Just got Amiga 500... Some questions

[SilverZguru]

Hi all there!

I just registered to this forum so I'm not sure if this is in wrong section

I just got an Amiga 500 (I had Commodore 64 what broked). My Amiga came with power supply, amiga mouse, one joystick, external disk drive and 512kb memory expansion that haves ON/OFF switch. All this cost 22€. I don't have modulator so I use now (TEMPORARILY) monochrome composite output. Seller didn't know if this machine is working so I bought this with a little risk. Amiga starts propetly to Kickstart 1.3 bootscreen. (Where hand holding "Work Bench" floppy). I have lots of Dos floppies (DD 720kb and 1.4mb HDs), but none Amiga floppy, so I can't test if floppy drive is working (FD0, internal drive).

I bought an Amiga game called "Insanity Fight" to test FD, but it's not going to come a while, so is there another way to test my internal FD. Floppy drive does a "click" sound every 2 second when I'm in Kickstart v1.3 screen.:confused:

Sorry for my English, Eemil

[skywalkgr]

The thing that the fdd makes a click sound every 2 seconds its good that means that the controller is working so its possible that the drive is in working condition. I cant think of a way that you can test the drive except to put an amiga (proper 880K) disk inside.

[tabbybasco]

You can try wring a file with an editor program, there is one built into the OS, or a word processing program then attempt to write it to the 3.5" drive, then try to access it. You can use standard MS-DOS/Windows diskettes with the Amiga drive, you will just have to format them, that is another test, see if the drive will format the diskette. Also if it is working ok, as soon as it's been formatted it will show up on Workbench. You should have the original Workbench disk, my first Amiga was a A500. If you have any of the original AmigaOS disks they should mount onto the Workbench as soon as you insert them into the drive and it reads it. Then you should be able to double click on it and see what's on it.

Hope this helps you out.

[Templario]

There is a electronic schematic to connect the Amiga 500 via Euroconector to a TV, and you can make this connector, the floppy disks, humm, with the current floppy drives not all work as a true Amiga disk drive, for the autorun and many games use this service to load the game and the different files of graphcis, sprites, sounds, etc., there are a few that run perfectly without the autorun but even someones need the function from drive.

[Ironamiga]

Greetings and grats on getting your A500.  

If you are without the Workbench disk, I'm not sure you will be able to do anything until you get them.  As far as I know, there is no other way to use the system unless you have the workbench disks (which should include workbench and the extras disk)

Did you get the system without those?

[SilverZguru]

okay... Then I just need to wait... But my Amiga was opened when I got it... As the seller told me that Amiga has been opened and some screws missing. I hope that it wasn't opened because of faulty floppy drive. But is it possible to write .adf files to DOS floppy with pc, if this app is installed: http://simonowen.com/fdrawcmd/ I read that it is possible. Read this forum: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/109623-amiga-workbench-disk/ :confused::confused:

Thanks, Eemil

And I DO NOT have workbench disks. I think that I need to get TRANS-DISK app to write workbench to PC floppy with nullmodem cable, IF that upper thing is not possible. But I thought that you can run bootable Amiga games without workbench disks. Just put an bootable game to drive when in Kickstart bootscreen.

[commodorejohn]

You can't write Amiga floppies from a normal PC disk drive, as they use a different encoding format, not just a different number of sectors per track. Trans-disk is your best friend if you don't have the cash to invest in a Catweasel.

[crawff]

Hi,

Floppy drive click sound = Normal
Do i need workbench to play games = No
Will the games load by just inserting the disk into floppy drive = Yes.

[motrucker]

Since you don't have a hard drive, you really need the Workbench disk. I am sure some one here will send you one (even me!) if you PM your address.
Disk Master 2 would be a good utility to have too.
Most any game will load OK on your A500 (they include enough Workbench to run) but other programs may not.

[SilverZguru]

Since you don't have a hard drive, you really need the Workbench disk. I am sure some one here will send you one (even me!) if you PM your address.
Disk Master 2 would be a good utility to have too.
Most any game will load OK on your A500 (they include enough Workbench to run) but other programs may not.

