Updated: 30/03/08
1. What hardware can I run on AmigaOS 4 on?
You can run Amiga OS 4 on one of the following: Amiga A1200, A3000(T) or A4000(T)
with Phase 5 or DCE BlizzardPPC
and Cyberstorm
PPC accelerator card.
Another version of Amiga OS 4 can run on the AmigaOne motherboards made by Eyetech.
2. Can I use AGA as well as RTG (Retargetable Graphics)?
Yes, you can use ECS or AGA native graphics as well as compatible graphics cards such as Picasso, Voodoo, Spectrum, Merlin and Permedia based graphics cards.
3. Can I install AmigaOS on other PowerPC computers such as the Apple Mac?
No, AmigaOS 4 will only work on Classic Amigas or the AmigaOne.
4. Can I use my PCI Expansion boards?
Yes, you can use expension boards such as the Mediator, Prometheus, Infinitive
and RBM Onboard expanson cards. There are limitations with some peripherals
which use DMA to access memory and onboard cache which will not work on Amiga
OS 4. For full compatibility list , see ACube
Systems list. New drivers can
be downloaded from Elbox.
5. Does the Mediator LT version work with AmigaOS 4?
No, not yet, but there will be a fix for it shortly. Use the AmiUpdate tool for latest updates.
6. I have graphics corruption problems with my Amiga OS 4 install?
Try installing and select native ECS or AGA graphics first then try your graphics card later.
7. Which hard disk controllers can I use?
All IDE controllers should work fine. SCSI controllers including the Cyberstorm
SCSI, DKB Rapidfire, Yamaha and Impact A4000 cards work.
The A3000, A4000T built in SCSI, A1200 Blizzard and any PCI SCSI cards do not
work.
1. Can I run my old 680x0 software on PPC based Amiga OS 4?
Yes, although AmigaOS 4 uses PowerPC natively and turns off the 680x0 processor,
it can still emulate 680x0 code using an emulator and you will not notice the
difference.
2. Does Amiga OS 4 still look and feel like Amiga OS 3.x?
Yes, it still retains the Amiga OS look and feel, although the icons are much
improved using wide range of colours and 3d look. It still has the same fast
workbench
screen and menus as before. See these screenshots
for a taste.
3. Can I upgrade from AmigaOS 3.x or do I have to install from scratch?
Since AmigaOS 4 is totally PPC base, you have to install AmigaOS 4 cleanly
on a fresh hard disk partition, you cannot upgrade from an existing Amiga OS
installation.
See the manual on how to install AmigaOS 4.
4. When I use DVPlayer I can get sound but no video?
Select the DVPlayer program, select Icon, Information and add the following Tooltype: NOOVERLAY and save.
5. Can I dual boot between OS3 and OS4?
Yes, you can use the BootLoader feature to dual boot between OS3.x and OS4.
Remember that you may have to reboot twice to remove the OS4 kickstart from
memory
to allow it to use the OS3 Kickstart. Documentation is on the CD in Documentation/c/BootLoader.doc.
You can select the boot partition using the Early Startup menu (press
both mouse buttons when booting up).
6. Where can I download Amiga OS 4 software?
You can find AmigaOS 4 software on OS4Depot, Aminet and other places.
7. I am having problems installing OS4 on my existing Hard disk?
You need to reformat the hard disk using DOS/7 format. This is the Fast
File System (FFS) with International mode support and Long Filenames. You
can change the format using OS4's Format
command or use the Parition Wizard to convert the existing partition. You can
also use the Smart File System (SFS)
as well. Also, the boot partition must be less than 4GB in size.
8. Where can I get a Software Development Kit?
You can download the SDK from Hyperion ftp server.
9. What games are there for PowerPC based Amigas?
A number of PPC based games have been released over last few years: Heretic
II, Quake, Quake
II, Wipeout 2097, Shogo,
Freespace, Nightlong
and Gorky 17.
Some may or may not work with Amiga OS 4 or will require Amiga OS 3.x and Powerup
or WarpOS/WarpUp.
To run WarpOS
applications on Amiga OS 4 you can download the WarpOS
wrapper from OS4Depot.
10. What is in the latest update (23/2/08) for AmigaOS 4?
The latest update
includes the following changes and fixes:
* A new kernel that fixes problems with Mediator 1200/Voodoo combinations.
* Support for all Mediator products including the new Mediator
1200 TX.
* Fixed Intuition and Layers modules which may cause graphics trashing.
* Fixed queue handler.
* Two new AREXX libraries added
* Updated Realtek 8029 driver
* New version of DvPlayer SE
Additional resources on the web:
Official AmigaOS 4 Web Site
About AmigaOS 4 from Amiga
Aukland
AmiUpdate Web Site