#AMAX PLUS NEWS
44 messages in this thread
** AMAX NEWS **
I just got a letter from ReadySoft announcing that the long delayed,
anxiously anticipated upgrade to AMAXII, AMAXXIIplus, is now available.
Here's the features list we've all been waiting for:
HARDWRAE FEATURES
INTERNAL CARD FOR A2000/A3000
ALLOWS ALL CONNECTED AMIGA STANDARD DISK DRIVES TO DIRECTLY
READ/WRITE/FORMAT MAC 800K DISKS… NO MAC DRIVE REQUIRED
TWO MINI DIN-8 RS422 SERIAL PORTS
APPLETALK COMPATIBLE
BUILT IN MAC COMPATIBLE MIDI INTERFACE
READS MAC 128K ROMS IN LESS THAN 5 SEC'S ON AN ACCELERATED AMIGA
AMAX V 2.5 SOFTWARE ENHANCEMENTS
SUPPORTS APPLE SYSYTEM 7
TRANSFER FILES DIRECTLY BETWEEN AMIGADOS AND MAC HARD DRIVE
PARTITIONS OR FLOPPY DISKS.
SUPPORTS 60802/68030/68040 (SYS 7 7.0.1 REQ F/040 SUPPORT)
CBM'S HD FLOPPY CAN ACCES 1.4 MB MAC DISKS
THE APPLE SUPERDRIVE IS EMULATED TO SUPPORT 720K MSDOS DISKS
(or 1.4 Mb disks with a high density drive) WITH APPLE
FILE EXCHANGE AND SOFT-PC
SUPPORT FOR VIRTUAL SCROLING DISPLAYS UP TO 2048 X 2048 PIXELS
(or more, as chip ram permits) WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO
EMULATE APPLE FULL PAGE DISPLAYS
MAC BATTERY BACKED UP PARAMETER RAM IS SIMULATED BY WRITING
A DISK FILE
APPLE EXTENDED KYBD IS FULLY EMULATED INCLUDING F-KEYS, ESC KEY,
& IBM EQUIVALENT KEYS
IMPROVED AND SIMPLIFIED HARD DRIVE USE
"AUTO" KEYWORD ALLOWS A-MAX TO BE RUN FROM THE CLI
The software only upgrade is $49.95
The Hardware/Software upgrade package is $$349.95 +$10 shipping)
If you trade in your current AMAX cartridge ReadySoft will
reabte you $100. Bringing your cost down to $249.95
(remember, what you gain with the internal card is all of the ports…
what you lose, is direct access to a mac floppy, which for all intents
and purposes, you would no longer require)
Contact ReadySoft at 416-731-4175
Michael
….from the north coast
Wunnerful! Now I gotta get a bridge for my 3K, the ATop accelerator, and
the Amax II Plus… I hope the Amax II Plus can run concurrent with
AmigaDOS? Then I could have all 3 O/Ses running at once… need more
memory, yeah… still.. wow. Neat.
Today must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Eet…
"I hope the Amax II Plus can run concurrent with AmigaDOS?"
I don't think so.
Michael
….from the north coast
<blink> I KNOW I hope that the Amax II Plus can run concurrent with
AmigaDOS… but, as I've been informed.. it don't 🙁
Today must be Friday. I never could get the hang of Fridays.
Michael:
Was there any mention by Readysoft if the serial ports will have a device
driver & be usable while running under AmigaDOS? Sure would be nice if it
was possible to use at least one of the ports as an Appletalk port while
under AmigaDOS as well, so I could hookup my laser printer that way and be
able to use it either from AMAX or AmigaDOS.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
You're right. That would be great, but since AMAX has never multitasked,
I'd be surprised if you could do it… but who knows?
Call RaedySoft.
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
Michael:
What I'm talking about isn't really multitasking, but rather just plain
functioning at all when AMAX isn't in use. Back a couple of years ago (or
something like that) when they first announced the AmaxII+ board I asked
people to leave me email saying if they wanted to be able to use the AMAX
ports from AmigaDOS, and I printed all the replies out and faxed them to
Readysoft in an effort to get them to write the needed drivers for the AMAX
ports under AmigaDOS. I was just wondering if they did this or not. (as
long as they've taken to release it I'd think they had plenty of time to
write the drivers).
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
hehe… maybe ReadySoft actually took your suggestion (which is an
_excellent_ one, BTW, and implemented it…which means that YOU were the
cause of the delay!
Actually, I'd think that if that were possible, ReadySoft would have
mentioned it, as it would be a tremendous selling feature.
