D:\My Documents\Documents\A500 Guide\A500 Complete User
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1. Generate waveform for sound WIDTH device size print zone Define width of print zone for device WIDTH fileno size print zone Define width of file WIDTH size print zone Define width WIDTH LPRINT size print zone Define width of printer WINDOW window id title rectangle type screen id Create a window WINDOW CLOSE window id Close a window WINDOW OUTPUT window id Set default output window WINDOW n WRITE expr list Write values to screen WRITE fileno expr list Write values to file More information is in the AmigaBasic manual Equivalent information is available with HiSoft Basic and ACE Basic AmigaBasic does not run well on WB2 or above so replace it with more advanced Basic such as Hisoft Basic ACE Amos or Blitz Basic 33 5 Common Problems 5 1 How do retreive a file accidently deleted You need to use a Disk Recovery program such as DiskDoctor FixDisk or Disksalv to scan and recover the file You cannot retrieve a file that has been deleted and the disk written to later on as it will most likely been overwritten 5 2 How can view hidden file from Workbench There are a number of methods although the best is to use a file manager program which can see all files and you can copy move delete and view files very easily Other than that you need to resort to using the Shell To make a file viewable you need to create a info file for it you can either copy a info file t2. K Upto K QUICK S WB1 2 Purpose List file details in a directory Example List Workbench Block Dates Since 01 Jul 00 LoadWB Format Loadwb Purpose Display workbench screen at startup Example LoadWB Lock Format Lock Drive A ON S OFF S Passkey Purpose Write protects any HD partition WB1 3 Example Lock DH1 ON MyPass MakeDir Format Makedir Name A Purpose Create a directory Example MakeDir DH1 Docs Mount Format Mount Device M From K WB1 3 Mount Device A WB1 2 Purpose Loads and mount a device Example Mount DEVS CDO Newcli Format Newcli Window From Purpose Open a new CLI console CON window Window format CON X Y Width Height Name Example Newcli CON 0 10 400 200 Shell Newshell Format Newshell Window From Purpose Open a new CLI console CON window WB1 3 Window format CON X Y Width Height Name Example Newshell CON 0 10 400 200 Shell Path Format Path Path M ADD S SHOW S RESET S Purpose Set or change the program search path Example Path SC C Add Prompt Format Prompt Prompt Purpose Change the prompt text Codes R last return code S Current path N CLI Number Example Prompt N S gt Protect Format Protect File A Flags ADD S SUB S WB1 3 Protect File A Flags WB1 2 Purpose Change the protection flags of a file where r read w write e execute d delete s script p pure Example Protect Editor rwed 27 Quit Format Quit RC N Purpose Quit a
3. Setting up the Amiga for First Time Before setting up the Amiga make sure you have the following items ready Amiga A500 Monitor or TV Set Mouse Power Supply Joystick optional Speakers optional External Disk drives optional Withe Amiga facing you first plug the square end of the Power Supply cable to the Power socket on the top left hand at the back of the Amiga Plug the other end into a power socket but DO NOT switch on yet If you have a monitor plug the monitor cable into the Video socket if you have a TV Set plug it into the RF or Composite socket and also plug the power cable into power socket Next plug the Mouse into Port 1 of the D shaped sockets on the right hand side a the back Plug any Joystick onto Port 2 next to it The stereo speakers can be plugged into the Left and Right speaker sockets in the middle at the back The speakers can either be stand alone ones or part of the monitor so if necessary plug the other ends into the Left Right sockets on the monitor Plug in to power supply as necessary Finally if you have any external floppy disk drives plug them in to the External Drive socket on the back of the Amiga Further drives can be daisy chained to other drives If you have an external hard disk remove the cover from the Expansion port on the left hand side of the Amiga and slot in the drive Now switch on the power and press the power switch located on the Power Supply for the Amiga and switch on the
4. WB1 3 Format Drive K A Name K A NOICONS S WB1 2 Purpose Initialises Amiga disks in System drawer Example Format Drive DFO Name Docs NOICONS Getenv Format Getenv Name A Purpose Return contents of a global environment variable WB1 3 Example Getenv Workbench Iconx Format Iconx Purpose Enables a script to be run from Workbench The script must have a Project info file and the Default Tool set to c lconX to run it WB1 3 Example Iconx If Format If NOT S WARN S ERROR S FAIL S EQ K EXISTS K Purpose If condition is true execute following commands until an ELSE or ENDIF occurs Example IF WARN IF count EQ 10 IF EXISTS C List Info Format Info Device WB1 3 Info WB1 2 Purpose Displays information about disks Example Info DHO Install Format Install Device A NOBOOT S CHECK S WB1 3 Install Device A WB1 2 Purpose Saves a bootblock to a disk If you have only one drive type INSTALL and swap disks and then type DFO and press RETURN to save bootblock Example Install DFO Join Format Join File M A AS TO K A Purpose Join two or files together Example Join File1 File2 File3 as FileFull Lab Format Lab Label Purpose State a Label to Skip to in a script Example Lab PROC2 26 List Format List Dir M P PAT K KEYS S DATES S NODATES S To K Sub K Since K Upto K QUICK S BLOCK S NOHEAD S FILES S DIRS S LFORMATI K WB1 3 List Dir M P PAT K KEYS S DATES S NODATES S To K Sub K Since
5. a file OPEN filespec FOR mode AS fileno LEN buffer Open a file OPTION BASE n Specify 0 1 for first item in array PAINT STEP x y paint color border color Paint an area PALETTE color id r g b Create colour PATTERN line pat area pat Define line area patterns PEEK address Get contents of memory address PEEKL address Get long value from memory PEEKW address Get word value from memory POINT x y Get colour id of pixel point POKE addr value Set a memory address POKEL addr value Set long value in memory POKEW addr value Set word value in memory POS x Returns print column PRESET STEP x y color Set pixel colour PRINT expr list Print values to screen PRINT USING string expr expr list Print values to screen using format PRINT fileno USING string expr Jexpr list Print values to file PSET STEP x y color Set pixel colour PTAB x Set print tab position PUT fileno record no Store record in file PUT STEP x y array index index action verb Place object on screen RANDOMIZE expr TIMER Set initial random seed READ var list Read DATA values REM remark Place program documentation RESTORE line Restart from DATA line RESUME O NEXT line Resume from error RETURN line Return from subroutine RIGHT x i Get right most characters from string RND x Random number RSET string var string expr Set string right justified RUN lin
