Pimped Amiga 500(pimyretro.org)
pimyretro.org
Pimped Amiga 500
https://www.pimyretro.org/pimped-amiga-500/
43 comments
My first PC was an original IBM PC XT, with 640kb of RAM.
A friend taught me how to use a device driver (ramdisk.sys I think it was) to split that into two, and use 320kb of RAM as a "fast" hard drive.
I will install games there, and play with only 320kb or RAM (actually less because DOS used some RAM).
I had a 20MB Seagate HDD. 20 Megabytes.
Nice times.
A friend taught me how to use a device driver (ramdisk.sys I think it was) to split that into two, and use 320kb of RAM as a "fast" hard drive.
I will install games there, and play with only 320kb or RAM (actually less because DOS used some RAM).
I had a 20MB Seagate HDD. 20 Megabytes.
Nice times.
one of my favorite long-forgotten benchmarks is the "3M Computer" [0]:
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M_computer
- 1 megabyte of RAM
- 1 megapixel display (1024x1024@1bit - black and white!)
- 1 MIPS
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M_computer
I had an old Tandy and the instruction manual touted “10MHz of Intel processing power!”
Still makes me smile.
Still makes me smile.
If you want to experience the Amiga ecosystem in 2025 without touching hardware, the easiest path is:
WinUAE (Windows) or FS-UAE (Mac/Linux) — great defaults, easy setup
Install Workbench 1.3 or 3.1 plus: Directory Opus, Diskmaster, WHDLoad
Use curated packs like Workbench 3.X ClassicWB so you don’t have to configure everything manually
For games, WHDLoad bundles are a massive quality-of-life improvement over floppy juggling
You’ll get 90% of the “Amiga feel” without hunting vintage hardware.
WinUAE (Windows) or FS-UAE (Mac/Linux) — great defaults, easy setup
Install Workbench 1.3 or 3.1 plus: Directory Opus, Diskmaster, WHDLoad
Use curated packs like Workbench 3.X ClassicWB so you don’t have to configure everything manually
For games, WHDLoad bundles are a massive quality-of-life improvement over floppy juggling
You’ll get 90% of the “Amiga feel” without hunting vintage hardware.
I'd also give a shout out to AmiKit.[0] It's pretty slick, and has a ton of software already setup. You still need to get the Kickstart ROMs from AmigaForever. The only thing is it's different from vanilla Amiga workbench.
https://www.amikit.amiga.sk/
https://www.amikit.amiga.sk/
FWIW amiberry is probably a better option for Mac/linux these days. At least until FS-UAE v5 is released
Raspberry Pi emulation works well, too. (and is massively fast.)
Yep was going to say for example PiMiga is an awesome project, and the maintainer puts his heart and soul and loads of time into it. Believe it works on amd64 now too (not just pi/arm).
Can get that up to 99% via miniMig-miSTer.
Don't forget that Aminet is still receiving regular uploads:
https://www.aminet.net/
It's amazing that a platform that's been dead since the early 90's is still getting so much love.
It's amazing that a platform that's been dead since the early 90's is still getting so much love.
Piling-on here: My A1200 and CD32 haven't been powered-on since 2001. They worked when they went into climate-controlled storage but need to be recapped.
I haven't had luck finding anybody in the US with experience recapping these models who will do the work. The one person I found was unwilling to do the work w/o my verifying if they work now. I think it's a mistake to apply power to them in their current state since that could cause damage.
If anybody has recommendations I'd appreciate it. I'm not looking to cheap-out on this (particularly with the CD32, since I'm the original owner and have all the original packing material, etc). I just want them done right so they can be preserved and used again.
Email is in my profile.
I haven't had luck finding anybody in the US with experience recapping these models who will do the work. The one person I found was unwilling to do the work w/o my verifying if they work now. I think it's a mistake to apply power to them in their current state since that could cause damage.
If anybody has recommendations I'd appreciate it. I'm not looking to cheap-out on this (particularly with the CD32, since I'm the original owner and have all the original packing material, etc). I just want them done right so they can be preserved and used again.
Email is in my profile.
