate the second transfer, the text "***Break" should appear in the Cli of the Amiga and then a prompt should appear in the line below that immediately, waiting for new commands to be entered.

Noster

I did so on the Amiga in the "Shell" window. (Is there a difference between a "Shell" window and a "CLI" window?)Nothing happened on the Amiga after I initiated the second transfer from the PC.

BadAlias
P.S.: I finally found my Amiga books...

I have:
COMPUTE!'s First Book of Amiga (COMPUTE!, ISBN 0-87455-090-4)
COMPUTE!'s Amiga DOS Reference Guide (COMPUTE!, ISBN 0-87455-047-5)
Inside Amiga Graphics (COMPUTE!, ISBN 0-87455-040-8)

[Noster]

Hi,

> Is there a difference between a "Shell" window and a "CLI" window?

A shell is a newer better CLI, so it supports a history and other features.

Open a second shell, transfer the first file, then enter the command "List RAM:" in the second shell. Which size has the transfered file ? If it is still 0 bytes large, I think your serial connection doesn't work at all. Check the settings ones more and test your cable again (if possible between two other computers -- e.g. serial connection between two Windows PC's).
In worst case your Amiga's serial port is dead :-(

Noster

[badalias]

Noster wrote:
Hi,

> Is there a difference between a "Shell" window and a "CLI" window?

A shell is a newer better CLI, so it supports a history and other features.

Open a second shell, transfer the first file, then enter the command "List RAM:" in the second shell. Which size has the transfered file ? If it is still 0 bytes large, I think your serial connection doesn't work at all. Check the settings ones more and test your cable again (if possible between two other computers -- e.g. serial connection between two Windows PC's).
In worst case your Amiga's serial port is dead :-(

Noster

Below is my emulation of the "New CLI" window after following the directions in the FAQ and then the suggestion above... (" . . . ." is  just empty spaces to make  things line  up...)


New CLI=====================================================
2> list ram:
transdisk . . . . . . . . .empty ----rwed Today . . 01:06:53
clipboards . . . . . . . . . Dir ----rwed Today . . 01:05:46
env . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dir ----rwed Today . . 01:05:46
t . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dir ----rwed Today . . 01:05:45
1 file - 3 directories - 5 blocks used
2>info

Mounted disks:
Unit . . .Size . .Used . .Free Full Errs . Status . Name
DF1: . . .880K . . . 7 . .1751 . 0% . 0 .Read/Write Empty
RAM: . . . .2K . . . 5 . . . 0 100% . 0 .Read/Write RAM DISK
DF1: . . .880K . .1712 . . .46 .97% . 0 .Read/Write DOS

[Noster]

Hi,

> transdisk . . . . . . . . .empty ----rwed Today . . 01:06:53

As I've thought, nothing reaches at the serial port of your Amiga :-(
Check your serial settings ones more, check your cable once more, try to use a lower baud rate...

Maybe this could help to test your connection:
http://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/aminet/aminet/comm/misc/NullTest_10.lha

EDIT: Bad idea, how should you get this to your Amiga? :-(

Noster

[badalias]

Noster:

The serial port settings matched, including the speed (a very reasonable 9600 baud) I checked the serial cable 3 times, and then, while I was out yesterday, I stopped at Princess Auto where I found a Interex Null Modem Adaptor for $0.21, and a JetEye InfraRed module for $9.99. The Null Modem adaptor was cheap enough, so I bought it. Lo & behold, when I tried it the transfer worked. I now have an ADF file transfering to an Amiga disk as I type! :-D

I must have had the wiring  mirrored to the way it was supposed to have been.

My next hurdle is getting individual files (Eg. LHA files from aminet) onto the A1000.

BadAlias

P.S.: Is it possible to ennlarge my RAM: drive? How about transfering my Workbench files to it to reduce disk swapping? (I  know the RAM: drive is exactly that, and it would have to be re-loaded each time the machine is booted.)

P.P.S.: Is anybody else having trouble getting this thread to display in threaded mode?

Noster wrote:
Check your serial settings ones more, check your cable once more, try to use a lower baud rate...

[Noster]

Hi

@badalias

Congratulations to your working transfer :-)

> My next hurdle is getting individual files (Eg. LHA files from aminet) onto the A1000.

You should search for a terminal program for this purpose or better: If you own an older PC (486 or Pentium I) you should try to get TwinExpress, it is much faster than any terminal program (upto 115200 baud with an A1000, the PC is slowing down, the A1000 could go upto 190000 baud).

> Is it possible to ennlarge my RAM: drive?

Yes, buy more ram :-D
The RAM-disk itself is dynamic, i.e. it allocates the amount of system-memory, that is required to store the files you put into. If you delete files from the ram-disk, it shrinks and releases the unused memory.

> How about transfering my Workbench files to it to reduce disk swapping?

I don't know the size of your Amigas memory, but if you own a 2MB memory expansion as I do for my A1000, you could easily copy your Workbench disk to RAM: make the required assigns and you don't have to swap the disks again (and the Workbench is very fast).

> I know the RAM: drive is exactly that, and it would have to be re-loaded each time the machine is booted.

