First Amiga 500

[Dr. Chef]

I just bought my very first A500 (ntsc) from eBay for 100 bucks (minus shipping price).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221480561062

Question: Was this a fair price, or could I bought it for much less? It comes with a monitor, power-supply, kickstart, etc.

Question 2: Isn't there a way to create Amiga compatible floppies by using 3.5 floppies by formatting from a PC running Windows?

[TeamBlackFox]

Nice buy! For the system and monitor alone thats danged good.

Short answer on floppy creation - no.
Long answer - you'll need some special hardware.
If you want I'd be happy to send you whatever WB disks you need, PM me for details as I have the stuff to do it on my 3000D

[Dr. Chef]

I don't mind buying special hardware. I did a Google search and found this: http://www.lemonamiga.com/help/faq_crossplatform.php. I also heard of a tape trick.

Question time: Could I use WinUAE (AmigaForever) and convert the floppies with a PC floppy drive, then use them on Amiga, or is there another alternative? What about using a Null-modem cable with Amiga Explorer? Could I do that with out having AmigaExplorer installed on my Amiga machine?


Here is what I have to work with:

Old PC floppy drives (I doubt they'll work, so I'll probably have to see if I can purchase a USB one, or a new floppy drive on Newegg).
Amiga 500 (Hasn't arrived yet).
A stack of unused 3.5" floppies.
Amiga Forever with Amiga Explorer
WinUAE with custom 3.1 desktop

I could try different software, or buy some hardware, as long they're not too expensive

[blanning]

Question 2: Isn't there a way to create Amiga compatible floppies by using 3.5 floppies by formatting from a PC running Windows?

To actually write floppy disks, you'll need a catweasel board and a floppy drive in a PC.  I don't think Jens is making them anymore.  I have one and they're nice to have, especially if you have other retro hardware.  But it's an expensive solution.

Assuming you have some workbench disks to get you off the ground, there's ways to transfer disk image files over a serial connection and write them with your amiga.  This can present a chicken or egg problem.

There are also a couple of devices available now that allow you to replace the floppy drive with an sd card reader.  You select the disk image on a little lcd display and the amiga is none the wiser.

I think at this point the best solution would be to pick up an ACA500.  You can use WinUAE to create a bootable workbench hard drive on a compact flash card, then boot the 500 off the compact flash card.  Then you can use another compact flash card formatted for fat32 to transfer image files.

brian

[amiman99]

The price for a working A500 is not bad.

The cheapest way to make floppies is with this method:
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62243&highlight=transfer
I personally did not try it (I have A1200 with CF card, it makes things easier), but it should work. You do need a custom cable and a parallel port on the PC.
You also could use slower method using the Amiga Explorer and a serial cable.

You can also get the "Floppy Emulator", more expensive. Just copy ADF files to SD card and select from menu and play.

kipper2k makes 8MB plus IDE upgrade board for A500, this can be useful in the future (or now).

[amigakid]

$100 bucks was a pretty good deal.  If you need any WB disks or other disks I'd be happy to send you some (just have to pay for the postage).  Enjoy that A500 there is a ton of really excellent software for it!

[Lurch]

Replace that floppy drive with a gotek.... then download the ADF's copy them to a flash drive and party on Garth.

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?60771-GOTEK-Floppy-Drive-Emulator-%28Black%29-for-AMIGA-%28fw1-5a%29-USB-TTL-cable

[Lurch]

While there grab some memory upgrades, IDE to CF-CARD for workbench and more :-)

http://kipper2k.com/amigaforsale/

[Dr. Chef]

Thanks for the replies.

For making floppies, the best bet is using a Cat-weasel? I'm open to other suggestions. What I want to do is to create floppies from a PC running Windows and play games on my new Amiga 500. I also want to copy Amiga forever workbench files and install WB2, if possible. Is there a better option for me?

I would like to use standard 3.5" floppies. Could I format them using WinUAE and a standard PC floppy drive, or will it only work with an Amiga floppy drive with cat-weasel (or less time consuming)? Is gotek a viable option since I would only have to click, drag, and play?

[Sektor]

Replace that floppy drive with a gotek.... then download the ADF's copy them to a flash drive and party on Garth.

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?60771-GOTEK-Floppy-Drive-Emulator-%28Black%29-for-AMIGA-%28fw1-5a%29-USB-TTL-cable

I approve of this gotek USB suggestion. Forget dealing with floppies or null modem cables and it's much cheaper than any CF adapter, especially if you flash the drive firmware yourself.

[amiman99]

@Dr.chef
You can not format Amiga disks on WinPC, even under emulation.
You can however transfer ADF file from WinPC directly to the Amiga's floppy drive, using 2 methods: Serial or Parallel.

Or just use the floppy emulator

[blanning]

For making floppies, the best bet is using a Cat-weasel? I'm open to other suggestions. What I want to do is to create floppies from a PC running Windows and play games on my new Amiga 500. I also want to copy Amiga forever workbench files and install WB2, if possible. Is there a better option for me?

I would like to use standard 3.5" floppies. Could I format them using WinUAE and a standard PC floppy drive, or will it only work with an Amiga floppy drive with cat-weasel (or less time consuming)? Is gotek a viable option since I would only have to click, drag, and play?

Standard PC hardware for hard drives and CF card interfaces can write any format including those used by the Amiga.  This is why you can write a CF card with WinUAE and a PC and be able to read it on an Amiga.  

Floppies are a different matter.  The standard floppy controller on a PC can't create the Amiga format even if you plug in an Amiga floppy drive, hence the need for a Catweasel board.  With the Catweasel, you can write Amiga floppies (among several others) with a standard PC floppy drive.

I agree with the others, find a way to use CF cards or SD cards.  Then if you want floppies, write them with the Amiga.

[3583Bytes]

I use Amiga Explorer,

http://www.amigaforever.com/ae/

Its a free software that allows you to copy files/games onto the Amiga via a serial null modem cable.  You can get a null modem cable at almost any computer store, or online.  It does require that you have some blank floppies (for the games) but you can get those off your local craigs list or AmigaKit.com

I am lucky to have an IDE controller in my Amiga 500 so I can copy and install the games directly onto it.  Its not the cheapest but it makes the Amiga 500 so much better.   I can't even imagine having to use floppies anymore.

Some poeple have been ordering the ACA 500 card from AmigaKit.com.  Its about $100 but it allows you to have a compact flash card hooked up to your Amiga, and it comes with extra memory and Kickstart 3.1.  Probably your best bet for the money at this time.

[sm3]

...
Some poeple have been ordering the ACA 500 card from AmigaKit.com.  Its about $100 but it allows you to have a compact flash card hooked up to your Amiga, and it comes with extra memory and Kickstart 3.1.  Probably your best bet for the money at this time.

I use the ACA 500 and I recommend it, however, unless you have a Rev 6A board, I'm not sure I would buy it.

I have several Rev 5 500's and I couldn't get it to work with them, in spite of the web page that says it does work with Rev 5. After I obtained a Rev 6A 500, then it worked great!  I can recommend an HxC floppy emulator from lotharek.pl as well. You can either buy a slim version and install it into the 500 or use the cased external version.

[orange]

I'd just wait for the FPGA turbo card. It will be much faster and more flexible, with many extra features.
As for the price, 100$ is a bit high for stock A500, I believe. Even with a monitor.
You should have gotten at least some kind of hdd interface, too.