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Contents "WhatIFF? For the some serious computing" WhatIFF?-Issue 1.03 February 2022 T ================================================= |T | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|[L | __________________________________________________[| |I __==___________ ___________ . ,. _ . __ T| ||[_j L_I_I_I_I_j L_I_I_I_I_j /|/V||(g/| == l| lI _______________________________ _____ _________I] |[__I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_] [__I__] [_I_I_I_]| |[___I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_L I ___ [_I_I_I_]| |[__I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_L_I __I_]_ [_I_I_T || |[___I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I____] [_I_I_] [___I_I_j| | [__I__I_________________I__L_] | | | -Row l__________________________________________________j ENTER MAGAZINETopWelcome to WhatIFF?
CONTENTS *WhatIFF? - Issue 1.03 - February 2022* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --EDITORS DESK-- MEET THE WRITERS Who are we and why did we start another Amiga magazine? ------NEWS------ Not quite latest news but should be faster than the print magazines! -----REVIEWS---- Reviews of hardware and software, old and new covered. -----GUIDES----- Guides and support to all things Amiga related, probably the best part of the magazine! --AMIGA PEOPLE-- Hear from the people making the hardware and software. -----LINKS------ Links to the important and not so important websites, BBSs can also be found here. -READER LETTERS- This is your place to talk about anything Amiga related. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT ISSUE *All content copyright of the respective authors 2022*TopFrom The Editor's Desk
CONTENTS -= From The Editor's Desk =- by: Timo Paul This has been a tough month, issue 1 and 2 we were finding out feet, issue 3 should have been easier. Life though has a tendancy to get in the way of things and putting together this issue was quite stressful if I am truly honest. Finding the time to write up the reviews and tutorials has meant staying up into the early hours, writing, checking and then editing. I find it very exhilerating writing the magazine and am always happy to see the final product but it is something that keeps me up at night sometimes. Well now that I have that off my chest, on to what you can expect in this issue. Sadly Kevin Saunders and Steve Lord were not able to join us for issue 3 but luckily we have John Scolieri reviewing Roadie and providing a guide on setting up an Internet clock. In addition we have an interview with big time chip producer gwEm, reviews of Roadshow, Indivision AGA Mk3 and PiMiga 2.0. I really enjoyed talking to gwEm, he gave some very interesting answers about his history with making music on computers. The PiMiga was also a lot of fun and has me coming back to Pi400 more often than before. During February I have also been chasing up more interviews and have some fantastic ones already in the bag ready for upcoming issues. It is such a humbling experience when talking to other Amiga users and reading contributions from people like John Scolieri. While I may complain about the the time it takes to put this magazine together I am always warmed by the people in the Amiga scene. Well I will quit taking up your time and let you get on with reading the rest of the magazine. So grab yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, or if you are in a warmer climate, a cold bear or soda and snuggle up to your Amiga and enjoy the third issue of WhatIFF? See you next issue!TopAll the latest news about our favourite computer!
CONTENTS -= News and Aminet Uploads for February 2022 =- - = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = - AMINET UPLOADS FOR FEBRUARY 2022 Hello fellow users, I hope you have had a nice January, February has been relatively busy for the Amiga scene. There have been several software and firmware updates with new hardware announced as well. Dig in to see what happen in Febuary 2022. In addition you can view all the uploads to Aminet in February. Mac Amiga Emulator Update - 1st February 2022 vAmiga has now been updated to 1.1beta9 with improvements such as the hardware config panel haveing been split into separate chipset panels and a memory panel. For more info visit: github.com/dirkwhoffman/vAmiga AmiLion 1.3 Released - 2nd February 2022 AmiLion is an addon for AmiKit providing a variety of wallpapers for Workbench and additional Rabbit Hole access to programs such as Firefox, VLC and Steam. NEXT 4.1 TextViewer Released - 2nd February 2022 The last update of this versatile text viewer was in 2011 and now eleven years later we get another update. NEXT is more than a simple text viewer and can be used as an AmigaGuide replacement. Have a look at NEXT from Aminet: aminet.net/packages/text/show/NEXT Wicher 1211 7-Bit Firmware Update - 3rd February 2022 Fixes for RAM controller and asdsan SPI controller tothe Zorro II card chain. Amiga DOS Creators Interviewed - 5th February 2022 The Digital Orphanage have interviewed Dr Tim King and his wife about their work on Amiga DOS. Search YouTube for The Digital Orphanage. P96 RTG Updated to V3.2.3 - 9th February 2022 Jens has uploaded a new version of the RTG driver with several new improvements, among these are: P96 not longer attempts to set the beacon0 register and the vtotal register of the custom chips in case the active video mode is on at RTG board that isnot in the display chain. AmiKit XE Updated to version 11.5+ - 9th February 2022 The classy Workbench emulation environment for Windows, Mac and Linux has been updated to 11.5+. Sam460LE Boards Announced - 15th February 2022 Production of the new Sam460LE boards will commence soon and pre-order alongside. The new boards are able to run up to 1.1.ghz, come in a Micro ATC form, include MicroSD slot at the back of the board and come with AmigaOS 4.1 