14.May.2024
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DiskFlashback: Using image files and discs in PC drives
Developer Rob Smith has introduced DiskFlashback, a convenient software for Windows 10/11 (64-bit) that enables PC floppy drives to read and write image files such as ADFs (Amiga Disk Files) during operation. It also allows you to process real discs in Amiga or Atari format, with the appropriate hardware extensions. To use it, you need the FloppyBridge plugin, which in turn requires additional hardware (YouTube video).
DiskFlashback is particularly aimed at retro computing enthusiasts and professional users who still work with older floppy disc formats. The software makes it possible, for example, to write image files to physical floppy discs and, conversely, to convert physical floppy discs into image files. This is particularly useful for archiving old software or reviving classic games and applications on original hardware. The workaround via WinUAE or other third-party software and expansion hardware for editing ADFs, for example, is therefore no longer necessary.
The features of DiskFlashback include:
- Mount ADF, DMS*, IMG, IMA, ST, MSA*, HDA, HDF and SCP* files as virtual drives (* read only)
- Supports the following disk formats:
- AmigaDOS OFS/FFS DD & HD Disks
- IBM/PC FAT12/16 DD 720k & HD 1.44Mb Disks
- Atari ST FAT12/16 GemDOS Single and Double Sided normal & extended Disks
- Dual Format Amiga/Atari floppy disks and mounts them as two drives! (read only)
- Use DrawBridge, Greaseweazle or SupercardPro as a real windows drive letter
- Create blank disk images for the above formats.
- Rip real floppy disks to file
- Write disk images to real floppy disks
- Install boot blocks on Amiga disks
- Optionally silently swap file extensions (eg: mod.thismusic to thismusic.mod)
The software requires Windows versions 10 or 11 in 64-bit - and of course a working floppy disc drive in the PC. The developer points out that the antivirus system in Windows may recognise the software as a virus. The false-positive warning can be ignored.
DiskFlashback is OpenSource and is licensed under the GPL2 licence. Sources are available on GitHub.
The free download of the software in its current version 1.0.0.6 is available on the developer's website under the title link. Developer Rob Smith offers the software free of charge, but is happy to receive a "tip" via ko-fi.
Editorial update, 12 June 2024 (nba): Our original news article stated that no special hardware is required to process physical Amiga disks. That is not accurate. The FloppyBridge plug-in is required, which in turn requires DrawBridge, Greaseweazle or Supercard Pro hardware. The article has been updated accordingly.
(nba)
[News message: 14. May. 2024, 13:15] [Comments: 0]
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14.May.2024
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Video: Updating Uboot for Sam460 boards
In his latest video, Roman 'kas1e' Kargin shows how to update the UBoot bootloader on the SAM460 boards from Acube-Systems. As he writes, the public version of Uboot, which was delivered with the Sam460, has a bug: when using RadeonRX graphics cards, the Uboot output cannot be seen on the monitor. Access is only possible via the terminal with the serial cable. The video shows the entire process of updating with a beta version of Uboot, which will be available to all users in the next few days.
(dr)
[News message: 14. May. 2024, 06:36] [Comments: 2 - 15. May. 2024, 05:59]
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13.May.2024
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Blog: Repairing an Amiga 1200 with an unusual problem
Andrew 'LinuxJedi' Hutchings describes in a recent blog entry how he repaired an Amiga 1200 whose motherboard worked for 15 minutes and then crashed with a black screen, sometimes paired with random noise.
(dr)
[News message: 13. May. 2024, 22:04] [Comments: 0]
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13.May.2024
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Linux: Kernel 6.9 for AmigaOne X1000/X5000
Parallel to the release of the Linux kernel 6.9, Christian 'xeno74' Zigotzky has finally compiled it for the AmigaOne X1000 and X5000 after numerous tests.
Download: linux-image-6.9.0-X1000_X5000.tar.gz (61 MB)
(dr)
[News message: 13. May. 2024, 21:22] [Comments: 0]
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12.May.2024
Commodore International Historical Society
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Historical document: Amiga presentation from 1984
In June 1984, the heads of "Amiga Computer, Inc." had met with representatives of Commodore to discuss the licensing or purchase of Amiga's currently developed technology. Commodore's financial director at the time, Don Greenbaum has now presented the hobby archaeologists from the 'Commodore International Historical Society' the document with which the Californian start-up used to advertise its computer at the time.
more ...
(cg)
[News message: 12. May. 2024, 17:27] [Comments: 0]
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12.May.2024
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Aminet uploads until 11.05.2024
The following files have been added until 11.05.2024 to Aminet:
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(snx)
[News message: 12. May. 2024, 07:55] [Comments: 0]
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12.May.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 11.05.2024
The following files have been added until 11.05.2024 to OS4Depot:
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(snx)
[News message: 12. May. 2024, 07:55] [Comments: 0]
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12.May.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 11.05.2024
The following files have been added until 11.05.2024 to AROS Archives:
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(snx)
[News message: 12. May. 2024, 07:55] [Comments: 0]
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12.May.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 11.05.2024
The following files have been added until 11.05.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
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(snx)
[News message: 12. May. 2024, 07:55] [Comments: 0]
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11.May.2024
Frank Neumann (Mail)
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Shoot 'em Up: Early demo version of "NEON world" (v0.3)
After Frank Neumann had not programmed anything for the Amiga with assembler for 30 years, he wants to get back into it with the shoot 'em up "NEON world" (amiga-news.de reported). With this further early demo version, the player's power has been upgraded so that he can defeat opponents more easily. However, this also increases the boss's resistance.
In addition, the player is no longer revived immediately, but is reset to certain positions in the level. So you have to be even more careful. The game should run on an Amiga 500.
Direct download: NeonWorld.adf.zip (101 KB)
(dr)
[News message: 11. May. 2024, 21:44] [Comments: 0]
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11.May.2024
Retropolis (Webseite)
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Reverse Engineering: Dungeon crawler Bloodfest
In relation to games (software), reverse engineering is the process of analysing the code and content of the game in order to understand how it works (amiga-news.de reported). In this case, Petri Häkkinen, author of the dungeon crawler Bloodfest, had lost his own source code, which is why he downloaded his game, written in AMOS Professional, from Aminet and analysed it under the title link.
(dr)
[News message: 11. May. 2024, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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10.May.2024
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MorphOS: PolyOrganiser 1.26
Frederic 'Polymere' Rignault's PolyOrganiser is a 'Personal Information Management' tool that features a calendar, an address book and ToDo lists. Changes since the previous version:
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(dr)
[News message: 10. May. 2024, 22:48] [Comments: 0]
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10.May.2024
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Encryption protocol: AmiSSL 5.15 (AmigaOS 3/4)
Version 5.15 of the open source encryption protocol AmiSSL has been released, which is now based on the latest version OpenSSL 3.3.0. Detailed changes:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 10. May. 2024, 14:23] [Comments: 2 - 10. May. 2024, 18:59]
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09.May.2024
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AmigaOS 4: Partitioning and formating the A1222 Plus SSD drive
Kevin 'ktadd' Taddeucci has purchased an A1222 Plus in addition to his existing AmigaOS 4 hardware (MicroA1, AmigaOne X1000). In a first article he reported on the various parts that are included in his complete system. Now he explains how to partition and format the SSD drive.
