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Help required

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:13 pm
by Steff
Being new to this system, i was formatting a USB drive (not really knowing what i was doing) and now the system only boots to a Grey screen !! I'm lost as to how i can get into the OS when nothing seems to be working, in short HELP !!!

Re: Help required

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:00 pm
by trixie
@Steff

Hard to guess what actually went wrong but if you're new to AmigaOS, your best bet would probably be to reinstall the system.
  • Boot from the AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition installation CD.
  • Choose the "Continue and start Workbench directly from the CD" option in the menu.
  • In Workbench, backup any data you don't want to lose on your system partition.
  • Reboot (keep the CD in drive).
  • Choose the "Start the AmigaOS 4.1 installation utility" option.
  • Format your system partition (DH0:), selecting the Quick Format method.
  • Install the OS on DH0:

Re: Help required

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:06 pm
by Steff
trixie wrote:@Steff

Hard to guess what actually went wrong but if you're new to AmigaOS, your best bet would probably be to reinstall the system.
  • Boot from the AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition installation CD.
  • Choose the "Continue and start Workbench directly from the CD" option in the menu.
  • In Workbench, backup any data you don't want to lose on your system partition.
  • Reboot (keep the CD in drive).
  • Choose the "Start the AmigaOS 4.1 installation utility" option.
  • Format your system partition (DH0:), selecting the Quick Format method.
  • Install the OS on DH0:
Hello Trixie. Thank you for your reply. I have tried to boot from that CD, however, the system just locks up and i have to reset and nothing happens !!!

Is there anything i should be pressing while it boots from CD?

Please advise.

Re: Help required

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:26 am
by Roland
Steff wrote: Being new to this system, i was formatting a USB drive (not really knowing what i was doing) and now the system only boots to a Grey screen !! I'm lost as to how i can get into the OS when nothing seems to be working, in short HELP !!!
Do you have a ready-installed X5000, which was initially booting from a Sata hard disk (internal) and working ok?

When you tried to format that USB drive, did you just plug it in, and when a new icon appeared on the Workbench, you chose it and selected a format command from WB menus? Or did you first use the 'MediaToolBox' program?

I suppose you have unplugged the USB disk when trying to boot your machine...?
Hello Trixie. Thank you for your reply. I have tried to boot from that CD, however, the system just locks up and i have to reset and nothing happens !!!
Do you know what graphics card you have in your machine? If it is a Radeon R7 240 or R7 250, then it has the Oland chip set which is not supported by the basic driver included on that AmigaOS CD. You need an upgraded driver version which is on the 'Enhancer software' CD, which was probably included with you machine, and already installed on your hard disk by your dealer.

Was there included an "Emergency Boot' USB stick with your machine? Some dealers include such with their X5000 packages, and usually they also install the 'Enhancer package' on it, so it should boot with all currently supported Radeon cards.

Re: Help required

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 12:33 pm
by Steff
Roland wrote:
Steff wrote: Being new to this system, i was formatting a USB drive (not really knowing what i was doing) and now the system only boots to a Grey screen !! I'm lost as to how i can get into the OS when nothing seems to be working, in short HELP !!!
Do you have a ready-installed X5000, which was initially booting from a Sata hard disk (internal) and working ok?

When you tried to format that USB drive, did you just plug it in, and when a new icon appeared on the Workbench, you chose it and selected a format command from WB menus? Or did you first use the 'MediaToolBox' program?

I suppose you have unplugged the USB disk when trying to boot your machine...?
Hello Trixie. Thank you for your reply. I have tried to boot from that CD, however, the system just locks up and i have to reset and nothing happens !!!
Do you know what graphics card you have in your machine? If it is a Radeon R7 240 or R7 250, then it has the Oland chip set which is not supported by the basic driver included on that AmigaOS CD. You need an upgraded driver version which is on the 'Enhancer software' CD, which was probably included with you machine, and already installed on your hard disk by your dealer.

Was there included an "Emergency Boot' USB stick with your machine? Some dealers include such with their X5000 packages, and usually they also install the 'Enhancer package' on it, so it should boot with all currently supported Radeon cards.
Hello Trixie. Thank you for your reply.

