Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between AmiKit and Amiga Forever? Both are emulators, right?

Both AmiKit and Amiga Forever use the same emulation engine called WinUAE.

The main difference is that while the Amiga Forever is a commercial product that includes legal ROM and system files and provides you with the default (and very basic) AmigaOS environment, the AmiKit is freeware, however it doesn't include the ROM and system files. On the other hand AmiKit includes more than 300 pre-configured programs that are not part of the default AmigaOS installation - which turn the default OS into the ultimate environment.

AmiKit can be considered as kind of an add-on for Amiga Forever but that would be inaccurate. AmiKit installs into its own separated folder and during the installation it copies the ROM and system files from Amiga Forever to AmiKit automatically. Since this point the AmiKit is complete and standalone application.

Amiga Forever introduced an integrated support of AmiKit! Now you can download, install and run AmiKit using the Amiga Forever Player (see its application tab). No need to use external and standalone AmiKit installer anymore. Check this link if you encounter any problems.

What do I need to install and run AmiKit?

In short, a source of AmigaOS and Amiga Kickstart file (ROM), which can be easily obtained by purchasing Amiga Forever package. We're sorry about that but AmiKit cannot contain those copyrighted files. For more information please check out the requirements page. AmiKit runs on Windows XP, Vista or 7 machine, Mac OS X and Linux too. To install AmiKit on a real Amiga computer please follow this AmiKit on a Real Amiga guide.

Does AmiKit run on eeePC or any other netbook?

Yes. Please follow the AmiKit on eeePC guide. Before booting AmiKit on a machine without CD-ROM drive, make sure you removed CD0 and CD0.info files from AmiKit\Devs\DOSDrivers folder.

Why is there a separate archive of AmiKit for the Linux and Mac OS X platform?

There are file attribute problems with the MS Windows flavour which we fix by using a separate archive for Linux and Mac OS X users. Also some Windows specific programs were removed and the package was fine-tuned for Linux or Mac OS X.

WinUAE cannot find the ROM file (or keyfile) even though it is there!

Quit the emulation and try to move the "ROMs" folder from AmiKit\ to AmiKit\WinUAE\ folder. Then start the AmiKit again. Make sure you use the correct ROM file. The RomFind.exe program will help you to find and install the right one.

I only get a black windowed screen when attempting to run AmiKit.

Go to your WinUAE settings, and change the color depth to 32 instead of 16, and try again.

My AmigaOS CD is not detected during the installation...

It might happen that the CD filesystem used in AmiKit is not compatible with your CD drive and thus the CD is not recognized correctly. In that case, before you start AmiKit, mount your CD-Drive as a Directory. Start the AmiKit launcher, press the "Configure WinUAE" button. Then go to "Hard drives" section of WinUAE settings and press the "Add Directory" button. Enter the following data:

Device Name: CD4
Volume Label: AmigaOS3.9 (or AmigaOS3.5, AmigaOS XL, etc.)
Path: point to your CD drive with the CD inserted
disable Read/Write option
enable "Initialise CD/DVD drives on boot" if possible

...and start the emulation.

The Linux users, make sure the scsi_device is set corrrectly in /configs/amikit-euaerc configuration file. Alternatively make a dir on your hard drive, copy the contents of the CD to that dir and in the E-UAE Control add that dir as a hard disk.

Can I use Amiga Forever 6 as a source of system files to run AmiKit on Windows?

Yes. Even though this version is not supported by default, you can use it as a source of system files. Download the correct archive according to your AF6 edition:

Amiga Forever 6 CD Edition - download and unzip the archive. Copy the Startup-Sequence and Startup-Sequence2 to your AmiKit installation into AmiKit\AmiKit\S drawer and overwrite existing files there. Run the emulation, select English language and then hit the "AmigaForever CD" button. Insert your Amiga Forever 6 CD and the installation should continue.

Amiga Forever 6 Online Edition - download and unzip the archive. Copy the Startup-Sequence and Startup-Sequence2 to your AmiKit installation into AmiKit\AmiKit\S drawer and overwrite existing files there. Before you start the emulation, make sure your Windows C: partition has NO additional name (like MyDisk or WinXP or whatever). Simply leave it unlabeled so it's called just "C:". Run the emulation, select English and then select the "AF Installed" button. Your Amiga Forever 6 Online edition must be located in "C:\Program Files\Cloanto\Amiga Forever\" path, otherwise the AmiKit installation won't work.

AmiKit stopped working completely or behaves in a strange way...

Make sure NONE of your Windows (or Linux or Mac OS X) drives are named "AmiKit" or "SYS". Otherwise AmiKit might get confused. You can also try to boot AmiKit in "safe" mode. Before you start the emulation, backup your Startup-Sequence file located in AmiKit\S folder and rename Startup-Sequence.SAFEMODE file to Startup-Sequence. Then start AmiKit.

