CompuServe Messages

VJ >>Thank you. What a fine message!<< Your Welcome. 🙂 — VJ >>replies to Betty and Richard, plus expanded my Amigese vocabulary. 🙂 PAD, COPPER, BLITTER, CLUT, CIA, PLCC <blink> << And I haven't even covered: Ramsey, D'Mac, Gayle, Budgie, Buster, Amber, Akiko, Alice, & Lisa. — VJ >>has an ECS NTSC Agnus id=$0030 and a "normal Denise". Ok, you got the ECS Agnus, and it is running in NTSC mode. The ECS Agnus can also do PAL mode for European games that use PAL monitors. You have the OCS Denise, but you can upgrade it at anytime, if you want. VJ >>No mention of Paula or Gary<< These two aren't checked. There is only one version of Paula, and don't worry about Gary, there is no upgrade for him either. VJ >>but I do have $205 worth of fast RAM and $303 worth of chip RAM. (2 and meg respectively)<< It appears that your ECS Agnus has already been configured to use the full 1-meg of CHIP memory. No need to mess with the motherboard memory. If your A2500 has 4-megs, the info that ShowConfig gives should look something like: Node type $A, Attributes $205 (FAST), at $200000-$4FFFFF (3.0 megs) Node type $A, Attributes $303 (CHIP), at $400-$FFFFF (~1.0 meg) The $205 & $303, are numeric code describing the characteristics of a bank of RAM. You can ignore the $205, & $303, for now. The 'at $200000-4FFFFF' numbers, tells were the system has mapped the memory. The '$400-$FFFFF' is standard place 1-meg of memory. The place (and amount) for FAST memory will differ depending on where your Zorro-II, or CPU-card mapped it. — VJ >>I take it one doesn't add "fast" to "chip" […]<< Think of memory as a workroom inwhich the CPU uses to build the data from tools (programs). It also contains the tools the CPU builds with (the programs). With other computers, the CPU does ALL the work. If the CPU wants to build a billboard for a customer, it has to assemble the parts, connect them, then move the billboard to a cetain place to be displayed. Also, the CPU needs to repaint the billboard, alter the display as needed, remove it, etc., all by himself. In the meantime, he has projects to work on, for other customers, and must keep their projects up to date. The Amiga gives the CPU some helpers, refer to as the Custom Chips. These chips can do certain part of the jobs for the CPU (the Boss). The Agnus & Denise handle the art work (graphics). While Paula does any needed sound effects, plus Paula handles the shipping of files, and gathers input from the customers (the user). The time the CPU puts into handling the art & sounds is reduced to only 3% of his time from the 100% of his time he use to spend on that area of each project. Now, the PAD (Paula, Agnus, & Denise) have a limited workarea. They can't gain access (or even find) all the RAM availible to the CPU. They can only use a special workarea called "CHIP" memory, it was named after them (the Custom CHIP area). In the beginning, this area, was only 256K in size, but the blueprints allowed for the expansion of upto 2048K (2-megs). The CPU can also do its work in the same area (CHIP memory), as well as in its own workarea. The CHIP memory is shared between the two. To prevent CPU from grabbing the graphic/sound data while the PAD group is working on the data, and to keep the PAD from writing over data the CPU is in the process of reading, a gatekeeper was established — Agnus. Agnus, will allow only one of the two (PAD or CPU) into CHIP memory, at any given time. And the PAD has first priorty. There will be times that the CPU is locked out of CHIP memory, while the PAD handles large data packages. The CPU must wait. However, the CPU has its own area of memory, that he can enter at any time. He never has to wait to access it, so the area was named "FAST" memory. If there is FAST memory, the CPU will use it first, to do its work. — As is, your A2500 has been expanded to have 1-meg of CHIP memory. If you use a special device, you can expand it to 2-megs of CHIP. The device is a small board containing a "more enhanced" ECS Agnus, and another 1-meg of memory on the board. The board plugs into the Agnus's socket, replacing the old Agnus. A Zorro-II card can allow upto 8-megs of FAST memory for the CPU's use in running programs, and storing data. A CPU-card would also as FAST memory, and many of these cards can be configured to add their memory outside of the area reserved for Zorro-II boards. This allows even more FAST memory. — VJ >> Jet engines are no place for eagles OR weasels. << Yes, but when your building your own catapult, accidents will happen. Ron. – ap'ing with AP. (Eagles may fly, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.)