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
I've already written an AmigaDOS driver that would work with ReadySoft's
AmaxII+. I've been trying to call them (always busy :-)).
— Dan Babcock
Dan,
Can you tell us something about the driver you've written?
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
I'd have to second that idea. It seems some enterprising soul could at
least come up with a Shareware driver to run through the AMax Plus hardware
to provide AppleTalk for the Amiga side.
Come to think of it, the AMAX people would be wise to do it… they'ld
probably sell a few Plus boards to those not even using AMAX.
I spoke with Raymond Liu/ReadySoft last week and he said they had obtained
a driver to allow the Amiga to use the ports on the AMAXII+ card, but that
the deal fell through. He is aware of the desire for such a feature, and
presumably will continue to try and make it available to us.
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
WOW! Thanks for the info.
Although I can't justify the cost, it'd be great if I could get a
DeskWriterC for the AMAXII Plus, and then be able to use it for my Amiga
w/o any interface Hardware!
Who do I send the petition to? :^}
Erik Flom (UnEmployed Toaster Addict)
now that makes my ears perk-up real quick! I run a Banyan VINES LAN that
will soon be supporting macs (it has been pc-only for 6? years) any cpu we
buy around here must be able to go on the lan. if i can attach an amiga as
an apple localtalk (or better yet, ethertalk) device, then I may be able to
squeeze a few more amigas in the door. … good idea, richard.
charlie mccready
Odd situation, really… this networking idea. I've been bitching for years
to Commodore (or anyone else who'd listen) about the real lack of
networking options for Amiga systems, and how that has kept the system from
gaining acceptance. Now it seems quite possible that it may even happen in
spite of Commodore. Yes, there are a few dollars to be made by some
enterprising software/hardware developers here.
-Richard-
Giraffe-X Desktop Publishing
I can just about guarantee you that AMax II Plus will NOT multitask with
AmigaDOS. The Mac OS can't even really multitask with itself, much less
with the Amiga OS running. (Amax II+ is not like a bridgeboard: It doesn't
have a processor, just sockets for the roms and several chips for the
serial ports et al… Why it took this long to come out, I dunno…)
.–>Steve Bennett
Steve,
I've been figuring that the long delay was caused by waiting for System 7
and ensuring compatibility.
Malcolm
Steve –
What I would really like to see is a situation where, if you had an
accelerator (an A2000, say, with an '030 board, or an A3000 with an '040
board), you could run AMax II (or II+), using the superceded chip in the
machine, at the same time that ADos was running using the accelerator.
I suspect it STILL wouldn't be possible because of the other system
resources that AMax must take over to run as a Mac.
But it would be nice.
Say…. How 'bout a "decelerator" board to provide the missing resources to
run with AMax. '020's ought to be pretty cheap now, and enough "stuff" to
make a working computer….
. . . . . JimDoc
The new EMPLANT "WILL" Multitask with AmigaDOS. It emulates the MAC IIx in
color !!!!!! Check out the message I left earlier….
-Jonathan
Don't buy the hype. The Emplant could very well turn out to be another DVS
Wonder-Board or MAST Infinity Machine.
Well, it already has FCC approval… they are in production according to
the VP I talked to the other day. There are several betas out there
already. Did I forget to mention that the ROM trade in only applies to the
128k ROM??? And in Canada, you can buy them freely!!!!
-Jonathan
Jonathan,
What is it that we can buy freely here in Canada?
Malcolm
Jonathan,
But Utilities Unlimited's info about the availability of Mac ROMs isn't
accurate, according to my info… Apple wants a trade-in set of ROMs before
they'll sell you new ones–even for the Quadra et al.
I'll believe this product when I can buy one, alas.
Jonathan…
Put me in the 'I doubt you'll ever see such a thing' category. The old
addage: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." applies,
methinks.
Not trying to be a downer about it at all. Hey, if such a thing ever came
out, as spec'd, at the approximate price you mentioned, and I could get the
genuine Apple ROMS for it, I'd be second in line to buy one.
Jim
I onced mentioned to Dave Haynie about the amiga doing multiprocessing
using both cpu's in an 040 accellerator setup. Now that would be neat!
Harry M.
Dear Amiga fans:
I'm a mac user who happened upon this string in the midst of some
late nite wandering about CIS.
What sort of Amiga do I have to have to attack the mac
compatability board? And do you know if I can run Hypercard?
Thanks for your input.