> I think it's a mistake to apply power to them in their current state since that could cause damage.
One big issue is that these old electrolytic caps can leak and damage the motherboard and this is a common fail state for both the A1200 and CD32, as Commodore used some particularly low quality caps in the 1992-1994 era.
Even if you don't replace the caps they should be removed from the board before they go in to long term storage.
Powering up is unlikely to damage the machines. If the caps have already failed powering up won't cause any additional failure. A cap that hasn't been powered in a long time and is on the very edge of failure can be caused to fail by passing power in to it but that is a vanishingly rare edge case. The most likely issue for the caps, if they aren't working, is that they have already leaked.
One big issue is that these old electrolytic caps can leak and damage the motherboard and this is a common fail state for both the A1200 and CD32, as Commodore used some particularly low quality caps in the 1992-1994 era.
Even if you don't replace the caps they should be removed from the board before they go in to long term storage.
Powering up is unlikely to damage the machines. If the caps have already failed powering up won't cause any additional failure. A cap that hasn't been powered in a long time and is on the very edge of failure can be caused to fail by passing power in to it but that is a vanishingly rare edge case. The most likely issue for the caps, if they aren't working, is that they have already leaked.
Try asking in the PiStorm Discord, or maybe ask EU based people who do Amiga repairs (like @linuxjedi on Twitter comes to mind) if they know anyone in the States who does it.
I've never experienced the original Amiga and I probably never will. I would however be open to emulating the machine. Are there any good resources for people like who would like to try out the whole ecosystem as a complete newbie in 2025? My knowledge about Amiga is close to zero.
1. Get a copy of the Amiga 3.1 Kickstart ROM (v40) and Workbench disks (for example by legally buying Amiga Forever ... or other ways). If you do buy Amiga Forever, they've put together an Amiga emulation environment for you with lots of software pre-installed.
2. Consider buying AmiKit or using its free version: https://www.amikit.amiga.sk/ -- it needs the aforementioned Kickstart ROM and Workbench Disks, but again they've put together an Amiga emulation environment for you with lots of software pre-installed.
3. If you don't want to use those pre-made packs, install WinUAE (for Windows) or amiberry (for macOS/Linux) yourself, configure them yourself with the ROM... and use one of the ClassicWB (https://classicwb.abime.net/) hard drive images.
4. And if you don't like ClassicWB, you can also extract the Amiga hard drive image included with PiMiga 4 to enjoy an alternative pack. PiMiga is a Raspberry Pi image that includes an Amiga emulator for the Pi and a huge Amiga hard drive image -- simply use software to read the PiMiga Linux ext2 filesystem and extract that hard drive image to use it on your own emulator, no RPi needed (https://old.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/1dfcn8u/extract_amig...)
2. Consider buying AmiKit or using its free version: https://www.amikit.amiga.sk/ -- it needs the aforementioned Kickstart ROM and Workbench Disks, but again they've put together an Amiga emulation environment for you with lots of software pre-installed.
3. If you don't want to use those pre-made packs, install WinUAE (for Windows) or amiberry (for macOS/Linux) yourself, configure them yourself with the ROM... and use one of the ClassicWB (https://classicwb.abime.net/) hard drive images.
4. And if you don't like ClassicWB, you can also extract the Amiga hard drive image included with PiMiga 4 to enjoy an alternative pack. PiMiga is a Raspberry Pi image that includes an Amiga emulator for the Pi and a huge Amiga hard drive image -- simply use software to read the PiMiga Linux ext2 filesystem and extract that hard drive image to use it on your own emulator, no RPi needed (https://old.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/1dfcn8u/extract_amig...)
If the aim is to emulate games, Kickstart 3.1 or even 2.04 shouldn't be the first choice. Backwards compatibility must have been really poor back then; at least I've run into lots of software that will only run on 1.3.
One does not typically run games directly. That's fraught with the compatibility concerns you raise, and also the slowness of loading them from their disks, even when using an emulator, and needing a cumbersome UI to swap disks as needed.
Instead you run them with WHDLoad, originally designed to install all games onto the hard drives of real Amigas.
