Hi Ive just found my old Amiga 600 and...

[jt56]

Hi
I dug my old (and much loved) Amiga 600HD out the other day. Dusted off the box and considered selling it at a carboot. I got some interest but something stopped me from taking the <snip> ...</snip> on offer so I brought it back home and since then Ive booted it up , the HardDrive had failed so asked "how to" on an Amiga forum and replaced the 20Mb HD with a 4GB CF card. All seems to work ok. Only installed workbench 2.05 & Wordworth on it so far. Using Kick Start 37.300 and have 2MB RAM (1mb of which is on a expansion card that i fitted in the early 90s). How the memories are flooding back. I have begun to recall some frustration at not having a numpad on the 600 especially using certain functions on DP3 but still great fun.
Im going to re install my old games (Alien Breed, Gunship 2000 etc) and Deluxe Paint and when i get time do a little retro computing.
My main query is (without spending a fortune) what can i do with my old 1990s Amiga in 2011? Ive heard mention of downloading software and OS etc via the web but how would i begin to do this and what can my A600 manage?
What can i do to impove my Amiga whilst still retaining its old skool charm?
Im a novice to all of this (changing the hard drive took some nerve...) Ive ordered a CF/PCMCIA adapter card from China but not arrived as yet. I have access to the internet through my PC.
Any advice in Laymans terms would be very helpful.
Nice site BTW cheers JT



[edit]
Hello jt56, my appologies for having to edit your post - unfortunately it could be seen as pricedriving or guiding as such I have edited out the price. I know that you didn't mean it this way so please dont worry, when you get some time, grab yourt favourite beverage and have a read of the rules and guidelines it will explain more.

 

[Amiga Forever]

Welcome to the forum and It is cool to have Amiga 600HD.

Enjoy your Stay

 

[Allen1]

Hi there jt, good to see you came here as well as in the EAB forum, on both forums there are a lot of knowledgeable people so hopefully any questions you ask will be dealt with

I hope you find a 2 or 4 MB SRAM card at a decent price soon as the do make a great difference to the 600 and even th 1200 for WHDLoad games

 

[Templar]

Welcome. Something deep 'inside' you told you not to sell that miggy, and I'm really greateful that you heard it.

 

[highlandcattle]

Check if the extra 1 mb of ram has a battery on it and check if it hasn't leaked!

Once your pmcia card arrives the fun can begin!(this can take a long while from china)
First install this:
http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/gaae.htm

Then you can download WHDLOAD versions of games through lemonamiga.org (naturally you need to own the original disk )

Then you play!

 

[Geraldine]

Yes, well done to you for not selling your 600. You would have regretted it later :nod:

As for upgrades, you might try finding a Squirrel PCMCIA or IDE adaptor so that you can fit an external CD-ROM and or an Easy Net from (for example) Amiga Kit so that you can take your 600 online. If you were doing this I would recommend upgrading your CPU and RAM too, but don't expect that browsing online will be as easy as it is with a modern PC. Some web pages will not display properly. If on a budget though (as you already have a CF drive) extra RAM is always a useful upgrade.
Best advice I can give you though is just to sit back and go through the threads on here. You will see many projects on here that could give you ideas for your own miggy.

And welcome to Amibay

 

[Merlin]

@ jt56

Welcome!

If you are looking for a "Pimp my Miggy" website, you have just found one......:nod: There is much hackery on here....

 

[moijk]

Hi
My main query is (without spending a fortune) what can i do with my old 1990s Amiga in 2011?

Everything you want sans watching movies and browsing the internet with a modern browser. Well, almost.

 

[johnim]

hello and welcome

 

[BrooksterMax]

The A600 is not as easily upgradable in terms of cost compared to the bigger brother A1200 but you are still going to have a lot of fun

Well done for not selling it - I still have our original A500+ back from 1991 and it is great to still have the same machine.