Charles,
There are two versions of A-Max. A-Max II is an external cartridge that
will work on any Amiga, but it does not have the external ports that
A-MaxII Plus has. The II Plus card will work in the Amiga 2000 or 3000
series computers, and includes an AppleTalk and a midi port.
Both systems, with the new Amax software, will repotedly operate Apple
system 7. Hypercard will work with either version of the hardware.
Since A-Max uses only the 128K MAC roms (not included) it does not support
color.
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
Michael:
Thank you.
I am longtime user of Pers. computers, but never an Amiga (Mac
at home, IBMs at work).
I saw a Commodore Amiga doing a demo (a 2000), and it blew my socks
off.
If the AMAX *really* works as advertised, I'll be taking a closer
look at that Amiga next time I see it.
When the AMAX board displays the Mac screen, are there problems with
color artifacting, or any compatibility problems with Desktop Publishing
Programs.
Thanks for your input.
Charles…
Amax is strictly a monochrome emulation. However, there are no display
problems of any kind providing you are using an Amax with an Amiga that has
a 'flicker free' display.
The Amiga 3000 comes with this as standard equipment. The Amiga 500 and
2000 do not. When you DO look at an Amax, make sure that you look at it on
the 3000 or a 2000 with a flicker free card and multisync type monitor.
You'll find the display a little bit nicer than a regular Mac, because the
screen is somewhat larger.
Jim
You can get the ECS chips for a 500 as well. The Mac screen looks
very nice in productivity mode on the 500 I have. However, if you are
starting from scratch, I would definitely recomend getting a system with
better basic expansion capabilities than the 500.
Charles,
I also support that AMAX II works perfectly as advertised! On my A3000
68030/25mhz machine, my Mac environment is running as fast as Mac SI, just
that its B/W. All programs runs flawlessly including PRINTING, MODEM, and
possibly SCSI stuff(<- I haven't tested it). Only programs that may not
run are the Color programs that access QuickDraw and some few Games. MIDI
& APPLETALK was missing previously but it is now part of new AMAXII Plus
hardware.
Few problem I can think of is:
Finding Mac Roms Getting all together under $400 (since Mac dropping the
price real fast) Having a right SCSI harddrive controller (It supports alot
but not all) Getting use to two computers You have to have enough harddrive
space to support both environment. Also you have enought money to buy
softwares for both environment.
With the new AMAXII software upgrade, now you can use System 7.0 or higher
and you can also transfer files between Amiga partition HD & Mac HD.
– THANX R.SATOH ->via Whap!
In this kind of environment, a Syquest or other cartridge drive
makes a lot of sense.
An addendum to R. Satoh (76467,3051) –
I too own AMAXII and an A3000, soon I will have the AMAXPlus board.
Performance is beautiful, I have clocked it at speed comparable to a IIci
w/o cache. As for SCSI devices, I have easily hooked up Syquest mechanisms
and CD-ROMs w/o problems. As long as you can live with B/W, it is great. If
you have an old AMAX, look for a utility called FASTMAX that allows you to
load the ROM's from an image file on your HD. With my setup, I can switch
between Amiga and Macintosh environments within 20 seconds. This is
incredibly useful, given that I have been trying to move my hi-res (1500
pixels and higher) Toaster Images to the mac for awhile now. Anyone looking
to move hi-res images should download the latest JPEG converter from the
libraries. There is a PD utlity out there that converts my >2.5MB images
into 150K files, allowing for simple transfer via floppy to other (color)
mac systems. (Of course, with the capability of pluggin into a LoacalTalk
network, combined with the ability to transfer directly between Amiga & Mac
partitions, my file transfer woes may soon be solved!!)
My recommendation: If you own an Amiga and want a Mac, or you are
considering Mac instead of an Amiga (but hate to give up the Amiga options)
– consider this option seriously. Although limited to B/W, it is great for
simple DTP.
I had to rent a mac SE at some copy place today – to print up some resumes
– and I really began to realize HOW MUCH FASTER an A3000 w/ AMAXII is vs. a
standard Mac SE (true, it's slower, but would cost more than the AMAX
hardware alone).{
Later, Erik Flom type
Charles,
A friend of mine bought AMAX when there was only the external version. I
believe that he's used PageMaker, Illustrator and Quark with no problems.
He also has a friend who has an SE and there's a program (can't remember
which one) that always crashed the SE and works under AMAX. Bit of a
surprise!
One of the cool things about AMAX is that you can have a RAM disk with
files in it, leave AMAX and warm boot to AmigaDOS, use that for a while and
then return to AMAX and (if you haven't used too much memory), still have
your AMAX RAMdisk intact!
