A: The ROM files installed by Amiga Forever Plus Edition are not encoded, and thus do not need a "rom.key" file. In such a scenario, if you found some instructions that reference a "rom.key" file, just ignore the part about the file, and they should work.

ROM encoding was added to the Amiga Forever, UAE and Fellow projects in 1997 on request of the Amiga licensors, and remains a supported option. It is a simple XOR transformation, rather than a more complex encryption, however it met the requirements of the licensors (and probably also more modern provisions about circumvention). Where ROMs are encoded, the "rom.key" file is located in the same directory as the ROM files. Detection by third-party applications is usually automatic, as encoded ROMs can be recognized by their header ("AMIROMTYPE1") and the location of the "rom.key" file, if present, has never changed.

Amiga Forever has a ROM troubleshooting feature that can be accessed via Help/Developer/Write Log File. The resulting report includes details about installed ROM files, which can be used to confirm whether the desired ROMs are present.

For licensing reasons, the free Amiga Forever Express Edition continues to use encoded ROMs. The ROM files are decoded following registration or an upgrade.

Related Links

• ROM and Operating System Files in Amiga Forever
• Use of ROM and Operating System Files Provided in Amiga Forever
• WHDLoad Support in Amiga Forever
• Player and Plugin Logging Options
• Amiga ROM Versions