FE. The final price is 735 euros. History Of The A1000 Video - 19th February 2022 Featuring again in our news section, The 8-Bit Guy has uploaded a new video talking about the history of the A1000. A great video and well worth taking the time to check out. New Bluetooth Mouse For Classic Amigas - 25th February 2022 A new Kickstarter for recreating the classic tank mouse as a bluetooth device that can be connected to classic Amigas. It comes in black and the traditional beige. The Kickstarter price is 31 euros. Apollo V4 Expansion Board - 27th February 2022 Quetzal and Owl have created a board in the mini-ITX form that can hold an Apollo V4 standalone and provide new features and IO ports. Well that is it for Amiga news for February 2022, if you have anything that you would like to be featured in the What IFF? news section contact us at: submissions@whatiff.infoTopAminet Uploads - February 2022
News 2022-02-28 MCE-MOS.lha Multi-game Character Editor - d3GNOPOS4.lha D3GNOP THE Pong clone in MiniGL LOG_upd.lha Update patch for 'Land of Genesis' rebel_gw24_solar_system.zip Realtime strategy written in AMOS (+src) SopoBlockOS4.lha SopoBlock Cute tiny MiniGL puzzler 2022-02-27 MCE-OS4.lha Multi-game Character Editor MCE.lha 13.7 Multi-game Character Editor AmiSpear_ECS.lha Amiga port of Spear of Destiny AmiWolf_ECS.lha 1.31 Amiga port of Wolfenstein 3D TECO-64.lha TECO (Text Editor and Corrector) ViNCEd.lha ViNCEd, the CON: with ^Z & TAB Expand 2022-02-25 MrR_head.lha It's My Head OctaMED module AmiModRadio.lha Play modules from Internet sources Classaction4_src.zip Sourcecode of Classaction 4 2022-02-24 EndlessRoad.lha Endless Road 5ch 16bit Soft Rock 2022-02-23 Mattonite.lha Arkanoid like PAL game almost finished TestProgram.zip Versatile Amiga Test Program 2022-02-22 scummvm-1.7.0-rtg.lha Amiga RTG port of ScummVM 1.7.0 PPaintRUS.lha 7.3 Cloanto Personal Paint 7 RUSSIAN KIT SamplesCreatorDemos.lha Some samples created by SamplesCreator 2022-02-21 printer.hwp_1.0.lha Printer plugin for hollywood AmiArcadiaMOS.lha Signetics-based machines emulator DOSBox_RTG.lha 0.74.028 Amiga port of DOSBox SpeedPDF_1.1.lha Fast PDF viewer TECO-64.lha TECO (Text Editor and Corrector) Vim_8.2-i386-aros.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-amigaos.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-morphos.lha The ubiquitous text editor cbmconvert.i386-aros.lha C64 archive converters d64.i386-aros.lha Converts C64 data-set files to Amiga IdentifyLib_FR.lha French catalogs for identify.library 2022-02-20 wla_dx_v10.1.lha WLA DX 8-bit CPU Cross Macro Assembler anaiis.lha ANAIIS USB Stack Release 1.22 AmiArcadia-OS4.lha Signetics-based machines emulator AmiArcadia.lha Signetics-based machines emulator 2022-02-18 AmiGemini.lha Gemini protocol browser SteMarRegBlitzSources.lha 21 Stefano Maria Regattin Blitz sources AmiDuke_RTG.lha 1.0.27 Amiga port of Duke Nukem 3D AmiSpear_AGA.lha Amiga port of Spear of Destiny AmiWolf_AGA.lha Amiga port of Wolfenstein 3D BOOM_AGA.lha Amiga port of BOOM (DOOM) BOOM_RTG.lha Amiga port of BOOM (DOOM) CDPlayer372p.lha Patch for 37.0 cdplayer.library 2022-02-17 AmiVms.lha Simulates OpenVMS commands Compute.lha Command line calculator ajoy2mouse.lha Control mouse with analog joystick 2022-02-16 anaiis.lha ANAIIS USB Stack Release 1.22 scummvm-1.7.0-rtg.lha Amiga RTG port of ScummVM 1.7.0 EXULT_RTG.lha Amiga port of Ultima 7 (EXULT) FreeSynd_RTG.lha Amiga port of Syndicate (FreeSynd) OpenDUNE_RTG.lha Amiga port of Dune 2 (OpenDUNE) DOSBox_RTG.lha Amiga port of DOSBox Vim_8.2-i386-aros.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-amigaos.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-morphos.lha The ubiquitous text editor 2022-02-14 HWP_Plananarama.lha Run Hollywood scripts on planar screens Rescue.lha 1.0 Game. Rescue the Captive. MCE-MOS.lha Multi-game Character Editor aiostreams.lha Stream video from major online platforms IdentifyDev.lha Identify hardware and more IdentifyUsr.lha Identify hardware and more 2022-02-13 MCE-OS4.lha Multi-game Character Editor MCE.lha 13.6 Multi-game Character Editor bde64.i386-aros.lha Encode/decode file as base64 zmakebas.i386-aros.lha BASIC Text to ZX Spectrum/ZX81 .TAP/.P IconLib_46.4.lha Free icon.library in optimized ASM code 2022-02-12 base64.i386-aros.lha Encode/decode file as base64 AmiSSL-4.12.lha OpenSSL as an Amiga shared library 2022-02-11 mon165src.lha Source for Amiga Monitor HydraDriver145src.lha Hydra Amiganet driver + source AmiDuke_AGA.lha Amiga port of Duke Nukem 3D 2022-02-09 SonosController_MOS.lha Control Sonos speakers with your Amiga SonosController_OS3.lha Control Sonos speakers with your Amiga SonosController_OS3fpu.lha Control Sonos speakers with your Amiga SonosController_OS4.lha Control Sonos speakers with your Amiga SonosController_WOS.lha Control Sonos speakers with your Amiga 2022-02-07 rasm.lha Roudoudou's Z80 Assembler adfZ.lha read/write ADF from/to disks, GUI+Shell FlashMandelNG_OS4.lha Mandelbrot & Julia fractals AOS4 Vim_8.2-i386-aros.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-amigaos.lha The ubiquitous text editor Vim_8.2-ppc-morphos.lha The ubiquitous text editor TestProgram.zip Versatile Amiga Test Program InstallerLG.i386-aros.lha Commodore Installer replacement InstallerLG.ppc-morphos.lha Commodore Installer replacement 2022-02-06 REDPILLGameCreator.lha Game Creator with AGA support webptools122_a68k.lha encode/decode images in WebP format 2022-02-05 genplus_mos.lha Sega Genesis and MasterSystem emulator amigangwallpaper.lha AmigaNG Wallpapers 2022-02-04 WhatIFF1.02.lha What IFF? #1.02 January-2022 MMV8_Complete.lha MusicMaker V8 Version 3.0 (Complete) MMV8_Player.lha MusicMaker V8 Player 2022-02-03 mrwolf.lha Pool-friendly SNTP time sync client Pacman_Joy_C4D.lha Pacman Greek Joystick C4D Object 2022-02-02 MCE-MOS.lha Multi-game Character Editor AmiLion.lha AmiLion, a Rabbit Hole AppTopWelcome to the reviews section!
