#Bridgeboard
32 messages in this thread
Dear Sysop: I have an A2000 with the bridgeboard. It works very well and I
am happy with it. However, I have some questions that the manual does not
answer. I bought an IBM game that uses a joystick and sound. My joystick
doesn't work and I have not heard a peep out of the Ibm side. I checked
the book and it indicated that perhaps my sound connectionon the
bridgeboard is not connected to the amiga. Is that possible!
Unfortunately, there is no mention of what is required to use a joystick
with the Ibm side. Have I missed something? I would appreciate your
help. odell /ex
Odell:
Connector J2 on the BridgeBoard may be connected to an EXTERNAL speaker.
The current version of the Janus software doesn't allow Amiga emulation of
PC-side sound.
Roger
I don't have a bridge card so this could well be wind but I don't
think the the Amy's mouse ports are see at all by the bride. To use a
mouse/joy stick with the bridge I believe that you have to install an IBM
style card that have the connector (just like you would have to do on the
IBM or clone). I also see that you already have an answer about the
external speaker. 73, bill
Just out of curiosity, have you been waiting long for a Bridge card? Our
company (WeatherConnect, Inc.) has been waiting for an XT Bridge card for
quite a while. I called CBM Westchester and they claimed that they haven't
done a production run on the cards for quite a while. Why? I don't know!
-Brendan Larson, WeatherConnect, Inc.
Rumor has it that CBM stopped production of the A2088 card in
anticipation of the AT style card (A2286 ?). The AT style card has taken
longer than expected and thus supplies have dried up. IF this rumor is
true (and you call to CBM seems to indicate it is) then CBM has made
another dumb move and as a result lost sales.
Not only have they lost potential sales, but they've possibly ruinedoject
and sales!! I NEED to test the IBM Bridge Card with some software sent to
me from another weather company. They're 51/4" floppies have been sitting
in my desk drawer for three weeks now! Damnit I'm getting mad at CBM
(what's new?).
Brendan Larson, Dir. Operations WeatherConnect, Inc.
I saw an earlier message to you that says you can get a BridgeCard
out of Canada….but if your luck is like mine, you've probably already
paid for the Bridge you have on order! I have a bridge card, and so far I
haven't found anything that won't run on it that will run on other clones.
I have heard of a few games that have some problems, but they have problems
even on an IBM.
Don:
If the card has been paid for but not delivered, is not possible to get
your money back if delivery has not been made within a certain period of time?
Seems like there are some laws that could help get the money back and still buy
the card from Canada. Yes maybe? 73, bill
Bill,
The 'refund if not delivered in 30 days' only deals with mail order.
And even then, it only deals with cases where a longer delivery date wasn't in
the advertisement.
If you buy from a dealer, and pay in advance, you are at the mercy of
the dealer as to a refund or no refund for non-delivery within a certain time
period.
I would hope that most dealers would be willing to refund pre-paid
orders thou in cases like this where the order keeps getting put off. I guess
it depends on if the dealer had to pay CBM in advance or not.
Don
Don:
Not that it is necessarily right but I think that many states have such
laws for 'store purchases' unless a written agreement exists stating that more
than a month can elapse. In any event, it really is not the dealers fault
either and it would be a shame to see the dealer suffer for someone elses
errors. 73, bill
Bill,
That I wouldn't know about (store must deliver within 30 days) since we
don't have such a law here in Colorado. I suppose it is possible for some of
the other states to have such a law thou…what the heck, they've got laws for
everything else (to be honest, I'm surprised that Colorado doesn't have such a
law).
Don
Remember I told you that CBM told a couple of stores on LI that they were
stopping production on the bridgeboard in favor of the AT card!!!! Nobody
ever listens to me, when will you guys learn?
<hehe>
Marlene,
Did I say the CBM wasn't doing it? <grin>…I thought I said that CBM
would be dumb to do it. <double grin>
Don
Actually, the only thing that is dumb is not getting the '286 card out the
door. From what I had been told there won't be much of a price difference. If
this is true, they're going to annoy people who spent the same bucks for XT
compatiblity that they could have spent on AT compatibility. But that's life!
Marlene
Marlene,
What's dumb is dropping a product that's still in great demand. And
the information I have is that the AT card will list for $1000 which is 30%
higher than the XT board's list price.
Don
Well just another conflict of info! If the board is so much higher than the XT
board then they're crazy to drop the 8088. Marlene
SysMom:
That is just about the 'name of the game.' I have paid 'full freight'
for many things knowing full well that if I were to wait for a couple of months
that the 'price/performance ratio' would improve. When I bought the Toshiba
T-1100, I needed it then and could not wait though about 4 months later I saw
it priced at about a kilobuck less than I paid. 73, bill
That's for sure Bill. I've always felt that the time and experience you lose
waiting for the price to come down, or technology to improve is TIME WASTED.
