#Emplant Startup Prob.
11 messages in this thread
Hi, Steve. Yikes! I had no idea when I purchased Emplant that I'd need that
much memory–I thought I had plenty. Problem is, I've already dropped $700 for
Emplant and a new 340 MB hard drive. I'm not ready to drop another $350 for a
DKB 2632 memory card. However, it sounds like I've got no choice if I want to
use what I've already purchased. Ouch.
Thanks for the help! Regards, Phil COmbs
Would a DKB 2632 memory card really add contiguous 32 bit ram? If so how?
I have similar problem.
Joe Clarkson
Joe,
It should. AmigaDOS 2.1 will basically pool all the 32 bit ram into a
contiguous chunk, at least it's supposed to.
Steve
PMJI This isn't true with DKB 2632 eg. if you use a 8MB SIMM mixed with a
16MB one, the biggest AVAILable chunk will be just 8MB (due board design
perhaps?). So I was forced to change my 8MB SIMM with a second 16MB SIMM
and afterwards together with the original DKB 4MB SIMM contiguous memory
reached 36MB. A2630 original 2MB 32bit RAM (not burstable) still remains
outside of this memory block.
Emplant recognizes this 36MB contiguous memory correctly BUT I'm not able
to use OpalVisionQDPAL videodriver, which needs only 2.25MB(!).
OpalVisionQDNTSC driver, which needs 1.75MB (smaller than A2630 2MB
DMA&autoconfig 32bitRAM), works well. Strange! BTW I have 2MBChipRAM &
2MB16bitFastRAM too! You see, plenty of memory.
This is one of several unsolved mysteries (at last to me) when using
Emplant software – crash as crash can.
😉 Bruno
Bruno,
Well, I guess the A2630 isn't properly designed if what you described
is the case. Technically, you'd expect that any ram added to the board should
get merged into one chunk unless the accelerator doesn't have an MMU. When I
had my 2000 I only had a much older GVP 3001 accelrator which only handled 8
meg max, so that was my limit and I never had any problem with contiguous ram.
But that's a far cry from what you and Phil are using.
Steven,
Oldies are goldies <g> … BTW I enjoyed your informative message about
empser.device at AmigaVend/UU sec, much better than Big Jim himself (IMHO)
and I'm looking forward to a empscsi.device report because I don't believe
in Emplant Hardware Manual anymore (after strange test results) which told
me this dev will understand every SCSI direct command.
NRN Bruno
From what I understand, it will. Regards, Phil Combs
Phil,
If there's another less expensive option you would really need to talk
with Jim or Joe at UU about how to configure your Emplant for maximum use of
your available memory. I don't have any other helpful suggestions for your at
this point.
Steve
I talked with Joe–he basically said, "Buy more memory." At this point, I have
spent a lot more than I originally planned on, so I'm thinking about returning
the whole kit and kaboodle for a refund. For the amount of money I've already
spent, as well as what I will have to spend to upgrade the memory, I can buy a
low-cost Mac.
Thanks for the help. Regards, Phil Combs
Phil,
Yes, that's almost true until you figure in the monitor and keyboard.
Plan on at least $199 for the cheapest monitor and $80 for the cheapest
keyboard. If you get the better Apple monitor it's around $300 and the
extended keyboard is about $125. Of course you can get a Mac Color Classic for
under $900, but it won't be as fast. An alternative may be an Amax II Plus.
Since the Amax II Plus basically grabs all of Amiga memory for the emulation
and uses the MMU on the accelerator to effectively merge it to the Mac's
satisfaction you can get an effective emulation and use all of your available
ram. However, you won't have any color. I used that setup quite
satisfactorily. If you do return the Emplant, I have an Amax II Plus with ROMs
which I'd be happy to part with. Let me know.
Steve
Should I decide to go that way, I'll let you know. Regards, Phil Combs