CONTENTS -= Welcome to the Reviews page =- For issue 3 we have reviews of hardware and software new and old, if wish to have product reviewed in What IFF? then contact timopaul@whatiff.info for more information. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roadie Review John Scolieri takes a look at the Roadshow commodity available from aminet. Indivision AGA MK3 Review The standard in Amiga scan doublers but does is thr third generation of this card worth the asking price? PiMiga 2.0 Review We take a look at the latest update to the PiMiga and see if this could be best reason to buy a Pi400. Roadshow TCP/IP Review We can't escape from being online and the Amiga is no exception is Roadshow what every Amiga user needs? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------TopRoadie Review
Reviews *Roadie Review - February 2022* Product Name Reviewed by John Scolieri Roadie Hardware/Software Requirements TCP/IP stack RoadShow Kickstart 2.0 68020+ Machine Used For Testing Commodore Amiga 4000 Amiga OS 3.2.1 Roadie the little helper for Roadshow! I 'used' to have some issues running WHDLoad games or certain demos or programs that didn't work properly if my internet TCP/IP program (Roadshow) was working. So you say easy just 'close' Roadshow right or use custom WHDLoad script to disbale the TCP/IP stack right...ah that doesn't work all the time, at least not for me and my Amiga 4000 running OS3.2.1 and even when I did manage to shut down Roadshow successfully I still had to reset my Amiga to get it back up. That was then BUT then a small program came out on aminet called Roadie that changed my TCP/IP stack woes! Roadie is simply a small GUI program that allows you to turn off and turn on Roadshow with a mouse button click and it just simply 'works'! It also allows you to show your current net status i.e local IP, Gateway, DNS and to PING a given IP/Host all from AmigaOS. Currently version 1.3.9 is available for download on aminet and requires kickstart 2.0 and a 68020 CPU as minimum requirements and of course Roadshow needs to be installed as well. I was so happy with this little program that I reached out to the developer (Graham Thomson) to enquire about where I could send a donation to show my appreciation and he simply replied that he was happy that it would help other amigans and thanked me for my feedback....that's why I love Amiga and AmigaOS back in the 80's to today..simply our community was and still is always helpful and supportive :-) Cheers.TopIndivision AGA MK3 Review
Reviews *Indivision AGA MK3 Review* Product Name Reviewed by Timo Paul Indivision AGA MK3 Available From www.icomp.de/en/shop/product/Flickerfixer_Scandoubler.html 190.56 euros Hardware Requirements Amiga 1200 or A4000T with a modification Machine Used For Testing Commodore Amiga 1200 Classic WB + 3.2 Kickstart Welcome To The Mk3 As most Amiga users are aware, connecting an Amiga to a monitor can be a bit tricky at times, especially with the lack of 15khz capable monitors available. Composite frankly gives a terrible picture exaspurated by LCD/LED screentechnology. Using the RGB port does wonders for display quality but many monitors now only have HDMI ports. The Indivision is one of the few cards to offer modern connections to monitors and TVs. There have been several iterations of the card going back to the original Indivision AGA, Indivision AGA Mk2, Indivision AGA Mk2Cr and the current Mk3. Each version has added new features and corrected errors, and updated the video connector. Is is also possible to upgrade the firmware providing more features and stability. We will have a look at the latest firmware in a future issue. Purchasing the Mk3 is relatively easy, I had ordered directly from the Individual Computers website since it did not seem to be listed on any other Amiga reseller's page. Ordering had not issues, I paid via bank transfer, usually I do not do this but I have ordered in the past from Jen's website and never had issues. This is one of the nice things about the Amiga scene, while there are scammers abundant, there are those like Jen's who provide a truly professional and trustworthy experience. After payment, I received my confirmation e-mails promptly and the card was sent out the next day, very fast processing! Only a week later and the Japan Post delivery man was ringing my door bell. Upon opening the box I was struck by how small it looks and by the additional connector for the keyboard. The other major difference was the video connector having VGA and HDMI on the same board. Thank you Jen's for putting both on the adapter, it makes using the card so much easier. The board also now has a hole to screw it into the spare slot on the right side of the A1200 which previous versions did not have. It was a bit stressful having the video cable hanging out of the Amiga unattached and the Mk3 version update is very welcome. Prior versions of the board required you to connect the board to just the Lisa chip, with the Mk3 there is an additional adapter that needs to be connected to a CIA chip which sends keyboard signals to the Indivision. Attaching the board is easy, you do need to press firmly down but once the card is attached it stays. In prior versions the Indivision had issues with the board popping off. This was fixed in the Mk2cr and it is good to see that the Mk3 also has a firm fit. Once the main board has been attached to the Lisa, you need to attach the keyboard board adapter. This can be a little tricky since it is a very tight fit between the adapter. If you are worried about the keyboard connector, it might possible to sandpaper down the side touching the keyboard connector. All that is left is now to choose if you want HDMI or VGA. In Use For this review I used a Toshiba 1280x1280 monitor, the Amiga was connected via the VGA port. As a precaution I had set my screenmode to PAL Hires before installing the flickerfixer just incase of trouble. Upon first bootup I was greeted with a pin sharp image abeit a bit off centre. Colours were strong and there was no visible ghosting that you can get with other scandoublers. The Indivision's settings can be adjusted from the IndivisionAGAmk3 tool. It is here you can set the output resolution for each of the screenmodes you are using. This is a great jump over previous versions allowing you to get the best quality image even with multiple screenmodes. Since I run my Workbench in different screenmodes with OctaMED, Brilliance, Lightwave and ProText this is particulary useful. It takes time to find the resolution that will work with your monitor however had I fairly good luck with EDID resolutions which are the compatible resolutions automatically detected by the Indvision. You have many options in the tool such as adjusting the minimum and maximum lines, 'Advanced' will take you to another window where you can now route the audio through the HDMI port, as my monitor does not have internal speakers I was unable to test this feature. In addition to the HDMI audio routing you can also enable/adjust: DoubleBuffer, Powersave, VSync Line, Graffiti Emulation. DoubleBuffer reduces the tearing effect if VSync is not available with the selected Indivision screenmode, Graffiti Emulation is more of use for ECS machines since it allows 256 colours out of 4096 without any HAM artifacting. Finally VSync Line allows you to adjust the amount of latency between the Amiga and VGA, it should be set to the lowest value possible. There are many more features that can be adjusted via the software but this would become a very long review if I reviewed each feature. To find out more details visit the icomp wiki page at: wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Indivision_AGA_MK3/doc It pays off to have play around with the settings, in particular the VGA Mode, Test Mode and Test/Adjust button. It is here that you can find out which resolution best suits your monitor. In general I found PAL Hires and NSTC Hires modes looked best with the Indivision, I also recommend trying the HighGFX modes which are available from Aminet. When I use my Amiga with a widescreen monitor I find SUPERPLUS:Hi Res a nice compromise between screen space and chipram. However there are many different resolutions that are now open to you thanks to the Indivision that it makes sense to try