Repurpose a PC laptop into a Portable Amiga?

Chewieshmoo

Lover of all things RETRO!
AmiBayer
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Posts
22
Country
Canada
Region
British Columbia

You don't really NEED to read any of this
laugh.gif
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Let me start by saying I am not a fan of "Commodore" USA. Rather the current iteration of it anyways. It is funny how many people, mostly those that never actually used a real original Amiga seem to be getting all giddy over the recent news of Commodore USA releasing "new" Amiga's, C64's and Vic's. My comments have mostly been along the lines of "These are nothing more than overly priced (for the PC hardware your getting) Keyboard PC's slapped into stylized cases with a Commodore badge added." These so called new Commodore machines rely on Emulation for the Amiga / C64 side. Unless I have missed something that is exactly what it is. THAT SAID being a Canadian who actually has no original AMIGA hardware currently the prospect of obtaining original hardware whether on Ebay or an online retailer is expensive, even when I find a deal that is tolerable once shipping to Canada is added on top as well as possible duty fees and taxes well, let's just say I am not in the financial state to consider it. LET ME BE CLEAR, I am a long time AMIGA fan that truly regrets all the Amiga A500 / A1200 equipment I sold back in the day but hard times called for desperate measures. I, as I assume most of you much prefer using original hardware but still, a fake Amiga is better than no Amiga in my opinion. I refuse to buy any of Commodore USA's offerings but I did have a thought that at some point I will be replacing my current laptop with an updated laptop as it is something I need. I figured I might as well use the old laptop for something and I was thinking it would be cool to dedicate it for AMIGA use.

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PLEASE DO READ THIS.
This is what I really need to know
yes.gif


I am no genius for sure, I have used the AMIGA FOREVER package a lot and yes I was into AMIGA EMULATION long before that I just bought AMIGA FOREVER to support CLOANTO and legitimatize use the Kickstart ROMS etc. What I would like to accomplish if possible is make the emulation as transparent as possible. It's a TOSHIBA SATELLITTE 200D. Here are the specs:

Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
OS Service Pack Service Pack 1
DirectX DirectX 11.0
CPU Type: Mobile DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57, 1900 MHz (9.5 x 200)
Motherboard Name: Toshiba Satellite P200D
Motherboard Chipset: AMD M690V, AMD Hammer
BIOS Type: Phoenix (02/25/08)
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon X1200 (128 MB)
Hard Drive: 160 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA
Optical Drive: PIONEER DVD-RW
SD card reader
Of course I would replace the OS if needed to whatever would be best for my project.

WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE to have it so that upon powering up the laptop that some type of AMIGA EMULATOR is launched automaticly and load AMIGA WORKBENCH? Essentially, I would like it to mimic turning on an AMIGA A1200 with built in Hard Disk. Of course I would like IF POSSIBLE all the laptops built in hardware functioning and accessible (USB PORTS / DVD DRIVE / SD CARD SLOT / WIRELESS ADAPTER / Functioning sound etc) I know I am asking a lot here lol but I figure I wont know unless I ask. If I can only launch the AMIGA emulation manually exactly which OS would yield the best results and what AMIGA Emulator should I use? Has anyone else here done this? Dedicated a laptop or Desktop completely to Amiga emulation? Please let me know your suggestions, advice, etc THANKS to all in advance.
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sort of, use winuae, put it in your startup programs and disable the winuae gui.

your lappy will start to load windows ( you can change the bios and loading screens to look workbench like) then the lappy will boot straight into your winaue configuration





You don't really NEED to read any of this
laugh.gif
---------------------------------------------------