 

[jt56]

Thanks for the warm welcome & advice.
Ive just ordered a 2mb Sram card <snip> ... </snip>
My 1mb expansion card has a battery & it doesnt appear to be leaking (is my amiga supposed to be able to remember the time when switched off?)
So in Laymans terms whats the process for getting software from a pc to my amiga or do i need to connect my amiga to the internet somehow, if so what kind of cards would i need as i have a few older PCMCIA laptop network cards in a box somewhere, if they might be of use?
As for my CF adapter i had to ask the seller (in Hong Kong) to resend it as ive been waiting over a month, they say they have re sent it, we will see. <snip> ... </snip>
Is there a "must do things to do with my Amiga 600" list and if so how might I go about doing it?
What does WHDload do & is it simple to get a copy and install it? sorry if my questions are very basic but like i say im a bit of a novice when it comes to updating my A600 things have moved on since i last used it in 97. Thanks again JT

PS it may sound daft but i did get a bit of a buzz when i swapped out my knackered 20mb HD for the CF card and got it working - and no it wasnt the mains electricity passing through me...



[edit]
Hello again jt56, my appologies for having to edit your post - unfortunately it could be seen as pricedriving or guiding as such I have edited out the price. I know that you didn't mean it this way so please dont worry, when you get some time, grab yourt favourite beverage and have a read of the rules and guidelines it will explain more.

 

[Hell_Labs]

Thanks for the warm welcome & advice.
Ive just ordered a 2mb Sram card <snip> ... </snip>.

I've a feeling you'll be putting that back on ebay soonish, I've got a 4MB I'm getting rid of on here tomorrow. Oh well.

My 1mb expansion card has a battery & it doesnt appear to be leaking (is my amiga supposed to be able to remember the time when switched off?)

Yep, they're supposed to but it's probably flat. It's probably a coin shape battery, so if it is take it to a watch repairer and they'll have a replacement.

So in Laymans terms whats the process for getting software from a pc to my amiga or do i need to connect my amiga to the internet somehow, if so what kind of cards would i need?
As for my CF adapter i had to ask the seller (in Hong Kong) to resend it as ive been waiting over a month, they say they have resent it, we will see. <snip> ... </snip>

Is that a USB one for your pc or a PCMCIA (credit card slot on left of Amiga) one? It's different with each.

Is there a "must do things to do with my Amiga 600" list and if so how might I go about doing it?

Other than a bit more ram (you already bought another 2mb so should be alright for now) not really. Some upgrade the rom chip to 3.1, but it's not worth it IMO unless you're doing serious mad science.

It's only the baby amiga after all.

What does WHDload do & is it simple to get a copy and install it? sorry if my questions are very basic but like i say im a bit of a novice when it comes to updating my A600 things have moved on since i last used it in 97. Thanks again JT

WHDLoad is a program that takes your old floppy games, and fiddles with them so that you can have them on a hard disk and you just click on the icon to play.

Gets rid of disk swapping, they load really fast, and it fixes any compatability probs like with old 500 games that didn't work on a 600, WHDLoad makes them work again.

Technically you need the original disks to copy off, but there are some ...places... online where they're already converted and ready to download.

PS it may sound daft but i did get a bit of a buzz when i swapped out my knackered 20mb HD for the CF card and got it working - and no it wasnt the mains electricity passing through me...

We all get that when we start off.

 

[tokyoracer]

Yep, they're supposed to but it's probably flat. It's probably a coin shape battery, so if it is take it to a watch repairer and they'll have a replacement.

Take an A600 to a watch repairer? Are you serious? :huh:

There's one of 2 things that battery could be. If it's a coin type then easy, just lift up the prong and slide it out. If its a barrel type then cut that baby out ASAP. It could leak at any moment due to age. Obviously remove the expansion before you do anything.

So in Laymans terms whats the process for getting software from a pc to my amiga or do i need to connect my amiga to the internet somehow, if so what kind of cards would i need as i have a few older PCMCIA laptop network cards in a box somewhere, if they might be of use?
As for my CF adapter i had to ask the seller (in Hong Kong) to resend it as ive been waiting over a month, they say they have re sent it, we will see. (mind you it only cost £1.97 inc del via Ebay)
Is there a "must do things to do with my Amiga 600" list and if so how might I go about doing it?
What does WHDload do & is it simple to get a copy and install it? sorry if my questions are very basic but like i say im a bit of a novice when it comes to updating my A600 things have moved on since i last used it in 97. Thanks again JT

PS it may sound daft but i did get a bit of a buzz when i swapped out my knackered 20mb HD for the CF card and got it working - and no it wasnt the mains electricity passing through me...