them all first, everyone will have a different resolution that they prefer. Regarding general use when switching between resolutions I noticed there is quite a delay, I am not sure if this is the Indivision or my monitor taking time to sync with the different resolution. As a rule of thumb I try to keep the same VGA resolution for my Workbench, Hires and Hires Laced screenmodes. This covers most of the resolutions that I use in Brilliance, Lightwave and OctaMED. I could see no issues with the video quality, there was some noticable distortion when the mouse moved in HiRes Laced modes (PAL and NTSC) but it was not too distracting. Regarding games I have to confess to not having tried them, I was more concerned about seeing pixels properly when working in Brilliance. It is here where I find the Indivision becomes an essential purchase. There are a variety of ways to connect your A1200 to monitors but none that I have used so far, gave me as clear and clean picture as the Indivision. It is a pleasure to edit pixels with Jen's scandoubler and I think this is where the card really shines. If you are looking for a pixel perfect display, where being able to see the individual pixels matter then the Indivision AGA Mk3 is the card for you. It is not a cheap card so if you are primarily using your Amiga for games the Indivision might be a bit of an overkill. However if you are doing graphics, coding or writing on the Amiga then the Indivision AGA Mk3 is the best scandoubler on the market. It has to stated though that the Amiga chipset is what it is, and that is 30 year old hardware that was not intended to run in high resolution and colour. The Indivision at best is a way to enjoy the Amiga's native resolutions on a modern TV or monitor. It will not make a 256 colour screen run faster, but it will allow you to enjoy a 64 colour HiRes Laced screen without giving you headache. Final Thoughts Getting your Amiga hooked up with decent picture quality has become more troublesome as newer technologies become more standard. There are a number of solutions but the Indivisions stand above the rest for providing the best way to get a clear and clean image from your Amiga to a modern monitor. With the Mk3 Jen has addressed many of the issues that plagued the earlier releases, the main one now having the both HDMI and VGA ports on one adapter. With the added keyboard dapter it is now also possilble to adjust the picture temporarily if your image is off centre or too small. The IndivisionAGAMk3 tool is a very complex and useful beast, it will take time to figure out how everything works but it will be time well spent. If you are looking for the best possible native Amiga output then the Indivision AGA Mk3 should be your only choice. Pros and Cons + Easy to install + Very well built + Has both HDMI and VGA ports + Video board can be screwed into the Amiga, no more loose cables - Can take time finding the best screen mode for your monitor - Not cheap Scores Ease of use: 80% Documentation: 85% Value for money: 80% Overall: 82% - WhatIFF? SilverTopPiMiga 2.0 Review
Reviews *PiMiga 2.0 X64 Review* Product Name Reviewed by: Timo Paul PiMiga 2.0 X64 Available From Chris Edwards YouTube Channel http://bit.ly/3FVNiL4 Special Hardware and Software Requirements Raspberry Pi4 or Pi400. Machine Used For Testing Raspberry Pi400 Review PiMiga is an Amiga emulation environment for the Raspberry Pi series of computers, the current version is 2.0 and is recommended for the Pi4/400. The official website states "PiMiga 2.0 X64 - A Linux emulation system using Scalos WB replacement". Created by the charasmatic Chris Edwards it provides an Amiga experience the of which you could never have on real hardware or at least without breaking the bank. When running on a Pi400 it is 2,479 times faster than a stock A600, which in a word is awesome! I have enjoyed using version 1.5 and was highly anticipating 2.0 which promises more speed and features such as additional controller support, Zeb's EAB Whdload from October 2021, more music mods and the ability to call BBS systems from the Internet. Suffice I was very excited about this release. I bought a Pi400 for the sole reason of running PiMiga and to see Chris keeping it updated makes me feel much happier in my purchase. What makes it even better is that he does not ask a penny for his work, but welcomes contributions. Installation The image file can be found at http://bit.ly/3FVNiL4 - previously 1.5 came in at hefty 64gb and uncompressed to a 128gb image. 2.0 though has been on a diet and comes in at a more modest 22.1gb, expanding to 64gb. Chris has thoughtfully created a torrent of the file meaning those who do not have internet access all the time can download the file bit by bit. Once you have it downloaded, you will need to unpack it and then transfer the image to a MicroSD card. For this you will need the Raspberry Pi Imager, it can be downloaded from http://www.raspberrypi.com/software/. After downloadeding the imager, plug in your free SD card, load up the Raspberry Pi Imager, and locate the PiMiga image, then write it to the card. It will take a little while so go have a cup of tea or get ready for the next part. When the card has been written two partitions will appear on your desktop/devices, 'KICK' and 'boot'. We are interested in 'KICK' for it is here that we need to copy the A1200 3.1 kickstart rom, it should be named 'kick31a1200.rom', copy this over then eject your card and insert it into the Pi400. Upon first power up the monitor will display lines of text, you can ignore these as in a short while the PiMiga boot screen will popup followed by the ScalosWB desktop. If you wish to access the internet or use bluetooth devices please have a look at the readme file found in the PiMiga download. Now You Are Using Power! I use a 21.5" I-O Data monitor for my A1200 and it has an HDMI port to plug in the Pi400. The PiMiga desktop looks beautiful in 1080p, the icons are colourful and sharp. From first glances it looks like the Amiga Workbench of my dreams. Opening windows and applications are silky smooth and fast. It does feel a bit more responsive compared to the previous release. Some minor but immediate changes are noticable such as the removal of the changing background. There is so much stuff to see and use in this package that there is not enough scope in this review to cover everything. I think this is part of the charm of PiMiga, there is such a electic selection of music, videos, images and software that it will take a long time to fully appreciate the depth of the work that must have gone into making PiMiga. For the sake of this review I will cover a few points that I think most users will be interested in. Browsers Galore PiMiga comes with variety of web browsers, the most prominet ones being NetSurf and AWeb on the Amiga Workbench screen. I found NetSurf gave me the most modern browsing experience but it did have a tendency to crash or freeze, especially upon starting. Aweb was very fast but did not render modern pages so well. There are quite a few web browsers for the Amiga, it would be interesting to have them all installed if possible such as Timberwolf, having the ability to use a modern browser would make the PiMiga more than just a curiosity. Setting up an internet connection is easy but needs to be done from the Pi400 CLI. Other networking software included are SMBMounter, WookieChat and YAM alongside other BBS and networking software. When I ran IBrowse the Amiga emulation crashed and dumped me into the Pi CLI. It seems not all software has been fully tested yet but PiMiga is constantly evolving and I am sure what bugs currently exist will be addressed in a future update. Video On Your Amiga This is something that I found quite enjoyable, being able to play videos with ease on PiMiga is something that even my mightly A1200/060 could not handle due to the AGA chipset limitation. There are a lot of videos for your viewing pleasure and it is a lot fun playing videos directly on your Workbench, it makes Workbench almost feel modern. Now if we could only get YouTube to run in PiMiga, that would be very nice indeed. One thing that I hope Chris will add in future versions are playable versions of his YouTube videos, it would add a uniquely personal touch to PiMiga. All The Rest