A lovely group of programmers have made WHDLoad installers for every game you know of, that patch the game in just the right places so it runs correctly, regardless of Amiga model or OS version.
WHDLoad also lets you press a "QuitKey" that returns you back to Workbench. And if you have an emulated Amiga with lots of RAM, you get to preload all the disks into RAM so there's basically zero loading time.
People have made large collections of "preinstalled" WHDLoad installers, bundling games in a ready-to-run way for any Amiga.
Instead you run them with WHDLoad, originally designed to install all games onto the hard drives of real Amigas.
A lovely group of programmers have made WHDLoad installers for every game you know of, that patch the game in just the right places so it runs correctly, regardless of Amiga model or OS version.
WHDLoad also lets you press a "QuitKey" that returns you back to Workbench. And if you have an emulated Amiga with lots of RAM, you get to preload all the disks into RAM so there's basically zero loading time.
People have made large collections of "preinstalled" WHDLoad installers, bundling games in a ready-to-run way for any Amiga.
The a500mini plays those from USB drives. Seems to work well, but I mostly use mine to play Kick Off 2, so have not explored other features much.
I am very happy with AmigaVision, packaged by Alex Limi (of early Mozilla Firefox UX/product fame) et al.
AmigaVision is a carefully curated collection of game and demo configurations for the Amiga computer platform, as well as a minimal Workbench setup with useful utilities and apps, wrapped in a user-friendly launcher.
https://amiga.vision/
https://github.com/amigavision/AmigaVision
I run it on a Mister FPGA but there are multiple other ways to do it, including emulators running on your regular computer.
AmigaVision is a carefully curated collection of game and demo configurations for the Amiga computer platform, as well as a minimal Workbench setup with useful utilities and apps, wrapped in a user-friendly launcher.
https://amiga.vision/
https://github.com/amigavision/AmigaVision
I run it on a Mister FPGA but there are multiple other ways to do it, including emulators running on your regular computer.
AmigaVision is very nice. One thing that's especially great for emulation users with modern hi-res flat screens is they've already done the work to set up proper integer scaling, cropping and scanline/shadow mask pixel shaders.
Many of the Amiga's legendary games and graphics were specifically hand-crafted to look best on high-quality analog RGB CRTs. It's shocking how much better they look when properly displayed. The hard-edged, square block pixels on so many retro Youtube channels is not just technically incorrect - it's not what the original developers and artists created or ever intended their users to see.
Many of the Amiga's legendary games and graphics were specifically hand-crafted to look best on high-quality analog RGB CRTs. It's shocking how much better they look when properly displayed. The hard-edged, square block pixels on so many retro Youtube channels is not just technically incorrect - it's not what the original developers and artists created or ever intended their users to see.
MiSTer, especially the new cheaper builds (MisterPi) are by far the best way to play the old consoles if you want to play on a TV and well worth the $200.
Yeah. (Sorry, somehow didn't read your comment about the same AmigaVision before commenting.)
I find myself wishing for something like AmigaVision for e.g. the IBM PC.
The launcher should be in either classic text mode or VGA 640x480x16 colors with custom palettes like those cool disk mags. And of course tracker background music.
There is some similar effort called 0MHz based on the eXoDOS project, but I'm not sure I like it as much. Needs more work. And a lot more curation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuJXLOMxIkI&t=220s
I find myself wishing for something like AmigaVision for e.g. the IBM PC.
The launcher should be in either classic text mode or VGA 640x480x16 colors with custom palettes like those cool disk mags. And of course tracker background music.
There is some similar effort called 0MHz based on the eXoDOS project, but I'm not sure I like it as much. Needs more work. And a lot more curation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuJXLOMxIkI&t=220s
Totally agree with you, I'd like to see it for the C64, Spectrum, Atari ST, Amstrad etc too. It makes the system into something which is really close to "plug in and play".
I'm also hoping that we start seeing USB external Amiga / C64 keyboards for the real enthusiasts. That might be a little too niche though.
I'm also hoping that we start seeing USB external Amiga / C64 keyboards for the real enthusiasts. That might be a little too niche though.
