Pimiga Frequently Asked Questions
All instructions for entering Command Lines refer to the LINUX side. From within Pimiga, press F12 & select QUIT to get to the LINUX command prompt
Pimiga is TOTALLY FREE and is a service from amigacoffinservices.com(as Mr Chris Edwards August 2021 has authorised he himself has agreed and authorised amigacoffinservices.com the owner under the GPL Licences is only the sole person or company allowed to distribute the distro for a fee for the time and effort for downloading with sdcard supplied already for users who can’t download as per email agreement ( dated August 2021) across all versions of pimiga(however, you need to have the Amiga ROMs which are NOT free). nor is included within the distro.
Becoming a Patreon for Chris is a great show of support.
Q: >>>>>>>All I get is a black screen? <<<<<<<<<
A: Black Screens are 99.9% caused by 2 things:
1: Cable plugged in the wrong HDMI port (You must use the HDMI port closest to the power socket on the Pi4 or closest to the SD card on the pi400).
2: Incorrect or encrypted Rom files. If when you burned the image, the KICK partition already has a “kick31a1200.rom” or rom.key in it, DELETE these and put your OWN file’s in there. If your using rom files from AmigaForever, MAKE SURE you have run it at least ONCE before saving the rom files from it.. This decrypts the rom files for further use.
A: The Amiga OS can only display a maximum resolution of max 1920x1080 regardless of the fact that the Pi can display more. If the screen is still black but you see the Linux side as it boots up, try another TV/Monitor.
Q: What is the main difference between Pimiga 1.4,1.5, & 2.0?
A: Pimiga 1.4 & 1.5 are based on a 32bit OS whereas Pimiga2.0 is based on a 64bit OS… So much faster!
Q: What is the username &password to log into the Linux side of the Pi?
A: pi/pimiga
Q: Where do I get the rom’s from?
Amiga Forever (https://www.amigaforever.com/) But you MUST run the emulator on your computer/phone at least once to unlock the roms.
Q: It says it cannot find the rom, or gives a rom error?
A: Have you renamed the rom to this: kick31a1200.rom It is CASE SENSITVE!
Q: It still cannot find the rom?
A: Re-check you have named it correctly as stated above. Also try to have just the one rom file in the folder at any one time.
Q: What is the best program to use to burn the image to the memory card?
A: This one work’s very well: https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/
Q: Where can I get support from?
A: Your best bet is to join the Pimiga Discord Channel. If you bought it,
Q: Is there any way to have pimiga 1.5 to output to the 2nd HDMI output on a Pi400?
A: No.
Q: Can it be run from a usb stick rather than the micro-SD card?
A: Yes, as long as it’s of a decent quality and speed. Preferably a USB3.
Q: Can I run it from a Pi3?
A: Only up to version 1.3
Q: What size micro-SD or USB do I need?
A: Usually a minimum of 32gb (Pimiga 1.5 MF edition requires 128gb card). but be aware, most memory cards after being formatted are less than the 32gb they state on the packet, so use a 64gb one to be sure.
Q: Do all the games and software on the Pimiga image work?
A: Every effort has been made to ensure they work, but due to the sheer qty of games (7000+), not everything can be fully tested but there maybe some games that have not been tested and are broken
Q: I am using a pi4 and pimiga 1.5 using the 3.5 headphone jack for audio but it’s coming out very very quiet, or the audio is coming out but can barely hear it even with the volume set to max. How do I how to adjust the volume level?
A: Exit Pimiga using F12 and select QUIT to get to the Linux command prompt. Then type alsamixer when the window opens, using the F6 to select the earphones/Headphones, then you need to crank the volume up in ALSA Mixer - it’s set low by default - I had the same issue use the up / down keys to raise or lower volume. If at 100% should come out fine on headphones.
Q: How do I get sound from the Pi400 when using a monitor without speakers?
A: Use a usb audio adaptor (available for $10 or less) and follow these instructions:
Plug the usb audio adaptor in BEFORE booting the Pi. Then F12 & Quit in order to get to the Linux command prompt. Type sudo aplay -l this will list all the audio devices the Pi can see connected with numbers attributed to each. Now edit the /etc/asound.conf file to the device number you want to use (i.e the usb device) then save and exit and reboot the Pi, and you should have sound!