6. alert WB1 3 Example Setpatch Skip Format Skip Label Purpose Jump to a label in a script see Lab Example Skip Lab2 Sort Format Sort From A To A Colstart K Purpose Sort file into another file Example Sort Names To SortedName Colstart 10 Stack Format Stack Size N Purpose Change display amount of stack space in bytes Example Stack 10000 Status Format Status Process N FULL S TCB S CLI ALL S COM COMMAND K WB1 3 Status Process N FULL S TCB S CLI ALL S WB1 2 Purpose Display status of running programs TCB is Task Control Block Example Status 2 Full Type Format Type From A M TO K OPT K HEX S NUMBER S WB1 3 Type From A M TO K OPT K WB1 2 Purpose Display contents of text file on screen and binary files using HEX with optional line numbers Example Type C DIR HEX Version Format Version Purpose Display workbench and kickstart version information Example Version Wait Format Wait Time N SEC SECS S MIN MINS S UNTIL K Purpose Wait for a specified period of time Example Wait Until 12 00 Why Format Why Purpose Display reason why a previous command failed Example Why 29 4 7 AmigaBASIC Command List ABS x Absolute value AREA STEP x y Define an area AREAFILL mode Fillan area ATN x ArcTangent BEEP Make a sound BREAK ON OFF STOP __ Allow Break in code CALL name args Call subprogram CDBL x CHAIN MERGE file expr ALL DELETE range L
7. monitor If you do not have disks inserted you will see the Insert Disk screen below Figure 2 You can then either insert a Workbench disk or any other bootable disk such as a game into the floppy drive on the right hand side of the Amiga called DFO Disk Floppy Zero Insert your Original Workbench disk and wait for the workbench screen to appear Before continuing recommend that you make one or more copies of your original Workbench disks to use rather than the Original as that can become damaged over time and you may need to make other copies later To make a copy get hold of a blank 880K double density disk ready then move the white arrow called a pointer with the mouse over the Workbench 1 3 disk and click the left mouse button once this will select the disk then move the pointer to the top left of the screen and click and HOLD the right hand mouse button and a menu appear make sure the Workbench menu is selected move the mouse down the menu and select Duplicate EME aki Pai KARI disk i Pte dist J iu deine Ee Figure 3 It will say Put the SOURCE disk FROM disk in drive DFO remove the disk from the floppy drive and make sure it is your original Workbench disk at the top there is a hole make sure it is covered with the black tab to protect the disk during this operation Reinsert the disk and with the left mouse button click once on Continue Once the read operation is complete it will ask you to
8. of the icons and while keeping the LMB down moving the power towards the bottom right A expanding box will apear and the icons in it will be selected 3 WB Programs Here will give a brief explanation of the programs provided with Workbench 1 3 3 1 Workbench Disk 3 1 1 Utilities Drawer 3 1 1 1 Calculator Here is a simple calculator you can press the buttons to enter values or use the keypad The symbols are CA Cancel All CE Cancel Entry Multiply Divide Add Subtract Decimal point lt Backspace Change sign Equals 3 1 1 2 Clock Displays an analogue or digital clock showing the present time and or date From the menu you can select Analog Digital 1 or Digital 2 difference being is that one displays time in a window the other displays time in window bar You can also set the mode 12 or 24 hour display seconds or not the date and whether to set an alarm for something 3 1 1 3 ClockPtr Turns the pointer from an arrow to a clock Run Clockptr again to turn it off 3 1 1 4 Cmd Redirects output to the printer to a file By default the file is RAM CMD_File and redirect anything printed to parallel port to the file To change the options select the Cmd icon select Workbench Info and then change the ToolTypes Useful if you want to print something out but have no printer then you can copy file to another machine and copy the file to PRT or PAR port for printing Usage C
9. select and move icons around and click on gadgets or buttons 2 2 1 Clicking To select an icon move the pointer over the desired icon and then click the LMB once The icon will change to a reverse or an alternative image to indicate it has been selected When using gadgets such as those on windows there are four gadgets on a window Close Window to Front Window to Back and Resize move the pointer over the desired gadget and click once to use that gadget The gadget will change briefly and also change the window 2 2 2 Double Clicking This is sometimes a tricky technique to use and requires a steady hand This method is used to open disks drawers and files or run programs To do this move the pointer over the desired icon and in quick succession without moving the pointer click on the LMB twice This should open the icon 2 2 3 Dragging This technique allows you to move objects such as icons around the screen or resizing windows Select an icon with a single click now keep the LMB down and move the pointer the icon will now be dragged with the pointer If you let go of the pointer the icon will be dropped into its new position 2 2 4 Multiple selection You can select more than one icon at a time To do this click on the first icon press the SHIFT key down either one and then click on the second third fourth icons etc to select multiple icons You can also select a whole group of icons by pressing the LMB at the top left
10. the disk to format and select Initialise 1 3 Special Menu 1 3 1 Cleanup This option rearranges icons on a drawer or disk into a less cluttered state To use open the window to rearrange and select Cleanup To keep the icons in the new positions select all the icons and select Snapshot 1 3 2 Last Error This will display the last message that appeared in the menu bar at the top of the screen 1 3 3 Redraw If the screen or window has been corrupted by another program and not all the icons or windows have been drawn then this option will do it for you 1 3 4 Snapshot This option allows you to save the position of an icon on a disk or a drawer To use select the icon drag the icon to its new location and Snapshot it 1 3 5 Version This will display the version of Workbench and Kickstart you are using Commodore uses release numbers For 1 3 it is release 34 2 The Mouse On the Amiga mouse there are two buttons The Left Mouse Button LMB and the Right Mouse Button RMB Moving the mouse will move the arrow or pointer on the screen 2 1 Using the Right Mouse Button To use the menus press down the RMB and move the pointer to the title bar at the top of the screen Move the pointer over one of the menu names and some menu items will appear Now still with the RMB pressed move the pointer down to the selected menu item and release the RMB to select that item 2 2 Using the Left Mouse Button This button is mainly used to
