ScuzzBlog: Diaries August 2025 Entry 28th August 2025: Post 1: Amiga 1.3 - Creating WB disks - Day 2. Amiga 1.3 - Creating WB disks - Day 2. Before going off and saving copies of every known Amiga file I thought I would give you a heads up on the minimum needed to make your own self booting Amiga disk suitable for Workbench use. I had intended using the Amiga Computing layout as a template but I discovered they used a piece of software called 'Newlook' that sadly doesn't work on later Amigas. So I bit the bullet and started my own from scratch. Last time I did this I used an actual Amiga and spent several days collating disks. This time I am using the emulator and just haven't the time to sift through endless disks, especially as I would first need to ADF them. So I cut a massive corner and used my Workbench disk for 1.3. Obviously without a suitable Workbench disk you can salvage the files from any assorted collection of Amiga disks. Lastly I want to progress at a daily pace so I do not miss out on any fundamentals specific to an Amiga 500 and so I chose today to progress to the creation of a self booting disk and avoid the CLI and RAM disk which I will configure tomorrow. I also have some system icons to sort out. Anyhoo I created my self booting Amiga disk and only used the WB version of ED for file management. Last time I used an actual file manager which saved a lot of time. Be aware if you are going to use ED you really do need the A500 manual which has all the commands given that the editor is not menu driven. As an aside I have always copied directory files from disks and stored them for future use. They really have come in very handy. Amiga 1.3 - Creating WB disks - Day 2. Amiga Computing cover disk 006 does give the SID file manager, CLI/Shell in the WB and fancy RAM disk, but I chose to go commando. The layout on the AC software uses 'Newlook' which resides in the C directory if you decide to use the magazine layout. I found the Amiga 500 manual invaluable for all those pesky ED commands for the text editor. I make no apologies for copying files from the WB disk. I just didn't have the time to collect and ADF numerous copy disks for the emulator. What I show here are the basic files needed for a self booting disk suited for a workbench disk. Those shown are the Tools required from the C drawer. These are the libraries that you need. Above I show the 'C' directory. Next we have the 'System' files. My first attempt at the startup-sequence which failed to create a RAM disk. More on that in the next blog. I copy the startup-squence to the 's' drawer. Time to prep the disk I intend using as bootable. It is necessary to copy a number of commands to RAM for use when the Workbench disk is removed the most significant being the 'Install' file. These include CD, dir, copy and install. With the Workbench disk removed I enter the 'install' command to the drive with my fresh bootable disk. I then copy over the four directories from the disk where I salvaged the necessary files earlier. Well that worked. I booted the disk I created and although not having directories visible worked perfectly. I use Workbench 3.0 to view the contents of the four directories on my new self booting disk. This is my stripped down startup-sequence which I need to adapt to provide a RAM disk. I also need to sort out directory icons, and a suitable insert on the Workbench of a CLI/Shell. Once of I have updated the disk I can then add features like file manager and text editor. More on that in the next blog.

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Last updated 28th August 2025

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