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Getting an A1200 Online Part 3 – Installing an Amiga Web Browser

Amiga Web Browser

Installing an Amiga Web Browser

In Parts 1 and 2 we installed a network card, a TCP/IP stack and connected to a network. By the end of this part we will have a fully functional modern web browser and be able to surf the internet in style on our Amiga 1200.

The browser we’ll be installing is IBrowse as it’s probably the best browser available for classic Amigas these days. It’s still in active development which means we should have a fighting chance at viewing present day websites.

Before we dive in there’s a few other things that need installing first. Namely AmiSSL and MUI. IBrowse won’t run unless MUI has been installed and AmiSSL is essential for accessing https websites.

MUI 3.8 is available to download from Aminet here:

Aminet – util/libs/mui38usr.lha

Unfortunately I can’t link to AmiSSL on Aminet as every time it is updated the link breaks (Aminet don’t keep the older versions online unfortunately). Also I can never be sure that a newer version will break what was previously working in my guide.

Hopefully the following link taken from AmiSSL’s github development page will prove to be a ‘permanent’ link to the archive.

https://github.com/jens-maus/amissl/releases/download/4.8/AmiSSL-4.8.lha

Installing AmiSSL

Once we have the AmiSSL archive on the Amiga it should unpack into a single folder as shown in the photo below.

 

AmiSSL

AmiSSL folder in RAM Disk.

 

Opening the AmiSSL folder reveals the Installer along with a couple of other folders that can be ignored.

 

AmiSSL

AmiSSL Installer.

 

Double-click the installer to run it and progress to the screen shown below. Select ‘Install for Real’ before clicking on ‘Proceed’.

 

AmiSSL

AmiSSL – Install for real.

 

The installer should automatically detect the correct version of AmigaOS so just check it in the following window then hit ‘proceed’.

 

AmiSSL

Choosing your version of AmigaOS.

 

Next up it wants to know where to install everything. As before I chose to install it in the Internet folder I created earlier but it can go anywhere you want.

 

AmiSSL

Choosing where to install AmiSSL.

 

Unless you have a ‘060 accelerator board installed in your A1200 then the first option is the one we want on the next screen.

 

AmiSSL

Choosing the correct version of AmiSSL optimised for your CPU.

 

The installer will now get on with the task of installing OpenSSL and a whole bunch of certificates.

 

AmiSSL

Files being installed.

 

Once all the files have been copied over it will ask if you want to add it to your path. Answer yes to this to continue.

 

AmiSSL

Adding AmiSSL: to Workbench’s path.

 

It also wants to add an assign to the user-startup. We need this to happen or it won’t work so click ‘proceed’ to let it do its thing.

 

AmiSSL

Adding an AmiSSL: assign to User-Startup.

 

A message will pop up saying the computer needs to be (manually) rebooted before it will work. Hit proceed to continue.

 

AmiSSL

Mission accomplished – AmiSSL is now installed.

 

And that’s all there is to this one, AmiSSL is now installed and ready to provide secure internet access to any programs that require it.

 

AmiSSL

A reminder of where AmiSSL was installed.

 

Installing MUI 3.8

MUI 3.8 is a pretty big archive so will take a little while to unpack but once it does you should have a folder like the one below. Run ‘Install-MUI’ to get the ball rolling.

 

MUI3.8

This is how the unpacked MUI archive will look.

 

Select ‘Intermediate User’ otherwise you won’t be able to tweak the installation.

 

MUI3.8

Select ‘Intermediate User’.

 

Obviously we want to actually install MUI so keep ‘Install for real’ selected.

 

MUI3.8

Installing for Real…

 

The next screen simply explains what the Installer is going to do so just click proceed here.

 

MUI3.8

A little intro from Stefan Stuntz.

 

Choose where to install the software when the next screen appears. As I have already installed MUI before, when I ran the installer again (so I could get these screenshots) it gave me the option of changing where to put it. I mention this just to explain why the screenshot will differ from a regular first time install.

 

MUI3.8

Choosing where to install MUI3.8. (This screen will different slightly from a fresh install as I have already installed this before).