Right off the bat, there's very few PCMCIA cards originally designed for PC Laptops that will work in an A600 too. In terms of network devices only certain 3Com cards will work and some prism(?) devices too. You don't have to do that to get stuff off the net though. The best method (IMHO anyway) is a PCMCIA to CF adapter and the corresponding drivers for it that you can get for free on AmiNet. That way you can swap the CF card as much as you wish between your Amiga and PC. That is by far the most effective way of getting software on the machine.

 

[Hell_Labs]

Yep, they're supposed to but it's probably flat. It's probably a coin shape battery, so if it is take it to a watch repairer and they'll have a replacement.

Take an A600 to a watch repairer? Are you serious? :huh:

No, take the coin battery.

It's easier to show the guy at the market stall a battery and have him go "that'll be three quid mate" than spend ten years of your life trying to correctly identify a C4t534345t3409-4Ti Mach 3 turbo deluxe coin battery or whatever. Simples.

 

[tokyoracer]

No, take the coin battery.

It's easier to show the guy at the market stall a battery and have him go "that'll be three quid mate" than spend ten years of your life trying to correctly identify a C4t534345t3409-4Ti Mach 3 turbo deluxe coin battery or whatever. Simples.

Oh right, well you can do that or just write down the code and take the battery to either a market stall or any good hardware shop. maplin is also a good bet. Failing that, eBay. Any of them option should be cheaper and you can also see what battery your getting. I would reccomend Maxell or Panasonic.

 

[Hell_Labs]

I wish mine had a code on it. Would have made things easier.:dry:

 

[jt56]

Thanks for all that info, so if im reading you correctly I download the required program (WHDload etc) to my laptop. Then swap the Amiga software downloaded onto my laptop over to my A600 using CF card via my laptops PCMCIA over to my Amigas PCMCIA slot??
Guess i need that CF PCMCIA adapter asap? Ive got loads of old 256mb CF cards lieing around so i guess i can use them for storage? cheers guys.
ps The battery is a flat disk type on the 1mb exp' card. Is there another battery i may be missing? And the netwrok cards i have are PCMCIA cards though i think i would need an adapter to plug the broadband cable into the network card as its very slim... unsure the make etc. ill dig them out and see what you think.
oh yeah and thanks for the heads up on teh 4mb sram card, how much are you thinking? though im probably ok with 2mb for now, what difference would 4mb give me in real terms? cheers

 

[Hell_Labs]

Thanks for all that info, so if im reading you correctly I download the required program (WHDload etc) to my laptop. Then swap the Amiga software downloaded onto my laptop over to my A600 using CF card via my laptops PCMCIA over to my Amigas PCMCIA slot??

yep. Oh, by the way, for the PCMCIA slot on your amiga you'll need the driver floppy disk. I dunno if you got one with your reader, but if you don't I'll send you one for free.

Guess i need that CF PCMCIA adapter asap? Ive got loads of old 256mb CF cards lieing around so i guess i can use them for storage? cheers guys.
ps The battery is a flat disk type on the 1mb exp' card. Is there another battery i may be missing? And the netwrok cards i have are PCMCIA cards though i think i would need an adapter to plug the broadband cable into the network card as its very slim... unsure the make etc. ill dig them out and see what you think.

On a 600 you should probably forget about networking unless you want to spend £££ souping it up with a turbo board with loads of ram on it. Because to plug in the network card you have to unplug the sram, and only 2mb isn't enough to do anything really on the internet.

oh yeah and thanks for the heads up on teh 4mb sram card, how much are you thinking? though im probably ok with 2mb for now, what difference would 4mb give me in real terms? cheers

With 2MB you should be okay for messing about with programs like deluxe paint and stuff like that.

But for WHDLoad it limits you a bit to games that don't have that many floppies, like two floppy games will be alright, but the really big ones that were on 3 or 4 disks won't like it.

there is a way to cheat it and turn off PRELOAD, but I think you have to do it to each game one by one, and it makes them stutter like mad because they're constantly swapping stuff about trying to make it fit.

I don't think I can say how much I'm selling the 4MB for until I actually start selling it, but you'll be happy Check the for sale section at lunch time thereabout and It'll be there.

 

[tokyoracer]

I wish mine had a code on it. Would have made things easier.:dry:

It should have if it was a coin type, most of then are CR 2###. Something like that...