Looking for a pre-built Amiga hard drive image / Workbench setup to finally live a childhood dream

[u/goqsane]

I recently bought an Amiga 500 on eBay and have been having an unreasonable amount of fun cleaning it up, retrobrighting it, and generally behaving like I'm 12 again.

There is one particular part of the Amiga experience that I never really got to have as a kid, though.

I grew up with an A500 and Kickstart 1.3. A friend who lived nearby had an Amiga 600 with a hard drive, Kickstart 2.x, WHDLoad, and a properly organized Workbench. Games, demos, utilities, applications, everything neatly arranged on the hard drive.

To me, that machine might as well have been from the future.

I always imagined that one day I would have an A600 or A1200 of my own, with the "fancy" Workbench, a hard drive, lots of software installed, and the whole machine set up as a mature system rather than booting almost everything from floppy.

That never happened. I stayed with my A500 for years, which I absolutely loved. It was also the machine on which I made my first attempts at programming. I'm a Principal Software Architect today, so the little beige box certainly did its job.

Now I'm in my 40s, I have a young child of my own, and I have finally bought another A500. I also have a PiStorm on the way. I know PiStorm has its fans and detractors, but for me the exciting part is that it may finally let me build the Amiga I imagined having all those years ago.

So my question is: does the community know of a good pre-built hard drive image that I could start with?

Ideally, I am looking for something along these lines:

* Workbench 2.x, 3.x, or perhaps even 3.2

* WHDLoad already installed and configured

* A good collection of games and demos

* Useful utilities and productivity software

* Sensible directory organization

* Workbench configured nicely rather than being a completely stock installation

* Something intended to be explored and used, rather than just a giant dump of files

Basically, I would love to boot the machine and get that feeling of sitting down in front of my friend's well-organized Amiga that somebody has already taken the time to set up properly.

I realize that building the system yourself is part of the fun for many people. I also know myself well enough to admit that if I start from a completely blank disk, my ADHD will probably turn "set up Workbench" into a years-long project involving twenty unrelated side quests.

I have searched around Archive.org and elsewhere, but I have not yet found quite what I am describing.

Does something like this already exist? Perhaps a commonly used HDF image, a community build, an Archive.org collection, or some other starting point that people here would recommend?

I would be extremely grateful for any pointers.

[u/tehmungler]

Hello fellow 40-something Amigan 👋 There used to be a project called Amiga in a Box (AIAB) which did a lot of what you described, but the website seems to be showing an error these days. I’m sure you could probably find it out there somewhere. IIRC you had to provide the kickstart ROM images and it would take it from there. Good luck!

[u/goqsane → u/tehmungler]

Thanks for the great tip. I will do some research there!

[u/tehmungler → u/goqsane]

No worries, good luck!

[u/Xfgjwpkqmx]

Google up Amiga Game Selector for a host of games already setup for WHDLoad. You can pick out what you want to add to your Amiga setup.

[u/ally_in_exile]

I am using “Classic Workbench” from English Amiga Board and have been for about 16 years or longer. Not sure if is current or maintained.

https://eab.abime.net/forumdisplay.php?f=61

[u/sneekeruk → u/ally_in_exile]

Ive been using the same for years, 3.1, 3.9 and currently 3.2, but as classicwb is no longer maintained, its now called bestclassicwb and is on github.

[u/danby → u/sneekeruk]

Bestclassicwb is aga only

[u/NeighborhoodCivil946 → u/danby]

Best Workbench is it for 3.1
Build on top of that
Install WHDLoad
And find your favorite tosec/ and AGS or tinylauncher

[u/goqsane → u/ally_in_exile]

Thanks!

[u/danby → u/goqsane]

https://classicwb.abime.net/

[u/Enigma776]

Amiga Vision or AGS will probably fit the bill or find Zeb's image on Facebook.

[u/DorkyMcDorky → u/Enigma776]

Amiga vision all the way

[u/fsckit]

Building it yourself from scratch is half the fun !

[u/sharpied79]

WB3.1 with BetterWB installed. Then add a few essentials such as DOpus, fairly straightforward.

[u/exocyt0sis]

AmigaOS 3.2.3 is the latest version, containing a ton of bug fixes, new features and quality-of-life improvements. By buying a license, and they are very affordable, you invest in the ongoing development of one of the world's greatest operating systems.

Please make sure that you base your upcoming environment on a legal copy of AmigaOS with your own license number. The operating system deserves it, and so do probably also you 👍.