The #1 problem with AMAX is how tightly Apple holds those 128K ROMs! Wish
they'd release them. Bet Mac developers wish theywould too. I am just NOT
going to buy a Mac. But I _would_ get AMAX for the Amiga IF I could be sure
of getting the ROMs.
Malcolm
You can get the AMAX II Plus which supports AppleTalk and MIDI ports. It
will support virtual screens beyond that of the standard 13" MAC monitor.
AMAX will take advantage of any accelerator ('030 and '040, etc..)
There is a new product called the EMPLANT which is supposed to be available
in July which will emulate the MAC IIx with full color plus while
Multitasking with the Amiga OS. The first generation will support 16
colors in the native mode and higher colors and resolutions with third
party video cards. Later on, it will emulate the IIfx and Quadra. (At
full or better speed!)
The EMPLANT has not yet shipped so until it does, I'm not gonna plan on it.
AMAX II Plus is currently available and works great.
Anyway, for most purposes other than work maybe, you won't want to mess
with the MAC anymore. I use a MAC and PC at work every day. (MAC IIfx and
386/33) – but, I can't wait to get home to my Amiga every night!
-Jonathan
Charles…
I use A-Max on an Amiga 3000 which has a built in deinterlacer, (feeding
into a VGA monitor) so the MAC desktop looks better on my system than it
does on a MAC Plus. <g> As I mentioned in my previous message, the A-Max
does not support color (it uses the 128K Mac roms that are standard
equipment on a MAC Plus).
DTP software works fine with A-Max, but I would _highly_ recommend a
deinterlacer and a good VGA monitor.
Michael
….from the north coast (go Cavs!)
Thanks to Jim, Malcolm, Max, Jonathon, Michael, Satoh, anyone else
that I forgot for the AMAX help.
Seems like a whole tribe of Amiga evangelists came out of the
woodwork! Getting ROMs is not a problem, I have a Mac. What
I need to find is something the Amiga has that I cannot live
without. I'll leave a message here when I slap down the plastic
and quit talking.
Thanks again – (who are the Cavs, anyway?)
Video, Word processing, everything… !!!! You just can't beat it!
Charles…
You're welcome. One thing that the Amiga has that I simply have not been
able to live without is true multitasking. It's tough for me to use Amax
when my natural instinct is to just flip to another screen, launch another
task and go about doing something else while a download is going on, or
whatever.
The vast majority (95%) of productivity/utility/general use software
multitasks great. Another thing that I love is the ability to get to the
DOS level at a snap, or have a Workbench (desktop) environment, or both at
the same time.
Ah, how I could go on. 🙂
Keep in touch! We'll be waiting here to welcome you into the family.
Jim
Raul,
AMAX supports SCSI flawlessly as long as the Amiga SCSI manufacturer has
provided an amax-scsi.device driver. I use gvpscsi.device with my gvp scsi
card and there's no problems. The interesting provision is that before you
start amax, all of the scsi devices must be mounted from the Amiga side. I
have an AMAX partition on one of my hard drives (on the SCSI bus) in
addition to a removable media (Ricoh) which only is recognized if i mount
the Ricoh before starting AMAX. I chose not to mount it at startup since
it shows up on the WB and I haven't figured out a way to hide the mounted
drive from WB yet. There's been some suggestions to modify the mountlist
so that the icon doesn't show, but since I don't want to accidently erase
the contents of the disk by altering the RDB I haven't done that yet.
Maybe when I get a good backup system for the AMAX side I'll try that
option…
Anyway, The SCSI bus works great from AMAX.
I even have used my Toshiba drive and CDROM-FS and have been able to use
mac formatted (both ISO 9660 and audio CD's) without a hitch from AMAX.
Pretty fun stuff!
.. Tim Trompeter…
Charles,
Currently color is not supported by Amax. However, a new emulator
called Emplant, is due out in July which reportedly emulates a Mac II
complete with color. In either case the Mac emulation typically runs
faster on the Amiga than the Mac itself. There is no compatibility
problems otherwise. I use Aldus Pagemaker on the Amax without a problem.
Charles,
Any Amiga can be used. Amax II works with any Amiga. Amax II
Plus, newly out, is for the 2000. Hypercard will run on either.
Amax II Plus is also for the A3000, in fact it works better with an A3000
then with an A2000 due to the flicker free viedo and faster CPU,
MMU etc. etc. etc.
Tim