(dr)
[News message: 09. May. 2024, 20:39] [Comments: 0]
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09.May.2024
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Video: Compilations of game music
The YouTube channel "RetroSpeedruns" has two videos for those who would like to indulge in the music of old Amiga gaming times: Another Amiga Music Compilation (1988-1994) offers, for example, Alien Breed, Apidya, The Chaos Engine or Jaguar XJ220, while Amiga Music Adventure Edition (1988-1995) includes music from Beneath A Steel Sky, Secret Of Monkey Island or Zak McKracken, among others.
(dr)
[News message: 09. May. 2024, 09:23] [Comments: 0]
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09.May.2024
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Developer log: Amiga Isometric #4
Nivrig Games is working on porting an isometric arcade adventure game to the Amiga and is publishing developer diaries (amiga-news.de reported). After three further entries - Amiga Isometric #2, Amiga Isometric #3 and Amiga Isometric #3.5 - the ability to draw an isometrically sorted moving object - the player - in the game world and to perform some rudimentary test controls was achieved.
As the author explains, adding controller-based movements was easy, but adding other objects proved to be something of a grab bag. As this was ultimately successful, the first interactions could now be tested (YouTube video).
(dr)
[News message: 09. May. 2024, 06:52] [Comments: 0]
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09.May.2024
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Preview video: Scorpion Engine port of "Street Fighter 1"
Mohammed Malik is in the process of using the Scorpion Engine to port the well-known beat'm up "Street Fighter 1" for the Amiga in a new and better way compared to the existing version. The target platform is an Amiga 500 with 512 Kb RAM. The author started work at the end of 2022 (YouTube video). In the current update, spark strikes, sound effects and the blocking of opponents were added, which, according to the developer, now makes the game feel more like a fighting game.
(dr)
[News message: 09. May. 2024, 06:40] [Comments: 1 - 10. May. 2024, 12:51]
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08.May.2024
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Interview: Announcement of a cost-reduced MiSTer FPGA board
Taki Udon recently presented the prototype of a cost-reduced version of the FPGA Amiga clone "MiSTer" in a video. Wes Fenlon has now interviewed him at the title link, so that details of the new board are now also available in writing.
After the price of the DE10 Nano board, which forms the basis of the MiSTer, has almost doubled in the last five years, the clone of Terasic's original is being aimed at 99 US dollars, which is to be achieved through cheaper components and direct sourcing of the FPGA chip from Altera.
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(snx)
[News message: 08. May. 2024, 11:19] [Comments: 0]
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08.May.2024
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USB-C power supply: 2nd batch of the PowerShark imminent - color choice possible
The “PowerShark” is a USB-C-based power supply unit for the keyboard case Amigas 500, 600 and 1200, which sold out quickly. A second batch with very minor changes to the electronics is now about to go into production, for which a new housing color is planned. A survey has been set up regarding this.
(snx)
[News message: 08. May. 2024, 11:19] [Comments: 0]
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07.May.2024
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Multi-emulator: AmiArcadia V32.41 emulates 14 systems
The Arcadia emulator, which has been continuously developed for several years, aims to bring unusual video game consoles from the 70s/80s to new systems.The emulator has now been released in version 32.41 for AmigaOS 3.2/3.9, AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS under the title AmiArcadia (there are also versions for Windows and Android). AmiArcadia currently emulates a total of 14 systems from the early video game era between 1976 and 1985 on the Amiga, of which the best-known representatives are probably the console families Interton VS 4000 and Emerson Arcadia 2001.
more ...
(nba)
[News message: 07. May. 2024, 12:04] [Comments: 1 - 07. May. 2024, 14:14]
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07.May.2024
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Demo: THE CURE V1.6 for AGA-Amigas
Some time ago, Simone 'saimo' Bevilacqua released a demo called 'THE CURE' (YouTube video) which placed first at the 'Solskogen'-Demoparty 2020 in the category Oldskool (amiga-news.de reported).
He continues to maintain this demo and has now released version 1.6. The new features:
- Improved music: improved S/N ratio by eliminating 29 peaks and re-normalizing the waveform.
- Removed some useless operations from cleanup code.
Additional to an AGA Amiga the demo requires a 68030 processor with 50 MHz and about 15 MB FAST-RAM.
(nba)
[News message: 07. May. 2024, 11:18] [Comments: 0]
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06.May.2024
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Video: Test of a new MOD player for Amigas with low memory
Musician, DJ and developer Ian 'h0ffman' Ford has published a video on YouTube in which he tests his new MOD player for Amigas with little memory, which is currently under development: it is based on Arnaud Carré's "Light Speed Player" (amiga-news.de reported) and in the example a 1.6 MB module is played on an Amiga 500 with 512 Kb chip RAM and 512 Kb slow RAM.
All samples are compressed with a 4-bit delta (see also "Delta coding" by Paul Bourke), which halves the size. Playback is performed using audio interrupts that stream and unpack data.
(dr)
[News message: 06. May. 2024, 18:25] [Comments: 0]
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06.May.2024
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Event: µAlchimie VIII in Clérieux (France)
The Triple A association is organising the eighth µAlchimie Clérieux (France) on the weekend of 1 to 3 November 2024. Focusing on Amiga, Atari and retrogramming in general, it will also be a long weekend to relax, play and discover each other's systems.
(dr)
[News message: 06. May. 2024, 17:49] [Comments: 0]
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06.May.2024
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Programming: Web based m68k assembler editor v3.1.0
Under the title link you can find a webapp to write, run and learn M68K assembly code based on the framework SvelteKit and the programming language Rust (amiga-news.de reported).
Version 3.1.0 among others offers share by URL:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 06. May. 2024, 16:58] [Comments: 0]
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06.May.2024
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Arcade port: King and Balloon V0.9
"King and Balloon" is an arcade conversion of the title King & Balloon, originally released by Namco in 1980. The version 0.9 now released by 'RMJ & JoeJoe' (YouTube video) still lacks the title music and joystick support.
(dr)
[News message: 06. May. 2024, 16:42] [Comments: 0]
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06.May.2024
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Blog: Modifying a PC floppy drive to work inside an Amiga 500
Andrew 'LinuxJedi' Hutchings describes in a recent blog entry how he modified a CITIZEN Z1DE-57A PC floppy drive so that it works in an Amiga 500.
(dr)
[News message: 06. May. 2024, 16:25] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
Amiga.org (Forum)
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AROS/x86: Update of ABI-v0 developer branch
In February, Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz backported the version 20220318-1 of AROS/x86 for 32-bit systems for the original binary interface ABIv0. A first update is now available under the title link or on GitHub.
The archive only contains the revised components. These can be copied directly into an existing installation.
(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 19:09] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
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Aminet uploads until 04.05.2024
The following files have been added until 04.05.2024 to Aminet:
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(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 04.05.2024
The following files have been added until 04.05.2024 to OS4Depot:
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(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 04.05.2024
The following files have been added until 04.05.2024 to AROS Archives:
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(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 04.05.2024
The following files have been added until 04.05.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
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(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
Andreas Magerl (ANF)
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Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 168
The English and German issue 168 (May/June 2024) of the print magazine Amiga Future has been distributed. It can be ordered directly from its editorial office and from Amiga dealers that stock the magazine.