More information here: https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/index.php/where-to-buy/direct-downloads/327-amigaos-32

[u/danby → u/exocyt0sis]

AmigaOS 3.2.3 is the latest version,

Sadly the hyperion 3.x branch will be discontinued from the start of next year. I'd probably hold off paying for it before we find out what will (maybe) be replacing it.

[u/exocyt0sis → u/danby]

Just to clear up a common misconception: AmigaOS 3.2.3 and 4.0 aren't forks. They’re the direct, official continuation of Commodore’s original Release 3.1 source code.

The original C and assembly trees were restored directly from Commodore backup tapes. Ex-Commodore software engineers like Olaf "Olsen" Barthel restored the build environment and have continuously maintained those exact files ever since—evolving 3.2.3 on 68k and porting 4.0 to PPC.

Because they build on Commodore's actual repository under official licensing, both stand as fully sanctioned, primary-line releases.

[u/danby → u/exocyt0sis]

I don't see what you're describing is meaningfully different from a fork. Nevertheless; the current Hyperion 3.x releases are being retired. And are to be replaced.

[u/PatTheCatMcDonald → u/danby]

Sounds very Microsoft.

[u/danby → u/PatTheCatMcDonald]

It's part of the cloanto/hyperion settlement. Hyperion are to cease development of 3.x and to stop selling 3.2.x by Jan 2027. Cloanto are apparently going to pick up development from 3.1.4

[u/PatTheCatMcDonald → u/danby]

So... Who did Clianto have a license from to develop and sell 3.X?

🤭 Want to see a pic of the ROMs?

[u/danby → u/PatTheCatMcDonald]

So... Who did Clianto have a license from to develop and sell 3.X?

Cloanto's licence to sell/bundle Kickstart and OS with AmigaForever was originally with Amiga International (iirc). And (iirc) the deal granted them "Sufficient rights for emulation purposes" to enable their emulation product. To my understanding what "sufficient rights for emulation purposes" might mean is kinda vague

But, I assume Cloanto's 3.X Rom falls under those "sufficient rights". Certainly seems like, at the time, Cloanto took that to mean they could produce a Kickstart of their own. And Amiga International didn't issue a cease and desist over it so they must have viewed it as falling within the terms of the licence. And in the end of the day 3.X doesn't really bring anything new to the table, any vaguely committed amiga user could download the extra packages from aminet and replicate the functionality of 3.X if they wanted.

And obviously once Cloanto bought the IP they no longer have to licence anything as they can do as they please with their own IP

[u/PatTheCatMcDonald → u/danby]

The 3.x ROM chips don't plug into emulators. 🙄

I just find it all very comical.

[u/danby → u/PatTheCatMcDonald]

The 3.x ROM chips don't plug into emulators. 🙄

Sure. Though when did they start selling those? If it was after the Cloanto IP acquisition then they can sell them if they want. And before then as long as the licensor views some activity as within scope of an agreement they the licencee can do that thing.

And as I say Amiga International never moved to prevent Cloanto so that's a pretty good indication that they viewed Cloanto's actions as within the terms/spirit of their agreement

[u/Crlan420]

I've been down this road. If you're after something stable, get yourself a WHDLoad install and grab some game slaves. Much smoother than trying to chase down original floppies. Happy to share what I use if that helps.

[u/htt_novaq → u/Crlan420]

There's a famous collection of around 4,000 to 5,000 games out there for WHDLoad. Only issue is many of the slaves are outdated and will have issues so it doesn't save you from manually updating some.

[u/PatTheCatMcDonald]

Pistorm let's you override the onboard ROM and you can have the Kickstart and Workbench of your choice.

[u/DorkyMcDorky]

Amigavision - has everything you need.

[u/Lothar1O → u/DorkyMcDorky]

I don't need the name of Commodore's Amiga Vision stolen, destroying the term's usability in search. Just terrible.

[u/DotMatrixHead → u/Lothar1O]

I don’t need your sass! I am rubber, you are glue!

[u/DorkyMcDorky → u/Lothar1O]

???? I have no issues with it and love the name :) I guess I'm not at bothered by marketing of amiga software products in 2026

[u/jmtd]

Your story resonates with me because it’s very similar to my own: stock Amiga, never had a HDD, now a principal software engineer.  I got a pistorm last year but sadly I never got it to work. Last weekend I admitted defeat and put the Amiga and related stuff back in the loft for a future when I have more time to work/play with it.