C= 386SX BB
25 messages in this thread
Marion,
At last my machine is back together…
Windows 3.1 works a treat Wordperfect for Windows behaves as well as it can
(can't believe how slow this is !) Norton sysinfo reports a true 20mhz
Please give me a list of the info you wanted and I'll get back to you
tomorrow.
BTW I also have an AMAX II Plus board running – no conflicts
What a choice I have ! 20mhz 386sx, a Mac Plus and an Amiga 3000T.
Guess which I prefer ?
-Andrew
What are the specs on the A386sx? Like video mode (ie VGA I hope), etc.
Thanks
Matt
I'll publish the full specs again later on, the video mode is CGA or mono.
I use a multifunction card that has VGA on board.
-Andrew
Andrew-
Which multifunction board are you using? What VGA resolutions does it
support/how video memory does it have?
Michael
…..on AutoPilot
Michael,
The board is a GA-100, specs as follows:
512kb video memory All VGA, EGA, CGA, Hercules and MDA modes, register
level compatible 1024×768 in 16 colours, 800×600 in 256 colours enhanced
mode interlaced/non interlaced modes supports 132 column text mode on
standard VGA FCC approved ! (id no. IDW2067082001)
i/o:
IDE interface FDD port 2 RS232 serial ports 1 parallel 1 game port hard
disk led indicator !
No manufacturer name, just says 'made in Taiwan'
Andrew
Interesting… thanks!
Michael
…..on AutoPilot
Andrew –
> The board is a GA-100, specs as follows:
. . . . .
> i/o: IDE interface FDD port 2 RS232 serial ports 1 parallel…
So that is VGA, IDE, serial, and parallel on one board? What are you doing
(if anything) for extra MS-DOS RAM?
Could you check to see what UARTs (16450 or 16550) come on the board
(serial I/O) and whether or not they are socketed?
. . . . . JimDoc
Jim,
The bridgeboard itself takes a maximum of 8mb on board. If I need more I
assume I could add a ram expansion card.
Next time I open the machine I will check those chips and report back to
you. Should be soon.
Andrew
With a VGA card, yes… 😉
Seriously, any VGA emulation would be limited to the specs of the hardware
hosting the emulation… Would you want VGA "emulation" on a productivity
screen? However, you _should_ be able to get EGA as the max color counts
are the same. Since "shoulds" usually aren't, figger on CGA again…
(Am I full of it, or what?)
Brian
– via Whap!
Andrew,
As a 386BB owner, a couple of questions:
1. What is its compatibility with accelerators, specifically the
GVP 68030 Combo boards?
2. What sort of HD options do you have? Can an IDE drive be
connected right to it? Can you partition off a section of
a SCSI drive on the Amiga half?
3. Can you run MS-DOS applications and Amiga applications
simultaneously? How does the Amiga/BB handle printer
sharing and other devices?
Eric Robbins
also: Where can I get one? and how much?!?
Eric,
1) I have a G-Force '040 card in my Tower and there are no problems.
2) You can only set up virtual drives C to G on an Amiga HD, each 'drive'
is 32mb max (they are big files not partitions) and they are SLOW. There is
no HD interface on the BB. I'm using a multifunction card which gives me
VGA, IDE, 2xSerial, 1xParallel, 2xFloppy. This works very well, I have an
100mb ide drive connected to it and its quite quick.
3) Yes you can. Because I have a VGA card I have made a monitor switch box
which allows me to switch from Amiga display to PC display. I could start a
long printjob from WordPerfect on the PC, then switch back to the Amiga and
carry on whapping as normal. The BB software allows you to allocate the
Amiga's parallel port as LPT1. This works fine but as I have a
multifunction card I have all the PC ports I need.
I'm in the UK so I can't help on where and how much. I suggest you hassle
your dealer or C=.
-Andrew
Andrew,
How many UK Pounds did the board cost? I could easily arrange for a fellow
Amigan of Amateur Radio operator to purchase one for me over there and ship
it stateside. Its just a matter of finding someone willing to go through
the trouble.
What is the make and model of the multifunction board you use? (IBM)
ERIC
Eric,
C='s RRP is 599 pnds. I got it for alot less than that. Ref the
multifunction card, please see the reply to Michael Gerard.
Andrew
Andrew…
A list…well, people here are hungry for anything they can get.
Any problems with installing Windows?
Are you running in 386 enhanced mode or standard?
Does it work well in standard?
How much memory do you have?
How well does the Amiga mouse work with Windows?
What DOS are you running?
