Amiga Forever KX Light

KX Light is a GNU/Linux distribution based on a modified version of Knoppix Debian, specifically developed to allow the Amiga Forever CD to be used to boot a PC, if so desired. At the end of the KX Light boot process the GNU/Linux version of UAE is started, featuring the Amiga Forever Workbench 3.X environment.

KX Light is part of the CD-based Plus Edition of Amiga Forever, and is not included with the Value Edition. The use of KX Light remains optional, i.e. the Amiga emulation can also be used under Windows and other operating systems (with or without hard disk installation, and without booting or rebooting from the Amiga Forever CD).

KX Light design goals included:

• Smooth and fast boot process with no requirement for user intervention for normal operations
• Compatibility with a large variety of hardware configurations (significantly better than other emulation-related efforts)
• Safe to use on any PC (existing hard disks are seen as read-only by default)
• Compact distribution size (KX Light occupies about 55 MB on the CD)
• Provide a superior Amiga emulation and OS experience (including Amiga custom chips, JIT, RTG graphics, AHI sound, TCP/IP, DHCP, SCSI, Web browser, etc.)

We believe that the introduction of KX Light, which took a lot of time and work to develop and refine, represents an exciting addition to Amiga Forever. Possible usage scenarios that come to mind include:

• Freedom to experiment, as the PC is fully write-protected by default
• Use an older PC, even without hard disk, as a relatively fast emulated "Classic" Amiga system (Windows not required)
• Create an emulated "Classic" Amiga system with a small form factor mainboard (e.g. Mini-ITX) and use Amiga Forever as a turnkey bootable environment
• Copy the environment to a USB key or flash disk and boot from there
• "Forget" the CD in a friend's drive, and see the reaction when the Amiga Workbench appears instead of Windows :-)

Requirements: GNU/Linux-compatible PC that can boot from the CD or DVD drive ("El Torito" specification). Most PCs manufactured after 1997 and most notebooks manufactured after 1998 support this functionality. On some PCs the boot from CD option may have to be set in the BIOS (enabling it and/or arranging the boot priority of the CD/DVD drive relative to other drives).

Please understand that we do not have the resources to maintain a GNU/Linux distribution that can support all possible hardware combinations, which keep evolving. That is why our main focus is to create apps that work under an existing operating system. KX Light should be considered experimental. The boot code may not work with some hardware configurations. If you are not satisfied with KX Light, you can use the cross-platform and the GNU/Linux items in Amiga Forever to set up your own emulation environment. If you are a GNU/Linux expert, you can always re-build the environment. We always welcome contributions on this front.