There is so much content included in PiMiga 2.0, the WHDLoad set, various graphics software such as Lightwave 5, ImageFX 2 and OctaMED Studio. Lightwave 5 did not want to load due to Toaster assigns, Lightwave 4 did not have this issue. Being able to run software that requires an FPU is very useful. While my A1200 has an 060, it is not one with an FPU, full 060 with FPUs are going for crazy prices so I doubt that I ever will. If you are looking for music then the Mods folder is chock full of audio pleasure, catering to all listening styles. In this regard the PiMiga could become a pint sized Amiga music box. Final Thoughts It is obvious that a lot of work has gone into creating PiMiga and Chris should be commended for creating such an expansive project and for not stopping at version one. There is so much content that runs the gamut of the Amiga spectrum that it can be a little overwhelming at first. Searching for a particular file or programme can be a little daunting, there are so many drawers and paritions, making it hard to know where to start. However properly exploring PiMiga will reward you with some truely unique Amiga experiences. It is difficult to find fault with PiMiga, it alone makes purchasing a Pi400 worth it. However there are a few things that would make it a better product, the drawers and organisation of files are a bit haphazard making it hard to find what you want. Using a similar organisational format to that of ClassicWB would help in this area. In addition windows do not always show all the contents, when opening a drawer you need to scroll down to find the application. These are all small niggles and do not detract from the amazing work done by Chris, it is all the more amazing that he is giving this away for free. If you have a Pi400 and have not installed this yet, then what are you waiting for?! Download it now and enjoy a modern Amiga experience in a form smaller than an A600. Pros and Cons + Easy to setup + Most powerful Amiga you will ever get for $60 + Free - Can be a bit difficult to find software, needs a bit of house cleaning Scores Ease Of Use: 90% Documentation: 90% Value For money: 100% Overall: 94% - WhatIFF? GoldTopRoadshow Review
Reviews *Roadshow Review* Product Name Reviewed by: Timo Paul Roadshow Ver. 1.14 (14/09/2020) Available From www.amigashop.org (Full Version) www.roadshow.apc-tcp.de (Demo Version) Special Hardware and Software Requirements Any Amiga with a harddisk, ram expansion and network card: PCMCIA, Zorro or Plipbox Machine Used For Testing Commodore Amiga 1200 KS/Workbench 3.2 Indivision MK3, TF1260 Modern Internet On Your Amiga The Amiga has always had the ability to get online since the early days of BBSs and even when the Web was in its infancy. There have been numerous TCP/IP programmes released for the Amiga over the years; AmiTCP, Miami, EasyNet and Genesis (Included with Amiga OS3.9). All of these programmes worked well on the Amiga but not many have been updated with modern features and at times struggle connecting to home networks. In the past I used Miami for connecting my towerised A1200 with a 603/040 + BVision card, perfect for surfing websites in 24Bit colour. However today I do not own that powerhouse of an Amiga and require something that can run on lower spec hardware, enter Roadshow. The first thing that strikes you about Roadshow, is there is no GUI or visual interface. Miami and EasyNet both have graphical user interfaces, taking some of the pain away from setup. Roadshow has thrown away these aspects of the program, freezing up precious Chipram. While this might make it a little harder for newcomers to setup a connection it has the added benefit of taking up a smaller footprint and gaining some very welcome speed. Installation Installation was quick and easy, it first asks you if you want to install versions of the Roadshow bdsocket.library and PPP/PPoE drivers optimised for your system. Obviously you will click 'Yes', the installer will ask you where you want to install the files and then will go and do its thing. It is a very fast and painless experience. After it has finished installing you are are asked to reboot your Amiga. Roadshow creates two new drawers in 'Devs' and 'Storage'- 'NetInterfaces' and 'Networks', it is from here that you will be able to configure your internet connection. The first file to look at is in 'Storage -> NetInterfaces'. Opening the drawer will present a list of various network devices. Choose the file that has the same name as your network device or check on the internet for one that is closest to your model. When you find the file that corresponds with your device, it has to be copied over to the 'Devs->NetInterfaces'. The file needs to be edited and it here where you will configure device name, DHCP, Static IP Address, and NetMask. Next you will need to edit the Routes file in the 'Devs->Internet' drawer. Compared to the NetInterface file, Routes is quite simple to setup requiring just the router IP address. The final file that needs editing is the 'Devs->Internet' name_resolution file. All you need here is to enter your ISP's DNS addresses. Once you have saved the file edits the Amiga needs to be rebooted for the changes to take effect. You will not notice any difference after booting, to check that your Amiga is connected to the internet, you will either need to load up a web browser or use the Ping command via the Shell. I usually use my router address for the ping. Coming from Miami, Roadshow had seemed a little daunting at first, but once I had practiced with changing the settings it became much easier. It is important to have the needed information ready and on hand such as your router IP address, whether you want to use DHCP or a static address and your ISP DNS addresses. If you have these ready before installation the process of setting up Roadshow becomes much easier. Roadshow In Use Roadshow by default has no tools to indicate the Amiga has successfully connected to the network/Internet. For this you need to load a web browser or start a ping. It sits in the background quietly handling all your network traffic. I find this refreshing on the Amiga, previous TCP software made you click on a connect button along with a connected timer. This was useful during the times when we connected our computers directly via modem but now with most households using a router, there is no need for these intrusive design elements. Roadshow brings the Amiga into the present by providing an update and integrated way of connecting your Amiga to the Internet without oudated and intrusive windows. The software takes up very little ram and does not slow down my Amiga or tax it in anyway. At times I had forgot that I was connected to the Internet and it was a pleasure to realise all I had to do was open AWeb and go to the website I needed. There are a variety of commodities for Roadshow that can be downloaded from Aminet, providing features such as network monitoring and disconnect/connect buttons. However for the moment I am quite happy having Roadshow sit in the backgound unnoticed. Final Thoughts While there are a number of other TCP/IP solutions available for the Amiga, MiamiDX is now available for free and AmigaKit sells EasyNet, I find that I am leaning towards Roadshow. Reason being that while it may not be as user friendly to set up as the aforementioned applications it is faster, provides more modern features and sits in the background quietly not calling attention to itself. Setup can be be a bit confusing for first time users but watch a YouTube video and you will quickly get the hang of it. The digital download is 25 euros which is about 10 euros more than the asking price of 15 euros for the EasyNetPro CD. Roadshow appears a little steep considering it is just a digital download but you get a more streamlined and modern piece of software. For those who are not sure if Roadshow is for them, a 30 minute limited free demo can be downloaded, which I highly recommend. Pros and Cons + Lightweight + Fast and supports modern connections + Has additional commodities - Can be a little difficult for people who do not know about networks - More expensive than the competition Scores Ease Of Use: 85% Documentation: 90% Value For money: 85% Overall: 87% - WhatIFF? SilverTopWelcome to the guides section!
