EasyADF PCMCIA?

[Toddney]

Hi,

I have just recently purchased an A600 from ebay, to replace my old one which stopped working a few weeks ago. I think the floppy drive was faulty but it was so scruffy anyway that a new A600 seemed more appealing.

It is coming with the standard setup, 1MB ram, no hard disk and no other extras.

I am now thinking of transferring files (some adf backups etc) from my PC to the A600. At first I thought of using the null modem cable etc, but then came across the EasyADF PCMCIA (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=440&osCsid=b8500aae12ff7cc57f2b1e3a2b56002e)

Has anyone had any experience with this? If so, is it as easy as it sounds? Would I need a ram upgrade/hard disk in order to transfer ADF's and create the disks?

Any other suggestions are welcome,

Thanks,

Toddney

[Tiago]

I have one easyadf pcmcia for my A1200.
It works fine. It is very easy to work with.
It is a simple card pcmcia with a converter to a compaq flash. You just need to put one compaq flash card (i use a 256mb one) and use or install the floppy that comes with easyadf. This disk is bootable so you do not need HD, but if you have, better.
The software is very simple to use, just run the program it will detact the pcmcia and will show you the adfs inside. You can transform 1 adf from pcmcia to floppy or vice-versa. It is very very simple to work.
But if you dont have an HD and no more then 1MB of RAM i dont know if you will be able to use it because the software will use some memory and the adf is 800kb so... i dont know. ask in amikit.com, i bought it there, they should know the answer.

But if it's easy, yes it is easy and fast!!

[Harrison]

I would recommend installing a HD in the A600. It makes the system a lot more useful. You can pickup second hand 2.5" HDs from ebay out of dead laptops cheaply, which is a great way to get hold of them these days.

[Toddney]

Thanks for the info. I have quickly looked around on ebay and amigakit.com, and found various cradles and hard drives. As my amiga600 will come with ROM 2.05, I am guessing that I shouldn't get a preinstalled 3.1 workbench hard drive? Or could I format this somehow in order to install 2.05?

Could I then store my games on the drive itself rather than use floppies? Is this what WHDLoad is all about, or is this something different. I heard this needs alot of ram also.

[Harrison]

You can connect the Harddrive to a PC and set it up using the Amiga emulator WinUAE as this can directly access Amiga formatted HDs. This makes life very easy as you can copy the files over from the PC to the HD, set it up just how you would like, and then disconnect the drive and use it in the Amiga. Makes life much easier.

If it is a 2.5" HD then you can get a cheap IDE to USB cable from ebay. Tiago and myself both purchased these from Hong Kong for £0.99p plus postage.

For the A600 I would recommend you install Workbench 2.1 to the HD as it was a big update compared to 2.05, and it will work perfectly on the A600. If you want a copy of this version of Workbench give me a PM and I can sort out the ADFs for you. Workbench 2.1 was a file structure closer to Workbench 3 and even has CrossDOS built in to read PC formatted floppies.

WHDLoad is indeed for installing all of your Floppy disk based Amiga games to Harddisk. If you wish to set the Amiga up for this I highly recommend a different method of setting up the harddrive.

You can download a very nice preconfigured Workbench setup called classicWB available at http://classicwb.abime.net/ with a special A600 ECS Workbench 2.1 version called Classic Workbench Green Amiga Alien Edition available at http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/gaae.htm

ClassicWB sets the HD up with a great pre-configured Workbench environment, and even sets WHDLoad up read for you to use.

You do need 2MB of ram to rn ClassicWB and WHDLoad properly, so if you don't have 2MB in your A600 I highly recommend you track down the Commodore A601 1MB chip ram expansion for the A600. Should be quite cheap on ebay these days, or maybe Amikit has one.

Once you have that sorted, you don't actually need to manually install the WHDLoad supported games to the HD either. There are extensive WHDLoad game packs created by a guy called Killa Gorilla which you can find at http://www.guildserver.co.uk/kgwhd/

If you have classicWB installed, then you can just download these WHDLoad game packs and copy them to the Amiga HD and run them. That simple enough? ;)

[Toddney]

Information overload, but I think I am starting to understand ;)

I am a little confused about the hard drives though and what is compatible. You say IDE to USB, is that for connecting an external USB drive? Could I buy any IDE hard disk if I wanted?

Then with these WHDLoad games, some of them will work with kickstart 2.05, but won't some also be only for kickstart 1.3? I got a degrader floppy with my amiga 600, so would I still be able to use this even if I have this HD setup you recommend?

Finally, the RAM upgrade, the only one I can find is this one: A602 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=533&osCsid=3bb56e19fd6763ed02dbdabf50563398) but I am not sure this is a) correct and b) where is this installed (looks too big to fit).

