The Amiga Questions

[Akir]

Recently, I bought a Commodore Amiga 3000 at a thrift store in California for $5.99 (which is a good price concidering that it would have originally would have costed anywhere between $4000 and $5000) The only problem was that it didn't come with anything.

(just so you know, my amiga rant is at my Blog.)

So now it's time to get the basics; A keyboard and mouse. Supposedly, I can plug in a serial mouse with additional software, but the big bugger there is that I need to install it! So this all depends on if I can opperate Workbench with a keyboard.

(You can tell that I don't usually use Amigas.)

This leads to Question #1: Do I need to get a special adaptor for it (like the LYRA from england), or can I make my own adaptor that doesn't do keymapping? I hope that I don't have to buy anything extra, because I blew all of my money on a Pocket PC (on which the screen broke, ironically rendering the whole thing useless). my current budget is $10.

[Adeptus]

I wouldn't recommend the serial mouse adaptors - like you say they require special software, which means they may not work with everything.
You can buy (or build, but requires a programmed PIC chip) ps/2 adaptors, or you may be able to find a genuine Amiga mouse cheap. (Atari ST mice also work with minor rewiring I believe... still haven't gotten around to trying it myself!)

For keyboard, the keycodes are different from PC's. You need an adaptor (again, buy or build with a PIC).

If you decide to build your own, look for schematics & info on Aminet

And from memory, you can use an Amiga without a mouse. I think you hold down one of the Amiga-logo keys & use the cursor keys to move. (Button clicks... umm don't remember... sorry!)

Another good resource for Amiga info is EAB (English Amiga Board)

[Akir]

Do you know where to get this stuff? especially cheap ones? I know that Elbox has a mouse adaptor, but it's $38!

(P.S., Building is out of the question, because it would be more costly to get a PIC programmer + the PIC chips and I doubt that I could find the code for the application.)

[Adeptus]

Unfortunately the adaptors aren't cheap... they come up on ebay occasionally but even then they're $20+

Code for the PIC-based adaptors is on Aminet with the schematics. Some places that sell the chips will program them for you (for a small fee).

Or you could get lucky with a secondhand store, the way you did with the Amiga itself... I picked up an Amiga mouse & an Atari ST mouse for $1 each

[Akir]

Even if the store (in my case, probibly Kesub) did program PICs, I'd still be stuck with the price of the PIC. That might be the best option because I already have about everything else I need. Finding the keyboard or mouse at the thrift shop isn't an option because chino-area people don't generally deal with that stuff, unless they collect, and then they'll keep it. Maybe when I get back home, that stuff will be there, but I doubt it too.

By the way, I saw a Phillips CDI for 9.99. How much do they run for nowadays?

UPDATE: I have found the project online on Aminet. However, it's in a format that I cannot use (It's in LHA and all that's in there isn't a file format that I can use). what's more, I cannot be sure that I can find the EEPROM that they want. So it looks like I will have to shell out the cash so I can buy an origional keyboard, then at least use a Serial mouse untill I can afford to buy an Amiga Mouse. At least it was only $10 or so at the Software Hut. The Keyboard is my #1 Priority for now.

Now for another question: What's the "Enable/Disable" switch on the back for? is it really just the clock speed toggle?

[Computolio]

   I had one of those for a while. The switch on the back is for toggling the VGA video port between VGA and RGB.

   As for the keyboard and mouse, your only hope is eBay or a local retrocomputing user group. Serial and PS/2 mice are useless, but if you dig long and hard you might find a Logitech Bus Mouse, and those can be modified to work 100%.

    You can pretty much forget about that however as I have a spare keyboard and mouse in a box somewhere. They're all yours for $10. PM me for details if you're interested.

[Adeptus]

If he doesn't want them, I might...

[Akir]

I hope that you havn't already PM'd him...

Because I just did.

[Adeptus]

nope, was your thread so you've got first option on it