 

The following window gives you the option of choosing which image sets you want. Think of these as themes that will let you change the appearance of various aspects of the MUI interface. Leaving everything ticked will allow plenty of choice if we want to mix things up in the future.

 

MUI3.8

Choosing image sets.

 

Choose your language from the following screen and then click proceed.

 

MUI3.8

Select the language for the AmigaGuide docs.

 

A bunch of demo programs can be installed from the next screen if you wish.  These are more geared towards developers to show what MUI is capable of. However they don’t take up much space so if you’re curious just click ‘yes’ to continue. Alternatively click ‘no’ – the installation will continue regardless of which option is chosen.

 

MUI3.8

MUI example programs.

 

The installation will now finish and display the screen below and recommend a reboot.

 

MUI3.8

Congratulations – you’ve successfully installed MUI3.8.

 

MUI is now successfully installed and we can finally move on to installing our browser!

Reboot your Amiga before moving onto the next stage so that both AmiSSL and MUI are up and running.

 

Installing the IBrowse Web Browser

IBrowse can be downloaded from here:

IBrowse – web browser for Amiga computers / AmigaOS (ibrowse-dev.net)

Unpack the archive to a folder on your Amiga and you should get a folder like the one shown below. Run ‘Install-IBrowse’ to get started.

 

Amiga Web Browser

The IBrowse archive unpacks to this…

 

I selected ‘Intermediate User’ so I had some control over what goes where.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Select ‘Intermediate User’…

 

Next there’s the usual option to do a pretend install if you just want to see what it’s going to do or assess any potential problems in advance. Make sure to keep ‘Install for Real’ selected and click ‘Proceed with Install’..

 

Amiga Web Browser

…and Install for Real.

 

The next window is just a little introduction to the program which can be safely ignored.

 

Amiga Web Browser

A little introduction to the program.

 

The first choice we need to make is where to install the program. As always mine is going into my Internet folder with all my other Internet related programs.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Selecting where to install IBrowse.

 

I had already installed IBrowse before so I received confirmation that none of my preferences would be disturbed. Nice.

 

Amiga Web Browser

As I had already install IBrowse before this screen popped up. If you’re installing it for the first time you shouldn’t see this.

 

The next dialogue box lets us choose a version optimised for our CPU. I have a 68030 CPU and an FPU in my A1200 so I chose the ‘68020-030/FPU’ option.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Picking the version that’s optimised for your CPU.

 

Next we can choose the Imageset to use for the buttons etc. This is down to personal choice and how many colours you choose to run your Workbench in.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Choosing the imageset.

 

The next choice is similar and affects the little animated globe in the corner of the screen. I chose 256 colours for both options as that’s the max my AGA chipset will allow on Workbench. This is a real throwback to the 90’s when all browsers had a cool animation in the corner whilst we waited for pages to load.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Choosing the transfer animation – remember those?

 

The next window informs us that some additional files will be installed if they aren’t already present so just hit proceed to move things along.

 

Amiga Web Browser

A little notice that some extra MUI stuff will be installed.

 

Another info window advises about the installation of new MUI classes if you don’t already have them. Just hit ‘proceed’.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Some more MUI stuff will be installed.

 

If everything went smoothly that will be the end of the install. You should see a confirmation window along with a reminder of where IBrowse was installed.

 

Amiga Web Browser

IBrowse is now installed!

 

Opening the folder should reveal the main IBrowse program, a plugins folder and some documentation.

 

Amiga Web Browser

The IBrowse program icon.

 

When you run the IBrowse program it should bring up a screen very similar to the one shown below.

 

Amiga Web Browser

The IBrowse splash screen.

 

Taking a look at a few websites.

At last we can finally do some surfing like it’s 1995 again! Although IBrowse can access secure sites that doesn’t mean it will work with every site. The web has evolved a lot in the past 25 years and the Amiga has not. Graphics and Javascript intensive websites are off-limits, as are sites heavily reliant on CSS which IBrowse doesn’t currently support. CSS is promised for IBrowse 3. Having said that, there’s still plenty of sites we can visit that display well and finding out which ones work is an adventure in itself!