Buy a MiSTer FPGA and run Amiga Vision on it. You can plug in a proper keyboard and joystick and you can map jump to a button instead of up as it traditionally is on Amiga.
I have to admit that it's better than using my A500/A1200s.
I have to admit that it's better than using my A500/A1200s.
Thanks, your comment made me buy the icode prebuilt preloaded MiSTer FPGA, 128mb ram, hope that is sufficient for Amiga Vision. I used to own an Amiga 500 with internal HDD, long ago. Guru meditations still exist?
https://www.icode.com/product/mister-fpga-kit-terasic-de10-n...
https://www.icode.com/product/mister-fpga-kit-terasic-de10-n...
Nice, congrats!
Even the most basic models (the $99 + shipping + tax from China) can handle the Amiga. You get more bells whistles plus a better package with a MiSTer stack but I would recommend most people to either grab the Multisystem II or the Mister Pi (Turbo Pack) from RetroRemake. If you want to run Saturn fighters then getting a second stick of RAM is a must as it allows everything to run at full speed.
I have the Ultimate Mister kit with USB + AV boards but only a single stick of RAM (also 128MB) and a Honeywell PSU and it's awesome especially for the Amiga and C64 :)
Even the most basic models (the $99 + shipping + tax from China) can handle the Amiga. You get more bells whistles plus a better package with a MiSTer stack but I would recommend most people to either grab the Multisystem II or the Mister Pi (Turbo Pack) from RetroRemake. If you want to run Saturn fighters then getting a second stick of RAM is a must as it allows everything to run at full speed.
I have the Ultimate Mister kit with USB + AV boards but only a single stick of RAM (also 128MB) and a Honeywell PSU and it's awesome especially for the Amiga and C64 :)
Yeah the Mister Pi makes more sense, financially. On the C64 side, there is the upcoming C64 Ultimate https://www.commodore.net, that looks almost identical to the original one
Oh wow, AmigaVision even runs on an Analogue Pocket - going to have to give this a try.
For a software version, try WinUAE. (Win/Mac/Linux builds available.)
getting the hardware is only half the battle. Hard agree with going for a MiSTer setup however it's quite an expense for someone dipping a toe in.
ultimately it's hard to prescribe the "definitive" amiga experience in 2025 to a total newbie. At a surface level, for many people, amiga ownership was simply a console like experience -> Buy an amiga 500, and shovel game disks into it, play game, turn it off. Replicating that is super easy with either just a raspberry pi and the PiMiga distro (see the Chris Edwards youtube channel for details) or even retropie comes with support for amiga OOTB however it comes with the caveat of having a little background knowledge of the hardware combinations available. The ABSOLUTE easiest way of getting a taste of amiga is to get hold of a "The A500" mini console which comes with pre-packaged games (but also lets you run your own once you've got to the end of enjoying the 30 or so pack-ins).
There is the WinUAE emulator for windows that's excellent (so good, you can use it to prep real-world Hard drives for actual physical amigas) but it's complicated without prior knowledge of the OG hardware combinations.
The most common setup back in the day (for UKers playing games at least) was an OG Amiga 500 with OCS (Original Chip Set) with 0.5MB RAM(ChipRAM - essentially shared system and graphics memory) and maybe an optional extra 0.5 MB upgrade (FastRAM - CPU only memory, though often known now as SlowRAM because it was directly accessable by the CPU only but had to share the bus with the chip RAM) and 1.3 Kickstart ROM.
This was later upgraded by the A500+ which came with ECS (Enhanced Chip Set) which gave a few added graphical modes, 1MB of Chip RAM (typically upgradable to +1MB fast RAM) and kickstart 2.0. it broke compatibility with some games and was a min spec for others.
This was replaced directly by the A1200 which came with an upgraded CPU (68020ec at 14 MHz) AGA chipset (16.7 mil colour palette, 256 on screen), internal IDE interface and kickstart 3.0 with 2MB ChipRAM out of the box.
