Get WorkBench running on my Amiga 1200

[petercli]

Background :
I bought an Amiga 1200 on Ebay (unknown condition).
I hooked it up to a 1084s using RGB connector. (I live in USA, and use NTSC)
 
Booting up shows a blurry screen. Booting up holding 2 mouse buttons shows the "amiga early startup control" : http://www.flickr.com/photos/84872095@N08/7956101654/in/photostream
 
 
I choose Display options , and noticed that NTSC is choosen.
Clicking Boot again shows a blury screen.
Clicking boot with no startup sequence shows a CLI.
 
Next I typed "INFO" and observe that DF0 has unreadable disk , even with a good disk : http://www.flickr.com/photos/84872095@N08/7956098696/in/photostream
 
 
Goals:
 
-Get workbench working. Why doesn't WB screen start?
 
-fix my floppy. I tried to boot off the WB Install disk but no luck. Is my floppy drive dead?
 
-Get the machine to default to ntsc. (I've read tons of very confusing articles about switching to ntsc)

[amiman99]

I think I know what going on.
Looks like you have HD and after the boot, the screen is "screwed", but when you skip the startup-sequence the screen is fine.
It looks like the monitor preferences are set to display other then PAL/NTSC, and could be VGA or DoubleNTSC or DoulblePAL.
So to fix it, select boot with no startup-sequence
in CLI type LOADWB
When it loads, and it may give you errors, just ignore them, go to the boot HD and Prefs folder, select ScreenMode, and then select NTSC. Save and reboot.

[petercli]

amiman99,
 
Huge progress today !
I followed your steps , and now I see the screen preferences screen :
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84872095@N08/7958280142/in/photostream
 
All the choices say NTSC.
(I  saw a dialog box saying 'please insert volume ENV in any drive' which i cancelled)
 
I ran the Avail command :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84872095@N08/7958383830/in/photostream
 
Does the lack of fast ram mean i need to go to a lower resolution ?
 
Also, Any idea why the INFO says DF0 is 'unreadable disk'  ? Is it defective? If so , how hard is it to replace ?
 
Thanks a ton,
Peter

[amiman99]

Looks like you dont have any fast memory, only 2Mb chip ram.
If you want more selections in your ScreenMode, go to the Storage folder on your HD, then Monitors and copy other drivers to your DEVS/Monitors folder, then reboot.
Next time you can choose different screen resolution.

As for disk, I'm not sure, does it show up on desktop?

[magnetic]

Chances are the floppy drive is faulty.

[Rebel-CD32]

It's possible the floppy drive simply has dirty heads that need to be cleaned.

[danbeaver]

Rest assured, the lack of fast ram has nothing to do with resolutions.  Assuming the floppy disk is really readable (and not a game disk), then your floppy drive is either dirty, not connected properly (cable loose or not attached), or mechanically messed up.  There is a 3.5" Cleaning floppy that uses just isopropyl alcohol on a stiff cloth disk for cleaning the heads; this is easier than getting inbetween the heads with something similar.  Cotton swabs are too big unless you disassemble the drive, and can leave behind cotton fibers.

Or you could get a new or used replacement drive.  There are some on *Bay out of Canada, or for about the same wait, AmigaKit has them.

Oh WorkBench will run without the floppy

[Matt_H]

I think I know what going on.
Looks like you have HD and after the boot, the screen is "screwed", but when you skip the startup-sequence the screen is fine.
It looks like the monitor preferences are set to display other then PAL/NTSC, and could be VGA or DoubleNTSC or DoulblePAL.
So to fix it, select boot with no startup-sequence
in CLI type LOADWB
When it loads, and it may give you errors, just ignore them, go to the boot HD and Prefs folder, select ScreenMode, and then select NTSC. Save and reboot.

An alternative to this is to boot without startup-sequence, and then type

Code: [Select]

cd sys:prefs/env-archive/sys
rename screenmode.prefs screenmode.prefs.off
Reboot and you should be fine. Then you can use the Screenmode prefs tool to pick a new mode.

[petercli]

Matt,
Your suggestion worked ! Thanks to everyone !
 
Also, I started a new thread regarding the floppy problem. I'll buy a  3 1/2 floppy cleaning kit . If that fails, I will pop open the case .
Cheers, Peter

[pan1k]

Is it me, or does it look like it's an A600 in an A1200 case...?

[rvo_nl]

Is it me, or does it look like it's an A600 in an A1200 case...?

with native 256 colour support and 2mb chip?

[spaceman88]

Is it me, or does it look like it's an A600 in an A1200 case...?

Yeah, that's not a 1200 motherboard.

[amiman99]

Maybe he has 2 Amigas and pictures are not related...

[petercli]

Are you talking about the screen preferences screen shapshot ? The only working Amiga i have is the a1200, which I bought on ebay Untested.
 
Does the 256 colors  mean its a amiga 600 motherboard ?
 
Thans, Peter

[spaceman88]

Are you talking about the screen preferences screen shapshot ? The only working Amiga i have is the a1200, which I bought on ebay Untested.
 
Does the 256 colors  mean its a amiga 600 motherboard ?
 
Thans, Peter

There are a couple of pictures of a motherboard that is not a 1200. The one titled "ROM" shows a version 2.05 ROM and a 68000 CPU which are not present in a 1200 (should be a 3.0 or 3.1 on two chips and a 68020 CPU) As Pan1K said it looks like a 600 board but I'm not as familiar with those as I am with the 1200.

Oh, 600's only have 32 colours, except in HAM mode.