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of "Commodore" USA. Rather the current iteration of it anyways. It is funny how many people, mostly those that never actually used a real original Amiga seem to be getting all giddy over the recent news of Commodore USA releasing "new" Amiga's, C64's and Vic's. My comments have mostly been along the lines of "These are nothing more than overly priced (for the PC hardware your getting) Keyboard PC's slapped into stylized cases with a Commodore badge added." These so called new Commodore machines rely on Emulation for the Amiga / C64 side. Unless I have missed something that is exactly what it is. THAT SAID being a Canadian who actually has no original AMIGA hardware currently the prospect of obtaining original hardware whether on Ebay or an online retailer is expensive, even when I find a deal that is tolerable once shipping to Canada is added on top as well as possible duty fees and taxes well, let's just say I am not in the financial state to consider it. LET ME BE CLEAR, I am a long time AMIGA fan that truly regrets all the Amiga A500 / A1200 equipment I sold back in the day but hard times called for desperate measures. I, as I assume most of you much prefer using original hardware but still, a fake Amiga is better than no Amiga in my opinion. I refuse to buy any of Commodore USA's offerings but I did have a thought that at some point I will be replacing my current laptop with an updated laptop as it is something I need. I figured I might as well use the old laptop for something and I was thinking it would be cool to dedicate it for AMIGA use.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE DO READ THIS.
This is what I really need to know
yes.gif


I am no genius for sure, I have used the AMIGA FOREVER package a lot and yes I was into AMIGA EMULATION long before that I just bought AMIGA FOREVER to support CLOANTO and legitimatize use the Kickstart ROMS etc. What I would like to accomplish if possible is make the emulation as transparent as possible. It's a TOSHIBA SATELLITTE 200D. Here are the specs:

Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
OS Service Pack Service Pack 1
DirectX DirectX 11.0
CPU Type: Mobile DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57, 1900 MHz (9.5 x 200)
Motherboard Name: Toshiba Satellite P200D
Motherboard Chipset: AMD M690V, AMD Hammer
BIOS Type: Phoenix (02/25/08)
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon X1200 (128 MB)
Hard Drive: 160 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA
Optical Drive: PIONEER DVD-RW
SD card reader
Of course I would replace the OS if needed to whatever would be best for my project.

WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE to have it so that upon powering up the laptop that some type of AMIGA EMULATOR is launched automaticly and load AMIGA WORKBENCH? Essentially, I would like it to mimic turning on an AMIGA A1200 with built in Hard Disk. Of course I would like IF POSSIBLE all the laptops built in hardware functioning and accessible (USB PORTS / DVD DRIVE / SD CARD SLOT / WIRELESS ADAPTER / Functioning sound etc) I know I am asking a lot here lol but I figure I wont know unless I ask. If I can only launch the AMIGA emulation manually exactly which OS would yield the best results and what AMIGA Emulator should I use? Has anyone else here done this? Dedicated a laptop or Desktop completely to Amiga emulation? Please let me know your suggestions, advice, etc THANKS to all in advance.
thumbs.gif
 
You could have a faster config using windows fundamentals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Fundamentals_for_Legacy_PCs

It runs on modern hardware as well, just remember to do selective upgrades, since it has problems with windows installer updates.

Do not forget winuae needs directx while installing it.

With a bit of homework you could disable explorer. Or maybe just kill it. I would opt personally to replace the line in the registry to start firefox, since you might need a good browser in windows anyhow...

For even more speed while winuae is in startup there is BOOTVIS wich helps loading XP even faster.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/BootVis.shtml

So with that modern hardware and slim os you should end up with perfect emulation.

There is also an AUTOLOGON for XP wich you might need to skip logon screen.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963905
 
Did you try the AF disc you can boot into Amiga forever I have the download version..
That one runs on a version of lynx but I think it goes right into WB..

:coffee:
 
Perhaps it would be a good idea to install an AROS release on this laptop, this way you get a modern Amiga Operating system plus all the emulation out of the box. You should check out if your hardware is supported and if the answer is possitive you should have all the extra stuff -usb, wireless, dvd drive- under a native Amiga Operating system for x86, where you would be able to do some work plus run all your favorite Amiga stuff.

http://www.icarosdesktop.org/
 
personally i don't think AROS is quite there yet (it's very close, but not quite) i have a machine here ready to go to AROS, i think another year and it'll be ready to use full time as a main OS:thumbsup:
 
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