Question 1. Yes.
Question 2. Yes. A format command from WB menu.
Question 3. Yes.
There is a Radeon card but i don't know what version it is.
I do have a USB stick but it is blank with nothing on it.
Still no luck. Still a grey screen :cry:
HELP !!!

Re: Help required

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:35 am
by Roland
Steff wrote:Question 1. Yes.
Question 2. Yes. A format command from WB menu.
Question 3. Yes
Very strange... Just formatting a removable USB drive should not have any effect on your internal hard disk and booting from it, after you have removed the USB drive. Unless of course you have accidentally formatted also your boot partition...:-/
There is a Radeon card but i don't know what version it is.
I do have a USB stick but it is blank with nothing on it.
I would advice you to contact your dealer and ask them what Radeon card they installed in your machine, and also if they could send you a bootable USB stick, with the Enhancer software and the latest Radeon driver installed. If your original boot partition is indeed 'out' and you cannot boot from the AmigaOS CD either, that will probably be the only reasonable way forward (BTW, the Enhancer software CD is not bootable, it has only the extra software and drivers which can be installed on a partition having already AmigaOS).

I had earlier a little bit similar situation and the only solution was to get a bootable USB medium with the latest Radeon driver.

Re: Help required

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 10:36 am
by Steff
Roland wrote:
Steff wrote:Question 1. Yes.
Question 2. Yes. A format command from WB menu.
Question 3. Yes
Very strange... Just formatting a removable USB drive should not have any effect on your internal hard disk and booting from it, after you have removed the USB drive. Unless of course you have accidentally formatted also your boot partition...:-/
There is a Radeon card but i don't know what version it is.
I do have a USB stick but it is blank with nothing on it.
I would advice you to contact your dealer and ask them what Radeon card they installed in your machine, and also if they could send you a bootable USB stick, with the Enhancer software and the latest Radeon driver installed. If your original boot partition is indeed 'out' and you cannot boot from the AmigaOS CD either, that will probably be the only reasonable way forward (BTW, the Enhancer software CD is not bootable, it has only the extra software and drivers which can be installed on a partition having already AmigaOS).

I had earlier a little bit similar situation and the only solution was to get a bootable USB medium with the latest Radeon driver.
Hello Roland. Thanks for your reply.

It seems as though that is exactly what i have done (formatted the original boot partition) :oops: I do have a USB stick supplied with the system and have now booted with it. However, trying to format the 1Tb HDD is turning out to be a complete knightmare !! Everytime i go through the formatting sequence, the MTB asks if it should do a "warm" reboot. However, when the x5000 reboots i have a error on the screen: "Not a DOS disk in device DH0 Process: 6 "Initial CLI" and i can go no further. Is there a special way of formatting a 1Tb HDD and what size should the partitions be if any?

Re: Help required

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:45 pm
by Roland
Steff wrote: It seems as though that is exactly what i have done (formatted the original boot partition) :oops: I do have a USB stick supplied with the system and have now booted with it. However, trying to format the 1Tb HDD is turning out to be a complete knightmare !! Everytime i go through the formatting sequence, the MTB asks if it should do a "warm" reboot. However, when the x5000 reboots i have a error on the screen: "Not a DOS disk in device DH0 Process: 6 "Initial CLI" and i can go no further. Is there a special way of formatting a 1Tb HDD and what size should the partitions be if any?
Sad to hear, but fortunately you can boot from the USB stick, so you should be able to get your system fixed again.

1 TB hard disk itself should not be a problem... When in MTB, have you tried to turn off the 'Bootable' option, but keep the 'Automount' checked for your DH0? That way the partition you create should not disturb booting from your USB stick. If that works, you should see on WorkBench an icon with a title like 'not a dos disk' or similar. Then you can select it and format/rename it via the WB menus. After that you should again be able to copy data on it.

