PP&S 68040 Board
14 messages in this thread
Does anyone have a PP&S 68040 board installed? If so, do you have any
other expansion/daughterboards also installed?? If so, again, did you have
any problems in getting the 68040 to work? How about memory display – I
had one for a short while and AVAIL showed 20Mb of CHIP RAM for a 16Mb
68040, and NO FAST RAM??!?
Jim, I have a PPS 68040 installed on my A2000 (which Amiga do you have?)
and have been quite pleased. It works fine except the occasional software
that has problems with the 68040 copyback mode. I'm using WB 2.04 with a
GVP Series II HD controller. I also have the Megachip, 8 megs of ram on
the PPS board, 4 megs on a SupraRam board (14 megs total) and the Avail
command properly reports this. Installation was a snap. Hope this helps.
John
After trying various things with help from PP&S, and returning the board to
them for inspection, I FINALLY got it to work properly, but had to "seat
it" twice (two "snaps"). Everything now works. Maybe it was just the
onboard memory address lines that weren't fully connected – I don't know.
AVAIL now reports the proper information.
I ALMOST wish the 68040 did NOT have a COPY BACK mode – this one mode seems
to cause headaches with more software packages than any of the other
caches. Oh well – test 'em and remember 'em (which uses what).
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)
Say Jim, can we make a comparison of programs that don't work with copyback
mode? It might help me and some others down the road. I guess the only
ones I have had a problem with is MuchMorePowerPacker (a nice text reader)
and Viewer (a real cool picture viewing program, including 24 bit, from
Black Belt Systems). I have heard that Imagemaster from BBS is copyback
mode incompatible but I have yet to have a problem. How about you, or
anyone else, what doesn't work with copyback mode? Later.
John
I have a number of programs, mostly commercial, that don't like COPYBACK. I
am planning on doing an exhaustive test of all of the 68040 modes on all of
my PD/SW and commercial stuff and uploading the results. I lost a little
software compatibility going from V1.3 to V2.04, and decided to get the DKB
MultiStart II to ease the pain and allow for backwards compatibility.
Except for verifying software under V1.3, I NEVER use it anymore.
I agree that a list of what the 68040 will accept and vice versa is
important, since some software won't work at all with the 68040, and that
may be a very big stumbling block for some people.
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)
Jim,
While I don't own a 040 I do own an 030 which as the MMU built in (as
does the 040). If you have the 1.3 kickstart disk that came with the 1.3
enhancer kit, you can use `SETCPU Kickrom DFx' to boot in 1.3 without a rom
switcher! I stumbled upon this switch for setcpu while rereading the docs
a couple of weeks ago.
..Steve
Whap!ping from beautiful coastal South Carolina
Hmm – thanks for the info about SETCPU. My '040 docs specifically state
that SETCPU is NOT to be used in the startup-sequence. Your DOS version
switching method is interesting – I don't have V1.3 kickstart on disk,
however, so I still need a ROM switcher. You might work up a detailed
description of what you use to do your DOS switching and how you do it, and
upload it as a file for others to peruse.
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)
Jim,
What I do for my rom switching is very simple! I have a 2000 with the
GVP 030 all in one card, and a old kickstart disk that came with the 1.3
enhancer package. Setcpu came on the util disk from GVP but is available
here. When I am ready to go to 1.3, I stick the kickstart disk in my
external drive, the app (or game) in the internal drive, open a shell, type
`setcpu kickrom df2:' hit return; the machine then proceeds to boot up in
1.3! A color cycled `Insert Kickstart' screen comes up and it starts
reading df2: then df0: and presto I'm in 1.3!
I don't think it would hurt to try this with the 040, as this should
not enable any of the caches other than reading KS into mem and remapping
the pointers to it. Hope this works for you, let me know.
..Steve
Whap!ping from beautiful coastal South Carolina
I tried this with my GVP 3001 w/8megs. I got the cycling Insert Kickstart.