11. EOF fileno End of file ERASE array var list Delete arrays ERL Line no of error ERR Error number ERROR int expr Cause an error EXP x Exponent FIELD fileno fieldwidth AS string var Define a Field in a file FILES string List files in current dir to optional file FIX x Truncated integer component of value FOR var x TO y STEP z Counted loop NEXT var var FRE 1 2 x Free memory GET filenum rec num Get record from file GET x1 y1 x2 y2 array name Get area into array GOSUB lineno Call subroutine RETURN line 30 GOTO lineno Jump to another part of program HEX x Hexadecimal value of number IF expr GOTO line ELSE stat If expression true goto line else run other statement IF expr THEN stat ELSE stat If expression true run one statement else run another INKEY Input a character from keyboard INPUT prompt var list Input values with optional prompt string INPUT x fileno Input x characters from keyboard or file INPUT fileno var list Input values from a file INSTR i x y Find position of y in x from postion i INT x Integer value KILL filespec Delete a file LBOUND array name dim Define lower boundary of an array UBOUND array name dim Define upper boundary of an array LEFT x i Get first i characters of x LEN x Length of string LET variable expr Assign value of expression to variable LIBRARY f
12. NEW Clear memory including program NEXT var var End of FOR loop OBJECT AX object id value Position sprite in x OBJECT AY object id value Position sprite in y OBJECT CLIP x1 y1 x2 y2 Clip object s size OBJECT CLOSE obj id obj id Remove sprite OBJECT HIT obj id MeMask HitMask Set sprite s collision zone OBJECT PLANES obj id plane pick plane on off Set sprites colour planes OBJECT PRIORITY obj id value Set sprite s priority OBJECT SHAPE obj id definition Set sprites shape OBJECT SHAPE obj id obj id2_ Copy sprite s shape OBJECT START obj id obj id Start sprite motion OBJECT STOP obj id obj id Stop sprite motion OBJECT VX obj id value Set sprite x velocity 31 OBJECT VY obj id value Set sprite y velocity OBJECT X obj id value Set sprite x position OBJECT Y obj id value Set sprite y position OCT x Octal value ON BREAK GOSUB label 0 If CTRL C detected goto line or stop ON COLLISION GOSUB label 0 If collision detected goto line or stop ON ERROR GOTO line If error occurs goto line ON expr GOSUB line list On value of expression goto one of lines from list ON expr GOTO line list On value of expression goto one of lines from list ON MENU GOSUB label 0 If menu item selection goto line ON MOUSE GOSUB label 0 If mouse event occurs goto line ON TIMER n GOSUB label 0 On timer event goto line OPEN mode Ifileno filespec buffer Open
13. Printfiles icon Usage Printfiles f file f file 10 3 1 1 10 Say Speaks any text you type in the Input Window and displays and speaks the Phoneme version in the second window Options include m f male or female voice n r natural or robot voice s to set speed of speech 40 400 and the pitch p from 65 to 320 3 1 2 System Drawer 3 1 2 1 CLI This opens a Command Line Interface console where you can type commands instead of using Workbench You can launch Workbench programs as well The location of common commands is kept in the Path which usually consists of C SYS Utilities SYS System and Current Directory if the command is not found then an error is produced To exit the Shell tyoe ENDCLI A list of commands is given later in this guide 3 1 2 2 Diskcopy Program to copy one disk to another disk In Workbench you can select a disk icon and select Duplicate which will use Diskcopy to make an exact copy of the disk or drag a disk onto another disc to duplicate it If using the command shell then you can copy disks using the following command Usage Diskcopy FROM lt disk gt TO lt disk gt NOVERIFY MULTI NAME lt name gt where disk is name of drive to copy to from Noverify will miss the verify copy stage Multi will allow you to make multiple copies from same source and Name will allow to specify a new name for new disk 3 1 2 3 Format Formats a blank disk with the Amiga Old File
14. System or FastFileSystem to be used to save files onto AmigaOS can use double sided floppy disks can format them to 840K or 880K FFS with the Format command When you use Workbench to format a disk you can use the Initialise menu option Format can be run from the command shell Usage Format DRIVE lt disk gt NAME lt name gt FFS NOICONS QUICK You can specify the name of the drive e g DFO the name of the new disk and whether to use the Fast File System FFS not to create a Trashcan icon NOICONS and where to erase a disk using QUICK method 3 1 2 4 Fastmemfirst Running this program will tell AmigaOS to load programs into Fast memory first instead of the slower Chip RAM You can insert this into your startup sequence if necessary if you have any Fast memory installed To see if you have any Fast memory installed use the AVAIL command 11 3 1 2 5 SetMap Selects the keyboard mapping to map symbols to keys on your keyboard To set a map make sure the map file is in devs keymaps and add a ToolType in the icon for example KEYMAP gb Also you can use it from the command shell Usage Setmap lt map gt 3 1 2 6 InitPrinter The command sends an initialiasation string to the printer similar to switching printer off and on 3 1 2 7 NoFastMem This command disables all fast memory which may be useful for old programs that will not work with fast memory installed Re run program to re enable fast memory 3 1 2 8 Mergem
15. The Complete Amiga 500 User Guide Cpg gir Aeros Dru iirer d Tree Pederree Predecticoe 00 The Complete Amiga 500 User Guide by Peter Hutchison 2003 Introduction Setting up the Amiga for First Time Guide to Workbench 1 3 Guide to Amiga DOS commands Amiga BASIC Command List Beyond Workbench 1 3 Adding a Hard Disk to A500 Installing Workbench onto a Hard Disk Adding more Memory to the A500 Upgrading the Processor Upgrading the Kickstart and Workbench Backward Compatibility Page 2 Page 3 Page 5 Page 18 Page 30 Page 35 Page 36 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 29 Page 40 Introduction Welcome to the Commodore Amiga A500 one of the most popular Amiga models of its time It was affordable easy to use and good software in particular games which Jay Minor the creator of the Amiga had designed it for The Amiga A500 is based on the Motorola 68000 7MHz Processor with 512K or more RAM a single 880K floppy drive with support for 3 more floppy drives a Custom Chipset that provides the Sound and Graphics The Amiga runs the Operating System called AmigaOS which consists of the Kickstart ROM which contains some essential libraries and devices needed to load Workbench which is the desktop Figure 1 You can a while menu bar at the top and all the disks mounted on the right hand of the screen The Ram Disk is a special one which is a disk in memory basically More on Workbench will be explained later