Content of the current issue includes, besides interviews with David Pleasance as well as Steve Quartly and Paul Huxham (PhotoFolio), articles about the AmigaOS 3.2 manual (German), the Amiga 4000TX and the AmigaOne A1222 Plus.
(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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05.May.2024
Amigaland (website)
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Website: 25 years of Games That Weren't
Frank Gasking's website "Games That Weren't", which is dedicated to unpublished game projects for various platforms, looks back on its 25th anniversary at the title link. Originally started with the C64, there is also an Amiga spin-off created in 2005 by Adrian Simpson.
(snx)
[News message: 05. May. 2024, 07:11] [Comments: 0]
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04.May.2024
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AMOS Professional: BSD Socket Extension 1.1.4
With the BSD Socket Extension for AMOS Professional by John Bintz, AMOS programmes can easily access the Internet. Originally started by the author in 1998, version 1.1.4 fixes several crashes and a problem that prevented the extension from working properly on non-emulated Amigas. An update is strongly recommended.
(dr)
[News message: 04. May. 2024, 19:48] [Comments: 0]
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04.May.2024
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AROS: Review of April 2024
In his blog, Andrzej 'retrofaza' Subocz has published a summary of AROS/x86 news for the month of April at the title link.
(dr)
[News message: 04. May. 2024, 07:52] [Comments: 0]
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04.May.2024
MorphZone (Forum)
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MorphOS: Web browser Wayfarer 8.2 (2nd update)
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 8.0 of his Wayfarer web browser for MorphOS. Wayfarer is now based on the WebKit engine WebKitGTK 2.44.0, which was released at the beginning of April.
As the developer explains, it is becoming increasingly difficult to update WebKit and more work is required than for the upgrades of versions 5, 6 or 7. Anyone who appreciates the work of Jacek Piszczek is welcome to make a donation.
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 04. May. 2024, 06:37] [Comments: 0]
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04.May.2024
MorphZone (Forum)
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MorphOS: E-Mail client Iris 1.26 (update)
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 1.25 his e-mail client Iris for MorphOS. Detailed changes:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 04. May. 2024, 06:26] [Comments: 0]
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03.May.2024
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Chiptune tracker: Furnace V0.6.3 for Windows, Mac and Linux
'tildearrows' Furnace is a tool that can be used to create sound chip music ("chiptune"), mostly from the 8/16-bit era (amiga-news.de reported). It supports a wide range of functions and sound chips, from NES, SNES and Genesis to ES5506, VIC-20 and the Amiga. Version 0.6.3 among others provides bug fixes and an improved support of Windows XP.
The songs can be exported as audio files (.wav), VGM files and ZSM files (for Commander X16). An manual is available.
(dr)
[News message: 03. May. 2024, 10:35] [Comments: 0]
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03.May.2024
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Survival game: Zombie Survivor
Sami Vehmaa's latest project is a game called "Zombie Survival" for Amigas with a graphics card, in which you have to fend off an endless army of the undead (YouTube video). The game is in development and currently has a world with 99 levels.
(dr)
[News message: 03. May. 2024, 06:12] [Comments: 0]
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02.May.2024
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Platform game: Level 2 of the demo version of "Silhouette Threat" for AGA-Amigas
At the end of January, we introduced the platform game project "Silhouette Threat" for AGA-Amigas in detail. A few weeks later, a demo version with the first level was released (YouTube video). Now the developer 'lionagony', supported by his daughter who contributed graphics, has released the second level which, unlike the first, scrolls automatically (YouTube video). It also offers simulated parallax scrolling on 6 layers. The author is looking forward to constructive criticism in the comments.
(dr)
[News message: 02. May. 2024, 20:44] [Comments: 0]
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02.May.2024
Amiga Future (website)
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Print/PDF magazine: Amiga Addict, issue 29
Issue 29 of the British magazine "Amiga Addict" is now available from the publisher. The cover story is the French games industry, and the magazine also includes reviews of "Final Fight Enhanced" and of the book "Demoscene: The Logo Art", a retrospective of the A500 expansion "Bodega Bay" and a tutorial on how to connect a Sony Vaio PCMCIA CD drive to an A600.
Amiga Addict is published monthly and is available as a single issue or as a subscription, either in printed form or as a PDF file.
(nba)
[News message: 02. May. 2024, 18:49] [Comments: 0]
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01.May.2024
David Brunet (ANF)
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New articles on Obligement website
The articles below have been added to the website of the French Amiga/MorphOS magazine Obligement in the last two months. Readers willing to help out with translating articles into other languages are asked to contact David 'Daff' Brunet.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 01. May. 2024, 17:44] [Comments: 0]
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01.May.2024
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Video from Amiga 30 event in California: Steve Jobs' fishing trip to Amiga 1983
As part of the Californian Amiga 30th birthday celebrations, Amiga investor and director Bill Hart told the story of Steve Jobs visiting the Amiga developers, who were in need of financial support in 1983. Jobs had money, so Amiga was interested in talking to him.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 01. May. 2024, 08:31] [Comments: 0]
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30.Apr.2024
Alinea Computer (ANF)
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Quake 2 now also available for AmigaOS 3.x as digital version
Press release: Alinea Computer is very pleased to be able to offer the version for AmigaOS 3.x (68k) as a digital download in addition to the Quake 2 version for AmigaOS 4. Steffen Häuser is responsible for the porting and has implemented numerous features that did not yet exist for any Quake 2 port for AmigaOS/68k.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 22:19] [Comments: 0]
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30.Apr.2024
Puni (ANF)
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AmigaOS 4: Blog summary for April 2024
For the past month 'Puni' has again published a news summary for AmigaOS 4 at the title link.
(snx)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 22:01] [Comments: 1 - 01. May. 2024, 15:22]
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30.Apr.2024
IndieRetroNews
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Arcade shooter: Phoenix500 now also for AGA-Amigas
Jean-Francois 'jotd' Fabre has updated the arcade classic Phoenix500, released a few days ago for ECS-Amigas, with a version optimised for AGA systems. The top-down space shooter (YouTube video) now includes new graphics by Toni Galvez in its AGA mode. Phoenix500 can be downloaded from the website under the title link in return for a voluntary donation to the developers.
(nba)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 14:57] [Comments: 0]
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30.Apr.2024
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TankX: Tank game returns after 30 years with new single-player mode
About 30 years ago, the tank game Tankkk was released, in which each k in the name stood for the number of tanks in the game. Until now, Tankkk could only be played with up to six players on one computer. Now, after almost three decades, developer K-P Koljonen has re-released the game, which has been renamed TankX. In the new version 1.1, computer-controlled tanks have been added so that TankX can now also be played solo against the Amiga.
The player can use processor-controlled tanks in battle, include a CPU teammate, play a human vs CPU team death match or have all tanks controlled by the CPU. There are three different CPU tank drivers to choose from:
- Scary: medium range radar, comes towards the opponent and shoots
- Wary: medium range radar, shoots once and then flees
- Lazy: long range radar, doesn't move, but shoots from a distance
In addition to the single-player mode, the new version also includes revisions to the menu, a pause mode, newly created and revised battlefields and new music tracks.