What else have you used with the 386 BB?
What hardware do you have? VGA etc? Any conflicts?
Can you run speed tests–Norton, etc. I'd appreciate seeing the results.
How well does LPT1 work with Windows?
Etc., etc.
Thanks.
The board has just been announced here as part of a 3000 configuration, but
it's not generally available stand-alone, and people are VERY interested in
it.
Marion
CROSSINGS
Newsletter for the Bridgeboard
Marion,
Q) Any problems with installing Windows? A) None at all
Q) Are you running in 386 enhanced mode or standard?
Does it work well in standard? A) 386 enhanced mode – havn't tried
standard
Q) How much memory do you have? A) 8mb
Q) How well does the Amiga mouse work with Windows? A) Perfectly ! All I
had to do was edit the system.ini to read 'mouse.drv=AMOUSE3.DRV' and move
a copy of AMOUSE3.DRV from the Janus floppy to the Windows dir.
Q) What DOS are you running? A) 5.0
Q) What else have you used with the 386 BB? A) Wordperfect for Windows,
Sharp IQ organizer link, Seikosha smart label printer, xtree gold, norton.
Q) What hardware do you have? VGA etc? Any conflicts? A) VGA &
Multifunction card all in one, called a GA100 from Taiwan ! Works fine – no
reported problems
Q) Can you run speed tests–Norton, etc. I'd appreciate seeing the results.
A) I have printed out a complete Norton sysinfo. Please give me a fax
number and its yours.
Q) How well does LPT1 work with Windows? A) So far only one timeout error.
Printing 'normal' text to postscript has not caused any problems.
Hope this helps. Send me a fax number so I can get this pile of printout
off my desk !
Regards,
Andrew
Andrew…
Great info…thanks.
My fax number is (US) 212-369-1570. It's a fax modem, so it's usually
available during the day, eastern standard time. Or you can send me info
at:
Deland Editorial Services
345 East 93rd St, #26E
New York NY 10128
Marion
CROSSINGS
Newsletter for the Bridgeboard.
To Andrew and anybody else who wishes to comment…
Has anyone seen or have in thier Amiga's the new Vortex Golden
Gate?….It is now available in the UK according to my sources. Its a 25Mhz
386SX Bridgeboard (not emulator), I presume this would be very similar in
spec to the CBM offering +5Mhz.
If anyone has any comments I would be pleased to hear them
Paul
Paul
Plymouth,England
Havn't seen this one (Vortex) yet Paul. I'll let you know if I do.
Have you got your Supra software yet ?
Andrew
Andrew,
If you mean GP-Fax then no I have not, at present there would
seem to be no way to get software only and presently I am more concerned
with getting the modem to operate correctly in data mode.
You may have seen some of the many messages here from myself and others
about the problems we have with it. So far none of my original problems
have been resolved.
Can you tell me if the CBM 386BB comes with a 5.25 floppy?….you may
have posted this before, if so I am sorry to ask you to repeat yourself
:-). But when comparing prices these details are important, the more I look
into this the more the Vortex looks overpriced.
Paul
Paul
Plymouth,England
Paul,
The A2386 does not come with a 5.25" floppy. It does come with all the
cables necessary to share an Amiga floppy. There is a small program called
flipper that automatically detects what format floppy you have inserted and
deals with it accordingly. I'm using a standard PC high density drive that
I got for 35 quid, works fine. When C= bring out the long awaited hdd for
the Amiga, the bridgeboard will be able to share this as a pc drive.
Andrew
Andrew…
What size disks does the DOS come on? It's 5.0, right?
I got the faxes…thanks.
Marion
CROSSINGS
Newsletter for the Bridgeboard, etc.
Yes its Dos 5.0 and it comes on 3 C= Badged DSDD 3.5" floppies, there is
also an Amiga Janus and a PC Janus diskette.
Andrew
All on 3.5"? I guess they decided that you can always access the Commdore
drive.
On the other hand, doesn't the Flipper program work only for the A: drive?
What happens if your A: drive is an old Bridgeboard 5.25" drive? Can you
still use 3.5" disks?
Marion
CROSSINGS
Newsletter for the Bridgeboard, etc.
Flipper can handle A: or B: Drive B: can be internal/external or
shared and can share df0: or df1: All you have to do is make your
Amiga df0: a shared drive for A: and change the cables round so your
5.25 is drive B: Alternatively your 5.25" drive could make a handy
door stop or even a bird table if you tied a broom stick to
it…….ho ho
Ha, ha!
Thanks…
Marion