Can't boot MegaAGS hdf. Did I mess up?

[Spark_Tek]

Hi! I was trying to dip my toe into some Amiga for the first time, but even after triple checking that I'd followed the readme and the settings were right I still end up at the Insert Floppy screen. It's like the HDF file is just ignored or something, but I don't know where it would log something like that to confirm my suspicion.

I saw that IDE handling has changed somewhat, but my understanding of that is surface level. Something a bit like headers? Is that probably the root cause of my issue? Is it possible to fix?

I'm just wanting to feel out what being an Amiga user was like and play a few games. Should I be looking for a different hdf to use?

[limi]

1) Make sure you have run the MiSTer update script recently, there was a short period when headerless HDF files did not work.

2) I have tested the 2021 version of the creation script (MegaAGS) on the latest core, so make sure your version is up to date (older versions should still work, I just haven’t tested those).

[zorrobandito]

Both floppy drives, DF0 and DF1 should have * No Disk *
In the Drives section, it should be configured like this:

IDE A600/A1200 : ON
FAST-IDE (68020): ON

PRI. MASTER: FIXED/HDD
MEGAAGS.HDF
PRI. SLAVE: FIXED/HDD
MEGAAGS-SAVES.HDF

SEC MASTER and SLAVE should both be disabled.

Finally, in SYSTEM, the important setting is:
ROM: MEGAAGS-KICKSTART.ROM

[zorrobandito]

Also, in answer to your question - "Should I be looking for a different hdf to use?":
No, the MegaAGS image has just about everything you could want from the gaming side. Press Escape and it will drop you into an enhanced Workbench too.

All that's missing for the complete experience is a noisy, slow floppy drive and an occasional Guru Meditation crash (Windows Blue Screen equivalent).

[Spark_Tek]

Both floppy drives, DF0 and DF1 should have * No Disk *
In the Drives section, it should be configured like this:

IDE A600/A1200 : ON
FAST-IDE (68020): ON

PRI. MASTER: FIXED/HDD
MEGAAGS.HDF
PRI. SLAVE: FIXED/HDD
MEGAAGS-SAVES.HDF

SEC MASTER and SLAVE should both be disabled.

Finally, in SYSTEM, the important setting is:
ROM: MEGAAGS-KICKSTART.ROM

I double checked and while my settings match there's still no joy.

[Spark_Tek]

1) Make sure you have run the MiSTer update script recently, there was a short period when headerless HDF files did not work.

2) I have tested the 2021 version of the creation script (MegaAGS) on the latest core, so make sure your version is up to date (older versions should still work, I just haven’t tested those).

1) Ran it before posting and once again before replying, still no joy.

2) Not familiar with a Creation Script, I'm just using an HTDGB MegaAGS hdf dated 3-13-21

[zorrobandito]

Did you copy across all the minimig cfg files as well?

minimig.cfg
minimig1.cfg
minimig2.cfg
minimig3.cfg

I can't really think of too many other issues. MISter runs the minimig.cfg which loads the MegaAGS boot rom and mounts the hdf.

[Spark_Tek]

Did you copy across all the minimig cfg files as well?

minimig.cfg
minimig1.cfg
minimig2.cfg
minimig3.cfg

I can't really think of too many other issues. MISter runs the minimig.cfg which loads the MegaAGS boot rom and mounts the hdf.

I have. No joy though.

[akeley]

Are you sure your hardware settings are OK? It should be A1200, AGA, with plenty of RAM. Also, did you try any other .hdf, just to see if this works at all? It's probably going to be something small you missed, because it works fine for most people.

No, the MegaAGS image has just about everything you could want from the gaming side. Press Escape and it will drop you into an enhanced Workbench too.

All that's missing for the complete experience is a noisy, slow floppy drive and an occasional Guru Meditation crash (Windows Blue Screen equivalent).

A pedantic remark, aside from the OP, but MegaAGS covers WHDLoad games. This means the most important ones from Amiga's history, but there is still a huge number of non-WHDLoad games which are not included.

[Spark_Tek]

Are you sure your hardware settings are OK? It should be A1200, AGA, with plenty of RAM. Also, did you try any other .hdf, just to see if this works at all? It's probably going to be something small you missed, because it works fine for most people.

No, the MegaAGS image has just about everything you could want from the gaming side. Press Escape and it will drop you into an enhanced Workbench too.

All that's missing for the complete experience is a noisy, slow floppy drive and an occasional Guru Meditation crash (Windows Blue Screen equivalent).

A pedantic remark, aside from the OP, but MegaAGS covers WHDLoad games. This means the most important ones from Amiga's history, but there is still a huge number of non-WHDLoad games which are not included.

I will have to explore those once I've come to basic grips with the little beastie. For now I'm going to try transferring the file over again.

[Spark_Tek]

I had to redownload the file. Works now.

Thank you to everyone for the help with sanity checks.