2000 and 3.0 Beta Kickstart

[rbihler]

I just purchased a 2000, this has a supradrive HD, 2630 Proc card, Syquest555.
During startup I am prompted to Kick 2.0, and then 3.0, if none selected 1.3 starts up fine.
If I select 2.0 it loads and I see the workbench / drives shown but the stopwatch never goes away.  The system is not locked as the mouse does move it around.
If I select 3.0 , I get a Beta warning to continue.  By continueing it will restart and I see another beta message for authorized used only.  It then will start workbench but as 2.0 it just hangs with the stopwatch.  Again the mouse does it around without problems.  

In the startup sequence, for 2.0 it issues the command KICKIT INIT:wb2.0/kick.175.20  - system will reboot listed

For 3.0 dh3:rekick/REKICK dh3:kickstart

I have found a directory for Rekick on dh3.  There is an instruction file and other information.  It appears software developers got this version to test V3.0 before release.  It says I need to have wb2.0 installed, how do I confirm this?  I do have a wb2.0 folder.  I am looking for reasons the system will not start with 3.0.

Is there any value to these files, I would like to convert over to 3.1 one of these days.
It also appears the owner of this machine also produced a program for the amiga (LDebug?), I will try and save this software and source as well.  

Thanks
Ron

[rbihler]

Ok,
Did some additional checking, it is loading a beta image of the Kickstart 3.0.  
I get as far as WB2.0 and the system is waiting for something ?  
How do I debug this sort of problem?  Is there a way to step as one does in messydos? to find out how far along the system is and the offending command?  
The mouse is active, I can resize the window and see the Disk drives.  But I am not able to select anything or get rid of the stopwatch.

Thanks
Ron

[rkauer]

 If you have a legal 2.0 ROM around, yes. Grab its image with any ROM imager package and toss it where the kickit program look for.

[rbihler]

So you are saying that the kickstart or wb is corrupted in some way?  Just swap it out with another one!  

I was hoping to find a way to verify which end was the problem.  This machine seems to have more than one copy of wb2.0 on it.

Thanks
Ron

[rkauer]

 Just grab another copy of 2.0 ROM image and compare the two. They must have at least the very same size (256kb).

[mark_k]

Hi,

Perhaps the hanging problem is because some program in the startup-sequence is (for some reason) not working or starting properly? Or maybe a program in the WBStartup drawer?

The kick.175.20 file is Kickstart 2.04 (v37.175), but assembled to work at address $200000 (where your accelerator's fast RAM is), instead of $F80000. CBM distributed that type of file and the KickIt utility to registered developers. Similarly, ReKick and the special ReKick-type ROM files were used for testing 3.x Kickstart versions.

Anyway. First thing I recommend you do, is to make a complete image backup of the hard drive. That way you can always go back if you do something wrong, plus you can easily preserve all files on the HD (including any deleted-but-still-recoverable files). I can write a little on how to do that if you want.

As for diagnosing your problem, probably the best way, if you have a Workbench 2 floppy disk, is to boot the Amiga from its hard drive, choose Kickstart 2.0, then immediately insert the floppy disk. Then you can see what files are in the startup-sequence on the hard drive.

If you decide to upgrade to Kickstart 3.1, actually the best/fastest way to do that will be to use the ReKick program and a ReKick-type Kickstart 3.1 image. That way the Kickstart data will be in 32-bit fast RAM, without needing to use the MMU.

[rbihler]

Thanks,
I am very limited and only have a wb1.3 diskette.  
I was able to get the syquest up and running, is that a valid way to back the system?  
Several of the programs on the drive are for wb2.0 or better and will not run.  This includes a backup util for the syquest and a terminal program.

1) I just did a copy dh0: rh0: - it worked under cli, wow it's been a very long time.

I was planning to get the kickstart rom for 3.1 and wb3.1.  I figured this might be the easist way to get going and if not a bad idea in any event.

Is there a terminal program for the rs232 port under wb1.3?  I would like to transfer to/from my PC as the drives are not compatible.  

Thanks again.
Ron

[Crumb]

@rkauer

IIRC kickstart 1.3 was 256KB but KS 2.x was 512KB.

[rbihler]

Crumb wrote:
@rkauer

IIRC kickstart 1.3 was 256KB but KS 2.x was 512KB.

I am sure both 2.0 and 3.0 had been working on this machine, as I am looking around on the drive I have found several programs that require WB2.0 or better.  
I should be able to install a new 3.1 Kickstart rom correct?

I did find a working program (Quarterback) on this machine to handle backups.  All copy works under 1.3, I am now backing up many of the programs so I don't lose them later on.

Thanks
Ron