TankX runs on any Amiga with at least Kickstart 1.2, OCS, 68000 and 1 MB RAM. The LhA archive includes the 68k version and an ADF version for emulators and AmigaOS 3.2.
Download: TankX (1.5 MB)
(nba)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 14:28] [Comments: 0]
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30.Apr.2024
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The Guardian: An ironic look back at the Amiga
'The Guardian', a renowned British daily newspaper, published a commentary in English on 26 April 2024 that takes a ironical look at the enduring love for the Amiga, which is classed as technically obsolete. Entitled ‘My Undying Love for the Painfully Uncool Amiga’, the article highlights the quirks and weaknesses of the once revolutionary computer platform.
The article humorously plays with the discrepancy between modern technology and the limited possibilities of the Amiga. It takes a critical, if humorous, look at the technical limitations and cultural idiosyncrasies that make the Amiga a rather uncool choice today, according to author Dominik Diamond. Despite the criticism, a certain affection resonates in the lines - a tribute to the important role the Amiga played in early computer and gaming culture.
For readers who appreciate a sharp-tongued commentary, the article offers an entertaining yet critical look at how and why some technologies stand the test of time - or not.
The full article can be found on The Guardian website at the title link.
(nba)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 13:29] [Comments: 0]
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30.Apr.2024
Pixelwalker (ANF)
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Diskmag: Amiga Rulez #2 now also available in English
Almost a fortnight ago, the second issue of the disc magazine Amiga Rulez was published in German (amiga-news.de reported). The English edition has now also been available as of 28 April. In the current update version, the event section has been expanded and initial bugs have been fixed.
The magazine was written in AMOS and is available in ADF format (880 KB). It can be downloaded free of charge from amiga-rulez.de and from the Demoscene website Pouet under the title link.
(nba)
[News message: 30. Apr. 2024, 13:19] [Comments: 0]
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29.Apr.2024
Mikkel (Forum)
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Heise: Article about the Commodore insolvency 30 years ago today (German)
At the title link, Heise.de dedicates a German article to the company's history on the occasion of Commodore's insolvency 30 years ago today. Two concluding paragraphs also mention the Escom period and the THEA500 Mini.
Independent of the anniversary, also the Guardian has published a nostalgic article about the Amiga.
(snx)
[News message: 29. Apr. 2024, 22:08] [Comments: 0]
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29.Apr.2024
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Music tip: Appeal by SoDa7
The ChipChop 17 musicdisc was also released during this year's Revision demo party. 'SoDa7' also contributed a track for this: "Appeal". You can dance your way through the YouTube video he has now published.
(dr)
[News message: 29. Apr. 2024, 16:40] [Comments: 0]
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29.Apr.2024
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Demo: "V4driver" 1.06 for Apollo Vampire V4
In mid-January, Sami Vehmaa released "V4driver", his second demo after 30 years, which he wrote exclusively for the Apollo Vampire V4 (amiga-news.de reported). With this update to version 1.06, he has made some fine adjustments such as the parallax timing. The demo should now also run at 50 FPS (hold down the space bar to display FPS).
(dr)
[News message: 29. Apr. 2024, 12:02] [Comments: 0]
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29.Apr.2024
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Developer log: New graphics for the strategy game "Ecliptic"
At the beginning of April, a new demo version of the strategy game "Ecliptic", which is currently under development, was released (amiga-news.de reported). Now the author has published a detailed developer diary in which he explains how he creates new monsters and backgrounds for the second level and uses code examples to show how he inserts them into his game. There is also a corresponding YouTube video.
(dr)
[News message: 29. Apr. 2024, 11:54] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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Aminet uploads until 27.04.2024
The following files have been added until 27.04.2024 to Aminet:
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(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 27.04.2024
The following files have been added until 27.04.2024 to OS4Depot:
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(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 27.04.2024
The following files have been added until 27.04.2024 to AROS Archives:
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(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 27.04.2024
The following files have been added until 27.04.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
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(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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WHDLoad: New installers until 27.04.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 27.04.2024:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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AmigaRemix: Further files added
AmigaRemix collects remixes of well-known soundtracks of Amiga games. Since our last news-item, the following mp3 files have been added:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
Mastodon
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Do it yourself: HD floppy drive - Herr Doktor Diskettenlaufwerk (Amiga-HDDLW)
"Herr Doktor Diskettenlaufwerk" describes the conversion of a 1.44 MB PC floppy disk drive into a corresponding HD drive for the Amiga. It is described for two models, the MPF920-E from Sony and the FD-235HF from TEAC. After the conversion, the speed of the motor is halved, as is typical for the Amiga, when an HD diskette is detected, otherwise it remains unchanged.
(snx)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 06:34] [Comments: 0]
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28.Apr.2024
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A simple AmigaOS GUI in assembler
At the beginning of October last year, Edwin van den Oosterkamp kindly wrote a tutorial for us based on his book "Classic AmigaOS Programming - An introduction" on how to create a GUI in C and thus demonstrated an introduction to C programming. Now he has published a similar example source code on his website, which shows this GUI creation in assembler. This article is not so much a tutorial as an accompanying text to the assembler source code, which has also been made available on the download page.
(dr)
[News message: 28. Apr. 2024, 05:38] [Comments: 1 - 28. Apr. 2024, 11:26]
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27.Apr.2024
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A-EON announces new version of Personal Paint for A600GS
Press rekease: Cardiff, 27 April 2024
A-EON Technology Ltd is pleased to announce further development of Personal Paint. Latest version 7.4 will be pre-installed on the forthcoming A600GS Computer.
A-EON Technology purchased rights to Personal Paint from Cloanto in 2014 (amiga-news.de reported) which has led to notable development over the last decade for both Classic Amiga systems and Next Generation systems.
Personal Paint has a rich record of being bundled with home computers over the years. In 1996 PPaint 6.4 was part of the Escom's Amiga 1200 Magic Pack. Even more recently in 2016, PPaint 7.3 was bundled with A-EON's powerful X5000 computer system. In 2024 the tradition continues with a new
version 7.4 being pre-installed on the forthcoming A600GS.
A-EON's latest update to this famous paint package accelerates 1080P and larger high resolution screens. 1080P is the resolution that most HDMI televisions operate at and the default screen mode of the A600GS. The drawing tools at this resolution would ordinarily be very slow. However they have now been significantly accelerated by using ARM native code.
The latest Personal Paint 7.4 from A-EON is ready-to-run on the A600GS and will bring a nostalgic paint package experience to modern 1080P televisions.
Matthew Leaman, MD of A-EON remarked: "Personal Paint originated on Classic Amiga systems which are these days becoming rarer, more expensive and requiring on going maintenance. This fact alone does not help to expand the future use of Personal Paint outside the Amiga community. As one of A-EON most important applications, Personal Paint can now have a new lease of life on low cost ARM hardware platform such as the A600GS. We are excited by the development possibilities that this provides for this famous application. We hope we can reach a wider audience, expanding the user base and ensure the application's longevity for many years to come."
Trevor Dickinson, A-EON’s co-founder added: "Personal Paint became the leading easy-to-use Amiga program for bitmapped graphics and animation and was one of the first to support AGA and RTG. We developed updated versions for both 68K and PowerPC, and it's great to see the ARM accelerated version
joining the family."
