#SCSI Card for Tool Box??
45 messages in this thread
To fellow Tool Box/Tool Bus owners:
I regret that I have my Quantum 80meg drive plugged into a FlashCard.
Is is a drive card made by the original producers of the Tool Box, which I
used when I found that GVP's drive card were not compatible with my
A1000/Tool Box.
I have waited for more than a year for the auto boot ROMs which were
promised when I bought it. The card is disgracefully slow, given to lockup
the machine, or simply stops working. Often it needs to be removed and
reseated into its slot (it's contacts are tin, not gold plated). In short
it stinks!
I would really appreciate it if anyone knows of any other drive card
which is compatible with my A1000/Tool Box pair. If I have to, I will call
up the manufacturer (which has changed names, inorder to continue its
business) and ask them, but I 'd rather hear from someone that has it
working!
-RSL-
Roy,
I've got a toolbox on my 1000. It doesn't have a HD yet, ($) but I did try
it out with a Trumpcard. I also tried Commodore's own 2091 card in a 500
toolbox. That combination worked sucessfully. BTW, there's a file around
here somewhere that covers some of the problems with using the toolbox. The
1000 has a reputation for being flakey with unbuffered expansion boxes.
Some 1000's work, others don't.
-Jim
Jim,
Can you or anyone else remember the name of that file? I would like to
try putting a multi-serial card in an A1000/ToolBox. I would ALSO like to
use a TrumpCard Pro controller with it. Anyone have any knowledge along
these lines?
Scott
Scott, I can't remember the exact name of the file. It was in the hardware
library before the forums were reorganized. I can't say anything about the
Trumpcard Pro, mine is the old version.
-Jim
Another vote for the Trumpcard. When I was using a subsystem 500 with my
(recently sold) Amiga 500, I used an IVS trumpcard. A darlin' little thing
that I would stillbe using if I hadn't converted to an A2000. You see, I
had tried to use a Supra WordSync controller with the SubSystem. Needless
to say, it _BOMBED_ Since this was during last year's AmiExpo in San
Francisco, I went back and explained my problem to the Supra people who
very icely told me that their A2000 card won't work in an A500 expansion
chassis. Since the toolbox guy was there, I asked him about it. 10 minutes
later, I owned a trumpcard. I still have it now… in case my Wordsync
dies.
Most of the people I know with Trumpcards like them. I've installed a few
of them without any real problems. They may not be flashy, but they work. I
had a chance to install a Supra Wordsync in a 2000 recently. They're also a
nice unit. I was impressed by the installation software. It was much
clearer than the Kronos I had to deal with. 🙂 In fairness to the
controllers that don't work in toolbox type units, I tend to blame the
toolboxes for not being "proper" expansion devices.
J. Scott,
I'm using the IVS Trumpcard Pro on my A500/ToolBox. . .most
excellent! (See my message to Roy) I'm about to try out the
new ROM + config software IVS sent me. . .I'll keep everyone
posted.
Greg Marquez / ECHiDNA
Thanks Jim,
I realized the Tool Box's limitations about two minutes after it arrived
in the mail, but it was the only game in town. I like having one foot in
the past (an A1000 with the rejuvenator board, memory expansion and an 80
meg Quantum drive) and one in the future (an A3000 with the latest 2.02,
with 260 megs of hard drive memory and 2 megs Chip/4 megs Fast RAM). I'd
like to continue using my old A1000, but the d*mn FlashCard is soooo cheap,
that I am getting tired of repeatedly banging on the Tool Box to reseat the
drive card!
Thanks for the suggestion, but what works on the A500/Tool Box doesn't
necessarily insure that it would work on an A1000!
-RSL-
I know what you mean about living in the past and future simultaneously. My
own system is a 1000 with 4 megs and a Trumpcard. Down at the store I use
the demo 3000 with 6 megs. That thing has spoiled me to the point where I'm
considering a MegaMidget Racer for the 1000. So, how did you implement 260
megs of HD space? The store owner is thinking about putting a second 40 meg
Quantum in his demo 3000.
It's sad but true that what flys in the 500 toolbox won't necessarily work
in the 1000. I wish we had a 2091 that I could test in my toolbox. The one
I tested in a 500 was actually defective. The RAM expansion would not work
in a couple of 2000's, but worked fine in a 500 box.
-Jim
Jim,
My primary hard drive (device #7) is a new Quantum 210 meg drive. While
I wait for someone (Commodore?) to come out with an internal tape backup
drive, I use the spare drive bay for the 50 meg Quantum that came with the
A3000 25/50. The major impediment against using my A3000 more is that I am
running it purely in 2.0 mode, while my super-charged A1000 is running 1.3.