The A500+ was also indirectly replaced with the A600. Essentially a A500+ mini - they updated the manuafcturing to surface mount, reduced the PCB size significantly and removed the numberpad from the keyboard and added the IDE interface from the A1200. it was supposed to be a cost reduced version but initially cost more to make than the outgoing A500+. It was hated at the time because it cost more at retail and had less features (lack of keypad broke a lot of software, IDE interface wasn't seen as beneficial at the time and the side expansion port was replaced by a PCMCIA port which again only had much more expensive peripherals at the time) The rest are the "Big Box" amigas - computers with a separate keyboard from the main box case: A1000 (the OG or just "Amiga" when it launched)
A2000 - The workhorse version of thw A500 with expansion, processor,video upgrade slots.
A1500 - a UK specific cut down version of the A2000 just launched to inflict trademark damage to a sole trader startup making aftermarket cases for the A500.
A3000 - the first fully 32-bit platform - ECS and 32-bit 680x0 CPUs available (IIRC both 68020 and 68030 though might be wrong about the '020)
A4000 - a big box equivalent to the A1200 - AGA and expansion
A4000T - towerized version of A4000 - the holy grail for collectors and rare as hens teeth.
However in 2025 getting involved with the amiga scene is a huge rabbit hole as the community is so large there are always wonderful projects (such as PiStorm) for enhancing and extending the life of these now very aged machines.
Sorry, this ended up a bit of an essay on what was only supposed to be a quick note...
ultimately it's hard to prescribe the "definitive" amiga experience in 2025 to a total newbie. At a surface level, for many people, amiga ownership was simply a console like experience -> Buy an amiga 500, and shovel game disks into it, play game, turn it off. Replicating that is super easy with either just a raspberry pi and the PiMiga distro (see the Chris Edwards youtube channel for details) or even retropie comes with support for amiga OOTB however it comes with the caveat of having a little background knowledge of the hardware combinations available. The ABSOLUTE easiest way of getting a taste of amiga is to get hold of a "The A500" mini console which comes with pre-packaged games (but also lets you run your own once you've got to the end of enjoying the 30 or so pack-ins).
There is the WinUAE emulator for windows that's excellent (so good, you can use it to prep real-world Hard drives for actual physical amigas) but it's complicated without prior knowledge of the OG hardware combinations.
The most common setup back in the day (for UKers playing games at least) was an OG Amiga 500 with OCS (Original Chip Set) with 0.5MB RAM(ChipRAM - essentially shared system and graphics memory) and maybe an optional extra 0.5 MB upgrade (FastRAM - CPU only memory, though often known now as SlowRAM because it was directly accessable by the CPU only but had to share the bus with the chip RAM) and 1.3 Kickstart ROM.
This was later upgraded by the A500+ which came with ECS (Enhanced Chip Set) which gave a few added graphical modes, 1MB of Chip RAM (typically upgradable to +1MB fast RAM) and kickstart 2.0. it broke compatibility with some games and was a min spec for others.
This was replaced directly by the A1200 which came with an upgraded CPU (68020ec at 14 MHz) AGA chipset (16.7 mil colour palette, 256 on screen), internal IDE interface and kickstart 3.0 with 2MB ChipRAM out of the box.
The A500+ was also indirectly replaced with the A600. Essentially a A500+ mini - they updated the manuafcturing to surface mount, reduced the PCB size significantly and removed the numberpad from the keyboard and added the IDE interface from the A1200. it was supposed to be a cost reduced version but initially cost more to make than the outgoing A500+. It was hated at the time because it cost more at retail and had less features (lack of keypad broke a lot of software, IDE interface wasn't seen as beneficial at the time and the side expansion port was replaced by a PCMCIA port which again only had much more expensive peripherals at the time) The rest are the "Big Box" amigas - computers with a separate keyboard from the main box case: A1000 (the OG or just "Amiga" when it launched)
A2000 - The workhorse version of thw A500 with expansion, processor,video upgrade slots.
A1500 - a UK specific cut down version of the A2000 just launched to inflict trademark damage to a sole trader startup making aftermarket cases for the A500.
A3000 - the first fully 32-bit platform - ECS and 32-bit 680x0 CPUs available (IIRC both 68020 and 68030 though might be wrong about the '020)
A4000 - a big box equivalent to the A1200 - AGA and expansion
A4000T - towerized version of A4000 - the holy grail for collectors and rare as hens teeth.
