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 version 2009 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.

I have problems with downloading AmiKit installation archive...

If the primary download location doesn't work for you, please use one of the the mirror sites as listed here.

If you have problems with downloading integrated AmiKit using the Amiga Forever 2009 Player, please check the following link for solution.

What do I need to install and run AmiKit?

In short, you will need Windows XP or Vista (or Linux), source of AmigaOS and Amiga Kickstart file (ROM). The last two can be easily obtained here. Check the requirements page for more information. (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 platform?

There are file attribute problems with the MS Windows flavour which we fix by using a separate archive for Linux users. Also some Windows specific programs were removed and the package was fine-tuned for Linux. Since AmiKit 1.5.0 there is an automatic installer script. For additional installation instructions please refer here.

The installer script for Linux doesn't work for me. What now?

If the installation script doesn't work for you (especially on Debian like platform like Ubuntu), unpack the AmiKit Linux archive using the --noexec --keep switches (which simply unpack it and doesn’t launch the installation script), locate the AmKit-linux-latest.zip archive and follow the instructions in the PDF guide file.

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.

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) drives are named "AmiKit" or "SYS". Otherwise AmiKit might get confused.

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:

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.

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 your system. You can always change the screenmode later using the "AmiKit:Prefs/Screenmode AmiKit" program.

The registration requester appears on each startup, what is it?

The registration window pops up during each boot of AmiKit. This window belongs to Directory Opus Magellan II, not AmiKit! Simply press the „RUN“ button to continue. See limitations to learn how the boot process works or see tricks & tips how to make the RUN button be pressed automatically. You can buy the full version of Directory Opus Magellan II here or contact Dr.Greg Perry using one of the methods on the contact page on the GPSoftware web site if you are interested in obtaining a full licensed copy of this great software for Amiga.

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 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.

Why the Live Update program doesn't detect any AmiKit on-line updates?

We have changed the location of the Live Update archives few years ago. If you installed the old AmiKit 1.2.0 now, where the old server settings are used, the Live Update might not be able to find the updates anymore. In this case either enter the new server address manually (press the right mouse button -> select the "AmiKit" from the menu -> and then select the "Live Update" entry, Switch to Advanced tab, change the URL and Netpath according to this example and save the settings) or download the cumulative 1.3.0 update where the new server settings are included and used automatically.

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.