WorkBench Newbie

[Godfather]

Aloha,

Just got myself an Amiga 500 with 1Mb RAM , but NO software what so ever.  :-(

I know I can get WorkBench ADFs from my PeeCee onto my Amiga, but for that , I need an already working Amiga. Thus, the situation look like a box locked  from the inside.

I almost ordered a workbench 3 set, BUT , I realized maybe it won't be compatible with my ROM.

(I think I have 1.2 coz when I boot, I get the hand wit the floppy asking for 1.2)


How do I know which ROM I have ? do I need something newer to run WB 3.1 ? Where do I get the ROM ? somebody still selling those ?



                                               The Godfather.

[Lo]

Aloha...you could try Software Hut, not the cheapest, but click here  There are others, let me know..

[Blomberg]

How do I know which ROM I have ? do I need something newer to run WB 3.1 ?

You were right. The hand thing shows which version ROM you have and the corresponding Workbench is what you can use with it.
You need Kickstart ROM 3.1 to run WB 3.1, I'm not sure what other specs it requires, I imagine some more RAM.

You can get bundled ROMs and OS's (WB) at Eyetech

[Colin_Camper]

You might find it cheaper to look for a cheap A1200  locally that has the disks with it - may be the same as buying 3.1 new.

[QuikSanz]

It seems these days A500's are mostly good at bootable games. Expansion "yes there are some" is way too much. An A1200 is a good way to go, lots of expansion capabilities. If you can find a good deal on an A2000 thats not bad either, no AGA, Bummer, some good AGA games out there. AHH but graphics card support, oohh. See whats out there "E-BAY", Its a buyers market now.

Chris

[XDelusion]

An Amiga newbie?!!?

 That's kool, Nice to hear there are still people wiling to check out the old days when Mircrosoft was just a great flight sim company.

[Godfather]

Thanks,

That clears the mist.

The next question is how do I replace the ROM ?

Is there a hardware guide on the web ?

Anyway,  considering the year it was made and the black ugky screen o the XT on boot....the Amiga boot screen  is COOL !!   :-D

[Tesral]

Godfather wrote:

The next question is how do I replace the ROM ?

Is there a hardware guide on the web ?
 

You should get a instillation sheet with the ROM you buy.   However I'm with the people they say get a 1200.  Easier to upgrade and more stuff is available for it.

I had a 500 for a few months, then bought the then new A1200.  Shocked and amazed I was.  I still use Amigastine  My cobbled together Amiga 4000 with many an upgrade as my main machine.

Godfather wrote:
The next question is how do I replace the ROM ?
Is there a hardware guide on the web ?

I wouldn't bother with replacing the ROM on the 500, or even getting workbench for it.  Just get OCS games that auto boot on it.  WB 1.2/1.3 are just about useless.  Also, I don't see a way you'd be able to get the ADF's from your PC onto the 500 to make them real disks, unless you buy an external High Density floppy drive.  (PC formated DSDD disks are only 720K where as the ADF files and Amiga DSDD disks are 880K, so you can't copy them over to your Amiga via floppy unless you get a HD drive for your Amiga)  Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you need at least WB 2.0 to use a HD drive on the Amiga anyway.  I would probably leave the 500 as is and do as the others suggested, get a 1200 for AGA and making your ADF's into disks.  Then you could also slap in a PCMCIA NIC and transfer the ADF's to your 1200 over the network and not have to mess with messy floppy copying and buying a HD drive.

[pioneer]

I think you could make most adf files lots smaller by compressing them with WinZIP. Then they would fit on a 720 floppy. Here's another trick you could try. Extract the zip file to the Amiga PIPE: device. Then "PIPE" it to the ADF converter. I'm not sure that would get you much, but it's an option you have. Or just get a second floppy drive.