 

Amiga Web Browser

Google as viewed in IBrowse. Fun fact – Google’s search page didn’t even exist back when IBrowse launched!

 

Thankfully Google works like a dream and the page comes up in a matter of seconds. There’s also a built-in Google search in the Toolbar which elicits search results in seconds too.

 

 

Aminet works really well in IBrowse too, displaying pages and search results in 2-3 seconds. Downloading multiple programs is a breeze too thanks to the built-in download manager. With this capability on the Amiga itself it will no longer be necessary to download stuff on a PC and then transfer it across.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Wikipedia viewed in IBrowse.

 

Wikipedia also works pretty well as it tend to have lots of text and relatively few images.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Indie Retro News in IBrowse.

 

One of my favourite Retro gaming sites works pretty well too, albeit a little slow loading the images.

 

Amiga Web Browser

Amiga Future in IBrowse.

 

The Amiga Future site displays pretty well too.

 

Amiga Web Browser

AmigaWorld in IBrowse.

 

As does AmigaWorld as you would hope so for an Amiga oriented site.

 

Amiga Web Browser

CNN Lite in IBrowse.

 

Most of the main news sites are drowning under the weight of photos and adverts so aren’t really practical for viewing on the Amiga – not if you value your time anyway! However there are still places we can go to, such as CNN lite for example.

 

Rounding Off

IBrowse is one of the few Classic 68k Amiga web browsers still actively being developed now. It can display https sites and has gained some modern features such as a password manager, integrated search bar and even tabbed browsing. I would really encourage you to pay for the full version if you enjoy using it. We need guys like this supporting the current Amiga scene otherwise we’d be stuck with AWeb now…

 

Amiga Web Browser

Tabbed browsing in IBrowse.

 

Just as an aside I also tried the NetSurf Amiga web browser as this claims to be able to work with CSS sites. However after eventually getting it working it wasn’t worth the effort. It looks pretty and may well work great on PPC or Vampire equipped Amiga’s but on my ‘030 A1200 it was diabolical. We’re talking several minutes to load a page (badly) and a horrible laggy mouse pointer that made navigation a nightmare. This browser is clearly aimed at NG Amiga’s so I dismissed it as an option. If I ever get an 060 or PPC card I will revisit it in the future but for now I’ll be waiting for IBrowse 3 to get CSS support.

 

Amiga NetSurf

NetSurf – not the browser you are looking for.

 

Anyway have fun surfing the internet with your new Amiga web browser and if you do find some cool Amiga friendly websites then please let me know in the comments below. I hope to compile a list of them in the future to help out my fellow Amigans.

And that concludes part 3 – Installing an Amiga Web Browser. In Part 4 I will look at adding both POP3 and IMAP email access. This is something I did a few years ago on my Vampired A500 running Apollo OS. However I want to revisit it and make sure it still works today and whether it’s actually viable on a slower non-Vampired Amiga.

Getting an A1200 Online Part 2 – Adding an Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Installing an Amiga TCP/IP Stack

By the end of Part 1 we’d installed a network card and ancillary software but still couldn’t do anything useful. This is because Amiga OS doesn’t have any sort of networking features built into it. For that we need to add an Amiga TCP/IP Stack. There are a few different options available to Amiga users in this area such as Genesis, Miami(DX), Easynet and maybe a couple of others. I chose to go with Roadshow. It’s probably the fastest TCP/IP stack around and still in active development. Version 1.14 was released in September 2020.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Roadshow installation CD.

 

I bought a physical copy of the software on CD but it can be downloaded too and burned onto a CD (it’s too big to go on a floppy).  A free demo is available if you just want to try it out… it’s fully featured but times out after 30 mins.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Roadshow installer.

 

After running the installer I opted for the ‘Intermediate User’ and clicked ‘Proceed with install’.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Roadshow Installer.

 

I left the next choice as ‘Install for Real’. The ‘Pretend’ option is just there in case you want to perform a dry run.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Option to install optimised 68020 version of bdsocket.library.