TIA

[Harrison]

From the image that expansion looks like it just connected into the trap door expansion under the A600. You could email Amikit to ask them before you order it as they are a great bunch of guys and will answer any questions you might have.

It looks like a useful expansion too as it has a built in clockport for using some A1200 expansions such as USB ports.

For WHDLoad, it contains it's own downgrader built in and will downgrade the system to make older games run on the A600 without you needing to use any floppy disk downgraders.

The IDE to USB connector I mentioned it for accessing a 2.5" harddrive on the PC. You could equally use an external harddrive caddie on the PC to do the same.

The idea is to buy a 2.5" harddrive that will fit inside the A600. Then connect this to the PC using either an external harddrive caddie or an IDE to USB cable. Then using the Amiga emulator WinUAE you can format and setup the harddrive easily on the PC. And then once completed you can remove the harddrive from the PC and put it into the Amiga to enjoy the HD you have then set up.

It sounds more complex than it really is. I can create a guide in the next week or so for you if you need it.

[Toddney]

Makes perfect sense now, I will do the buying after my next paycheck.

Yesterday was the best, my A600 arrived in an amazing condition. The keys and case are perfect white, and the degrader works so well. Just played some of my A500 floppies which I haven't played since it broke 15 years ago. Happy new year :D

[Harrison]

Congratulations on the new A600 purchase. Hope you have lots of fun with it. And just let me know if you need to know anything else.

And a happy new year to you too. :)

[Toddney]

Hm and now the honeymoon period is gone.

I've noticed that I have the 37.300 release, and so I wouldn't be able to upgrade to a big hard disk. I'm guessing therefore, I will have to upgrade to a 37.350 release or even go for the 3.1 kickstart.

So now my question is, can I use a memory card instead as a hard disk? I've heard this has been done before but am not quite sure if it would work with my crappy kickstart release.

If this isn't possible, I might have to buy a new Amiga 1200 as this would probably be better value for money, and would have the HD, RAM etc.

[Stephen Coates]

Getting a 3.1 ROM could be useful as it will allow you to run Workbench 3.1, which is better. For games, if they don't work with 3.1, you should be able to use the ReLoKick 1.3 or whatever to get a 1.3 ROM.

It is possible to use a memory card in place of an HD. You will just need to buy a suitably sized Compact Flash card and an Compact Flash -> IDE adaptor. I'm not sure how well they work, but a hard disk would probably be easier and more reliable. I think there is a topic about Compact flash cards on this forum which provides some info about it.

An A1200 is certainly good if you want to expand it, like with a 68030 or a PPC. I'm not sure what advantages it would have just for games, other than AGA which is only useful for AGA games.

Hope that helps.

[Toddney]

Is there anything like this for Kickstart 3.1?

http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/gaae.htm

This seemed very user-friendly, so I might just get the 37.350 rom instead (much cheaper)

[Graham Humphrey]

Yes - check out the main ClassicWB (http://classicwb.abime.net/index.htm) page and you'll find the other packs for Workbench 3.x.

There's also a dedicated sub-forum for it on EAB too.

[Harrison]

I've noticed that I have the 37.300 release, and so I wouldn't be able to upgrade to a big hard disk. I'm guessing therefore, I will have to upgrade to a 37.350 release or even go for the 3.1 kickstart.

So now my question is, can I use a memory card instead as a hard disk? I've heard this has been done before but am not quite sure if it would work with my crappy kickstart release.

If this isn't possible, I might have to buy a new Amiga 1200 as this would probably be better value for money, and would have the HD, RAM etc.

You can use a larger HD via a third party custom filesystem on the HD.

But you can get kickstart 3.1 for the A600 (possibly hard to find for the A600 though), and this will allow you to install Workbench 3.1 as well as OS3.5 or 3.9 and then take advantage of bigger storage. But because of the ECS chipset in the A600 you would still have limitations. No AGA support so no AGA games or applications would work. And limited ECS colour palette and mode support so some screen modes and some utilities and applications wouldn't work.

Therefore an upgrade to an A1200 would be the best choice overall, instead of spending money on the A600 as you could then get an accelerator card with some fast ram fitted, and install a compact flash card unit inside the A1200 instead of an HD. You could also get the A1200 on to the internet with a PCMCIA NIC card, and there are loads of other expansions you can do over time, including a full tower conversion eventually.

[Toddney]

Thanks for all the tips. However, my ebay seller wouldn't return the A600, and seeing as I spent so much already on it, I'm keeping it.

Now I've bought an A600 HD, 2.05 rev 37.350 ROM and 1mb 602 expansion. Will be getting the cables soon enough also. So I will eventually go with the original idea that you suggested, and installing that special 2.1 version.

