This FAQ is intended to answer questions which I receive on a regular basis as well as to provide information on submissions and related topics. The questions appear in no particular order but cover the following areas. Please take the time to read them as it may save both yourself and myself some time :)

1. I have lots of large pictures/files I would like to submit. Can your mailbox handle it?
I have received submissions of at least 10MB, so the answer is probably yes. However, please note that E-Mail servers en-route may truncate the mail, so for extra security split it into smaller mails, or alternatively give me a URL where I can download the files. Files should not be submitted which originate from the Amiga Hardware Database.

2. I've sent you some information/pictures, why haven't I got a reply?
I normally update the site when I have enough free time. An update takes many hours because the site is hand written. I usually only reply to E-Mails once the information has been added, to keep track of what has been done and what is pending. Please be patient, you will get a reply, even if it's a few weeks later.

3. I've sent you some information/pictures, why haven't they been added?
See Q2.

4. What is your preferred picture format?
I can pretty much handle any picture format you send me, but I prefer 24bit image formats such as JPG and PNG, although I'll take whatever you can supply.

5. What is your preferred format for submitting drivers?
I prefer drivers to be submitted in either DMS format, which is a compressed disk image, or archived as an .lha file. I can however handle almost any format and will convert if necessary.

6. I have some pictures I want to send you, what sizes do you want?
I prefer the best quality you can supply, but preferably no bigger than (2000 x 2000). These allow me to create smaller versions suitable for web viewing, and offer the larger versions for download. You do not have to send me the same picture in multiple sizes, as I will scale them when needed.

7. I would like to submit information on a particular piece of hardware, what sort of things are you looking for?
In particular I'm looking for, Manufacturer's Name, Product Name, Specifications, Jumper Settings, Incompatibilities or any special considerations. Basic installation instructions are not required, unless they differ significantly from the norm. I am NOT interested in Floppy Drives, Mice, Joysticks or Joypads.

8. What's the "copyright" status or "distribution" status of any submissions I send to you, once you've added them to the site?
Any material you send, you accept in full that it is free to distribute without restriction (unless otherwise specified), regardless of whether you yourself are the original author or not. "The Big Book of Amiga Hardware" or myself "Ian Chapman" can not be held in any way, shape or form responsible for any material submitted being used on this site or elsewhere. If you would like to place copyright or distribution restrictions on any of your submissions then you MUST send these details along with the submission. I may also refuse any submissions if I don't like the restrictions. Please also read the related Q8.

9. Can I submit material that is NOT my own work? For example, it was taken from another website.
You must ONLY submit material from 3rd party sources if you are allowed to do so. If the material does not explicitly say it can be re-distributed then you MUST contact the owner of the material, or the owner of the website to ask permission for its inclusion in the Big Book of Amiga Hardware. If possible please include details of the original source or owner so I can credit them. This can be quite a problem, so if you're in doubt, don't submit them. In particular material must not be submitted which originates from the Amiga Hardware Database.

Requests For Help

1. Do you have any information/jumper settings/pictures of <insert hardware here>?
If the settings are not already on the website, then the answer is no.

2. I have a problem with <insert hardware here>, can you help me?
I recommend you ask the question on an Amiga related mailing list or usenet where you will be more likely to get a detailed response from more qualified people. I run this site as a service, but it doesn't mean I know everything about Amiga Hardware. If you really are stuck, then contact me, but PLEASE make sure the answer is not already on the website. I frequently get asked questions where the answer is already on the site.

3. I have seen <insert hardware here> on your site, do you know where I can buy one?
Much of the hardware listed on the site is no longer in production or is extremely difficult to get hold of. There are good second-hand Amiga buy and sell sites such as Amibench where you may be able to purchase what you're looking for. It is also worth looking at the many online Auction sites where Amiga hardware and software is frequently sold, such as Ebay, and QXL. Please also see the links page for Amiga Dealers.

4. Im looking for a particular cable or would like to make one, do you know how to do it?
No. Look at the links page for the site called the Hardware book. It contains lots of information on cables and connectors.

5. Im getting back into using the Amiga after several years using a PC/Mac, what setup do you recommend?
Unfortunately you could write a book to answer this question. This site is testimony to that. Please use this site to research what is out there or join a mailing list where you will get continuing help and advice. It is often useful to decide what you intend to use the Amiga for, before asking about recommended setups.

6. Can you help me find or buy <insert hardware here>
No. See Q3.

Lastly, PLEASE check the website first to see if your question hasn't already been answered. I frequently get asked questions where the answer is on the page about the hardware!

General Site Related

1. Why don't you have any information on <insert hardware here>?
Because I haven't looked, haven't found it or it hasn't been submitted.