Personal Paint 7.4 will be launched in Q2/2024 on the A600GS computer system.
(dr)
[News message: 27. Apr. 2024, 18:50] [Comments: 1 - 27. Apr. 2024, 20:57]
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27.Apr.2024
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AROS: "Irritating bug of the month" April fixed / Poll for May
In the poll for the "Irritating bug of the month" for April, two tasks were selected: in Wanderer, deletion should be allowed by pressing the Del key (#116) and DiskInfo should display the correct FAT instead of the wrong OFS (#105). Both tasks were solved and the corresponding archives (#105 and #116) were made available.
The poll for the "Irritating bug of the month" May has been started.
(dr)
[News message: 27. Apr. 2024, 14:02] [Comments: 0]
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26.Apr.2024
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USB-Stack: ANAIIS 1.24
ANAIIS ("Another Native Amiga IO Interface Stack") written by Gilles Pelletier is an USB stack which also runs on a 68000 processor. This can be used, for example, to operate the Subway 2021 from Alinea Computer. Changes in version 1.24:
- Fix Massive for most usb keys
- Fix hub with more than 4 ports
- Add LoadRDBFS option for massive (crashy thing)
- Wood dragon version
- StartDrivers changes
- remove c.o for massive (bug with output, keeping the cli open with WB1.3)
- CDFS/AmiCDFS
- CD/DVD
For future development steps, Gilles Pelletier mentions, among other things, the optimisation of the graphic interface and the improvement of speed and reactivity.
(nba)
[News message: 26. Apr. 2024, 10:52] [Comments: 0]
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26.Apr.2024
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Video tutorials: Run command and IFF screens in AMOS
In two more videos of his tutorial series about AMOS Pro, retro and Amiga fan 'Yawning Angel' shows on the one hand how to call other AMOS programs from existing AMOS programs by using the Run command (YouTube video), and on the other hand how to use an IFF file as a screen (YouTube video).
(dr)
[News message: 26. Apr. 2024, 06:30] [Comments: 0]
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25.Apr.2024
Seiya (ANF)
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PDF magazine: REV'n'GE 157 (Italian/English)
Besides the Italian original issue, the PDF magazine REV'n'GE ("Retro Emulator Vision and Game") is also available in English. The magazine's reviews compare, if available, the different ports of classic games to the various platforms of their time. Furthermore a focus is on rather unknown retro games.
Amiga-related, the current issue, which is dedicated to flight simulators, is about "Knight of the Sky" and "Duck Hunt".
(snx)
[News message: 25. Apr. 2024, 21:15] [Comments: 0]
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25.Apr.2024
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Survey: Future focus of Kea Sigma Delta's work
Hans De Ruiter's (for example FTP server ZitaFTP) company Kea Sigma Delta has written several books on programming, produced videos and spent most of his time developing his own stuff. In the future, he would like to do more justice to his own slogan "We enjoy creating awesome stuff using software & electronics, and helping others to do the same" and intends to create a membership programme.
For that, he is asking for information in advance about what interested parties need and what their current level of knowledge is. He has published a short survey for this purpose. As he tells us, an "Amiga corner" is also planned based on the response so far.
(dr)
[News message: 25. Apr. 2024, 06:36] [Comments: 0]
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25.Apr.2024
Balaton
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Emulator: QEMU 9.0.0 released
QEMU is an open source computer emulator and virtualiser. QEMU is able to emulate a complete computer in software. It is therefore also possible to emulate Amiga operating systems such as AROS, AmigaOS or MorphOS on QEMU. This support is provided by QEMU developer Zoltan Balaton, who has set up a dedicated website with lots of tips and information.
According to him, the new version 9.0.0 contains improvements of the Sam460ex emulation (faster, support of short drive options like -cdrom & -drive media=..., SFS fixed) and Pegasos2 IRQ fixes. A ready to use binary for Windows 64 bit has already been made available.
(dr)
[News message: 25. Apr. 2024, 06:07] [Comments: 0]
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24.Apr.2024
AmiKit (ANF)
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Workbench distribution: AmiKit 12.5
The Workbench distribution AmiKit for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Vampire, PiStorm and Raspberry Pi is now available in version 12.5, called "Spring Update".
Besides updates of system files and included programs, also new software has been added, e.g. a converter for HEIF images, the SONOS controller and various Hollywood plugins; the changelog can be found at the title link.
(snx)
[News message: 24. Apr. 2024, 20:58] [Comments: 0]
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24.Apr.2024
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AmigaOS 4: Mini review of Heretic 2
The adaptation of the third-person shooter "Heretic 2", originally released in 1998 for the PC and two years later also for the Amiga, to AmigaOS 4, which was released this year, was subjected to a short review by Pavel 'pavlor' Dohnal at the title link.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 24. Apr. 2024, 08:29] [Comments: 0]
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24.Apr.2024
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Demo scene: How the Backslide demo was created
At this year's Revision demo party, Backslide to Arcanum by Cosmic Orbs took 3rd place among the Amiga demos. Interest attracted that a large bitmap image rotated effortlessly at 50 Hz in full overscan and 1×1 resolution, moving across the screen and changing size arbitrarily.
At the title link, 'Jobbo' from Cosmic Orbs explains how he went about it.
(snx)
[News message: 24. Apr. 2024, 08:28] [Comments: 0]
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23.Apr.2024
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Game Construction Kit: RedPill 0.9.38
RedPill, developed by Carlos Peris, is a game construction kit written in Amiblitz 3.99, which allows the development of games from various genres (e.g. Agonman). RedPill is compatible with AGA and ECS, the "player" for playing the finished creations requires a total of 1.5 MB RAM. Jens 'Farbfinsternis' Henschel has written a tutorial.
All changes of updated version 0.9.38:
- Trigonometry functions are now intertal and mathtrans library is no longer needed.
- Mathtrans library is no longer copied when building games, diskfont is only copied if topaz is not used.
- Added a condition trigger CPU is to check the processor of the machine where the game is running.
- When building a game targeting A500 assign ENV: to RAM: is not executed.
- Optimization of math functions.
- Fix for tileset not being saved.
- Fix in basic_platformer project that made impossible completing the second stage.
- Fix for Default screen width being overwritten by the level one.
- Fix for Tiled Move action trigger when moving in diagonal.
- Small fixes.
(nba)
[News message: 23. Apr. 2024, 11:06] [Comments: 0]
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23.Apr.2024
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Arcade port: Phoenix500
Jean-Francois 'jotd' Fabre has converted another arcade classic for the Amiga: Phoenix500 is a top-down space shooter (YouTube video) that has been remade for ECS Amigas.
(dr)
[News message: 23. Apr. 2024, 06:28] [Comments: 0]
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23.Apr.2024
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Shoot'em Up: Game.X 1.2
Franck 'hitchhikr' Charlet has released version 1.2 of his port of the shoot'em up Game.X (YouTube video, amiga-news.de reported). It uses a newer and faster engine and saves the highscore in the game directory if the NVRAM is not available.
The game requires an AGA Amiga and was originally released by Kugenuma Soft in 1990.