However in 2025 getting involved with the amiga scene is a huge rabbit hole as the community is so large there are always wonderful projects (such as PiStorm) for enhancing and extending the life of these now very aged machines.
Sorry, this ended up a bit of an essay on what was only supposed to be a quick note...
> "The A500" mini console which comes with pre-packaged games (but also lets you run your own once you've got to the end of enjoying the 30 or so pack-ins).
https://retrogames.biz/games/thea500-mini/
I count to 26, plus one free download they provide for testing out the USB feature.
Amiga Forever in Windows (or in WINE) is about as easy to run, plus it comes with nice pre-configured system images to boot into Workbench. Not having much real Amiga experience I struggle a bit with making use of those. I tried to install some freeware Amiga applications (trackers and such) but not much success.
https://retrogames.biz/games/thea500-mini/
I count to 26, plus one free download they provide for testing out the USB feature.
Amiga Forever in Windows (or in WINE) is about as easy to run, plus it comes with nice pre-configured system images to boot into Workbench. Not having much real Amiga experience I struggle a bit with making use of those. I tried to install some freeware Amiga applications (trackers and such) but not much success.
I spent less on getting my MiSTer up and running than I did getting my A500+ and a lot less than getting my A1200 setup running. And I have the original Ultimate MiSTer setup.
With the RetroRemake and QMTech setup you're up and running for the 8/16-bits for under $200 all-in which for most people in tech in the US isn't a big ask. The experience is also much better than emulation IMHO.
With the RetroRemake and QMTech setup you're up and running for the 8/16-bits for under $200 all-in which for most people in tech in the US isn't a big ask. The experience is also much better than emulation IMHO.
If you're not sure to invest in special hardware, cloanto offers bundles including most kickstarts and some software (games / apps).
That's the easiest and cheapest way to get started. A500mini might also be a relatively cheap option with some modern possibilities (SD cards instead of floppy disks).
I have multiple real Amigas (jesus, that's a lot of amigas meme), but since I installed PiMiga on a rpi400 with its monitor, that's like 99% what you need amiga for. I even prefer it to my commodore 1084s fleet. Even though I need a CRT shot now and then.
After many years I turned on the A500 in my attic and got immediate motion sickness from the 50Hz monitor flicker. I guess this is the reason I have to wear glasses now.
Having went through a similar process with an A600 and then A1200 I enjoy reading through these writeups. Diskmaster, wow that's old-school (t. Filemaster enjoyer)
Although this system will be somewhat hobbled by OS 1.3, I doubt OP will be bothered by that much. Have fun!
Although this system will be somewhat hobbled by OS 1.3, I doubt OP will be bothered by that much. Have fun!
On the games list, I found Lotus III, good, but the Dr Who one was missing.
It's a great platform game.
FWIW, thea1200 went live for preorders last week. You can order on the manufacturer site, or even Amazon (some countries).
I have a A2000, and use Amiberry, but I'm looking forward to using this thing.
https://retrogames.biz/products/thea1200/
I have a A2000, and use Amiberry, but I'm looking forward to using this thing.
https://retrogames.biz/products/thea1200/
Classy job!
But I can still look at a screenshot of Workbench 1.3 running on an Amiga 500 displaying "8831544 free memory" and it feels like an absolute ocean of RAM for that machine and that time and, most importantly, for the software that was available in that era.
Back in the early 90s I used to, with 1MB of RAM, code, play games, make music, do word processing, create graphics with both DPaint III (or was it IV?), and create vector drawings with a CAD package, create spreadsheets, create fractal landscapes with Vista, not to mention a ton of other stuff as well.
It is crazy to think of how much you could do with so little back in the day. But even this was a massive step change compared to the 8-bit machines I'd been using up to that point. These I'd mostly used for programming and games (although I did do a bit of word processing on BBC machines, and a teeny tiny amount of spreadsheet stuff). I did have a light gun for my ZX Spectrum but, boy, was it tedious graphics with (although I did do it), as compared to DPaint.