User avatar
acolic

Posted Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:39 pm

Hi

It’s a long time but I finally have my Amiga 500 working.

A couple of questions.

1. I installed and ECS Scandoubler and the bottom 1/3 of my LCD monitor is unused. I guess with VGA you can’t use a widescreen monitor. Is the solution to get a 4:3 ratio LCD?

2. If I download an application using my windows machine how do I get it on my Amiga. I have Gotek USB drive But that looks to only work with ADF files. Do I set up a FTP share on my windows box and FTP to it from my Amiga to share files? I was hoping I could put it on a USB and the Gotek would just read it but that does not seem to work.

3. If I am in the middle of playing a game and I want to end it and go back to the workbench is their a key shortcut?

Thanks

Alex

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:30 pm

These are all good questions, and not all easily answered.
1. I installed and ECS Scandoubler and the bottom 1/3 of my LCD monitor is unused. I guess with VGA you can’t use a widescreen monitor. Is the solution to get a 4:3 ratio LCD?
A 4:3 LCD is an excellent way to go for sure over a widescreen if you're using typical built-in screen modes and don't want to look at large areas of wasted real estate. Are you using an NTSC or PAL machine?

2. If I download an application using my windows machine how do I get it on my Amiga.
There are lots of ways to go about this. Assuming you're using OS 1.3, do you have a hard drive attached and in use?

3. If I am in the middle of playing a game and I want to end it and go back to the workbench is their a key shortcut?
That totally depends on the game. A lot of games have a menu you can access to quit and drop back to WB. Sometimes you can slap ESC to find that menu. What game are you playing and getting stuck in? It only works if you didn't boot the game from a disk, but launched it when WB was active first.

User avatar
acolic

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:36 am

I have an Amiga 500 with a Wicher 508i accelerator card with WB 3.1 and a GOTEK USB drive.

On my windows 10 machine I have a bunch of lha files I want to get to my Amiga. Stuff like MUI.

How do I get them from my windows 10 box to my Amiga?

I thought I could take all the LHA files and convert them to an ADF file to be read on the GOTEK but that does not seem possible.

I see tutorials on using a null modem cable but that seems cumbersome for every day use.

Perhaps I get a parallel - Ethernet adapter and hook the Amiga to my home network. then I could FTP from my Amiga to my laptop to get the LHA files.

Suggestions please.

Thanks

Alex

User avatar
acolic

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:37 am

Forgot to add I am using a NTSC monitor.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:33 am

acolic wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:36 am
I have an Amiga 500 with a Wicher 508i accelerator card with WB 3.1 and a GOTEK USB drive.

On my windows 10 machine I have a bunch of lha files I want to get to my Amiga. Stuff like MUI.

How do I get them from my windows 10 box to my Amiga?

I thought I could take all the LHA files and convert them to an ADF file to be read on the GOTEK but that does not seem possible.


You don't convert them to an ADF file. You make an empty .ADF file and drag and drop the files you want into that ADF image, then you can load it with the Gotek. What firmware is your Gotek using, by the way? Hopefully flashfloppy, as it is superior to the old Cortex firmware, and is free, unlike HxC (on which FF is based)?
Is your gotek modded with an OLED screen or does it still have the red lcd numbers?


Nullmodem is definitely an option to get the critical stuff on there, like MUI and a TCP/IP stack, like Miami. Once you get a TCP/IP stack installed, you can get a cheap network solution for it called a PlipBox and you can then send whatever you want to it over the network.
Last edited by obitus1990 on Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
acolic

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:37 am

I have the old Cortex software.

How do you make a blank ADF file?

I have the old 3 digit screen.

Thanks

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:45 am

You can make a blank ADF using WinUAE (windows based amiga emulator), I believe. This is also a free download. Grab you some ADF files of workbench disks somewhere on the net (Google will give you plenty of results), as well as KS ROMS for the emulated machine, and boot it up, then make the ADFs.

The Cortex firmware is really limited, as you have to use that menu selector system to give each ADF an image number that coincides with the digits displayed on the counter. FlashFloppy, on the other hand, allows direct navigation from one ADF to the other if you desire, and it supports adding a better screen to the gotek called an OLED that will show you the titles of the files as you scroll through them with the buttons. If you have a male-male USB A to USB A cable, you can reprogram it to use flashfloppy. If you go to Keir Fraser's github site, he has tutorials on how to do all of that.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:52 am

The Wicher508i does have an internal IDE which you can use from Kick2.0+ on. E.g. on Kick 3.1.

While it may seem tedious it is more than highly recommended to setup WinUAE with the mass storage you use internally in the Amiga. E.g. if you have a CF in the Amiga you can use it in WinUAE as if it was a real Amiga and then put it your actual machine and continue using it.

Under WinUAE you can use folders of the Windows-PC Host to access any files you want. Takes a few minutes to set up and is a breeze to work with.

Much more simple than transferring the files.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:39 pm

HxC Floppy Emulator Software

The above software is handy for making images, and is a standalone program. I am pretty sure it will make both ADF and HFE files.

User avatar
acolic

Posted Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:21 pm

thanks

I got things working with this program except MUI.

Th LHA is larger then a standard 880 Amiga floppy drive.

Any suggestions?

obitus1990 wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:39 pm
HxC Floppy Emulator Software

The above software is handy for making images, and is a standalone program. I am pretty sure it will make both ADF and HFE files.





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