16. ad up There are two reasons for this First if a program is deleted but its info file is left behind then the program or file may seen to still exist To rectify this the program should be re copied back Second a lot of Project icons have A Default Tool set This default tool loads up the program and the data file There are many tools particularly text and graphics viewers If you try to run a file with a Default Tool that you don t have then the following message will appear Unable to open the tool lt file gt If this happens select the icon and choose Info from the Workbench menu and change the Default tool to the one you do have For example if it s a text file change it to More Workbench s Text Viewer 34 Beyond Workbench 1 3 Workbench 1 3 is one of the oldest and least usable of the Amiga s OS Over the years plenty of utilities have been released to improve some of the oversights of WB 1 3 The following programs and packages could be installed to improve your workbench Some programs have been upgraded to WB2 or WB3 so check requirements first a SID and other directory utilities SID was a very popular directory utility to organise files on your floppy disks or hard disk A variant called MessySID allowed access to PC disks too Aminet util dir b DMouse A Mouse accelerator which included other options including screen saver pointer blanker auto window activation programmable keys window control etc Es
17. e filename R Run from line or program SADD string expr String address SAVE filename A P B Save basic program SAY string mode array Say something through speech synthesis SCREEN screen id width height depth mode Set up a screen of given size and depth SCREEN CLOSE screen id Close a screen SCROLL x1 y1 x2 y2 delta x delta y Scroll a portion of the screen SGN x Sign of value SHARED var list Define list of shared variables SIN x Sine of value SLEEP Goto sleep allow for multi tasking SOUND fregq duration vol voice Create a sound note SOUND WAIT RESUME SPACE x Return x space characters SPC x Use with Print for x Space characters SQR x Square root of x 32 STICK n Status of joystick STOP Stop program STRIG n Status of joystick button STR x String value of x STRINGS i j Return i number of j characters SUB subprog namep param list STATIC Start of subprogram END SUB EXIT SUB SWAP var1 var2 Swap contents of variables SYSTEM Exit to Workbench TAB x Print x tab characters TAN x Tangent TIMES Current time TIMER ON OFF STOP Enable disable timer events TRANSLATES string Translate string into phonome text TRON Trace on TROFF Trace off UBOUND array dim Get upper boundary of array UCASE string Convert string to upper case VAL x Numeric value of string VARPTR var Address of variable WAVE voice wave definition
18. em This program adds other memory to be used by the Amiga which does not automatically configure it self to be added to the Amiga s memory pool 3 1 2 9 Fixfonts If you add new fonts or font sizes then this program will update Fonts files if changes have been made to any files in Fonts drawer 3 1 3 Prefs Drawer 3 1 3 1 Preferences Changes the settings used by the Amiga such as the pointer printer serial port etc ResetAll Resets all settings back to the default Last Saved Resets all settings back to last saved settings lt date time gt Sets the current date and time For it to be updated the Amiga needs to have a battery backed up clock which it does not have by default Change Serial Change Serial Port settings see below Text 60 80 Change Text to 60 or 80 columns per line Key Repeat delay Sets how long to wait before a key repeats if held down Key Repeat speed Sets how fast a key keeps repeating Centre Screen Moving the small box in large box will move the screen position 12 Workbench Interlace Turns screen interlace mode on or off Mouse 1 2 4 Sets mouse movement speed 1 is fastest 4 is slowest Mouse Click Sets mouse double click speed Reset Colors Resets colours back to defaults RGB Changes colour for the four Workbench colour palette default is Blue White Black and Orange Change Printer Change Printer settings see below Edit Pointer Change the Pointer shape and set
19. eplacement is the 68010 For faster processors such as the 68020 68030 or 68040 then a new expansion board needs to be purchased and inserted via the trapdoor expansion slot underneath the Amiga Typical boards include 68020 Accelerators ICD ADSpeed 68020 14MHz Accelerator Viper 520CD Has a 33Mhz 68020 EC processor with room for 33Mhz FPU space for a 2 5 IDE hard disk 2 x 40 pin CD ROM socket and 8MB of RAM on board Includes 3 0 ROM and software Solid State Leisure A5000 Includes a 16 67 68020 processor which uses 256x4 DRAMs total of 4 1MB chips ie 5MB Doesn t autoconfig or use DMA Supra 28 Turbo Uses a 28MHz 68HCOOO processor with high speed static RAM cache Fits on the side expansion slot Also compatible with A2000 68030 Accelerators GVP A530 Includes a 40MHz 68EC030 processor with room for FPU and uses GVP SIMMS Includes a on off switch with turns off the 030 RAM and HD for backward compatibility Up to 16 32 MB RAM Derringer 030 Uses a 25MHZ 68030 processor with optional 25 50Mhz FPU and upto 32MB of RAM using one 32 bit SIMM 68040 Accelerators Progressive Peripherals A500 040 This includes a 25Mhz 68040 processor with 4 or 8 MB 32 bit ZIP Fast RAM Requires KS WB 2 0 to work 38 Upgrading the Kickstart and Workbench The Amiga A500 can be upgraded to latest Kickstart and Workbench as follows Workbench 1 3 Workbench 2 04 2 1 Kickstart 2 Workbench 1 3 Workbench 3 1 Kickstart 3 1 Wor
20. er of characters from left or right margins Pitch Sets size of fonts used for text Spacing Sets number of lines per inch for text Graphic 1 Graphic settings page 1 Graphic 2 Graphic settings page 2 OK Accept new printer settings Cancel Cancel and forget printer settings Graphic1 Threshold Determines how dark or light the picture is Aspect Determines whether graphics is printed Horizontally Landscape or Vertical Portrait Image Determines if graphics are to be shown as is Positive or reverse graphics Negative Share Determines colour scheme B amp W Gray or Colour 14 Graphic2 idth Lisin E inahen Smoothing Determines if graphic edges are to be smoothed out or not Left Offset Sets number of inches from left side of page Center Sets whether image is to be centered on the page Intensity Determines resolution of the image 1 is low 7 is high Color Correct Adjusts colour levels in RGB terms for printing Dithering Sets dithering mode of pixels to get best image quality Scaling Sets how the image is to be scaled to fit page Width Limit Sets maximum width of the image in inches Height Limit Sets maximum height of the image in inches Limits Sets type of limits to apply to the image 3 1 3 5 Serial Displays the serial preferences screen These preferences can apply to serial printers and modems or even peer to peer networks Baud Rate Specifies the speed of the connection f