2. I would like to setup a mirror, is that OK?
Sure, setting up a mirror is perfectly fine, however please contact me first to arrange the details. Also, if you don't wish to maintain the mirror yourself, if you provide me with a secure shell account, or an FTP account I can maintain it myself. Ideally the web server should be running some flavour of UNIX, Linux or AmigaOS.

3. Can I link to your site?
Yes of course. However I request that if you intend to link to sub pages, then you MUST also provide a link to the main site front ( http://www.amiga-hardware.com). Feel free to use any of the supplied banners. Please also see Q2 in "Using Material from this Site".

4. Can you E-Mail me a copy of the site?
No. The site has been included on various CD compilations such as Magazine CD's or a great CD compilation called "The Kickstart Archives". Please obtain one of these.

5. Why don't you offer your site for download?
This is simply not practical for many reasons. Too many to list here. The site has been included on various CD compilations such as Magazine CD's or a great CD compilation called "The Kickstart Archives". Please obtain one of these.

6. Can I use a web spider/whacker (eg Wget) to download a local copy of your site?
I'd prefer it if you didn't.

7. Why don't you put the date of manufacture/release or the date the hardware was discontinued?
Because this information is hard to find, almost always inaccurate and varies from country to country.

8. Why dont you arrange your site by connection types, e.g. Zorro, PCMCIA, Serial Port etc (or any other style)?
Unfortunately, due to the way the site was originally organised, this is not a practical feature to implement. I am however in the process of listing the connection type next to the hardware, which is at least a step in the right direction.

9. The information is incorrect for the <insert hardware here>, why?
On a hand written site this big, mistakes happen and sometimes the sources of information are not always reliable. Send me the fixes and I'll make the changes.

10. I've done a search for something that is supposed to be on your site, but can't find it, why?
First of all make sure it's typed correctly, my logs show that very frequently people simply don't spell things correctly. Secondly, the search engine only matches on full words, not partial matches. Lastly, the site is only spidered every Monday and therefore any updates will only appear to the search engine once it has been spidered.

11. Why don't you have a section on floppy drives/joysticks/joypads/mice..... ?
Because there are hundreds of them - there's not a great deal to say about one over the other, they aren't complicated to use and pretty much uninteresting. I "may" consider special circumstances if an item is particularly unique in some way. Please DO NOT ask me to add these sections because I will not.

12. Can you add a link to my site?
You can add links to the links page by filling in a short form and the link will be created immediately.

13. Your site's front page is very slow, especially with all the graphics for the menus....
If your browser supports cookies, you can choose the text menus option on the main page.

14. How often is the site updated?

It is usually about once a month. However it depends on several factors such as how much free time I have and how many submissions are pending.

15. What do you get for doing this site?
I get absolutely NOTHING for doing this site, other than some satisfaction that I'm helping the Amiga community. In fact I've spent thousands of hours maintaining this site and incurred a lot of personal expense which keeps this site ad banner free.

16. Why doesn't the site contain information on the AmigaOne and/or Pegasos?
Well the reasons are obviously open to opinion, but my reasons are as follows. At the time of writing, the Pegasos cannot run AmigaOS natively, and OS4.0 is only available in alpha to a select few beta testers for the AmigaOne. Secondly AmigaOS 4.0 still has not been officially released. So in my humble opinion they do not (yet) qualify as "Amigas", and probably won't until the situation changes. ... but the Pegasos runs Morphos which runs on Amigas? MorphOS is not AmigaOS, but an AmigaOS clone. Amigas run Linux, and so do PCs, does this mean PCs should be listed here?

Using Material from this Site

1. Can I use some pictures or information from your site?
You can use anything from this site for pretty much for any purpose, you don't even have to ask. However, some material on the site has restrictions placed on it by the owner. Any restrictions are normally written on the same page as the information or pictures. In this case, you must contact the owner to ask for permission. You should also where possible, credit the original submitters. Whilst I'm not making it a requirement to use any material, a link to "The Big Book of Amiga Hardware" would be appreciated. Please also read Q2.

2. Can I source images directly from your website?
The definition of "sourcing directly" is to include code in your web page which retrieves material from the Big Book of Amiga Hardware to display it as part of another website.
For example, <IMG SRC="http://www.amiga-hardware.com/picture.jpg>. This includes linking directly to pictures. Sourcing directly is expressly FORBIDDEN without permission and includes, but is not limited to, Ebay Auctions. This is because it uses my bandwidth which I have to pay for. You can however directly link to HTML, providing you also include a link to the main page (http://www.amiga-hardware.com). If you wish to use any pictures or information then you must download your own copy and host it elsewhere.