What disks / software came with the A3000?

[Julz]

Hello,

I've recently bought a refurbished A3000. Works fine, but it didn't come with any discs.

I understand that oiriginally, it came with 'Application' and and 'Support' discs? Is that right? No 'Welcome' disc?

Please can anyone tell me how many discs were there,and what was on them? Anything of importance, or critical to running the A3000?

Also, was the Lander demo disc inclued with the A3000, or was that only on the older models? (this is the thing I'm *really* after! )

Thanks in advance.

[thecellartroll]

We definitely got Lander included with our school A3000s.

[davidb]

See the Archiology site or its 4corn mirror for the disk images.

[SarahWalker]

Lander is on the Applications Disc 2 for RISC OS 2. It's not present on the RISC OS 3 discs.

[Julz]

OK. Thanks for the above info. and the links.

AFAIK: Mine has been upgraded to RISC OS 03, as it says that on the 'splash' screen on boot-up. So, I'm presuming the A3000 originally came with RISC OS 02 on board, with 2 App discs and 1 Support disc. Is that correct?

If so, can anyone reply with a link to photos of these RISC OS 02 discs (by that, I mean the labels)? Or , even, post them on here? The reason being, I'm on the look-out to purchase these discs on eBay, and it would help if I've got something to compare to, so I know I'll be getting the correct discs.

At the moment, someone is selling the original RISC floppies, but its just RISC OS 03, not 02, with just one of the Apps discs, and the Support disc, and selling them as 'untested', so I'll pass on those. I know there's the disc images on the Archology / 4Corn sites, davidb kindly posted, but it would be nice to have the real McCoys, as I've also got the Welcome and User Guides for my A3000, from a separate eBay purchase.

[Kazzie]

Here are some discs from my box:

The upper two are RISC OS 2 discs, whereas the lower ones are for RISC OS 3. The black disc is a High Density one, and is large enough to carry all the applications that required two DD discs (for RISC OS 2). The A3000 is, of course, fitted with a DD drive, so required two Application Discs.

I don't have a RISC OS 2 Support Disc to show you, sorry.

[philpem]

Here are some discs from my box:
IMG_20200805_1439326.jpg

The upper two are RISC OS 2 discs, whereas the lower ones are for RISC OS 3. The black disc is a High Density one, and is large enough to carry all the applications that required two DD discs (for RISC OS 2). The A3000 is, of course, fitted with a DD drive, so required two Application Discs.

I don't have a RISC OS 2 Support Disc to show you, sorry.

I've got the Double Density RO3 set here -- I'm curious, does your high-density set include !TVTest?

I noticed it was missing from mine when I tried to align the AKF17 and the Cub.

Cheers
Phil.

[Kazzie]

Here are some discs from my box:
IMG_20200805_1439326.jpg

The upper two are RISC OS 2 discs, whereas the lower ones are for RISC OS 3. The black disc is a High Density one, and is large enough to carry all the applications that required two DD discs (for RISC OS 2). The A3000 is, of course, fitted with a DD drive, so required two Application Discs.

I don't have a RISC OS 2 Support Disc to show you, sorry.

I've got the Double Density RO3 set here -- I'm curious, does your high-density set include !TVTest?

I noticed it was missing from mine when I tried to align the AKF17 and the Cub.

Cheers
Phil.

Even though I (temporarily) have four Archimedes machines in my house, they're all fitted with DD drives, and as you may recall, my RiscPC is worse for wear. I tried reading an image with my PC USB floppy drive but ut didn't want to know: I believe it only likes DOS formats.

As and when I get the RiscPC up and running, or haul my desktop machine out of the attic, I'll let you know.

[philpem]

Even though I (temporarily) have four Archimedes machines in my house, they're all fitted with DD drives, and as you may recall, my RiscPC is worse for wear. I tried reading an image with my PC USB floppy drive but ut didn't want to know: I believe it only likes DOS formats.

As and when I get the RiscPC up and running, or haul my desktop machine out of the attic, I'll let you know.

Yeah, USB drives are usually restricted to specific (read: PC) formats. These days I usually skip over them and find another solution -- usually the RISC PC or a disk imager and the HxC software.

I've just had a stare at Chris's Acorns (http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org ... tware.html). Turns out the later HD disk set came with RO3.11 and included TVTest. The 800K disk set (which I have) came with RO3.10 and doesn't include it.

Cheers
Phil.

[Julz]

Here are some discs from my box:
IMG_20200805_1439326.jpg

The upper two are RISC OS 2 discs, whereas the lower ones are for RISC OS 3. The black disc is a High Density one, and is large enough to carry all the applications that required two DD discs (for RISC OS 2). The A3000 is, of course, fitted with a DD drive, so required two Application Discs.

I don't have a RISC OS 2 Support Disc to show you, sorry.

@Kazzie. Many Thanks for the photo!

BTW: Andrew @ the 4DPi Shop on eBay said he may have copies (originals) of RISC OS2 for sale, and if so, will list them. Is 4DPi the same as '4th Dimension' or 'CJE Micros'. In fact, are they all the same company, or am I mixing them up?

[Kazzie]

Here are some discs from my box:
IMG_20200805_1439326.jpg

The upper two are RISC OS 2 discs, whereas the lower ones are for RISC OS 3. The black disc is a High Density one, and is large enough to carry all the applications that required two DD discs (for RISC OS 2). The A3000 is, of course, fitted with a DD drive, so required two Application Discs.

I don't have a RISC OS 2 Support Disc to show you, sorry.

@Kazzie. Many Thanks for the photo!

BTW: Andrew @ the 4DPi Shop on eBay said he may have copies (originals) of RISC OS2 for sale, and if so, will list them. Is 4DPi the same as '4th Dimension' or 'CJE Micros'. In fact, are they all the same company, or am I mixing them up?

I believe they are indeed arms of the same company.