Q: How do you change the screen resolution?
A: Go into sys:prefs/screenmode in the amiga workbench, choose one of the uae screen modes, test it first, then use. if works to your liking go back in to sys:prefs/screenmode and hit save.
Q: How do I get to the Pimiga command prompt from the Amiga?
A: Press F12, and from the menu select quit. It then drops you to a prompt and auto logs you into the Linux command prompt.
Q: Can I update gamecontrollers through amiberry
A: Yes - click update gamecontrollersdb from the menu
Q: How to get a speedlink competition pro anniversary joystick to work?
A: IF you have the very latest Amiberry files, then the mapping for this will be included, otherwise, you need to put the version that is pinned in the pimiga “General” discord channel on your USB stick and insert it into the PI then switch it on. Then get to the command prompt and type:
cd /amiberry/conf
cp -p gamecontrollerdb.txt gamecontrollerdb.txt.bak
cd /media/usb
cp gamecontrollerdb.txt /amiberry/conf
sudo su -
cd /amiberry/conf
ls -ltr gamecontr* (to make sure you see the one you just copied and the one you backed up earlier) you should see .txt and .txt.bak files ))
chown pi.pi gamecontrollerdb.txt;chmod 664 gamecontrollerdb.txt
ls -ltr to check on the gamecontrollerdb.txt file. it should read -rw-rw-r-- 1 pi pi 252282 <date><time> gamecontrollerdb.txt
If all is good, then type: sudo reboot now
Q: How can I add or remove the background images?
A: You can add/remove images from Setting -> Scalos -> Pattern
Q: How do I add stuff to the dropdown menus on workbench
A: Got to Scalos option on the Workbench bar and select menus
Q: Does Pimiga support real Amiga floppy drives?
A: Not at this moment. But watch this space.
Q: Is there a way to change the quit key in igame to something other than F10?
A: This can be changed by going into the amiga side s: dir whdload.prefs you will see where it is commented, you will need the hex number of Shift F10 or make it F9
Q: A particular game is running to fast; how can I fix this?
A: Software running too fast on Pimiga, to fix that, go into the F12 menu, and just disable JIT, if it's still too fast, then go into the CPU tab, and selecting a clock speed of 7 or 14 MHz manually. Beware though: Once you go back out of the game to the workbench, that also runs at the reduced clock speed, and you either have to change it back, or crawl your way through to the next game. A quick way would be to use a script to set the options before launching a game and restore them after you quit it. You can use WHDLoad startup/shutdown scripts for that job, and uae-configuration to control Amiberry from within the emulation for setting the options.
Q. Can I run Pimiga (v1.4) on my PC?
A: Check this link for instructions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33sfhjyrjz4&t=52s
Q: Is there a list anywhere of compatible USB mice and keyboards for Pimiga?
A: Due to the underlying OS, most USB KB/Mice will work.
Q: How can I get my own or other software onto the Pimiga?
A: The easy option is to use FileZilla to connect to the pi from your pc/mac, log into the pimiga with FileZilla, then go into disks, then into Work. You can then transfer what you want into the "Downloads" folder. If the downloads folder doesn't exist, create one using FileZilla
Q: I am using an Argon case for my pi, but the fan is not working?
A: For the Argon case, locate your Argoned.py script located usually in /etc then type sudo nano /home/pi/amiberry.sh and just before the romcheck shebang, add your sudo ./argononed.py & Don’t forget the & symbol or it will freeze the script... then your argon one case fan thing will work fine
Q: How do I restart the Amiga after it’s crashed and left with the Linux command line?
A: type: sudo ./amiberry.sh
Q: My mouse isn’t moving
A: don't panic, simply press F12, the mouse cursor will work there. Now go to input and the likely culprit is you have a USB controller plugged into your pi and it has defaulted to it for Port 0. Simply select port 0 and choose "system mouse" and set your controller for port 1
Q: When using Pimiga workbench and games, the cursor is fine but in F12, the cursor is not matching what you click
A: This will happen if you have overscan enabled (do you see black borders around the screen all the time? Then it's most likely enabled). In that case, you have to go into the RPI's "Underscan compensation" option, which can be changed with raspi-config. NOT the Amiga Overscan option!