(dr)
[News message: 23. Apr. 2024, 06:18] [Comments: 0]
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22.Apr.2024
Andreas Magerl (ANF)
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Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 168, preview and excerpts
Preview and excerpts of Amiga Future issue 168 (May/June 2024) have been published online at the title link. Content of this issue, which features four additional pages, includes interviews with David Pleasance as well as Steve Quartly and Paul Huxham of PhotoFolio, reviews of the AmigaOne A1222 Plus and the (German) AmigaOS 3.2 book as well as an article about parallax scrolling on the Amiga.
Amiga Future magazine is available as an English and a German printed magazine and can be bought directly from the magazine's editorial office as well as several Amiga dealers.
(snx)
[News message: 22. Apr. 2024, 20:58] [Comments: 0]
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22.Apr.2024
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Module player: NostalgicPlayer 2.3.0 for Windows
NostalgicPlayer is a program for playing Amiga music modules under Windows, based on APlayer. The development of the player had been started by the author Thomas Neumann in 1993 on the Amiga, later continued on BeOS and now on Windows (amiga-news.de reported). Changes of version 2.3.0:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 22. Apr. 2024, 18:05] [Comments: 0]
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22.Apr.2024
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Image and PDF converter: Image2PDF 2.6 for all Amiga systems
Bernd Assenmacher's Image2PDF is a tool for converting images to PDF and vice versa. Images can also be scaled or saved in a different format (amiga-news.de reported). Changes in version 2.6:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 22. Apr. 2024, 16:22] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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Do it yourself: Scart adapter (also available to buy)
Finnish CBMretro store offers a Scart adapter for plugging into the RGB port of the Amiga for sale at the title link. Alternatively, you can build the adapter yourself, the documentation is open source.
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 22:41] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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Amiga emulator: Amiberry 5.7.0 and 6.3.0 (preview)
Amiberry is an Amiga emulator for ARM-based single-chip systems like the Raspberry Pi, the Odroid XU4 or the Tinkerboard from ASUS, which brings some newly developed features like a "WHDLoad-Booter" or support for controller configuration using RetroArch. For example it is used in the Workbench distribution AmiKit for the Raspberry Pi 4/400.
New versions have now been released: version 5.7.0 is recommended for RPI4 and version 6.3.0 (preview) for x86_64 or faster ARM boards. Both versions offer numerous new features, bug fixes and improvements.
(dr)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 16:56] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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Aminet uploads until 20.04.2024
The following files have been added until 20.04.2024 to Aminet:
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(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 20.04.2024
The following files have been added until 20.04.2024 to OS4Depot:
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(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 20.04.2024
The following files have been added until 20.04.2024 to AROS Archives:
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(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 20.04.2024
The following files have been added until 20.04.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
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(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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WHDLoad: New installers until 20.04.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 20.04.2024:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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AmigaRemix: Further files added
AmigaRemix collects remixes of well-known soundtracks of Amiga games. Since our last news-item, the following mp3 files have been added:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
Mastodon
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Windows/Linux/Mac OS: Ami Sampler 0.7
As the name suggests, "Ami Sampler" is a VSTi 8-bit sampler that is intended to come close to its Amiga role models on other systems and thus combine this nostalgia with modern digital audio workstations. The range of functions therefore also includes replicas of the 4.4 kHz 6 dB/octave low-pass filter of the Amiga 500 and the 3.1 kHz 12 dB/octave low-pass filter of the Amigas 500 and 1200 as well as a "Paula switch".
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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THEA500 Mini: Pandory500 firmware V3
The alternative firmware "Pandory500" for THEA500 Mini, which is "sideloaded" and enables the use of emulators for other systems (amiga-news.de reported), is now available in version 3.
In addition to updates to included emulators, the new features include optimization in terms of speed and file size as well as, for example, remote access to the THEA500 Mini via SSH and SFTP.
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
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Video: Update on the development status of the Terrible Fire 4060 turboboard
At the title link Terrible Fire reports on the development status of the TF 4060, the long-awaited Amiga 4000 counterpart to the TF 1260 turbo card. The video shows revision 4 of the prototype, a fifth has already been ordered. The latter is intended for a beta test program.
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:05] [Comments: 0]
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21.Apr.2024
Amigaworld.net (website)
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Gopher client: Gopherized
As the name suggests, Fabio 'Allanon' Falcucci's "Gopherized" is a client for the Gopher network protocol. As a special feature compared to other Amiga programs, it automatically scans the pages saved as bookmarks for updates.
After a test phase of this preliminary version, the final version 1.0 of this AMOS program will be published together with the source code.
(snx)
[News message: 21. Apr. 2024, 09:05] [Comments: 0]
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19.Apr.2024
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AmigaOS 4: cURL V8.7.1
Daniel Stenberg, initiator and main developer of cURL, a command line tool for transferring data with URLs, reported at the end of March in his blog about the release of versions 8.7.0 and 8.7.1. 'MickJT' has now ported this current version for AmigaOS 4.
(dr)
[News message: 19. Apr. 2024, 12:23] [Comments: 0]
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18.Apr.2024
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Event: "ZZAP! Live 2024" in Kenilworth (England)
On 17 August 2024, The Holiday Inn in Kenilworth (England) will host the second "ZZAP! Live" event (amiga-news.de reported), organised by Fusion Retro Books, der South West Amiga Group and Retro Computer Museum. All Commodore computer systems including the Amiga will be represented.
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 18. Apr. 2024, 22:06] [Comments: 0]
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18.Apr.2024
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RIPPLE IDE: Firmware update for Zorro 2 IDE interface
Last week we informed you about the open source projects lide.device, a new IDE driver for the Amiga, and CIDER, an expansion card for the CDTV (amiga-news.de reported). Matt "LIV2" Harlum had developed RIPPLE IDE for his lide.device as a follow-up product. This is an IDE interface for Zorro-2-based Amiga models (A2000, A3000, A4000), which interested parties can build on their own using Gerber data and a parts list.
RIPPLE IDE in combination with lide.device work with Kickstart 1.3 or later, support drives up to 2 terabytes and ATAPI devices, offer an autoboot function and thus also boot from CD-ROM and ZIP/LS-120 drives.
The firmware update 18/04/24) was released today for RIPPLE DE, which fixes errors in the boot process and in the autoconfig function.
(nba)
[News message: 18. Apr. 2024, 12:03] [Comments: 0]
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18.Apr.2024
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Turn-based strategy: Update introduces free elections in "Settle the World"
Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel's latest update for his turn-based building and trading game "Settle the World" introduces free elections: In the game, the population of cities can now vote every few years on whether the player should remain in power. Elections become available as soon as the inhabitants of a city have reached the worker class for the first time. If the player wins the election, he can continue playing, if he loses the vote, the game ends for him.
The integration of the new voting system is not yet complete and will be expanded with future updates. As the outcome of elections currently still depends too much on chance, the game does not yet end if the player loses an election. Details on the influence of the townspeople's happiness on their voting behavior and which other factors will influence the outcome of elections in the future can be found in Wiegel's developer diary.
(cg)
[News message: 18. Apr. 2024, 01:27] [Comments: 0]
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17.Apr.2024
Frank Neumann (Mail)
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Shoot 'em Up: Early demo version of "NEON world" (v0.2)
After Frank Neumann had not programmed anything for the Amiga with assembler for 30 years, he wants to get back into it with the shoot 'em up "NEON world" (amiga-news.de reported). With this third early demo version, the first level has now 27 screens, including a boss at the end. There are also minor improvements here and there.