[Toddney]

Am I right in thinking that the HD I have bought could just be connected to my pc with the normal IDE cable/power cable that a PC motherboard would use?

I understand the Amiga uses a 44pin version and transfers power at the same time.

[Buleste]

The amiga uses 2.5" IDE hard drives as standard and PC's use 3.5" IDE as standard. 2.5" is 44 pin and no power connector and 3.5 is 40 pin and a power connector. You can connect your hard drive to the PC with a different connector. There are many ways of doing this each have their own pros and cons.

[Toddney]

Ah ok so what are my options?

[Harrison]

The easiest two options are those I already mentioned.

The first is to use an external 2.5" HD caddy. Just pop the HD into the caddy and then connect it to the PC via USB. That is the simplist method and it works. And a caddy from ebay is only a few pounds at most.

The second is to use an external IDE to USB cable, such as the one here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-to-SATA-IDE-HD-HDD-Adapter-Converter-Cable-l6_W0QQitemZ350011364522QQihZ022QQcategoryZ74941QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). Just connect the HD to the cable, then pug the cable into the PC and the drive will appear. This is what I've been using recently and it works perfectly.

The other alternative is to by a 40pin to 44pin IDE adaptor such as this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IDE-3-5-to-2-5-HARD-DRIVE-ADAPTOR-LEAD-POST-NOW_W0QQitemZ110208396333QQihZ001QQcategoryZ41994QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD4VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p1638.m124) so you can connect the drive directly to the IDE interface on your PC motherboard. However this requires you to open the PC and have it switched off while you install or remove the drive. Using either of the two USB methods above you don't need to do this and can connect and remove the drive at any time you like.

[Toddney]

I can't get windows to recognise this drive. It has already been formatted and has workbench 3.x on it, would this be the reason why it can't detect it? Or something else?

[Harrison]

Windows won't recognise the drive because as you say it is formatted for the Amiga. You need to download the Amiga emulator WinUAE and access the drive using that.

I will PM you some details that you may need.

When you start the emulator set it up from the quick configuration as an A1200 with 4MB fast ram. Then go down to the harddrive section and you can add your harddrive into the emulator, then start the emulator and it should find and boot from the harddrive.

[Toddney]

I'm afraid the PC won't detect the drive at all. On a hardware level it doesn't show up in the device manager or disk management tools. What could be wrong? I am using the IDE USB2 cable.

[Harrison]

Is it a 2.5" or 3.5" HD you are trying to connect?

[Toddney]

It's a 2.5" hard disk but I think the adapter is faulty, as I have tried a load of other hard disks of different sizes etc.

[Harrison]

For a USB adaptor Windows should display a message saying it has detected a new USB device, and then it will install it ready for use. If it doesn't do this then it definitely sounds like the adaptor is the problem.

When connected it with a 2.5" HD the USB cable will be supplying the power to run the HD. Therefore you have to make sure the USB port you are using can supply enough power to run the drive. Have you tried different USB ports in case it is the port that is the problem.

[v85rawdeal]

It may also be a case of unplugging any other non-essential hardware that is connected to USB ports, as that can also help to free up some juice.

[v85rawdeal]

Windows won't recognise the drive because as you say it is formatted for the Amiga. You need to download the Amiga emulator WinUAE and access the drive using that.

I will PM you some details that you may need.

When you start the emulator set it up from the quick configuration as an A1200 with 4MB fast ram. Then go down to the harddrive section and you can add your harddrive into the emulator, then start the emulator and it should find and boot from the harddrive.

Harrison, I have just also picked up one of these cables, and will need to start from scratch (installing winUAE onwards, I have AmigaForever2006) could you give me a few quick pointers to help me get started too, as I want to get all my Amiga files onto my Amiga's hard drive.

Thanks

[Harrison]

Once you have the cable, and you can connect the HD and Windows detects it, start up WinUAE and go to the Hardware section, and into the Hard drives part. In here the third button is called "Add Hard Drive..." click that and you should be able to pick the HD from the list of physical HDs connected to the system. Once you have done that you can then add a Workbench ADF to the Floppy Drive page, and start WinUAE to boot into Workbench and format the HD.

If you are going to be copying files to the HD from your PC then an easy method is to create a directory on the PC and in the same Hard drives section select "Add Directory or Archive" and select this PC directory. You can then drop files in there and access them in the emulated Workbench, or drop files into that directory HD in Workbench to access them from Windows.

[Toddney]

Hi again, I've got a new adapter which seems to be working now. I have formatted the HD and partioned it, so there is DH0, DH1, and DH2.

So now, to install this ClassicWB GAAE, I mount the HDF file from the download, but what then? Also when I get these new games from the KG packs, where do I place them etc?