Marlene
Brendan, Bridge cards are in plentiful supply in Canada. If you're
interested, drop me an email, and I'll pass on the phone number of a dealer
who can ship you one.
Regards, Larry.
Brendan:
I have not been waiting at all. At this point I would not install an XT
type bridge. I might consider an AT type card when they do come out. It
has reached the point where I really do not have much need for the direct
IBM compatablilty (primarily thank to WP Corp.). I have several IBM &
clones around at work and a Toshiba T-1100 personally. Since Dos2Dos works
so well I can transfer files at will. There are a few things that would be
better with an internal IBM but I can do without for now.
I suspect that CBM has been overwhelmed just trying to supply 2090s. I
don't think they expected the 2K to be nearly as 'hot' as it turned out to
be. 73, bill
Bill, speaking of DOS2DOS, how do you use it and what exactly do it do?…Dave
Dave:
About the most uncomplimentry thing that I can say about Dos2Dos is
that it does what PcUtils does. Having gotten that horrible insult out of the
way……. It copies IBM to Amy and vice versa. However, it is a CLI program,
it accepts wild cards for multiple file transfers AND can handle 720K 3.5"
disks. It does this without requiring a reboot of the Amy to 'get the drive
back.' So far I am real pleased with the program.
There might be a few quirks with the program though as the first time I
ran it the machine locked up. I believe that you have to kill FACCII if it is
running (I think that is what caused the lockup the first time that I tried to
use the program). I have not had any trouble since. 73, bill
Sounds like something I'll be needing pretty soon. Thanks for the info…Dave
Bill, I managed to get an IBM Bridge through my local dealer (after a long
wait), but have been waiting for over a month for 2000 memory cards to
come in. The 2090 controller is also nearly impossible to find, it
seems, as your message suggests. What has CBM been doing? My dealer
finally told me that he's giving up on getting memory boards from CBM
and will try to fill his back orders with Micron boards (ASDG's design,
I think — YAY!). Maybe I'll have to wait until Perry gets his HD
controller out the door before I can add an HD also. It is frustrating
to wait for so long for what _should be_ easily available items. It's a
consolation that the shortages stem from Amy's growing popularity, but
still a frustration. Bill, I'm sorry I pulled on your ear about this,
but I couldn't contain myself any longer!
73, Darron (NR0Y)
P.S. — Bill, do you get on the air much? I'll listen for you.
Darron:
No problem. I probably just appreciate CBM problems more than many
others. The logistics of pushing a product out the door can really be
mindboggling.
Personnally, I would buy Perry's memory board and disk controller over
the CBM ones. In fact if there is anyone that would like to buy the CBM 2 Meg
board, I would be more than happy to sell. Of course I can't part with the
2090 until after Perry's is available. I don't think that you could go wrong
with his boards.
No I don't get on the 'dc frequencies' much. Still have real antenna
problems. Hope to get around to getting something on the air this year though.
I do work a little 2 Mtr packet and of course 2 Mtr voice.
73, bill (KB7LX)
Bill,
I am looking forward to ASDG's HD controller. Sounds like it'll be a real
speed demon. Hope it ships sometime soon.
If you ever do get back on the HF frequencies, I'll look for you. In the
meantime, I hope to get on packet soon. The way digipeaters are popping up all
over the country, it might not be too long before a packet contact becomes
possible.
73, Darron, NR0Y
Darron,
I think you will be better off with the Micron or ASDG products for 2 meg
expansion anyway. As for a disk controller, if you can't wait, or don't want to
spend the extra bucks, drop me an email, and I'll give you the number of a
dealer in Canada who will sell you a 2090 for about $250 + shipping. He always
has them in stock.
Regards, Larry.
Larry,
Thanks, I may take you up on that. Is it just that Canadian dealers had the
foresight to order supplies early, or is there some other reason you guys have
stuff in stock?
Darron
Darron,
I think the canadian arm of CBM is pushing them for some reason.
Regards, Larry.
Right you are. Just like an IBM, you want a joystick? Go out and buy a
gameport and a PC joystick.
Odell,
Yes..as mentioned in the other answers, you can not use the Amiga's
mouse ports as game ports for the bridge card. You'll have to get a game port
card (or multi-function card with gameport on it) to use joysticks with the
BridgeBoard.
You'll also have to add a PC type speaker for PC sound across J2 on the
BridgeCard.
The PC side can use the following parts of the Amiga side:
1. Power supply
2. Video display
3. Keyboard
4. Shared disk drives
5. Parallel port
Anything beyond that, such as RAM, game port, serial port, clock
calendar, etc. must be added to the PC side.
Don
Odell,
If you do get a joystick set up for the Bridge, you should know that the
delays in screen updates for MS-DOS programs running in an Amiga window, which
are a minor annoyance with text programs, can make some arcade, action style
games very difficult, if not impossible, to play.
Darron