You must of course have at least one partition on your HD, but it is practical to divide it to several parttions. The largest possible partition size depends on the filesystem used (selectable via MTB for each partition individually). There should be a .pdf file somewhere in the 'Documents' drawer on the boot disk describing the properties of different Amiga filesystems!

AmigaOS itself does not need much space (compared to some other OSs), so 1 GB will do, if you keep third party applications and your data on separate partitons. I have on my own Boot disk (1 GB) only AmigaOS and the software from Enhancer disk. It is also a good idea to create a few 'extra' parttions of the same size, so that you have backups of your primary boot partition! This is also important when you install updates of system/enhancer programs, so that you have working spare partitions at hands if something goes wrong.

Unfortunately I am away from my X5000 during several days, so I cannot give now very detailed instructions...

Re: Help required

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:08 pm
by Steff
Roland wrote:
Steff wrote: It seems as though that is exactly what i have done (formatted the original boot partition) :oops: I do have a USB stick supplied with the system and have now booted with it. However, trying to format the 1Tb HDD is turning out to be a complete knightmare !! Everytime i go through the formatting sequence, the MTB asks if it should do a "warm" reboot. However, when the x5000 reboots i have a error on the screen: "Not a DOS disk in device DH0 Process: 6 "Initial CLI" and i can go no further. Is there a special way of formatting a 1Tb HDD and what size should the partitions be if any?
Sad to hear, but fortunately you can boot from the USB stick, so you should be able to get your system fixed again.

1 TB hard disk itself should not be a problem... When in MTB, have you tried to turn off the 'Bootable' option, but keep the 'Automount' checked for your DH0? That way the partition you create should not disturb booting from your USB stick. If that works, you should see on WorkBench an icon with a title like 'not a dos disk' or similar. Then you can select it and format/rename it via the WB menus. After that you should again be able to copy data on it.

You must of course have at least one partition on your HD, but it is practical to divide it to several parttions. The largest possible partition size depends on the filesystem used (selectable via MTB for each partition individually). There should be a .pdf file somewhere in the 'Documents' drawer on the boot disk describing the properties of different Amiga filesystems!

AmigaOS itself does not need much space (compared to some other OSs), so 1 GB will do, if you keep third party applications and your data on separate partitons. I have on my own Boot disk (1 GB) only AmigaOS and the software from Enhancer disk. It is also a good idea to create a few 'extra' parttions of the same size, so that you have backups of your primary boot partition! This is also important when you install updates of system/enhancer programs, so that you have working spare partitions at hands if something goes wrong.

Unfortunately I am away from my X5000 during several days, so I cannot give now very detailed instructions...
Thank you for that detailed info Roland. Selecting mounting in the MTB is where i think i was making the mistake :oops: So when i was rebooting i could not get past that No Amiga DOS problem. I have got it all up and running now. I have created three partitions (one being DH0). I shall copy all the files from my USB stick to DH0, then go into MTB again and select DH0 to be bootable. Problem solve my friend :D

Further, i did not know about the "Esc" key when booting then holding down both mouse buttons until i researched. As the Ami does NOT come with a user manual, it is very hard to do these things !!

I remember when i first got the Amiga 500 with WB 1.3, it came with a manual about 2 inches thick !!

Re: Help required

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:20 pm
by nbache
Steff wrote:I have got it all up and running now. I have created three partitions (one being DH0). I shall copy all the files from my USB stick to DH0, then go into MTB again and select DH0 to be bootable. Problem solve my friend :D
No, don't do that! If you just copy everything over, it will probably not end up in the right paths.

I assume the USB holds the equivalent of an installation/Live boot CD.

So what you should do is initiate installation of AmigaOS from it (can be done either by selecting that in the initial menu it puts up when you boot from the USB, the one where you have probably selected boot to WB earlier), or, if you have already booted to WB from the installation USB stick, there should be an icon somewhere on WB where you can start the installation.

When the installer has started, at one point you are asked where to install AmigaOS, then you should select DH0:

And of course, at some point, either before or after the installion, you should turn the Bootable flag back on using MTB - preferably before you let it reboot after the installation ;-).

Best regards,

Niels