It's interesting that I use my CLI (WShell) solely on my A1000 and use
workbench half the time with my A3000. I'm not sure whether it's because
2.0 Workbench is better, or my favorite program, SID, doesn't run with 2.0!
-RSL-
Roy,
That sounds like quite a setup on the 3000. I was curious if two SCSI
devices would behave on the 3000, after all that talk of glitches with the
2091. We've got a 40 meg Quantum that a new 2000HD owner traded in for an
80 meg drive that we want to put in that second bay. As a store demo unit,
it tends to get filled up with lots of demo software. I tend to fill up the
HD with huge animations. Which is why our 3000 stays in 1.3. I can't seem
to get any of the anim players to work under 2.0.
-Jim
Jim,
I can testify that you can use two internal SCSI devices in the A3000.
I have heard comments from others that one or another beta version of 2.0
had problems in accessing external SCSI devices using the external port. I
have my 210 meg quantum as SCSI #7 and the stock quantum 50 meg drive as
SCSI #6 for about a month without any problems. My DeluxePaint III seems
to run Anim files well, but I haven't tried any of the PD players on it.
Commodore's 2.02 is a significant improvement from its older versions and I
would advise everyone to get it and use it. I can't wait for PD and
shareware updates to appear so that I can use my A3000 even more. I
realize that it can operate in 1.3 mode, but I prefer to use my
supercharged A1000 for 1.3 and leave A3000 for 2.02 "testing".
-RSL-
Roy,
Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear…. Now the store owner can't make
up his mind whether to put the spare Quantum in the 3000 or in the 2000 we
use to demo the Video Toaster. (A nifty product, by the way.) Now we're
thinking of putting it in it's own external box & swapping it. 🙂
-Jim
Jim,
I was considering a Toaster, but that "small need" for a TBC (for more
than $2000) has diminished my wish for it. I have decided to bide my time,
and see what PP&S's 32-bit graphics board will look like!
Another point is that short of hack-sawing my A3000 chasis, it won't fit
in it. With all the cost of TBC's and professional "lockable" video
equipment, this isn't anything close a to hobbiest economy – unless you're
Khalid <g>. I really like the rumors of the 32-bit board. I can't wait to
hear more.
-RSL-
It looks fantastic – I saw it at Anaheim. The ray traced image they had on
it looked like "Wet Paint".
BBS->Williams.Ben[AA7AS]
Ben,
Something to look forward to. Any idea how much it's going to cost?
-RSL-
Ben,
Something to look forward to. Any idea how much it's going to cost?
-RSL-
Roy,
I have to agree that the need for a TBC takes the Toaster out of the
reach of most hobbyists. At least those who want to use it with tape
sources. I imagine that there would be some out there who would want one
just for the character generator or Lightwave. They could just grow into
the TBC's as their interest went in that direction. Personally, I like
Lightwave for it's similarities to Videoscape… Too bad I can't swing a
single-frame recorder at this time. 🙂
PP&S is working on a 32-bit board? Interesting…. I suppose it's
dangerous in the computer game to say "you'll never need more than X", but
is there a perceptible difference between 24 and 32 bit color? I'm
considering the Firecracker board… a friend recently told me he had one,
but knowing him, it might still be a Beta test unit.
-Jim
"32 bit color" isn't more color – it's other things like tranparency
overlays and the like, genlock, you know. They use the extra bits/pixel for
various and sundry things, but I have yet to see them used for more color
than 24 bits.
Re the Toaster, I _believe_ that it is still not FCC class B approved, so
it's not even _legal_ for most hobbyists to use, much less affordable. If
it's been Class B approved, I'm sure RAD Moose will jump in here and
correct me. :^)
And of course the lack of a real time paint is a serious shortcoming…
LightWave is very impressive… I was able to make some really nice images
in just a few minutes with it, and I consider myself a complete idiot when
it comes to rendering. It made it seem totally natural and easy – a program
I could use, unlike Turbo, a program I own and have *no* idea in this
universe how to operate. It seems to have a user interface (and I use the
term very loosely) designed for martians, or perhaps Alpha Centaurians.
And the firecracker makes terriffic output – I've seen the puppy.
BBS->Williams.Ben[AA7AS]
There are a few S-VHS VCRs out on the higher end of the spectrum that have
TBCs built in. These machines are around $2000 to start if I remember
rightly.
