How to use Amigas
Demo-designated Amiga 1200
- In own bin, has accelerator with RAM, nice white case, has RJ50 tail
- Very careful handling if no bottom trapdoor (usual if accelerator inside, which is usually)
Stored with mouse, nice PSU, DB23 video -> circular pigtail
Recommend with FrameMeister, Taiwanese box "ok", FPGA technically best but finnicky (also TBL mode), XRGB-1
(ntsc) - Taiwanese box requires power cycle to change ntsc/pal (doesn't have detection)
- Turn on framemeister with remote, decide on hdmi or dvi mode based on resolution desired
- Hit status to see current mode
- If blank screen, push and hold safety button and get shitty common resolution
- Are on "RGB" input
- If OCD like Keith, may want to tweak pixel offsets or processing mode or scaling
- processing: Can use "standard" processing mode, probably use "picture" that we think avoids deinterlacing
- scaling: probably want standard
- zoom/offset: don't touch but can mess with overscan amount if crap visible during demos
- If flips its shit due to a mode switch (shouldn't happen, ever, but Keith saw once)
- Then hit RGB button again, and it will rescan
- To turn off, hold power button on remote until red light starts blinking then goes solid = off
- Turn on amiga, (power switch on PSU when there is one)
- If happy, goes blar lar lar rainbow line thing sometimes, if video mode is conducive
- Angry is please insert disk - hard disk probably fell off
- Blank screen probably angry, could mean bad video mode (but shouldn't happen with framemeister)
- Reboot is ctl-amiga-amiga
- If hold down BOTH mouse buttons during reboot (real quick after keystroke), get early startup control menu
- Lets you press a key to toggle between NTSC and PAL (good for diagnostic, should never need in usage)
- Given the workbench set-to-pal config, menu mainly useful for video diagnostic
- Can also choose boot device
- If hold down BOTH mouse buttons during reboot (real quick after keystroke), get early startup control menu
- Our workbench is configured to always switch to pal, nomatter setting in early startup menu
- Demos are under "Work"
- All ones previously setup have an icon
- EXCEPT: Tint
- Requires too much chipram, (we have too little because tables of fastram - have lots - go in chipram)
- Don't open drawers (windows)
Type WhiteAmiga-E [rightAmiga+E key] (OR, right click anywhere and get menubar, then use Workbench->Execute command)
- Run command "cli", hit OK
- Navigate to directory with script with icon
"cd Work:Demos/Tint"
- "execute run.demo"
- Drops you back at cli, can type "endcli" to exit or reboot
- Exiting demos: ESC, F10, mousebutton (most common; left or right), printscreen, spacebar, enter
- Most demos leave in OK state, but reboot to be safe?
- WHDLOAD ones are particularly well behaved
- Most demos leave in OK state, but reboot to be safe?
- Some demos require floppies (ex: state of art, except best on 500)
- If one of our premade scripts, will prompt for disk
- To make replacement disks if die or lost, go in DemOFloppies dir and run a script that makes floppy!
- Occasional blizzard misbehavior
- Might crash, or Tint behave weeeeirdly
- Vigorously turn off, unplug eeeeverything, flip over, wiggle and reseat RAM and (mainly) cardedge
- Other demo quirks
- Sumea
- Go in preferences,
- Doesn't exit cleanly, must reboot
- Sumea
Amiga 500
- Generally much easier
- Same video converters should work
- Usually just stick in demo disk, since we've tried to make them all bootable
- Typically write these disks with the 1200
- Ignore weird sounds from floppy drive (???)
Amiga Shell Stuff
- "dir" or "list"
- can add "?" after a command name to get it to print expected arguments
- uses weird amiga-specific getopt system
- "ed" is text editor
- drive separator is ":", dir separator is "/"