21. heme The colour scheme only lasts until the next reboot so you can save the changes only temporarily apply them to the workbench screen 3 2 1 7 KeyToy2000 Displays the current keyboard characters using the current keymap Pressing the CTRL SHIFT or ALT keys will display the alternative keys when those keys are used To change keymaps you must use the Setmap command and select a different mapping 3 2 1 8 IconMerge This program can create dual image icons from two icon files or split an existing icon file into two files This is useful if you wish to create icons with different images when an icon is selected or not 3 2 1 9 Terminal This program can be used to connect to other computers or use a modem to connect to Bulletin Boards over the telephone Its appears in WB 1 3D and is in German 3 2 2 PCUtil PCCopy Allows Amiga to copy files from PC disks PCFormat Allows Amiga to format PC diskettes ToPCCopy_ Allows Amiga to copy files to PC disks Read Me Text file on using PCUtils 3 2 3 Other Drawers BasicDemos Basic program listings FD1 3 Contains OS Function Descriptions for AmigaBASIC Fonts More fonts Devs Contains all keymap files and printer drivers 18 4 AmigaDOS Commands Amiga DOS commands can only be used on a CLI or Shell window where commands can be typed in to perform various functions All these commands have to be run from disk 4 1 Command format 4 2 Error messages 4 3 Volume Drawer File na
22. ilename Open an AmigaOS library LIBRARY CLOSE Close an AmigaOS library LINE STEP x1 y1 STEP x2 y2 color b f Draw a line LINE INPUT prompt string var Input whole line into string LINE INPUT fileno string var Input whole line from file LIST line List statements in program LIST line line filename List statements in file LLIST line line List statements to printer LOAD filespec R Load file LOC fileno Location in file LOCATE line column Locate printing position on window or screen LOF fileno Length of file in bytes LOG x Logarithm LPOS x Line position LPRINT expr list Print values to printer LPRINT USING string expr expr list Print values according to format instructions LSET string var string expr Set field with left justification MENU menu id item id state title string Define menu item MENU RESET Clear menu items MENU ON OFF STOP Enable disable menus MERGE filespec Load and merge basic program MID x n m y Replace characters in middle of string MkI short int expr Create 2 byte string of integer MKL long int expr Create 4 byte string of long integer MKS single expr Create 4 byte string of single precision value MKD double expr Create 8 byte string of double precision value MOUSE n Status of mouse buttons position MOUSE ON OFF STOP Disable enable mouse events NAME old file AS new file Rename a file
23. insert the DESTINATION TO disk in drive DFO Press the eject button to remove your original Workbench disk and insert your Blank disk Click on Continue to write the information to your new disk You may need to repeat the disk swap a couple of times more until the opertation is completed Now you will have a disk called copy of Workbench you can rename this by selecting the disk then select Rename from the Workbench menu and change it to just Workbench You should put your original disk somewhere safe and then use your copy of Workbench from now on If necessary reboot with the new Workbench disk in DFO Guide to Workbench 1 3 Contents 1 The Menus 2 The Mouse 3 WB Programs 4 AmigaDOS 5 Common Problems 1 The Menus At the top of the screen there are three menus which are accessible when you move the pointer to the top of the screen and click the Right Mouse Button RMB 1 1 Workbench menu 1 1 1 Open This is used on a selected icon Instead of double clicking on an icon to show contents of a disk or drawer or run a program you can select an icon with the pointer and Select Open to display or run it 1 1 2 Close Instead of clicking on the Close Gadget at the top left of a disk or drawer window just select the window borders blue and select Close 1 1 3 Duplicate This open allows you to copy files and disks To copy a file select the icon and then select Duplicate Another icon will appear saying C
24. kbench 1 3 Workbench 3 5 3 9 Kickstart 3 1 6M RAM 68020 processor Hard Disk CD ROM In most cases a new Kickstart ROM Chip set needs to be installed You can also replace the old OCS chips with ECS Enhanced Chip Set but you cannot install AGA Chip Set 39 Backward Compatibility Compatibility with older software can be done in two ways Hardware and Software Hardware a Install a Kickstart ROM Switcher to allow you to switch between Kickstart 1 3 and later Kickstart Software a Use a SoftKicker program to load old Kickstart into memory e g Skick b Use Disk to Hard disk programs such as JST and WHDLoad to copy the games to hard disk and emulate the older system c Use CPU command to turn off features such as Caches on processors such as the 68020 or later d Use the Kickstart Startup screen press both mouse buttons at startup to select which Chipset to use 40
25. l hard disk was the A590 by Commodore which included a 20Mb XT Hard disk this can be upgraded to a large SCSI hard disk later This device plugs into the Expansion port on the left side of the A500 Other manufacturers including GVP Dataflyer have developed a hard disk controller and disk combination for both SCSI and IDE types of hard disk As for hard disk sizes you can have up to 4Gb Drives but beyond that the file system needs to be upgraded to utilise beyond the 32 bit limit of Workbench otherwise the data on the hard drive can become corrupted Installing Kickstart 3 1 and Workbench 3 1 plus a file system such as SFS or PFS can overcome this limitation Installing Workbench onto a Hard Disk To install Workbench 1 3 onto a Hard disk you need to partition and format the hard disk The standard tool is HDToolbox but it is not always supplied see the equivalent tools and documentation for your Hard disk Once the Hard disk has been set up and partitioned and marked as bootable you can install Workbench Workbench 2 0 and later has an Install disk with scripts to do this for you For Workbench 1 3 you have to do this manually by copying the entire contents of the Workbench and Extras disk to your hard disk For example 1 Open a Shell to get a command prompt 2 Insert the Workbench disk in DFO 3 Type COPY DF0 To DHO ALL CLONE which will copy all files from the floppy in DFO to the harddisk partition DHO 4 Remove the Wo
