Amiga OS 2.0 & CDTV
12 messages in this thread
Betty,
Will I be able to install the new ROMs myself or will I have to
bring my A2000 into a shop? Also, I need 2megs ram to run OS 2.0, will any
RAM card work?
Thanks for the help,
Alex
Alexander, I don't know about those ROMS and the difficulty of installation
yet. I know that, while some people have done it for themselves, it is not
advisable for most people to install the 1M Agnus chip. It is in a fragile
socket that breaks very easily, and it requires a special tool to remove it
easily. Most people are better off to have it installed for them. I think
the others are easier to install, but you have to take lots of parts out of
the case to get to them. We really don't know what some of the chips will
be like, since they are not yet released.
For the A2000, I suspect any of the RAM cards available will work just
fine. I haven't heard of any that don't work.
……Betty
Betty,
I am moving my Amiga where there are no Amiga dealers before the
new ROM are available. What do you recomend?
Alex
Alexander, you can get the new Agnus now – so you could have that one
installed. The others, so far as I know, will be easier to remove without
breaking anything. If there are no dealers, and you cannot get to one, I
suppose you will have no choice but to do it yourself. Putting in a chip
is not a big deal if the socket is strong, if you get the chips turned the
right way, and if you are careful about bending pins and about static
electricity. The Agnus is the hard one. (I don't really know what the
others will be like. Maybe someone else knows?)
……Betty
Betty,
How new is the new Agnus? I bought by A2000 last September, could
I have the new Agnus already?
Alex
Alexander,
You can tell easily. The old Agnus had 512K of chip memory; the newer one
has 1M – and the one in the 3000 can support 2M of chip memory. To find
out how much you have, just go to the CLI and type AVAIL. This will tell
you how much chip and fast memory your system has. If the total chip
memory is over 512K, you have the Agnus that you need for 2.0. The
500/2000 will not, without modification, accept the 2M agnus chip.
……Betty
Why do you say you need 2 MB of ram to run 2.0? There shouldn't be any
ram card incompatibilities.
— Ethan
Ethan,
According to Betty you need 2megs to take full advantage of OS 2.0
Alex
Alexander,
Once 2.0 is in ROM, it will run with either 512K, 1 Meg or more of
memory. Right now, you need at least a 512k autoconfig board (NOT the A501
for an A500) for 2.0 to work. Since most autoconfig memory boards come in
at least 1 meg or more sizes, that means that you "need" 2 Meg for 2.0 to
run. But that's not a permanent requirement.
The above doesn't apply to the A3000 of course.
Don
Don,
If I buy the GVP +2 hard card with 2 megs RAM, can I later get a
different RAM card to add even more RAM, or will the two conflict?
Alex
Alex,
Yes, you *should* be able to. The Amiga specs for hardware design
are smart enough to allow for multiple expansion cards and there's a
provision to avoid address conflicts in it.
Don
Ethan, so long as Kickstart has to be put into fast memory in order to make
2.0 work, that takes 512K, and other parts of the system have to have some
memory, so that there is very little of the first meg left once 2.0 is
loaded. You have to have some more to load and run a program. I really
think 2M is about the minimum to get a great deal of benefit from it.
Those newer, higher resolution screen modes are going to take more RAM,
too, you know.
……Betty