The next steps will be adding PowerUps for the player and moving back in the level when the player dies (at the moment the player is immediately respawned and the level just continues). The game should run on an Amiga 500.
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 17. Apr. 2024, 21:59] [Comments: 0]
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17.Apr.2024
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Tutorial: Building a ReAmiga 4000CR
At the title link and in a separate entry with the second part, John 'Chucky' Hertell describes step by step mounting the chips on a ReAmiga 4000CR circuit board, i.e. the cost-reduced version with the 68030 CPU mounted directly on the mainboard.
(snx)
[News message: 17. Apr. 2024, 09:43] [Comments: 0]
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17.Apr.2024
Alinea Computer (ANF)
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Game: Quake 2 as download version for AmigaOS 4 available
Press release: Alinea Computer is pleased to announce that it has taken over the distribution of Quake 2 for AmigaOS 4. The first Amiga version of Quake 2 was released in 2002 by Hyperion Entertainment and has been continued and greatly improved in this tradition.
Steffen Häuser is responsible for the port and has implemented numerous improvements. In addition to support for the various mission CDs and MODS, GL4ES/Warp3DNova support and playback of the soundtracks as OGG Vorbis have also been realised.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 17. Apr. 2024, 09:43] [Comments: 0]
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16.Apr.2024
IndieRetroNews
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Grind: Progress in development of a new Doom clone
Grind is a first-person shooter (FPS) currently in development for the Amiga, which should even be able to run on small Amigas, appears extremely smooth in the preview videos shown and makes you want to try out more. The game is being developed with the so-called Dread Engine (amiga-news.de reported). Tsak, one of the developers of Grind, recently announced news in the EAB forum:
Grind has not only been enhanced with two new music tracks for menus and in-game, composed by Tsak and newly joined Christoffer Magdalus, but has also achieved key development milestones. These include improved particle effects for blood and explosions and the full implementation of the arsenal of weapons, with the secondary weapon being triggered with the right mouse button as known from other FPS shooters.
For those interested, a playable demo and further information are available on the Patreon page of Grind. For those who want to dig deeper into the development, the official Discord server offers a platform for discussions and updates directly from the developers. Grind will be commercially distributed after its completion.
(nba)
[News message: 16. Apr. 2024, 19:08] [Comments: 0]
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16.Apr.2024
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Emulation: BBoot bootloader v0.7 for QEMU
BBoot is a simple, minimal bootloader for loading AmigaOS on QEMU-emulated AmigaOne and Pegasos2 machines, written by Amiga QEMU developer Balaton Zoltan (amiga-news.de reported). It replaces amigaboot.of on Pegasos2 and slb_v2 on AmigaOne and simplifies the booting of AmigaOS 4 under QEMU. A firmware ROM is no longer required.
The current Version 0.7 adds file name to error message to help finding wrong path and fixes a kernel bug in the Pegasos2 emulation, which should improve stability.
The developer has also provided a tutorial Booting AmigaOS 4.1 on QEMU with BBoot.
(dr)
[News message: 16. Apr. 2024, 18:16] [Comments: 0]
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16.Apr.2024
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Amiga on the big stage: Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding at the BRIT Awards
Scottish DJ Calvin Harris has been one of the driving forces in the world of electronic music for years. Back in 2017, the Scottish DJ revealed his enthusiasm for the Amiga and the music production of his albums on an Amiga 1200 (amiga-news.de reported). Now he brought his Amiga 1200, freshly upgraded by English Amiga specialist RetroPassion, live to the big stage: At this year's legendary BRIT Awards, which are comparable to the US Grammy Awards, Harris performed together with pop icon Ellie Goulding. His Amiga 1200 with OctaMED SoundStudio made for an unmistakable sound. A recording of the performance can be seen on YouTube and a "Behind the Scenes" clip on Instagram.
(nba)
[News message: 16. Apr. 2024, 01:56] [Comments: 2 - 16. Apr. 2024, 18:29]
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16.Apr.2024
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WinFellow: Developers call for support in preserving old versions
WinFellow is one of the most popular Amiga emulators for Windows systems. In order to preserve the digital heritage, the developers are currently compiling an overview of all versions of Fellow for DOS and WinFellow that have ever been released. In addition to the option to download all old versions, a historical retrospective is also being created for documentation purposes. As the developers do not have access to all versions, they are asking users for help. If you hold Fellow versions that are listed as missing, please contact the developers so that the collection can be completed and thus permanently preserved.
(nba)
[News message: 16. Apr. 2024, 01:16] [Comments: 0]
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15.Apr.2024
AmiKit (ANF)
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Workbench distribution: AmiKit for PiStorm using a Wi-Fi driver (alpha version)
Since October 2023, the AmiKit workbench distribution has also been available for the PiStorm and PiStorm-liteaccelerator boards (amiga-news.de reported), which use a Raspberry Pi minicomputer as a processor replacement. Emu68, the Motorola68K emulation developed by Michal Schulz, is also part of the AmiKit package.
Following the recent presentation of the alpha version of the Wi-Fi driver for Emu68k (amiga-news.de reported), there is now also a package with the Wi-Fi driver for AmiKit for PiStorm. Once the content of the package is copied to AmiKit: and the system restarted, a Network Wizard will appear. By selecting the WiFiPi, the Amiga will use the Wi-Fi module on Raspberry Pi itself to connect to the internet.
The alpha version of the driver package can be downloaded from the AmiKit website under the title link.
(nba)
[News message: 15. Apr. 2024, 11:15] [Comments: 0]
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15.Apr.2024
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CLI command: sysvars V0.12
The sysvars command creates environment variables with system information in order to make it dependent on these, for example, in the startup sequence, which patches are included. So far there is information on the CPU and FPU, the chipset, the vertical frame rate (PAL/NTSC), Kickstart version and revision, version and revision of bsdsocket.library as well as whether the emulator UAE is used - and if so, in which version.
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 15. Apr. 2024, 07:21] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
Andreas Falkenhahn (ANF)
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Hollywood Designer 7.0 released
Press release:20 years ago, on April 14th 2004, Airsoft Softwair, the hardest working men in code business, released the very first version of Hollywood Designer, the ultimate multimedia authoring system for Hollywood. In the following years Hollywood Designer quickly became the must-have software for all users seriously interested in creating state-of-the-art multimedia applications, be it presentations, slide shows, games, or applications. Now, 20 years later, Airsoft Softwair is proud to present Hollywood Designer 7.0, an epic update with lots and lots of new features to properly celebrate the 20th birthday of this marvellous piece of software.
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 18:24] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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Motorola68k emulation: First alpha version of WLAN driver for Emu68 (update)
Michal Schulz continues to work intensively on a WLAN driver for his Motorola68K emulation Emu68 (amiga-news.de reported) and has now released the first public alpha version.
The driver consists of two parts - the firmware files for the WiFi module itself and the SANA-II device. In the archive attached to the linked Patreon post, these can be found in the Firmware and Networks folders. The firmware files must be copied to the DEVS:Firmware folder (or simply copy the folder to DEVS) and the wifipi.device must be copied to DEVS:Networks.