26. le ED S User Startup 24 Edit Format Edit From A To With K Ver K Opt K Purpose Edit text files line editor Example Edit s User Startup With Ed Script Else Format Else Purpose Used with IF if not true do these commands Example If Exists s User Startup Say User Startup already exists Else Ed s User Startup Endif Endcli Format Endcli Purpose Close CLI console window Example Endcli Endif Format Endif Purpose End a IF ELSE ENDIF block Example If Age GT 65 Say You are a pensioner Endif Endskip Format Endskip Purpose Stops a SKIP branch for debugging WB1 3 Example Endskip Eval Format Eval Value1 A Op Value2 M To K LFormat K Purpose Evaluate a simple arithmetic expression WB1 3 Example Eval count 1 to env count Execute Format Execute File A Purpose Execute a script or batch file Example Execute PCD Failat Format Failat RCLIM A Purpose Change failure limit for scripts 0 5 10 20 0 Ok 5 Warn 10 Error 20 Fail Example Failat 20 Fault Format Fault Error N M Purpose Display error message from a code Example Fault 221 Fault 221 Disk is full FF Format FF o n Purpose Activate Fast Font program WB1 3 Example FF 25 FileNote Format Filenote File A Comment Purpose Attach a comment to a file see LIST Example FileNote List txt A list of people s names Format Format Format Device Drive K A Name K A NOICONS S FFS S NOFFS S
27. md device filename optis mn 3 1 1 5 Graphic Dump Prints out graphics and pictures To use this tool you can either run it from a command Shell and enter filename after Graphic Dump or select a Picture and then Ctrl or Shift double click the GraphicDump icon to print the picture It must be a IFF ILBM picture for it to work Usage GraphicDump Tiny small medium large xdots ydots 3 1 1 6 Install Printer Installs Printer driver in devs printers from the Extras1 3 disk Run the program enter name of printer to install and click Enter or press just Enter to exit 3 1 1 7 More Program to display text files You can run this from Workbench or command Shell or just use it as the default tool for text files so when you double click them it will display the file for you If you run it from Workbench it will ask you Filename and you need to type full path to file You can also select your file and then Shift Double click More to display the file Usage More filename or More lt PIPE pipename 3 1 1 8 Notepad A simple text editor which you can enter short pieces of text and save them to disk print them out and so on Unlike other text editors you can also do Find and Replace select different Fonts Colors and Styles to use for your text from the menus 3 1 1 9 Printfiles Prints text files to the printer You can either use the command Shell or from Workbench by selecting your text file and Shift Double clicking on the
28. mes 4 4 Volumes Drawers and Assigns 4 5 Devices 4 6 The Commands 4 7 AmigaBASIC Command List 19 4 1 Command format To display the information required by a command type a after it Note after each argument there is a slash and a character This specifies the kind of argument required such as an option or a name or a value A_ Argument must be supplied F Must be final or last argument K_ Keyword must be entered with a parameter M_ Multiple arguments may be supplied N A Number is required S_ Switch or option Supply this function to activate it 4 2 Error messages If you enter a command and comes back with an error message typing WHY will display more information about it Use the FAULT command to display the error message that applies to a error code Typical error messages are other programs 202 Object in use Exit program unassign assign or close directory windows 203 Object already exists Cannot move the program as it exists elsewhere Delete the original first 204 Directory not found Retype directory name 205 Object not found Retype file name for NEWCLI or NEWSHELL 20 Use DELETE ALL Device or volume not mounted 224 File is read protected Use PROTECT to set r flag 225 Not a valid DOS disk Disk is unformatted or a protected game disk 226 No disk in drive Use correct device name or insert disk No more entries in directory Directory is full delete files or mo
29. n assign is a special shortcut name to a volume or a drawer and is created using the ASSIGN command e g TYPE S Startup sequence is the same as TYPE Workbench1 3 S Startup Sequence 22 4 5 Devices A device is a special name given to a particular peripheral or an Amiga DOS feature Typical devices are DFO _ Internal floppy drive DF1 External floppy drive DHO Hard disk A590 RAM RAM disk RAD Recoverable RAM disk from a reboot CON Console device CLI NEWCON New Console device Shell SER Serial port PAR Parallel port PRT Printer port AUX _ Auxillary device PIPE Pipe device CDO CD ROM A570 4 6 The Commands Addbuffers Format Addbuffers Drive A Buffers N Purpose Add memory to floppy disk buffers to improve speed Example Addbuffers df0 10 Ask Format Ask Prompt A Purpose Asks a question in a script reply y n Use IF WARN to test for a yes Example Ask Are you sure Y n Assign Format Assign Name Target M LIST S Purpose Assign names to directory paths Example Assign PPaint DHO PPaint Avail Format Avail CHIP S FAST S TOTAL S FLUSH S Purpose Memory availability WB1 3 Example Avail TOTAL Binddrivers Format BindDrivers Purpose Load device drivers for old hardware Example BindDrivers Break Format Break Task A N ALL S C S D S E S F S Purpose Stop a program see Status Example Break 2 C CD Format CD Dir A Purpose Change direc
30. o the new file e g copy oldfile info newfile info of the same type or use IconEdit to draw and save the file icon 5 3 How can create a bootable disk The simplest method is to Duplicate your Workbench disk delete the Utilities and the System files if not required copy the program to the disk and then edit the s startup sequence to run your program This method also guarentees that all the necessary files are also on the disk The minimum required to make a disk bootable is to use the Install command to save a bootblock to the disk Create a directory called S and create a startup sequence file with the name of the program and save that in the S directory and copy your program to the disk To use install with one disk drive type INSTALL then swap disks and type DFO and press RETURN 5 4 How can speed up disk access when using the shell The shell is a very powerful feature but can be limiting and annoying when working from floppy You can make common commands run from memory by using the Resident command which allows the Amiga to use commands from memory instead of loading them from disk For example Resident C Dir pure will make the DIR command resident You can make this a permanent feature by modying the S Shell Startup file and insert these resident commands Also it is a good idea to do all work on the RAM disk if you have plenty of memory instead of saving to from disk 5 5 Why do some icons when double clicked don t lo