CONTENTS -= Welcome to the Guides page!=- Greetings and welcome to another issue of What IFF? guides, for issue 3 we will be continuing the Lightwave, Brilliance and OctaMED tutorials alongside a guide on setting up an Internet clock from John Scolieri If you have something that you would like to contribute to the magazine please contact us at: submissions@whatiff.info We welcome any submissions, no matter how big or small. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lightwave 3.5 - 101 Basic Modelling In the second part of Lightwave 101 we will work on how to mirror your object and weld two objects together. For this section of the guide we will be working primarily in the Modeler. Brilliance - 101 Perspective Using the marble texture you made last time we will learn how to create a perspective with tools built into Brilliance. Setting Up An Internet Clock On Your Amiga John Scolieri gets you setup with the Timberwolf on the latest OS4.1 update. OctaMED 101 - Mystery D Command In this part of the OctaMED tutorial we will examine how to use the mystery D command which does not seem to mentioned in the OctaMED manual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------TopLightwave 101 - Mirroring And Welding Your Object
Guides *Lightwave 101 - Part 2* Written by: Timo Paul Half A Ball Welcome back to the second installment of the Lightwave 101 tutorial series. In the last issue we learned how create half a boing ball and how to assign colours to the facets/polygons. Two things I need to note however, in the first tutorial I mentioned the Radii as being 1,000 for tutorial the number should be left at the default value. Secondly create an assigned colour in Lightwave 3.5 is not possible from the Modeler, in newer versions it is possible with in the modeler however in 3.5 you need to go to Layout mode. I will quickly cover how that can be achieved below. Assigning Colours In The Layout Load your object by clicking on 'Objects' from the top menu and then 'Load Object' in the window that pops up. Find your half boing ball and load it, once it is loaded click on 'Continue'. To assign a colour we need to go to the 'Surfaces' button at the top. Another window will pop open and at the top you can see "Current Surface", next to it the button should have 'Red' or 'White' written on it. Let's presume it is Red first, click on 'Surface Color' and you will be presented with a dialogue window showing three sliders for Red Green and Blue. Since this surface is titled Red lets move the Red slider all the way to the right so the value is 255. Green and Blue can be slid all the way to the left so the value is 0. Click on 'OK', then left mouse click and hold on the button that says 'Red', a pop up menu will appear with three options: Default, White, Red, choose White and do the same as before. Click on 'Surface Color' then set all three sliders to the right. Click on 'Continue' to get back to the main screen again. To do a test render click on 'Render' at the bottom left hand of the screen. This will not save the image but you can see if the red and white have been assigned correctly in the black and white preview image. If it looks correct press Esc to go back to the main screen. We probably should save the object now. Click on 'Objects' at the top of the screen, under current object click on 'Save Object', it will ask you if you want to overwrite the current object, click 'OK'. For the next stage in this guide you will need to go back to the Modeler, you can click on Modeler in the top left of the screen to jump back or if you are worried about Chipram then quit and load the Modeler seperately. Let's Mirror That Ball! For this second half of the guide it will be a little easier since all we will do is mirror the object. At the beginning of this project we had created a ball with it's centre at (0,0,0), this means that if we make a mirror of the current object we will get an equal and opposite hemisphere, perfect for continuing the checkerboard effect of a boing ball. To begin with we need to go to the 'Multiply' menu button at the top of the screen. Click on this and then the 'Mirror' button on the left side of the screen. The cursor will change to a mirror creation cursor, the mirror plane can be placed anywhere with this method however we want a very specific location for the plane so we will use the Numeric tool instead. Click on 'Numeric' and a dialogue box will pop up, this is the same in in all versions of Lightwave, in this instace we want to click on the 'Y' Plane, 'Position' can left at 0, click on 'OK' once you have chosen 'Y' Plane. You will see a yellow horizontal line appear in the Face pane. All you have to is click on the 'Make' button and the ball will become a whole ball again. We do not need this menu anymore, to leave it click on one of the buttons at the top of the screen. One problem that we have now is the bottom image is an exact mirror which means at the equator we will have some elongated white rectangles, for the boing ball effect to work the bottom half will have to be rotated by a certain amount. Let's Spin This Ball Before spinning the lower hemisphere we need to check that you are in Polygon mode, this can be set by clicking on 'Polygon' at the bottom of the screen. Using the Face pane, left mouse click on the lower half facets/polygons. You will need to keep the left Shift key pressed while doing this otherwise you will be unable to choose multiple facets. Once you have done this it is time to rotate our lower hemisphere. Click on 'Modify' at the top of the the screen and then 'Rotate' from the left menu. We want to be very specific with this. After clicking on 'Rotate' click on 'Numeric' at the bottom left menu. Under Axis click on 'Y', for the angle type in 22.5. We want to rotate by one facet/polygon or 360/16 degrees which is 22.5 degrees. A 12x6 boing needs 30 degrees and a 24 x 12 needs 15 degrees and so on. Once you have rotated the lower hemisphere, do not worry if it looks the same, we are only viewing it as a wireframe in black and white. If it was possible to preview in colour polygon mode you will would be able to see the effect of the rotation. The Final Merge Everything okay so far? We are almost at the end of this second part, all we need to do now is merge or weld the object. As it stands the two hemispheres are separate, if we were to render the object you might see a line between the seperate objects which is not our desired result. Previously we were working in Polygon mode but for this we will need to switch back to Point mode, which can be done from the bottom button 'Point'. The points are what define the polygons. There are 16 points for the top and bottom hemispheres, we want to make those 32 points into 16 points, it can be done with the Weld tool but you will need to select the points by hand and that takes time and can be fiddly. A much faster and easier way is to use the Merge tool, found from 'Tools' at the top then 'Merge' from the left menu again. Merge will automatically merge or weld any points that are occupying the same location. Just make sure you select 'Automatic' and then click on 'OK'. A popup window will pop up saying 16 points eliminated. Save your object and take a breather. You will not notice any difference in the Modeler. To see if things have worked out properly you will need to render the object from the Layout or Lightwave program. Good luck with your test render! In the third part of this tutorial we will look at how to make your boing ball look smoother. See you next time!TopBrilliance 101 - How To Create A Perspective View
Guides *Brilliance 101 - Part 2 Perspective* Written by: Timo Paul A New Perspective Welcome back to our Brilliance 101 tutorials, in part one we learnt how to create a marble texture using the smear and blend tools. In part two we will be using the checkerboard marble texture that you made previously. Quite often you see this effect in images created on the Amiga and it is a very effective and useful effect to know about. To start off, you will need to load your marble image and create a brush from it. This can be done using the 'Cut Brush' tool, click and hold the right mouse button and drag an outline around the marble. Remeber to not leave any space between the marble and the black background. If you find it difficult to do this then use the 'Magnify' tool to get in closer. When you create a brush, the pointer will become your image, for safe keeping lets put it into the brush board as I call it. Right mouse click on the 'Cut Brush' tool which looks like a pair of scissors, a new tool box will open up with four squares, left mouse click in two of the boxes, a small thumbnail of your current brush will be displayed. Next we need to adjust the angle of perspective, with your brush still chosen go to the 'Tweening' tool, it looks like three squares stacked on top of each other. Left click on the button and you will be presented with the Tweening options. Look for the 'Adjust' button in the middle of the panel. Once you have clicked on it the screen will change to black with a wireframe representation of your brush. For this tutorial we will create a floor perspective so we want to change X Rot (Rotation), click