There is a better solution available for this: If you own Kickstart and Workbench 1.3 you could create a reset-resistant ram-disk! So you have to copy the files of the Workbench after the first system start (simular to the Kickstart) and than the system could be bootet from that ram-disk in high-speed :-), until you power-off the system or a very bad written program runs amok in your ram.
I search for my own disks, I've made this 15 years ago for my A1000. I'll post a how-to-do as soon as possible.

Noster

[Jiffy]

badalias wrote:

P.S.: Is it possible to ennlarge my RAM: drive? How about transfering my Workbench files to it to reduce disk swapping? (I  know the RAM: drive is exactly that, and it would have to be re-loaded each time the machine is booted.)

No need to. RAM: is always 100% full and expands and shrinks the moment the files inside are changed/deleted/whatever. As you might imagine, it doesn't get larger then your max free ram inside your Amiga (I'm happy with 128 MB fastram in my A1200). If you need a larger RAM:-drive, you need to add more memory to your Amiga...

[badalias]

Noster wrote:

BadAlias wrote:
My next hurdle is getting individual files (Eg. LHA files from aminet) onto the A1000.

You should search for a terminal program for this purpose or better: If you own an older PC (486 or Pentium I) you should try to get TwinExpress, it is much faster than any terminal program (upto 115200 baud with an A1000, the PC is slowing down, the A1000 could go upto 190000 baud).

By older PC would you mean an IBM PC-XT? :lol:
I have a bunch of "older" computers, if I  were more organized, I might be able to start another computer musem... :lol:

Seriously... I think 19200 baud is fast enough for now... I have TwinExpress, and will be trying it out later...

Noster wrote:

BadAlias wrote:
Is it possible to ennlarge my RAM: drive?

Yes, buy more ram :-D
The RAM-disk itself is dynamic, i.e. it allocates the amount of system-memory, that is required to store the files you put into. If you delete files from the ram-disk, it shrinks and releases the unused memory.

BadAlias wrote:
How about transfering my Workbench files to it to reduce disk swapping?

I don't know the size of your Amigas memory, but if you own a 2MB memory expansion as I do for my A1000, you could easily copy your Workbench disk to RAM: make the required assigns and you don't have to swap the disks again (and the Workbench is very fast).

I have the 256K front panel expansion, and a 4Mb expansion  on the side slot... It has 30 pin SIPP RAM inside, I'm thinking of de-soldering the SIPP modules and putting in some 30 pin SIMM slots with bigger modules in it...

Noster wrote:

BadAlias wrote:
I know the RAM: drive is exactly that, and it would have to be re-loaded each time the machine is booted.

There is a better solution available for this: If you own Kickstart and Workbench 1.3 you could create a reset-resistant ram-disk! So you have to copy the files of the Workbench after the first system start (simular to the Kickstart) and than the system could be bootet from that ram-disk in high-speed :-), until you power-off the system or a very bad written program runs amok in your ram.
I search for my own disks, I've made this 15 years ago for my A1000. I'll post a how-to-do as soon as possible.

I'll be waiting for that one... :-)

BadAlias

P.S.: I found the Ancient Toys Amiga Abandonware Game Site during a recent perusal of the internet... Lots of great games...

[Noster]

Hi,

> I have the 256K front panel expansion, and a 4Mb expansion on the side slot...
> It has 30 pin SIPP RAM inside, I'm thinking of de-soldering the SIPP modules and
> putting in some 30 pin SIMM slots with bigger modules in it

DON'T DO THAT !!!!
If you are not absolutely shure that that will work, you shouldn't try it. There is some logic on the ram-expression usually with PAL's that match the used RAM. It wouldn't work with other RAMs!


Here is my little guide:


First of all: MAKE A COPY OF YOUR WORKBENCH DISK!!

Check if the file "ramdrive.device" is locate in the "devs" directory of your Workbench disk.

Have a look into the file "devs/mountlist" and search for an entry as follows (if it is not already part of your mountlist, add it):

/* This is an example of a mount list entry for using the recoverable
   ram disk.  Depending on the amount of memory you wish to devote to
   it, you may want to change the HighCyl value.
*/

CARD:      Device = ramdrive.device
           Unit   = 0
           Flags  = 0
           Surfaces  = 2
           BlocksPerTrack = 11
           Reserved = 2
           Interleave = 0
           LowCyl = 0  ;  HighCyl = 82
           Buffers = 5
           BufMemType = 1
#

Create a copy of your "startup-sequence" and rename it to "card-start". Take an editor and change all accesses to "DF0:" into "SYS:".
Store the "card-start" file into the same directory as the "startup-sequence".
Copy the icon you want to be used as disk icon of your reset-resistant Workbench to "S:" (take care that it is a disk icon and is named "Disk.info").

Now insert the following commands into your "startup-sequence" (NOT into "card-start"):

ask "Create reset-resistant ram-disk (y/n)?"
if WARN
 mount card:
 ask "Copy Workbench to reset-resistant ram-disk (y/n)?"
 if WARN
  echo "    working......."
  copy df0: card: all quiet
  card:c/delete card:s/startup-sequence
  card:c/rename card:s/card-start card:s/startup-sequence
  card:c/delete card:disk.info
  card:c/Copy card:s/Disk.info card:
  card:c/delete card:s/Disk.info
  case:c/echo "*n"
  card:c/ask "Please remove the Workbench disk and perform a reset."
   endif
endif

Save these changes.

Now you can perform a reset and look what is happening...

Noster