Newbie with question regarding an Amiga2000 - How the heck do I get files off of it

Hello,
A friend's Amiga2000 has been taking up (too much) room in my basement for several years. He won't get it until I can "just get the picture files off of it" for him.
So there you have it.
I have booted it up and can get into various directories but really don't know where to start after that.
So the question is: How do I get those files off the Amiga?
I know it's not as simple as copying files to a disk and reading a floppy on a PC.
I have an old PC set up next to it with a 3.5 floppy. It also has a SCSI card if that helps in any way. I have other hardware too but I know it's not going to be as simple as I'd like it to be. I just don't know where to begin.
Any advice on how to get this project started (and finished) will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Baz

A quick follow up:
I read another thread about using zip drives. Would it be possible to hook up an external zip to the Amiga; copy the files to a disk; and then read the files on the PC?
Thanks,
-Baz

Hello Baz, welcome to Classicamiga.com

Usually you can not read files from Amiga in PC and PC in Amiga. They are in different formats, but, you can emulate your PC and read amiga files in this "emulation".
But if you want only pictures, i think there are some amiga formats that can be read from your PC, but not all.
Yes it's possible to have a zip drive in your Amiga. But wait a few more time, we have members here who know all the answers you need.

Cheers

Hi and welcome.

What version of Kickstart and Workbench does the Amiga A2000 have? When you boot the Amiga does it load from a HDD? or go to a boot kickstart screen? If the A2000 has kickstart/workbench 2 or above then you can make it read and write to double density 720KB PC floppy disks, and so could use that method to copy the files from the Amiga over to the PC.

You can also use a Zip drive with the Amiga, but only SCSI Zip drives. The Amiga A2000 would need to have a SCSI Zorro (Amiga expansion cards similar to PCI) card fitted, and then an external SCSI Zip drive could be connected and used to copy files. You can set the zip drive on an Amiga to read and write to PC formatted zip disks.

The version of Kickstart is 37.175. Workbench is 37.67. It does boot from the hard drive.

The files in question seem to reside in a drawer called Opti Pics. I opened it and saw that they weren't jpegs. My friend says you can easily change the extensions but I take that with a grain of salt. When I clicked on Opticomp (to see if that would let me view the photos from that drawer) I got this message: "DH1 (90MB) has a read error on Disk Block 175696" I hope that doesn't mean the drive is corrupt and I can't recover his photos.

I was going to ask how I'd know if I had that SCSI Zorro expansion card but if it's easier just to transfer to floppies then that's what I'll do. Can I simply take an HD floppy and cover the hole to create a DD disk? And do I have to format the disks?

Thanks
-Baz

I'm not sure what your budget for this is, but with a null modem cable and Amiga Explorer ($9.99 http://www.amigaforever.com/ae/) you can send the files over via a serial connection.

Tried to post this information once before but for some reason it didn't go through.
So here goes again...
Kickstart is Version 37.175 and Workbench is 37.67
Thanks for any suggestions.
-Baz

Sorry. Your original post got stuck in the site moderation queue. I've allowed it now, plus another post below it from another member.

The kickstart and Workbench versions indicate you are using Workbench 2, which is good news as it is much better and easier to use than the older 1.3.

Sadly it dosn't have PC DOS formatted floppy support built into that version of Workbench. For that you would need to get hold of a Workbench 2.1 disk which does, and would still work perfctly with the system and kickstart versions you have there. If this interests you PM me for details on getting hold of a Workbench 2.1 disk.

Alternatively as rmgage127 mentioned above, there is also the option of using a piece of software called Amiga Explorer. This comes with a PC and Amiga program. You connect a null modem cable to both the PC serial port and the Amiga serial posts and the software running at both ends creates a slo speed network between the 2 systems. You can then drag and drop o copy files from the Amiga to the PC, and also in the other direction. It is a good solution, but very slow over serial connection. The software is commercial and can be purchased for 9.99 standalone, or as part of the more expensive amiga forever package. Look at www.amigaforever.com for full details. However, PM me first for some additional information to help you out with this.

The final alternative is to remove the HDD from the Amiga and connect it directly to the PC. If it is a SCSI drive, which I expect it is as it is an A2000, then you would need a SCSI card in the PC. To access the HDD from the PC you would use an Amiga emulator called WinUAE which can access real Amiga HDDs connected to the PC and bot directly from them. It is then possible to copy fils diectly from the Amiga HDD to the PC HDD. If you are interested in this, then I have explained it elsewhere on the forum if you do a search, but for IDE drive. With SCSI drives it would be similar, but I'm not 100% it would always work with a SCSI drive.

Finally image format. Are the images in IFF format? This was the standard image format on the Amiga. This is a unique format and can't just be loaded as any other file format. Luckily some PC software can load IFF files to view them and convert them into other image formats. A free program calld XNView can do this, and irfanview can do this with a plugin.

Hi
I used to sell PD (Public Domain) many moons ago and there was a program simular to your 'Amiga Explorer' which had the Amiga and PC programs plus diagrams for soldering up your own serial cable! I think it was called 'serial-link', but I'm not too sure on that! I had a long cable run from upstairs to downstairs and transfered loads of stuff between machines, in its day it was the 'bees knees' and don't remember it being that slow, but then I'm pretty old, so maybe its wishfull thinking....

The name "serial-link" does some familiar. I also used to use software for this from a PD disk so it might have been the same program. And as you say, in its day a null-modem connection between 2 Amigas, or an Amiga and PC, was great. The Amiga Explorer Program from Cloanto does work much better though and a lot easier. Literally drag and drop.

This also brought back memories of the Network 2 CD for the CD32 and a special cable that I used to use. You could boot the CD32 from the CD and add a device to another Amiga's Workbench and access/control the CD32 from the other PC. With the 2 systems running side my side on 2 monitors/TVs, you could use the mouse on the second PC and move it over into the CD32 screen and take over its control, a bit like remote PC these days. The other Amiga's keyboard would even then function on the CD32. And working the other way, you could put a CD into the CD32 and access it on the other Amiga. File loading/copying was obviously very slow over the serial connection, but it worked.