#Need Advice
22 messages in this thread
My name is Warren Briggs and I'm a brand-spanking new Compuserve user
although I'm not that new to the world of Amiga. I live in Guelph, Ontario
(about 40 minutes from Toronto) and so am planning on attending the World
of Commodore / Amiga show at the end of the month. My brain cramps arise
from the fact that I'm looking to expand my A500 with a hard drive
(priority), memory, and speed if possible. The products I'm currently
considering are IVS's Trumpcard Professional, AdRAM, and Mega Midget Racer.
Because I'm a student (3rd year vet medicine), any investment I make at
this point represents my life!!! 🙂 I want to make an informed decision and
what better place to get advice than this Compuserve forum (or so it
seems!!)! Does anybody know of any compatibility problems with the above
products? What about a Supra Drive with RAM installed? A GVP? What about a
Fat Trapper for RAM expansion? Also, does my 1.5yr old A500 need a new
Agnus to address 1M?? EHLP! I mean HELP!!!
Desperately seeking knowledge… Warren Briggs
Warren,
I can only answer one of your questions….and not very well at
that:
On a new Agnus chip. Unfortunately the answer depends on whether
you happen to have one of the set of A500's that were shipped with the new
Agnus installed, but not activated for 1 Meg of CHIP RAM. The only way to
tell is to open the machine and look at the chip # on Agnus itself.
If it's not the one Meg Agnus, then yes, you'll need to buy a new
Agnus chip (about $100) and have the computer modified to activate the 1
Meg mode. If you already have the chip in your A500, you'll only need the
modification done.
Don
Thanks for the help…. BTW, how will I know when I open up my 500 if the
Agnus is the 1 1meg version or not? You mentioned something about a hcip
thats CHIP number? Warren E. Briggs 71621,2261
Warren,
The Fat Agnus (512k Agnus) is part # 8370
The Super Agnus (1 Meg Agnus) is part #8372A
One of those 2 numbers will be printed on top of the CHIP. By the
way, if you don't know what you're doing…I do NOT suggest you open your
A500.
Don
Thanks for the info. I feel pretty confident about this sort of thing (done
it once or twice in the past)….that is, opened a computer! 🙂 Just what
will the modification involve? Will it render potential add-ons like the
Racer or a hard-drive incompatible?
Just a vet student, Warren
No, the modification involves making 2 cuts on traces on the
motherboard, and soldering one jumper pad. That enables an extra address
line. No compatability problems.
If you are referring to enabling the 1MB chip addressing on an A500, it's
actually ONE trace cut, ONE jumper cut, and ONE jumper solder.
Chris,
My exact quote was: "…involves making 2 cuts on traces on the
motherboard, and soldering one jumper pad."
Now, if you want to make a big deal about cutting a trace between
two jumper pads (or a solder jumper) and cutting a trace between two chip
pins…as if they are somehow or other different kinds of
operations…fine.
No, not a big deal, just a 'small deal'. 🙂 OK?
When you're staring-down PCB taces to do something like that, it helps to
have full details.
I would hope someone wouldn't attempt to modify an A500 with no
more instructions that 'cut 2 traces and solder one jumper' any more than
they'd try to modify one with the instructions 'cut 1 trace, between 1 set
of jumper pads and solder between another set of jumper pads'
Oh well.
Don
Personally, I would go with the AdRAM 540 for memory expansion. 😉
Craig
Aha! Talk to the source…best thing going!! 🙂 So, will the MEga MIdget
Racer be compatible with an Adram? Warren E. Briggs 71621,2261
I have a Supra for my 500 and it's a great way to kill the HD and RAM both
with one stone; The new 500XP looks even more economical, and so does the
new GVP unit for the A500. I would advise against getting a 'trapdoor' RAM
expansion (other than 512K+clock) if you want a hard drive, since RAM in a
Supra or GVP will be more cost-effective and perform better in your system
(it will be true fast-RAM, an Ad-RAM expansion will not).
As for the 'new' Agnus, that only has to do with CHIP RAM, and I wouldn't
worry about it unless you plan to use the system for generating graphics on
a professional level. The Amiga's RAM is expandable to 9MB with or without
it.
Thanks muchly for the info..! What do you know about the transfer rates of
the "new generation" of SCSI controllers? All I read about is the GVP
Series II+, the Supra 500XP and the Trumpcard Prof (which is the only one
that quotes a transfer rate of 1.9M / sec). All they all in basically the
same league or do you know would I be better off with one than the other..?
Maintaining confusion, Warren E. Briggs 71621,2261
Well, the biggest factor in speed is the hard drive itself. I have a Supra
(pre-500XP model, but still just as fast– not as compact since the drive
is external), and find it to be VERY fast. With an inexpensive Seagate
1096N (80MB) I get just over 600K/sec. read and write. I friend dow the
street got a Xetec 'FasTrak' with the same drive (1096N) but barely makes
500K/sec.
I suspect that the Supra can handle even faster speeds and that it's
maxing-out my 1096N speed-wise.
The Trumpcard is the only one which (I believe) is a DMA interface, which
could cause problems with graphics applications, so be cautious about that
one. As for the GVP and Supra, they both have good reputations and both
should function great under almost any conditions. However, I'm not sure
just how fast the new GVP units are.
Thanks for the info….I'll be sure to look into it when I hit that
show…looking for good product at a reasonable price, basically..! 🙂
Warren
>unless you plan to use the system for generating graphics on a
professional level
Geez, Chris! I do NO graphics. None. And I'd rather have a meg of chip than
another meg (or 4!) of fast.
Malcolm
Everyone would like lots of CHIP RAM, but in most cases outside of desktop
video/publishing it's not necessary. The bottom line is, if CHIP RAM stops
you from doing something necessary, then upgrade the Agnus.
Briggsy,
I think that the Kramden utilities can help you discover whether or not you
have the Super Agnus or not. One of the utilities that it offers is SI
(System Information). Among the things SI will tell you is which Agnus is
installed in your machine. You can find the Kramden utilities in one of
the DLs in either this forum or the Amigatech forum (I think it's in the
System DL in Amaigatech).
FYI, my A500 is just about the same age as yours, and SI told me that it
had a Super Agnus, although it hasn't been modified to give me 1M chip RAM.
Robert
Thanks for your help…I'll look into the libraries and see if I can find
that utility package….certainly be a lot easier than prying open my poor
500…. 🙂
Warren
The system utility called ARTM will display much system information,
including Hardware Information and will tell you what Agnus is installed
(amoung many other things).