I assumed it didn't know it was there, so I ejected the disk and
reinserted. Viola! a 1.3 shell! (It only lasted about 5 seconds before I
got an old GURU MEDITATION. I should have written down the number, but I'll
try it again. Any thoughts why it didn't work? I have some things that are
2.04 unique in WBStartup.
– Nothing fancy – just another Whapper!
Stephen,
Your guru is probably from 1 of 2 things,, when you pulled out the KS
disk before it was ready, and you will need a 1.3 Workbench or 1.3 boot
disk, if your s-s is maaking calls to 2.0 libs, or commands that sure would
invite the guru…one thing also; the fact that you got a guru is
indicative that at least some of the 1.3 code loaded! No guru in 2.04
doncha know!
Let me know how you come out!
..Steve
Whap!ping from beautiful coastal South Carolina
Your suggestions are interesting, and perhaps there are some '040 users who
will want to try them out. I don't have 1.3 Kickstart on disk – it is in
ROM. As far as the '040 itself is concerned, the initial boot configuration
is for ALL of the caches to be enabled. You disable what you need AFTER the
'040 boots up, but that is simple enough to do via their CPU040 program.
One thing I will point out about using the '040 is that RAD: is no longer
viable. You can define it, but it doesn't get retained – it gets lost when
the "memory configuration and insertion" program sets up the '040 address
space during a boot.
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)
I was thinking about an '040 or '030 accelerator. I am looking at the new
PP&S Ze Zeus and the GVP '030.. Any idea on what would be best. I'm
looking for speed and compatibility. A fast SCSI would be nice too.
Anyone with any experience in the hunt for a good accelerator might be able
to give me some good ideas of what to lo to look for. Thanks!
-Jonathan
Hmm – personally, I really don't know any more about the other accelerators
other than what I read in the mags or what has been discussed here. One
thing to keep in mind is whether you really want just an accelerator, or
whether you would rather have a combination package (accel; HD, SCSI
interface, memory, etc.).
I am not an expert on HD throughput, but it seems that the DMA technology
drives are falling behind the non-DMA types. I bet THIS statement will
cause a stir here! Oh well – at least it will get you more information.
Though the Supra Wordsync interface and Quantum HD's aren't mentioned much
any more (why?), the interface is non-DMA, and works well with the PP&S
'040. I must say, though, that the Quantum 40Mb drive was big, klunky, and
slow, but worked well. The newer 105lps (or whatever) is smaller, lighter,
and MUCH faster than the old 40.
Another thing to ask is do you just want a faster CPU or do you want a
faster and expanded system? You can get an '030 board with no 32 bit memory
and get more out of your existing system, in some cases of course, without
the cost of a full blown accelerator expansion. The gist of this is that to
get the FULL benefit from an '030 or '040 board, you will probably HAVE to
buy SOME 32 bit memory (perhaps as little as 2Mb, but more likely at least
4Mb), which obviously makes the price of the expansion, higher.
The January 1992 issue of AmigaWorld is a good source to look for initial
comparitive information in regards to the current '040 boards. There was an
earlier review of '030 boards, but I can't remember when, though there are
enough ads for the '030s still to give you a rough idea of what is
available.
One final aside – I am hearing nowadays how this and that MS-DOS HD is
rated at 25Mhz or 33Mhz. I wonder if anyone would care to rate the current
Amiga HD's and see how their throughput compares (in Mhz, of course).
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)
Hmm – thanks for the info about SETCPU. My '040 docs specifically state
that SETCPU is NOT to be used in the startup-sequence. Your DOS version
switching method is interesting – I don't have V1.3 kickstart on disk,
however, so I still need a ROM switcher. You might work up a detailed
description of what you use to do your DOS switching and how you do it, and
upload it as a file for others to peruse.
– Using Whap! (from Southern Illinois) (Internet: ca0008@siucvmb.siu.edu)