on the X button and then move the cursor to the black screen, click and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse from right to left, the wireframe willrotate accordingly. For this image let's set the X Rot at 77. Once you have it there click on 'Use', you will then be taken back to the main edit screen. For the moment you will not see any change in the brush, we need to use two tools to create a perspective. Perspective Fill First thing we need to do is left mouse click on the 'Fill' tool which looks like a typical paint tin. We need set up the perspective, so right mouse click on the 'Draw Mode' tool, it is located at the far right of the screen and looks like smudged paint. Another tool bar will open up and from here you want to click on 'Perspective' on the left side of the screen. Press the space bar to hide the tool bars and then click anywhere in the black screen, you will see from the top of the screen the perspective fill slowly crawl down the screen. If you had not hidden the tool bar you can view the fill countdown on the right side of the screen. Wait a little while and soon you will have a nice perspective fill. The 'Tweening' tool is very powerful and if you have a chance to experiment with its various settings you can get some amazing effects. For now save your image because next we will work on how to create a reflection of an object on your marble floor. Additional Thoughts One final note is that if you are not happy with the perspective fill, i.e it is a bit too pixelated creating a bigger brush will help with this. Usually I try to create as large a brush as I can to keep as much detail as possible when using the perspective fill. Well that is it for this time see you in issue four where we will look into creating a reflected object for your scene. As usual you can view the sample picture in the images drawer. I hope to get the images to link within AmigaGuide but have run into issues with so I am sticking with a drawer for the example images at the moment. See you in issue four!TopSetting up an Internet clock on your Amiga
Guides *How To Setup An Internet Time Syncing Vlient* Written by: John Scolieri So why would you need to use an internet time syncing client anyway? Do you: - not have an RTC(real time clock) chip on your MB or accelerator board - like to have your saved files date/time stamped - have an RTC chip but notice sometimes the time is slighlty off from the actual time - have a hardware defect in your RTC chip that won't allow your Amiga to save date/time properly after shutting down your Amiga - don't like taking apart your Amiga every few years to replace a dead RTC battery If one or more of the situations above sound familair to you and you have your Amiga setup online then an internet time syncing client will be useful for you. A simple to use internet time sync client that I use can be found on aminet.net as sntp.lha by Patrik Axelsson. This simple to use and setup client can sync both the system time and RTC against a SNTP or MTP server using the Simple Network Time Protocol. How do you set it up? - copy file sntp to the c: folder - open your favourite text editor to modify the startup-sequence file by adding the line 'c:sntp pool.ntp.org' (without the ''). This new line needs to be placed above/before the 'LoadWB' line - ensure you have the correct country selected in Sys/Prefs/Local and click Save After the above two steps are completed you can rest assure that everytime your Amiga boots up it will always have the correct date and time. Cheers.TopHow apply the D command effect in OctaMED
Guides *OctaMED 101 - The D Command* Written by: Timo Paul What Is The D Command? For this tutorial we will be looking at the D command. For some reason I have not seen this command mentioned in the OctaMED manual so I am not what is it's proper name. However when I have used the command previously I noticed it recreated the effect used in some oldskool rave tracks. If applied to a vocal, it will make the vocal turn on and off very quickly. While this can be done with the volume command we covered in issue 1, the 'D' command creates a much smoother and faster effect. The song title escapes me at the moment but there is a track from around 1992 that uses a vocal sample saying "Feel the pressure", the effect they use on this vocal is very reminiscent of OctaMED's 'D' command. So how can we use this in OctaMED? How To Use D Command The 'D' command is a very simple and easy command to use, it first should be used with a relatively long sample or looped one to be more effective. Choose your sample and place in the channel of your choose, so if your sample is the first one it should look like this: 000 D-3 10000 The first line is 000 the sample note is D-3 and 1 is the sample number, the remaining four 0s have no effect yet, hence they are 0. To add the 'D' command all we do is place the 'D' in the middle of the right column. It should loook something like this: 000 D-3 10D00 If you were to play the block, you wouuld hear no difference, what we need to do is add an activator. For this instance I will use a higher number so the effect will be more prominent. To do this just add the number 9 into the right column, like this: 000 D-3 10D09 001 | 10D09 002 | 10D09 003 | 10D09 004 | 10D09 005 | 10D09 006 | 10D09 008 | 10D09 Now if you play the block you will notice the 'D' command having its effect, you can change the effect by reducing the numbers in the right column. However going over 9 does seems to lose the effect of the command. Have a play around with this command and you can create some fun effects for your tracks. As a side note, I was unable to find the name of this command but if someone out there knows where it is written about please contact me so I can update this tutorial. Have fun with your OctaMED music making and next time we will have a look at the sequencing of blocks, to make a full song.TopWelcome to voices of the people behind Amiga hardware and software.
CONTENTS -= Amiga People - gwEm =- - = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = - For issue 3 we are talking to Dr Gareth Morris a.k.a gwEm, a chip musician who has played around the world and has a large backlog of music spanning various genres. Recently he released an album done soley on an Amiga, we talk to him about his music history and the album. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1. Hello Gareth, thank you for taking the time for this interview, to start off can you introduce yourself, what you do and where you come from? @I am Dr Gareth Morris, artist name gwEm. My day job is as an electronics engineer, and in my spare time I am a serious chip musician. I have lived in Hackney, London, UK for a really long time now! 2. Thank you for that Gareth, can you tell us what got you first into chip music, what was the first computer you used to make computer music? I got into chip music properly in 2001, producing something at least a bit respectable and performing live. Before this I was a semi-pro drum&bass DJ for a few years. There was a specific album, Maxi German Rave Blast Hits 3 from a group called Bodenstandig 2000 which got me into the scene. I liked this album so much that I contacted one of the members Drx, who gave me a diskette containing his favourite tracker MusicMon2. I did make tracker music when I was kid in the 1990s, but it wasn't very good! Back then I used TCB Tracker on my Atari ST and later Fast Tracker 2 on PC. 3. Your styles are quite eclectic ranging from drum'n'bass to punk to heavy metal to happy hardcore. Is there a particular style or genre of music that you prefer to write and listen to? I listen to a lot of heavy metal, that is for sure. In particular I'm into Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate and certain power and symphonic metal bands. Punk is fun because its easy to play, and suits my limited vocal techniques :) The other music I listen to a lot is old skool breakbeat rave. When I go to party, its usually drum'n'bass or electro. But I have a soft spot for happy hardcore, hip hop, classical, jazz, krautrock and other kinds of music. If the music is melodic, energetic, and/or a little bit aggressive and abrasive, I'm there for it! I don't want to be tied into making one style of music only. 4. You wrote the software maxYMiser for the Atari ST can you explain a little about the software, what is it and why you made it? maxYMiser is a chip tracker for the Atari ST. I wrote it because I wasn't satisfied with the trackers available for Atari ST in the early 2000s. SID Sound Designer and MusicMon 2 were the predominant trackers, but neither of them included all the techniques that were possible on the YM2149 sound chip. I still keep it up to date with the latest ideas, and bug fixes. As a result it is the longest maintained tracker on the Atari ST, and also the most popular. 