Additionally, a tool is required that tells the driver which wireless network it should use. The tool is called WirelessManager and can be found, for example, in the prism2 driver from Neil Cafferkey. The manager must be copied to the C: directory. It is either started manually if required or called up in the user startup as follows:
;BEGIN WirelessManager
C:RUN <>NIL: C:WirelessManager wifipi.device
;END WirelessManager
Before the Amiga is restarted, the wireless.prefs file must be created. Use a text editor to write down the following lines and save them in ENVARC:SYS/:
network={
ssid="Your Network name"
key_mgmt=NONE
scan_ssid=1
}
The line "scan_ssid=1" is only important if the network has a hidden SSID. If not, this line can be omitted. Currently, the network is still unencrypted. As soon as Wireless Manager has established a connection, the network stack can be started.
What works: open networks. Another function that is not yet correctly recognised by WirelessManager is 5GHz networks. These already work, but the WM reports the band and frequency incorrectly.
At the moment, the driver only supports unencrypted networks. Work on supporting WPA/WPA2/WPA3 is in full swing. Currently, a mix of approx. 42 MBit download and 40 MBit upload is achieved. This can still be improved.
The Wifi driver will be part of the next nightly build of the Emu68 tools.
Update (17.04.2024, 19:40):
In another Patreon post that has just been published, the developer points out once again that the driver currently only supports open networks and warns emphatically against opening networks without security precautions. In case of doubt, he recommends waiting until encrypted networks are also supported.
Apparently, there had already been some initial misuse by third parties during a test phase.
(dr)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:57] [Comments: 1 - 17. Apr. 2024, 19:54]
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14.Apr.2024
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Aminet uploads until 13.04.2024
The following files have been added until 13.04.2024 to Aminet:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 13.04.2024
The following files have been added until 13.04.2024 to OS4Depot:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 13.04.2024
The following files have been added until 13.04.2024 to AROS Archives:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 13.04.2024
The following files have been added until 13.04.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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WHDLoad: New installers until 13.04.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 13.04.2024:
more ...
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
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AmigaRemix: Further files added
AmigaRemix collects remixes of well-known soundtracks of Amiga games. Since our last news-item, the following mp3 files have been added:
- Panza Kick Boxing - Interpol Crack Intro
- Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 End Tune
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
Andreas Magerl (ANF)
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Amiga Future: New full versions online
Further full versions of Amiga programs have been added to Amiga Future's download area:
- DiskPrint
- AdressMaster (ADM)
(snx)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 09:00] [Comments: 0]
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14.Apr.2024
Carlos Peris
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Game Construction Kit: RedPill 0.9.37
RedPill, developed by Carlos Peris, is a game construction kit written in Amiblitz 3.99, which allows the development of games from various genres (e.g. Agonman). RedPill is compatible with AGA and ECS, the "player" for playing the finished creations requires a total of 1.5 MB RAM. Jens 'Farbfinsternis' Henschel has written a tutorial.
The new version 0.9.37 offers optimisations and a lot of bug fixes as well as improved copper effects for ECS Amigas. Here is a before and after comparison:
more ...
(dr)
[News message: 14. Apr. 2024, 07:36] [Comments: 0]
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13.Apr.2024
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MorphOS: Version management "Git Desktop" v0.15.18
Rafał Zabdyr has released another beta version of his graphical user interface for the version management Git for MorphOS (amiga-news.de reported). "Git Desktop" is written in C++ and based on MUI through his C++ wrapper. MorphOS 3.x and the Git component of the SDK are required.
The new version includes the following changes:
- improved "Status Bar" + configuration for it
- added option to "Scan Path for Local Repositories" in sub directories
- Pull /Push buttons shows number of behind/ahead commits
- improved "Bottom Panel" (Output Tab)
- added "Last Commit Monit"
- improved stash preview
- improved gitignore template selection (added preview)
- many other improvements
- many bug fixes
(dr)
[News message: 13. Apr. 2024, 22:05] [Comments: 0]
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13.Apr.2024
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Open source projects: IDE driver lide.device and CDTV extension CIDER
The Amiga community is full of projects that initially go largely unnoticed despite their innovative power. The "lide.device" along with the so-called "CIDER" board were both developed by New Zealander Matt "LIV2" Harlum.
Just about a year ago, in January 2023, Harlum presented the open source-based hardware project CIDER on GitHub in collaboration with Stefan Reinauer. The combined expansion card for the Amiga CDTV is plugged into the diagnostic interface and adds three innovative features to the machine. The centrepiece is an autoboot-capable IDE interface that is compatible with KickROM 1.3. The CDTV also gains 11.37 MB of additional Fast RAM memory and a practical, programmable Dual Kickstart Flash-ROM function. The board can be rebuilt for private use using the Gerber data provided if you have the appropriate skills and expertise.
Matt Harlum was looking for a suitable IDE driver for this CIDER board and decided against the existing solutions "scsi.device" and "oktapus.device" due to their limitations in terms of speed, compatibility with Kickstart 1.3, as found in CDTV, and the legal situation regarding redistribution. This led to the development of lide.device, which was also published as open source under the GPL 2.0 licence for the first time in July 2023. The current version 40.5 is dated 20 December 2023 and can be downloaded free of charge from GitHub.
The lide.device allows the use of drives up to 2 TB in size (when using a suitable file system, such as FFS from AmigaOS 3.2, SFS or PFS). The system can boot from various media such as CD, LS-120 or ZIP, an autoboot function is provided. The driver also supports a second IDE channel.
What is interesting about the lide driver is not only its functionality and its open source aspect, but also the fact that the driver is not only suitable for the CDTV and the CIDER originally designed for it. Matt Harlum developed the RIPPLE board with the aim of making the effort and innovation behind "lide.device" available to more than just a small number of CDTV owners. This board broadens the application possibilities of the driver and supports the two-channel IDE mode.
On the GitHub page of the lide.device under the title link, in addition to the source codes, three builds of the lide ROMs are also available for download, in addition to the CIDER version also a ROM for AT-Bus devices such as AT-Bus 2008 or AT-Bus Clone IDE Interface by Matze.
When asked by amiga-news.de, Matt Harlum explains: "Of course the board ends up looking similar to the Buddha (Buddha IDE, editor's note) but this is only because the form factor makes a lot of sense for a small, 2-channel IDE board - similar layouts have even been used for PCI IDE interfaces."
We will keep an eye on the further development of CIDER, lide.device and RIPPLE and report on progress for you as usual.
(nba)
[News message: 13. Apr. 2024, 20:02] [Comments: 0]
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13.Apr.2024
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Chat software: AmigaGPT V1.4.6 for AmigaOS 3 and 4
Cameron Armstrong has written AmigaGPT, a chat program for AmigaOS 3.2 that uses the power of the chatbot ChatGPT (amiga-news.de reported). Originally written for AmigaOS 3.2, the programme meanwhile also supports AmigaOS 3.9, Cloanto's Workbench 3.X and AmigaOS 4.1. Changes of version 1.4.6 since our last news report:
- Send button no longer appears in top left corner after closing a generated image for Amiga 3.X
- Fixes the stack size calculation so it will no longer warn you that the stack size is too small if it really isn't
Download: AmigaGPT.lha (910 KB)
(nba)
[News message: 13. Apr. 2024, 19:56] [Comments: 0]
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