The boot (startup) picture never disappears, I can't get to AmiKit desktop.

There might be some error requester waiting for your confirmation behind the picture. Simply press the ESC button to quit the boot picture. Note that if you updated your AmiKit, the first next start of the system might take much longer because the updates archives need to be extracted in background.

How to disable the boot (startup) picture?

Edit AmiKit:S/Startup-Sequence and insert semicolon in front of the following line:
SYS:Utilities/Expansion/ShowAmiga96/Bin/ShowAmiga96_Rev239C18

The "Cannot open 'uaescsi.device' unit 0" requester appears upon startup...

This happens if you don't have a CD-ROM drive installed in your computer which AmiKit tries to inicialize during its startup. To disable this feature, quit the AmiKit (press Ctrol+F11), enter the folder where your AmiKit is installed in and move the CD0 and CD0.info files from AmiKit\Devs\DosDrivers to AmiKit\Storage\DosDrivers folder. Now start the AmiKit again and the requester won't appear again.

AmiKit is VERY slow

There are 5 usual possible slowdown causes using Windows version of AmiKit:

bad powersaving driver, it causes timer that WinUAE uses to return bogus values. Basically AMD-only issue, make sure bios is latest and Cool'n'Quiet driver is up to date, or disabled.
CPU Idle setting in CPU-panel set too high. 1 or 2 step from left is good test setting.
Priority in priority-panel set to High. In some cases Normal can cause similar problems, usually only when CPU Idle is disabled. Try "Low". (low does not mean low emulation speed)
some realtime virusscanners can slowdown harddrive emulation (can also be related to priority setting)
vsync, make sure vsync in display panel is disabled.

First 3 settings are very PC/Windows/driver version specific.

Recently it was reported that some antivirus software (like Norton or Webroot) might be the reason for huge slowdowns. Disable your antivirus before you start AmiKit to find out. If it helps, try to add some exception for WinUAE.exe process or whole AmiKit folder when you enable it again. Or use better antivirus software.

Regarding the Mac OS version, Intel machines are strongly recommended. Older PowerPC machines are too slow for serious use of AmiKit.

The mouse pointer moves too fast...

While the speed of mouse is set to optimal value for most systems, it might be too fast on certain configurationis. You can decrease the mouse speed either in WinUAE settings or in AmiKit environment. To adjust the speed in WinUAE, run AmiKit launcher, press the "Configure WinUAE" button and switch to "Input" settings. There's a mouse speed option. To adjust the mouse speed in AmiKit, either adjust SYS:Prefs/Input settings or SYS:Prefs/MCPPrefs (Mouse-Speed entry) or both. For more questions please follow this thread.

What screenmode should I select after the AmiKit installation?

At the end of the installation of AmiKit, the screen mode requester appears. If you're not sure what screen mode to select, use "1024x768" as it is the most common screen mode that should work on most systems. You can always change the screenmode later using the "AmiKit:Prefs/Screenmode AmiKit" or "AmiKit:Prefs/Screenmode" program.

I don't like DOpus Magellan. How can I revert to Workbench?

It's very simple to switch back to Workbench. Use the "MorpheuZ" program located on your desktop.

What is the meaning of all those graphical buttons attached to each window?

The description of the Lister Toolbar icons can be found here.

I did something and now AmiKit refuses to start.

If AmiKit refuses to start for whatever reason, try to use AmiKit/S/Startup-Sequence.SAFEMODE file as a regular Startup-Sequence. Back up the original file first and rename the Startup-Sequence.SAFEMODE file to Startup-Sequence and start AmiKit.

How can I play games in fullscreen?

Every native application is set to run in windowed mode instead of fullscreen. Press F12 and the WinUAE settings appear. Go to "Display" section and enable "Full-screen native modes" entry.

How can I download new AmiKit on-line updates without the Live Update program?

If you cannot use the Live Update program (eg. you're behind a firewall), you can always download and install the live updates manually. Please follow these instructions.

How to print in AmiKit?

Please check the following links for more information:
http://winuaehelp.back2roots.org/ (Tips -> Hints for Power Users section)
http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/3-146.html

How to change the backdrop picture (wallpaper) in AmiKit?

Hold down the right-mouse button over the picture file and select "Set as Background". You can find some alternative images at AmiKit:Prefs/Presets/AmiKit/Backdrops/
Use the Directory Opus Environment Settings (right mouse -> "Settings" -> "Enviroment...") to save your new settings. While you're there, you might want to edit more graphics settings in "Backgounds" section.

I have a question/problem that was not answered here, what should I do?

Don't worry. For more information please check the Knowledge Base or visit the AmiKit Support Forum.