31. oad and run a program CHDIR string Change directory CHR amp i ASCII code to character CINT x Convert value to integer with rounding CIRCLE STEP x y radius color start end aspect Create circle or arc CLEAR BasicData stack Clear memory CLNG n Convert to long integer CLOSE filenum filenum Close files CLS Clear screen COLLISION ON OFF STOP Enable disable sprite collisions COLOR fore back Set foreground background colour COMMON var list Define common variables CONT Continue COS x Cosine CSNG x Convert to single precision value CSRLIN Return print line in current window or screen CVI 2 byte string Convert string to integer CVL 4 byte string Convert string to long integer CVS 4 byte string Convert string to single precision value CVD 9 byte string Convert string to double precision value DATA constant list List data items DATE Current date DECLARE FUNCTION id param list LIBRARY Start a multi line function DEF FNname param list func def Define a single line function DEFDBL letter range Define Double precision variables DEFINT letter range Define Integer variables DEFLNG letter range Define Long Integer variables DEFSNG letter range Define Single precision variables DEFSTR letter range Define String variables DELETE line line Delete range of Basic statements DIM SHARED var list Define arrays END End of program
32. opy_of_file or whatever you can then move that file elsewhere or Rename it 1 1 4 Rename This option allows you to change the name of a disk a drawer or a file Select the disk drawer or file icon to rename select rename and then type in the new name in the given requester 1 1 5 Info This option displays details of a given disk drawer or file Workbench has 5 types of workbench icons Disk Drawer Trashcan Project and Tool A Trashcan is a special drawer for use with the Empty Trash feature to delete files A Project is a data file and a Tool is a Program Info will display the type size stack size default file comment and protection flags of a file 1 1 6 Discard This is a delete function to delete a file you would normally drag and drop the file into the Trashcan drawer to empty later This option allows you to delete a file straight away A requester may appear to confirm deletion 1 2 Disk Menu 1 2 1 Empty Trash This option deletes all the files in a selected Trashcan drawer of a disk This feature is useful because you may want to delete a file but you could change your mind and decide to keep it all you have to do is to drag the file out of the Trashcan back to its original drawer or disk 1 2 2 Initialise This option formats a disk for use by the Amiga It splits the disk into the right number of tracks sectors and creates an empty root directory It can also automatically create a Trashcan drawer To use select
33. rkbench disk and insert the Extras disk 5 Type COPY DF0 To DHO ALL CLONE to copy all the files to your hard disk For most application programs except games you can install them to your hard disk as well using a supplied install program or just by drag and dropping the files from the disk into a new drawer also known as a directory or folder on your hard disk 36 Adding more Memory to the A500 The Amiga memory is split into Chip RAM memory used by the custom chipset to store graphics and sound and Fast RAM memory which is used only by the Processor The Amiga A500 can come with 512K or 1M of memory You can increase Chip RAM up to the maximum of 2Mb and Fast RAM up to 7Mb or 8Mb depending if you have 1Mb or 2Mb of Chip RAM to a total of 9Mb You can increase RAM by adding memory via a new memory board into the expansion slot underneath the Amiga behind a trapdoor or via the Expansion Port on the left hand side sometimes as part of another device such as the A590 When increasing Chip RAM you must also upgrade the Agnus chip which is used to address the Chip RAM area to a new version that can handle 1M or 2Mb or Chip RAM See documentation with a board or device on how to install extra memory 37 Upgrading the Processor The standard 68000 7MHz processor in the Amiga A500 is quite slow and cannot cope with later applications and games The processor is slotted on the main mother board the only direct pin for pin r
34. rom 110 to 31325 Buffer Size Size of serial buffer in bytes Read Bits Number of bits for data 7 for ASCII 8 for Binary Write Bits Number of bits for writing data Stop Bits Number of bits to stop stream of data Parity Number of parity bits to check for error checking Handshaking Determine method of communication between systems 15 3 1 4 Hidden Drawers C Stores AmigaDOS commands Devs Stores keymap files printer drivers and other device drivers and the preferences file Fonts Stores bitmap font files A font file for each typeface and a file for each font size L Stores device handlers Libs Stores Amiga operating system libraries S Stores batch or script files T Temporary files drawer 3 1 5 Other Drawers Expansion Stores special device drivers for expansion peripherals Empty Duplicate this drawer to create new drawers Trashcan Stores files ready to be deleted 3 2 Extras Disk AmigaBASIC BASIC Programming Language interpreter Here you have a simple BASIC Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Interpreted Code programming language You type commands such as CHDIR LOAD SAVE RUN LIST SYSTEM in the main Basic window and view or edit any programs in the List window You can also load save etc from the menus Example programs can be found in the Basic Demos folder 3 2 1 Tools Drawer 3 2 1 1 MEmacs MicroEmacs is a powerful text editor for the Amiga which type can t
35. script with optional return code Example Quit 5 Relabel Format Relabel Drive A Name A Purpose Change name of a disk Example Relabel DFO Documents RemRAD Format RemRAD Purpose Removes contents of recoverable ram disk Example RemRAD Rename Format Rename From A M To As A QUIET S Purpose Rename or move one or more files Example Rename MyDoc as MyDoc doc Resident Format Resident Name File ADD S REPLACE S REMOVE S Purpose Makes a CLI command memory resident WB1 3 Example Resident C Dir Run Format Run Command F Purpose Execute a program in the background multi task Example Run Printfiles Doc1 Search Format Search From M Search A ALL S NONUM S QUIET S QUICK S FILE S WB1 3 Search From Search A ALL S WB1 2 Purpose Search for a string in a file or a file on a disk Example Search SYS List File All SetClock Format Setclock OPT LOAD S SAVE S Purpose Load or set the date and time from battery backed clock Example Date 27 Nov 00 10 00 SetClock Opt Save SetDate Format Setdate File A Date Time Purpose Set date of a file or directory see List Example Setdate DEVS Monday 10 30 Setenv Format Setenv Name String F Purpose Change the contents of a environment variable WB1 3 Example Setenv Workbench 1 3 SetMap Format Setmap Keymap A Purpose Sets keyboard layout Example Setmap UK 28 SetPatch Format Setpatch Purpose Prevents Guru Meditation after a Recoverable