24-bits for color is basically the max 'cause from what I understand that
is the limit of human vision. While boards may improve by being able to
DISPLAY all 16.7 million colors at once (limited, of course, by the sheer
number of pixels on the screen) I think that there isn't much beyond 24-bit
color. (There are rumors as to people working on 32-bit graphics boards
where the colors are designated for CYMB instead of RGB and uses 8-bits
per color… but rumors are rumors and while that might be great for
printing, it would play heck with the monitor market.
-Chas
Jim,
PP&S's 32 bit board does not use all of it's bits for a single graphics.
It displays 24 bit graphics with the additional 8 bits for sprite and
transparency effects. I'm certainly not sure about the details yet, but it
sounds fascinating (although, since it uses a TI 34020 chip it's got to be
expensive). It sounds real "state-of-the-art", and after all that's why I
got into my Amiga <grin>.
-RSL-
Jim,
PP&S's 32 bit board does not use all of it's bits for a single graphics.
It displays 24 bit graphics with the additional 8 bits for sprite and
transparency effects. I'm certainly not sure about the details yet, but it
sounds fascinating (although, since it uses a TI 34020 chip it's got to be
expensive). It sounds real "state-of-the-art", and after all that's why I
got into my Amiga <grin>.
-RSL-
Roy,
I put my vote in for the IVS Trumpcard Professional. My
configuration is an Amiga 500, a ToolBox, a Microbotics 8-UP SIMM
card with 6 megabytes of memory, and a 3 week old Trumpcard Pro.
So far it's worked WONDERFULLY. I too had problems with the
Flash!Card (the one sold by the makers of the ToolBox), so much
so that I stopped using my hard drive. But the Trumpcard Pro
has performed admirably! The configuration software is also
MUCH better than the stuff I used to set up the Flash!Card.
Two thumbs up to IVS.
Greg Marquez / ECHiDNA
(PS, I just received a new ROM and new config software from IVS. . .
let's see if I can speed up my pokey ol' ST-157N with caching).
Richard,
Thanks for the info, but just because the TrumpCard works with the Tool
Box/A500 combo it doesn't insure success with a Tool Box/A1000 (the A1000
timing signals are not identical to the A500/A2000). Have you ever had the
chance to try using it on an A1000, or know anyone who has?
I guess I'll have to start calling drive board makers and ask them, then
buying the card from someone who will return it if it still doesn't work.
I'll probably try Go-Amiga, they have been extremely helpful in the past.
-RSL-
Roy:
I gave up waiting for my autoboot ROMs. I have found my flashcard to be
quite reliable, though _very_ slow. (Max of 65K on Dperf2) Not much faster
than floppies. Let me know if you find one that works, I might be
interested in upgrading.
Clint <VRLI>
Clint:
At first the FlashCard was working well, but I have my computer in a
rather humid environment that it's tin contacts don't seem to tolerate it
well. I will keep you in mind if I find a useful replacement, but
currently my economic resources have been focused on my brand new A3000. I
just bought another toy for it (a JX-100/ScanLab100/TAD). It's true what
they say, the difference between men and boys is the price of the toys <g>!
-RSL-
Roy:
My wife uses the 1000 with the ToolBox, while I use the 2500/30. My
excuse is that I do alot of lengthly animations with Vista, and that it
_requires_ a more powerful machine. <grin> She's beginning to want more
power herself, so the kids may get stuck with the 1000.
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
In my first attempt to answer your message my wonderful FlashCard!
locked up and wrecked one of my hard drive partitions. Fortunately I
backed it up last week, so all is recovered (after only two hours of work).
Boy, I really want a new drive controller board (or a version of Whap! that
will run on an A3000)!!!!
What I would really like is a ethernet kind of set up to use my A3000 as
a server/user and my A1000 sans drive as a user. I realize that parnet
makes this somewhat possible, but it's too much of a kludge.
-RSL-
Roy:
That sounds like an idea. I heven't heard of an ethernet add on for
the 1000, possibly a board designed for the 2000 will work in the Toolbox,
but I'm sure no-one would guarantee it. I think Syndesis has software that
will function as a server on the 2000, (but I may be thinking of something
else) but I don't know about 2.0/3000 compatibility. I'm beginning to think
it's time to get my 3 Amigas networked, as soon as I can afford the
additional hardware/software.
Clint <VRLI>
With our TSSnet software, you get peer-to-peer networking that can share
files between any machines. At this time, it means using our file-copy
utility to move files between machines… you don't get direct access to
the files. Someday, we'll have that, but it's not ready now. One other
problem, Roy, is that there aren't any good methods of linking those Amiga
1000s to the A2000s. TSSnet works fine under WB 2.0 and the A3000. We
develop it on a mix of A2000s and A3000s.