Yeah. I really need to get an copy of Workbench 1.3 floppy... But what about regions? Do you have NTSC copy of WB? I have PAL machine, so... :confused:

[desiv]

Yeah. I really need to get an copy of Workbench 1.3 floppy... But what about regions? Do you have NTSC copy of WB? I have PAL machine, so... :confused:

Not an issue with WB 1.3...

desiv

[SilverZguru]

OK. I think that I need to ask from my local forums that if they could copy me one Workbench 1.3 floppy (Here in Finland). But thanks for answers. People are very kind and active here amiga.org But is it possible to make .adf from whdload game? I'm trying to find finnish Hugo games, but I only found WHDload versions of those nice ones. So is it possible and if it is, what program should I use?

Thanks, Eemil

[Cammy]

Hi there, I hope you're not getting too confused!

Your floppy drive most likely has dirty heads as nearly ALL old computers will when you buy them after years of not being used and maintained. All of the Amigas I have picked up over the years, including many online friends who have also picked them up have all suffered from the problem of the disk drive not reading disks properly. Sometimes it will load part of the game or program, then fail, or show an error message window if it gets as far as Workbench, and sometimes it will simply fail early and go back to the Kickstart screen or Guru. The problem is always dirty heads in the floppy drive.

The solution is to use a simple, inexpensive floppy drive cleaning kit, which you may be able to find at an office supplies store locally, or you can get them at online shops and eBay. They look like a floppy disk with a white cloth pad inside instead of a disc, and often come with a little bottle of fluid which you put a few drops of onto the pad before inserting the disk in your drive. You would then repeat it a few times, either by re-inserting the disk or by rebooting (with Ctrl+A+A) a few times so the head gets a good clean.

Then all you need are some games. You won't need Workbench to play the games, but you should still get a copy anyway.

I'm not sure how to make ADFs from WHDLoad images but it's probably possible somehow, they're both disk images.

[Thorham]

You can't write Amiga floppies from a normal PC disk drive, as they use a different encoding format, not just a different number of sectors per track.

Of course you can, the drives are basically compatible, and both Amiga and peecee use MFM encoding. The problem is the peecee's disk drive controller, and not the drives themselves.

[SilverZguru]

Hi there, I hope you're not getting too confused!

Your floppy drive most likely has dirty heads as nearly ALL old computers will when you buy them after years of not being used and maintained. All of the Amigas I have picked up over the years, including many online friends who have also picked them up have all suffered from the problem of the disk drive not reading disks properly. Sometimes it will load part of the game or program, then fail, or show an error message window if it gets as far as Workbench, and sometimes it will simply fail early and go back to the Kickstart screen or Guru. The problem is always dirty heads in the floppy drive.

The solution is to use a simple, inexpensive floppy drive cleaning kit, which you may be able to find at an office supplies store locally, or you can get them at online shops and eBay. They look like a floppy disk with a white cloth pad inside instead of a disc, and often come with a little bottle of fluid which you put a few drops of onto the pad before inserting the disk in your drive. You would then repeat it a few times, either by re-inserting the disk or by rebooting (with Ctrl+A+A) a few times so the head gets a good clean.

Then all you need are some games. You won't need Workbench to play the games, but you should still get a copy anyway.

I'm not sure how to make ADFs from WHDLoad images but it's probably possible somehow, they're both disk images.

Hi!
Now I got my game to test my Amiga!:) Game is called "Insanity Fight". So, I turned my Amiga on, waited to Kickstart 1.3 bootscreen to appear, and inserted floppy inside to internal floppy drive (FD0). Then I waited, and orange drive light lit up. Game loaded, musics and sounds worked correctly, BUT....... there are graphical errors! LOT OF THEM, you can't play anything.

Theres picture of game (black and white because of monochrome output): http://www.freeimagehosting.net/q29zg  (that white mess there should be instruction text of game.) I need help! Is this bad graphics chip.:confused: (I think not because kickstart splash screen shows up correctly. Or is this now a dirty floppy drive? If it is dirty one, can I clean it without the cleaning floppy? I just actually don't want to buy something from ebay. When I watched inside to floppy drive with a lamp, I saw lot of dust here.:confused:

But thanks from everything! -Eemil