36. sential Aminet util cli c FixDisk or DiskSalv v1 x Essential disk repair programs for fixing floppy or hard disk problems Later versions only work on WB2 or better Aminet disk salv d PowerPacker Useful packing program with good viewers such as PPShow PPMore to read view normal or packed files e ARP or Amiga Replacement Project A replacement for WB 1 3s older C commands and comes with the arp library for standard file requesters before ASL and REQTOOLS appeared Difficult to find these days f Magic Workbench Yes the ultimate icon package IS available for WB1 3 users Look out for MagicWB1 3 Iha in Aminet for useful WB 1 3 tools Aminet pix mwb g MSH or MessyDOS and MultiDOS This was available before CrossDOS appeared as standard You will be able to read write PC disks Aminet misc emu h Virus Checkers WB 1 3 users have a big problem in this area as most new virus checkers are for WB2 or better unless you know different VirusX and Virus Checker v6 xx will remove older viruses though Aminet util virus i HDClick Program Launcher WB1 3 does not have a Tools menu like WB2 or better so other types of program launchers are available to quickly start your programs such as HDClick 2 01 the last one before becoming WB2 only 35 Adding a Hard Disk to A500 Unfortunately the A500 does NOT come with a Hard Disk controller so you cannot just plug in any IDE or SCSI disk unless you have one The origina
37. tings see below Save Save new settings this will save them in devs system configuration Use Sets settings but does not save them to disk useful for temporary settings or for trying them out Cancel Cancel preferences without keeping any changes 3 1 3 2 CopyPrefs Makes a copy of the preference file system configuration another disk in the Devs drawer Useful for backups to another Workbench disk 3 1 3 3 Pointer i Rese tCal ar L Set Forn t ORK Caneel Displays the pointer preferences screen You can modify the pointer s shape in the top left section of the screen and change the colours if necessary Restore Restores pointer back to default shape Clear Clears the drawing area completely ResetColor Resets colours back to the defaults Set Point Sets the click point indicated by a small orange square at tip of pointer OK Sets and saves pointer changes Cancel Cancel changes and exits 13 3 1 3 4 Printer Fleas EI ii Displays the printer preferences screen Parallel or Serial Sets whether printer is connected via parallel or serial port Printer Name Selects a printer driver see InstallPrinter to view new drivers Paper Size Sets paper format for printer Length Sets number of lines down the page Paper Type Sets type of paper fanfold for dot matrix Single for lasers or inkjets etc Quality Sets quality of output either Draft or Letter Left Right Margin Sets numb
38. tory Example CD Text_Files 23 ChangeTaskPri Format ChangeTaskPri Pri Priority A N Process K N WB1 3 ChangeTaskPri Pri A WB1 2 Purpose Changes program s execution priority see Status Example ChangeTaskPri 2 1 Copy Format Copy From M To A ALL S QUIET S BUF BUFFER K N CLONE S DATES S NOPRO S COM S WB1 3 Copy From M To A ALL S QUIET S WB1 2 Purpose Copy files with without protection bits Example Copy mydoc txt docs Dates Date Format Date Time Date To Ver K Purpose Display change date or time Example Date To date txt Delete Format Delete File M A ALL S QUIET S Purpose Delete files and or directories Example Delete OldFilesDir All Dir Format Dir Dir Opt K ALL S DIRS S INTER S WB1 3 Dir Dir Opt K WB1 2 Purpose List contents of a directory Example Dir S Files Diskchange Format Diskchange Device A Purpose Tell Amiga DOS that a disk has been swapped in a non auto sensing disk drive Example Diskchange DF2 Diskcopy Format Diskcopy From A To A Name K NOVERIFY S MULTI S Purpose Duplicates disks Example Diskcopy df0 to df1 DiskDoctor Format DiskDoctor Device A Purpose Repair damaged files on a disk Example DiskDoctor DFO Echo Format Echo String M NOLINE S WB1 3 Echo String WB1 2 Purpose Display text in a script or part of a string of text Example Echo Enter your name NoLine Ed Format ED From A Size N Purpose Edit text files screen editor Examp
39. ve files into new sub dirs There are another set of error messages called Guru Meditation which is displayed when the computer crashes It consists of two numbers the first is the error id and second the address of the task ssggeeee aaaaaaaa ss Subsystem Id gg general error eeeee specific error The most common ones are CPU traps 00000002 Bus Error memory doesn t exist 00000003 Address error usually odd address access 00000004 Illegal instruction 00000005 Divide by zero 00000006 CHK instruction Check register against boundaries 00000007 TRAPV instruction Trap on overflow 00000008 Privilege violation 00000009 Trace debugging 0000000A Op Code 1010 unimplemented instruction 0000000B Op Code 1111 unimplemented instruction Exec 81000005 Corrupted memory list 81000009 Memory freed twice 21 4 3 Volume Drawer File names Names can be up to 31 characters long and may contain the following characters Letters A Z upper or lower Digits 0 9 Other characters EXCEPT the colon or slash Spaces can be used but can be confusing use a dash or underline _ instead 4 4 Volumes Drawers and Assigns A volume is the name given to a disk and may be referred to by its name followed by a colon e g DIR DataDisk A drawer or directory is used to organise files together and they are usually used in conjunction with a forward slash to separate the names e g DIR DFO Devs Printers A
40. ype documents and so on Includes load save find and replace multiple windows macros and so on See menus for commands 16 3 2 1 2 Fed Fed is a bitmap font editor which you can create bitmap fonts for use on the Amiga For example in the screen above there is the editor part on the top left the character set shown on the top right and various options on the bottom to edit fonts 3 2 1 3 Freemap Freemap displays the amount of free memory available as a map on a separate screen at the bottom of the display Useful for occasions when experiencing low memory problems To quit select Please from the Quit menu 3 2 1 4 PrefMon ElFerfornance Kaa This is a real time prformance monitor of CPU and memory usage over time displayed at a graph in separate window sections Useful to see what happens when running given programs or processes You can select how often samples are taken from the PM menu 3 2 1 5 IconEd The Icon editor can be used to edit existing or create new type of icons for disks drawers programs tools data files projects and the Trashcan For workbench to display files each file must have an icon file with it You can copy icon files either via the Shell or via Icon edit and save it as a new info file See menus for various options to make your icons 17 3 2 1 6 Palette Palette Tool a C of I HJA B i Oh RESET CANCEL This program can change Workbench colour sc
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