 

The next choice is an important one. It asks whether it should install a special version of bdsocket.library and drivers. As I’m running this on an A1200 with a 68030 CPU I answered ‘yes’. The answer would still be yes even on a stock A1200 as that has a 68020. Of course if you were doing this on an unaccelerated A600 then the answer would be ‘no’.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Selecting where to put the Roadshow install.

 

Next the Installer asks where to install everything. This can be anywhere really but I created a directory called ‘Internet’ on my Workbench partition so I could keep everything tidy and logical. To create a directory just use the ‘Make New Drawer’ button.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Installer copying files across.

 

At this point a whole bunch of files were copied over. After a short while the penultimate ‘installation is complete’ message appeared.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Installation (almost) complete.

 

Clicking ‘proceed’ brought up the final ‘100%’ complete window.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Installation complete.

 

Manual Changes

With the automatic installation part now complete we need to finish things by hand. We need to have a configuration file that tells Roadshow which network card it should use to connect to our network and just how it should go about getting an IP.

Helpfully the installer put several template configuration files for many popular network devices in the SYS:Storage/NetInterfaces directory. The file we need for our 3Com card is called 3c589 and it needs to be copied into Devs:NetInterfaces. To do this we enter the following command into a Shell window:

Copy SYS:Storage/NetInterfaces/3c589#? Devs:NetInterfaces

The ‘#?’ is a wildcard which instructs the Amiga to copy all files that start with ‘3c589’ across. We need to specify this to ensure that the corresponding 3c589.INFO file gets copied over as well.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Copying the 3c589 files across using the Shell.

 

Once the file has been copied to its new home we need to edit it. Type in the following to use the Shell’s built in editor to make the necessary amendments:

ed: Devs:NetInterfaces/3c589

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Launching the editor.

 

The screenshot below shows the entries that need to be made. The file contains a lot of unnecessary commands and comments designed to explain what everything does. All we actually need though is the following 4 lines of code.

device=3c589.device

unit=0

configure=dhcp

requiresinitdelay=no

To save the file press ESC, then x then press return. Alternatively select ‘Save and exit’ from the Project menu.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

The 3c589 file should look like this.

 

This configures Roadshow to connect via the 3Com card and obtain an IP address over DHCP (i.e. automatically).

 

Testing

With the changes saved to the file it’s possible to check everything is working by typing the following command into the Shell.

addnetinterface 3c589

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Adding the network interface manually for testing.

 

All being well this should add the network configuration, connect to your router and acquire an IP address. Happily this worked first time for me when I tried it and brought up the screen below.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Success – Roadshow has successfully connected to the network.

 

With that little test being successful the Amiga Roadshow TCP/IP Stack install is now complete. Every time the Amiga is turned on it will automatically connect to the internet. It does this behind the scenes so you won’t even be aware of it.

 

A Couple of Additions

Because of the lack of a visual interface for Roadshow I recommend a couple of other small programs (Netmon and Roadie) to provide a bit of feedback and convenience.

These programs are available from Aminet here:

Aminet – comm/net/netmon.lha

Aminet – comm/net/Roadie.lha

Both programs require no installation, just extract the archives to a folder somewhere on your Amiga and run them from there. I opted to put them into the ‘Internet’ folder that I created during the Roadshow install.

Netmon displays a little toolbar on the desktop containing info about download speed, total traffic and time connected.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

NetMon Floating Info Bar.

 

Roadie provides a GUI for connecting and disconnecting to and from your network. It also provides information about your current connection such as IP address and DNS servers etc.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Roadie – ‘Show Net Status’.

 

It also offers quick access to the PING command which comes in very useful for troubleshooting. Of course all these commands are available from a command line within the Shell but it’s very convenient to have them accessible via a GUI.

 

Amiga TCP/IP Stack

Roadie – ‘Ping’.

 

So now we have our Amiga A1200 with a working network card, configured TCP/IP stack and successfully connected to our network with a few extra tools to make life easier. In Part 3 I will look at installing a modern web browser capable of accessing https websites so we can finally do something on the Internet!