John:
I was hoping you'd reply to this. I thought this was the case, but my
memory is quite dynamic, and my refresh cycles are often longer than
needed. <grin> I figured that if Roy contacted you, you would let him know
the correct details.
Clint <VRLI>
Our number is (608) 455-1422, and operators are standing by…
How's the massaging of data going, after you've moved it down from the
mainframe?
John:
I've clipped out the Valles Marineris data, all 4000km's of it, and
made a 6 disk 88 landscape set out of it. The rest needs to be normalized
so the spherical abboration is removed. Right now that is awaiting the
arrival of a DAT tape drive, which will facilitate handling of such massive
amounts of data.
My own networking plans won't be able to be acted upon before next
summer at the earliest, unless we have a _great_ Christmas season.
Clint <VRLI>
John,
My A1000 is not a standard version. It contains an insider board, a
rejuvenator board as well as as a Tool Box expansion chasis. It will
contain the ECS set as well as 2.0 ROM (someday). I realize that the A1000
has a different timing spec than the A2000, A3000. I wish that I could
network it to my new A3000 and use my FlashCard Drive controller as a door
stop <grin>.
For th time being I will keep on dreaming!
-RSL-
Clint,
Someday (when I have both the time and the money) I will talk to the
guys at Go-Amiga about testing such a set up out. They have been very
kind, and I have been a VERY good customer, so maybe they'll go for it!
It certainly would get rid of my FlashCard problems, and I could add my
A1000's 80 meg into my A3000 (if I could find any room in the chasis
(gee… I really wish that Commodore had marketed a tower version – I
thought that they would have announced it two days after I bought my A3000
<g>).
Something to ponder about…
-RSL-
Roy:
I finally had to add a tower to my 2500/30 to keep all of my new disk
drives and tape drives. My 620 meg Wren won't fit in the 2500 chassis. But
that gives me a lot of room to expand. <grin> I'm torn between upgrading my
wife's 1000 or delegating it to game machine status and getting her a 3000.
I expect that she would prefer the latter. :^)
Clint <VRLI>
Cliff,
Donate the A1000 to a local elementary school (or better yet, to me! 🙂
and use it for a tax write-off. Then you could get an A500P, a pair of
ethernet cards and run wires through your house, etc. etc. Give you wife
the A500 that is networked to your machine. (She'll probably want my head
if you do that, but….)
-Chas
Charles:
No way!!! We're emotionally attached to the 1000, and wouldn't let
it out of the house. The kids need more than a single 500 anyway. It'll
take a minimum of 5 Amigas to keep this household happy. <grin>
Clint <VRLI>
Hmmmm, better not let Betty Ford hear about this….before you know it
there'll be "Amiga Treatment Centers" all over the country where noting but
Nintendo's and PC Clones will be found!
-Chas
Clint:
When you added a tower case to you 2500/30 was it the Bomac tower? Also
are you running more than one power supply? I'm looking for an additional
power supply for my Bomac Tower as I'm fairly sure I'm right up at the
Amiga power supply's upper limit. Along with having only one XT slot open,
I've got 2 Quantum HD's, a SyQuest, a Wangtek tape unit, and Bridge floppy
all on the standard power supply! Do you have any suggestions for an
additional power supply?
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
external drive cases which hold 2 1/2 ht hds work dandy.
Mike:
I'm using the JDR Microdevices 'Little Foot' which has a 250 watt
power supply. The connection with the Amiga is currently through a 50
connector SCSI cable. I got it primarily for the additional drive space and
power supply. Cost was $249.
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
What kind of a tower? Is it the Golem Tower recently advertised in AW?
If I had a wish list for what my A3000 should have been it would be a tower
configuration, and enhanced graphics/sound circuitry, as well as a
streaming tape device!
-RSL-
Roy:
No, it's the 'Little Foot' tower by JDR MicroDevices. The only
connection to my 2500/30 is through a 50 pin SCSI cable. It's got a 250
watt supply, which is plenty for several full height drives. I just stuck a
330 meg Priam on it to add to my 620 meg Wren. With my 105 meg quantum
(sitting oh so lonely, out in the 2500 case) I now have over a gigabyte on
line. Just to think, it's been less than 16 years since I was quite happy
to have just 256 bytes of RAM in my Altair. <grin>
Clint <VRLI>