xt bridgeboard
17 messages in this thread
how do i expand the memory of my 2088 bridgeboard?
The only way to expand the memory of a 2088 is to buy an expansion card of
some type and use up one of the IBM slots. (There is no room for more than
512K on the motherboard of the 2088). A good bet is some kind of multi
function card although XT-type cards are now quite hard to find as most
makers have ceased their manufacture; you ususally have to find a used one
at a computer fair or used computer shop. By the way, in case you didn't
know, a multi-function card is a card which contains, in addition to extra
memory, a serial, parallel, and sometimes a game port. I hope I've been of
some help.
Don
thanks for responding. Ironically I went out today and purchased a used
board with 128k on it and it works. Do you think there would be any reason
to take this thing further than the 640k it is now at, or can't it handle
anymore than 640k?
Anthony,
There used to be some expanded-memory cards for the XT that worked fine
with the BB, but there aren't many around any more. Most have been
discontinued.
Marion
CROSSINGS
(Newsletter for the Bridgeboard)
Just thought I drop a note regarding the expansion board availability. I
just bought a 384K expansion board with game prot, serial port and parallel
port (no memory) for $80.00 mail order. It didn't work since it required
that the system need at least 256K. I solved my problem by remove the
higher memory bank (physically lower on the board) and loading the
expansion board completely. Since then, no problems.
P.S. Since I'be had my BB for >3 years, I'm not too concerned about
voiding the warantee.
Anthony,
I solved my conventional memory addition with AST SixPakPlus from
Bulldog
Computer Products in Georgia. I've posted previous messages about them.
Alternatively, if you want only memory you can order the DEMO-2000X from
Alex Electronics in San Antonio, TX. It is a Rambank capable of 2 Meg and
made by Diamond Flower Electric Instrument. The card can backfill
conventional memory if needed to 640K and allocate the rest to expanded
memory.
On my setup I've found that some programs cannot make use of both EMS
memory and a ramdisk setup on the same card. You might want the Rambank
for the ramdisk capability. Anyway, one or both can certainly enhance your
A2088 XT bridgeboard.
On the PCMAG Utilities/Tips forum, Sally, one of the sysops, revealed
that the Everex 3000 Deluxe card has a switch on it to enable either XT or
AT use. If so, you can later move this card to a 286 or better and use it
for extended memory on a different machine, I suppose. Someone may want to
verify the information on the Everex card. Telemart in Arizona sells it.
A lot of these places advertise on the MALL (GO PCA), PC Magazine, Computer
Shopper, etc. Be sure to check return policies and available help.
Dalco Electronics (GO DA) has nice prices on the DRAM chips needed to
fill out the memory on these boards. You need 36 of the 41256 DRAMS to
make one meg. Check your boards' specs for the correct speed. Mine are a
mixture of 120 nanoseconds (ns) and 100 ns. My Rambank manual says chips
as slow as 150 ns or 200 ns are fast enough for it. Again, check your
specs!
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Gayle Lee Fairless
'Perfessor Fearless'
I have an ancient MicroSoft RAMcard for the IBM PC that I'm hoping will
work with the bridgecard. I'm going to put it in this weekend, we'll see.
My used Bridgeboard didn't come with a manual. Do I need to do anything to
the BB or software to make it recognize the extra 128K?
What do you folks use the BridgeBoards for, anyway? I need to run XYwrite
for editing files from our typesetting system. I can't see the XT bridge
being useful for much else… However, if I can use this thing for anything
else interesting, I'm all ears!
…Denny Atkin
Denny,
I use my Bridgeboard (though I now have the AT version) for three things:
RootsIII, my genealogy program, and two financial programs, Quicken and
TurboTax. The latter two are excellent – and they work together. I'd love
to see something of the sort on the Amiga. Some of the financial things
are a bit like Quicken, but less capable. We have nothing to compare with
TurboTax.
Betty
Quicken! I didn't think about that! Thanks, Betty! Is it useable on an XT
BB, or too slow to be useful?
…Denny Atkin
Denny,
I have not found Quicken to be excessively slow on the XT. I used it there
for quite some time before I bought the 2500 (which was an educational
package with the AT BB as part of the package.) I would certainly hate to
try doing my income tax again without Quicken and TurboTax – – unless and
until someone does an equally capable set of programs for the Amiga.
Betty
Betty,
Do you have any experience with Phasar & Phasar Tax?
…Dave
Davey,
I had an old copy of Phasar, and I know that it is pretty good. I have not
used Phasar Tax. Someone gave me a bundled copy of Quicken and TurboTax
two or three years ago, and I've just used them ever since. Is Phasar Tax
as good as TurboTax? Does it come out with a new version every year
reflecting the changes in the tax laws? I'd like to know more about it.
Betty
I've not had experienace with TurboTax so can't comment, and my tax guy
does my returns so I don't know much about Phasar Tax either. I was hoping
you did. I have used Phasar for about 4 years and it is great. I am a beta
tester for it and Tom Marks is very open to input and contunues to support
and upgrade the program. I have suggested a Homebanking interface. Maybe
you and I need to get together with Tom and make some suggestions based on
your use of Tubo and mine of Phasar. Give me a list of what Tubo does that
you love and I'll compare it to Phasar. Phasar should have every capability
that Turbo does and I know that Tom will welcome the info. A little effort
here and we could be instumental in the perfection of the best accounting
program for the Amiga. Just think, immortalized in Amigadom!
One thing I can think of right now is a converter for Turbo files.
…Dave
Denny,
the memory must be addressed at 0x8000 but other than that, you
don't need to do anything to get it recognized.
You can use the BB for anything you could use an IBM-XT for.
Don
Don,
Thanks, I'll check the address DIP switches when I install it.
Yeah, there's not much I'd want to use an XT for, though… So far Quicken
and XyWrite are about all that come to mind….
…Denny Atkin
Denny,
I set the switches on the AST SixPakPlus to tell it how much memory
was present and how much memory it had. Other choices had to do with
configuring the parallel to LPT2, setting the serial port to COM1, and
using the AST clock instead of the Amiga time service. I also discontinued
the time task on the Amiga side.
Memory recognition was automatic. The POST test in the BIOS
detected it right away.
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Gayle Lee Fairless
'Perfessor Fearless'
Anthony,
With an XT type memory expansion board. Preferably one about to
backfill from 512k up to 640k and then go above that as EMS ram.
Don