5. The Atari ST is where you started making music, however recently you released a Breakbeat Hardcore album created solely on an Amiga 600, why did you choose the Amiga for this project? Of course, back in the 90s, there was a big rivalry between the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST. It?s very welcome now that the platforms are on friendly terms, although of course the Amiga scene is larger. Some Amiga musicians, like Mygg have even begun composing for the ST. I used Protracker on a real Amiga a couple of times in the past, with friends, and found the workflow very fast and clean. Additionally, my favourite record label Slammin Vinyl produced all their classics using Amigas too. And we can name others: Meng Syndicate, Bizzy B etc etc. Wanting to make new music with less of a chiptune sound, but with a tracker and staying true to my 16bit roots, the choice was clear. 6. What drove you to choose an A600 over, an A500 or A1200? Mostly the form factor. In fact, the album was started on an A500 donated by a fan. Once I saw the Amiga was going to work out for me, I upgraded from the A500 to an A600. I don't really have interest in the A1200, but you never know! The A600 has a smaller size, and 'modern' conveniences like compact flash. I made an audio modification recommended to me by Hoffman and I like the clearer sound of my modded A600 more than the A500 as well! That first A500 I have gifted to friend 2xAA here in London, to try and keep the love going. It seemed like the right thing to do. 7. How does the music process differ from the Atari and Amiga? There are more similarities than differences I would say, since I use trackers on both. Atari is much more technical. The YM2149 is weaker than the Paula, so you have to use a lot of tricks and techniques to make it sound good. It's useful having sample music skills when composing on Amiga. Things like tuning samples is never a problem on Atari. maxYMiser clearly has more features than Protracker and things like blocks, cut and paste etc goes quicker. But overall, since I am tweaking the sound less on Amiga, I would say the Amiga is faster to get things done. 8. What problems did you encounter or what things went better than you expected when writing the album? Solutions to a lot of common Amiga issues are present on the internet. So I spent some time reading on Amiga message boards. Initially, I had to spend a few weeks working on the Open Amiga Sampler (from Mnstrmnch and Syphus). I tried a Techno Sound Turbo at first, but it didn't sound good. I've kept the TST as a curiosity. The OAS was immediately better, but I could tell there was some more potential to be unlocked. I fixed a DC offset issue on the input stage, and used a SPICE program to design an adjustable anti-alias filter. Finally I made some changes to the first gain stage. The DSS8 has a great reputation, but is much too expensive second hand due to collectors. I must tip my hat to the OAS project, as it is now possible for anyone to make a good quality Amiga sampling cartridge. Generally it all went quite smoothly once the pieces were in place. Amiga is a very friendly machine to use. 9. When getting the samples into the Amiga did you sample them or convert them from a PC and why? Every sound on the album was sampled directly into the Amiga using my modded Open Amiga Sampler. Many of my friends who are big Amiga composers like Interphace, Hoffman and Ctrix convert samples from PC. Clearly they all make awesome music, so that works for them. But I wanted a faster workflow, and I wanted to be hands on with my old synths. So I work exclusively with a sampler cartridge. On Atari though, I work with an emulator. I do believe any method which lets you get the job done is the right way! 10. Which tracker do you prefer to use on the Amiga? I want to get into OctaMED, but honestly I use and prefer Protracker currently. It looks pretty and it's very comfortable. The latest version on 16-bits.org, with 128K samples is what I use. 11. What is your process when making a track? Often I will start with drums, but it's also possible I will start with chords, or a particular synth sound I like. Other times I will hear a track I like, and get inspired by that. In the rarest case, I will start a track by writing lyrics. But one idea is never enough for a track, so I like to have at least two or three. I'll build up a few patterns, and then figure out some transitions. At this point the track is nearly done. I work with some particular vintage synths I like the sound of. On the Breaking Even release, I mostly used the Roland MC-202 since it sits next to my A600 so nicely. But I also featured the TB-303, U-220 and Korg Radias. Another source of sounds is vintage sample CDs, such as the Datafile, X-Static Goldmine etc. I play them into the Amiga using a Pioneer CDJ. All sample editing is done on the Amiga, although I may EQ the samples on a Mackie desk as I sample them. The final mixes are all recorded from the back of the Amiga, with a tiny bit of tweaking on the Mackie desk. I also used a spring reverb unit. A PC was only used for uploading to the internet :) 12. Do you have any plans for more Amiga releases? Yes, and I am working on something right now. As soon as this interview is finished, I am going to get back to it :) 13. Finally are there any chip musicians that you recommend for our readers to listen to? From the Atari ST scene, I would recommend the composers 505 (https://soundcloud.com/five-o-five) and Dma-Sc (http://dma-sc.atari.org). From the wider chipmusic scene, some favourites are Cyanide Dansen (https://cyanidedansen.bandcamp.com) Breakbeat Heartbeat (https://breakbeatheartbeat.bandcamp.com). Thank you Gareth for taking the time to answer these questions, I greatly enjoyed your album and have been listening to more of your music. Keep up the awesome work! Thanks a lot! I will keep going :)TopWelcome to the links section!
CONTENTS -= Links =- - = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = - Here we will provide links to other pages on the internet where you can get software and other information. www.eab.abime.net One of the best Amiga centred forums on the internet. www.exxoshost.co.uk The resource if you need help or information about the new Terrible Fire cards. www.amibay.com A great place for buying and selling Amiga hardware, they also have some very nice people to give advice about the Amiga. www.amiga.org Probably the longest running Amiga forum on the world wide web, it is more centred on the American Amiga users. Websites you should not visit. www.amiga.net.pl This was quite a popular website for people since they had a number of books and software available, but over the last few years more and more people have lost their money with items not being sent. It is sad that that this is still happening in the Amiga scene.TopReader Letters - Have Your Say
CONTENTS -= Reader Letters =- - = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = - Unfortunately Kevin Saunders will not be able to submit his article for his Invents Corner due to the flooding in Australia. We all wish him the best and hope his family have not been hurt in the flooding. In the mean this has given me the chance to introduce new segment to the magazine. We have been growing over the last two issues with readership and I think it is time to open to the magazine to reader letters. If you have any comments, suggestions, or just what to write to the magazine then your letters will be published here. Send us an email at: [ submissions@whatiff.info ] and we will give you a personal reply and let you know which issue the letter will be published in. This also opens the avenue for competitions and for our first upcoming competition we will be giving away a GuruModem, reviewed back in our first issue. To win the GuruModem we want to hear your Amiga Rant, it can be about anything, how you first met the Amiga, why you love/hate it, how you use your Amiga, how your family view your love of the Amiga. Anything, the best three will be published and the best one overall will win the GuruModem. So get writing and send your letters in, let us know if you want to be part of the competition as well. We will then contact the winner and ask them for their postal details. Good luck and we look forward to reading your submissions!TopWhat's coming up in the next issue?
CONTENTS -= Coming up in issue 1.04 of WhatIFF? =- - = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = - Issue 4 has some great content lined up, reviews of AmiKit for the Pi400 we see how it compares to PiMiga, reviews of two USB mouse adapters, a look at the AmiGemini browser and more. There will be continuation of the Lightwave and Brilliance tutorials, Invents Corner and finally an interview with the creator of PiMiga, Chris Edwards. See you in Issue 4!TopMeet the writing staff of WhatIFF?
CONTENTS WhatIFF? is an independent magazine created by Amiga enthusiasts from around the world looking for a more serious magazine. The main writers at the moment are a small group but we hope to grow in the coming issues. Timo Paul Steve Lord Kevin Saunders John Scolieri We are always interested in new articles, guides or stories, so you have something you wish to submit please send it to: submissions@whatiff.infoToptimopaul
Writers Name: Timo Paul Aliases: amifan (EAB) Contact info: timopaul@whatiff.info Websites: www.whatiff.info www.binarybeats.meTopstevelord
Writers Name: Steve Lord Aliases: stevelord (EAB) Contact info: stevelord@whatiff.info Websites: www.thedorkweb.substack.com