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Operating System Specific Discussions => Amiga UNIX => Topic started by: TCMSLP on February 11, 2010, 04:44:42 PM

Title: Who used AMIX?
Post by: TCMSLP on February 11, 2010, 04:44:42 PM
Hi All,

I've always known the A3000 was released in a UX version.  However, can anyone name any companies that used this?  Or any applications that supported it?   Was there a killer application for Amix that drove sales (perhaps a database?) - was Amix even profitable for Commodore?

I'm curious :)


Steve
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: TCMSLP on February 11, 2010, 04:46:51 PM
oops since found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_Unix which answers some of my questions :)
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: hbarcellos on February 11, 2010, 06:16:12 PM
http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php

Site is very funny:
"Because AmigaOS just isn't obscure enough today"
"...Overall, performance is...really poor...."
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: TCMSLP on February 12, 2010, 10:48:09 AM
I see Oracle supported their database under Amix!  Who'd have though it :)
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: johnklos on February 14, 2010, 08:15:17 PM
I remember wanting an A3000UX SO BADLY in the early 1990s... I loved the philosophy of Unix since about the mid 1980s, but of course there was no way for a young kid to get a Unix machine or even access to one (oh, how times have changed!)

One of my projects is fixing up an original 16 MHz Amiga 3000, and I've thought about putting AMIX on it. Another machine I'm fixing up is a Mac SE/30, also 16 MHz, so I was picturing putting A/UX on it and comparing the two. Since they're both AT&T Unix System V release 4, I bet they're even binary compatible.

If nothing else, it'd be helpful to pool resources and try to maintain things like pkgsrc (which Tim Larson is working on for A/UX) and individual ports of software on both systems at the same time.

How many people out there are still running AMIX?
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: koshman on February 14, 2010, 08:18:07 PM
I haven't got there yet, but I'm soooo gonna try it in near future! Pity AMIX doesn't support 040 and 060 so I have to build a separate machine for it...
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Matt_H on February 14, 2010, 08:36:15 PM
From what I've read over the years, Amix had a reputation of simply being a damn good implementation of Unix.

I don't think anyone "still" runs it, but the tremendous efforts of Failure here at Amiga.org have brought it back from the dead, so a few of us have started running it :) (I haven't booted my Amix partition in ages, though). The marketing brochure at the Amix Wiki describes some clients.

In the Deathbed Vigil, Dave Haynie talks about Amix a bit. Sun was interested in using the 3000UX as their OEM Unix 68K platform, but Commodore management managed to botch the deal - twice. One of the Amix developers is also in DBV, and describes the last few days of the gutted Amix team.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Jeff on February 14, 2010, 08:50:35 PM
I have it installed to Dual-Boot on my A3000UX desktop with a Phase 5 Blizzard 4030@50, PicassoII+, A3070, and a A2065. It's runs quite well but I admit I sure don't actually boot it up and use it very often.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: sim085 on February 14, 2010, 09:00:02 PM
Wow, I never thought there was a UNIX implementation for the Amiga!! Is this still available for purchase or download?
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Pentad on February 14, 2010, 09:36:42 PM
When I was in college I installed AMIX on my Amiga 3000 and then on my Amiga 3000T.   People couldn't believe that I could dual boot between SVR4 and AmigaOS.  

I have always felt that Commodore did their best work during the "Amiga 3000" years.  That time period seemed like they were really trying as the products looked great, the manuals were very well written, and they just came off very professional.   It was Commodore at their best.

AMIX was very well done with a great implementation of SVR4, the manuals were awesome, the networking stack rocked, the price was right (compared to other Unix offerings from Apple/IBM/AT&T/etc...), and they enticed many universities to go with Commodore AMIX for their labs and students.  Did you know the AMIX manuals were written, designed, and typeset using AMIX?  

I wish there was more information about Commodore history as I would like to know about the developers of AMIX, how they approached AT&T to port UNIX, who was involved in the process, how long did it take, stories about SUN, and whatever happened to the source code that they used, etc, etc, etc....   I heard that Gateway formatted the AMIX development machines to put Windows on them but who knows....

I teach CS at a university now and I emailed one of professors that was in the Amiga 3000UX brochures about them using AMIX and working with Commodore.   He said that the machines and software were great but in the end it was a huge disaster for them.

When Commodore went under, it left these universities scrambling to support labs and students with few parts from Commodore.   I guess the labs weren't as big of an issue as the students since they were forced into buying the computers so the university had to support them for years.

This gentleman said they started to buy Amiga 3000UX machines back from students to have supplies to service others.  

Cheers!
-P


PS- Even crazier, Atari put out a version of SVR4 for the TT030 but I have never seen it.  I have actually looked online because I would like to see how it compares/compared to AMIX.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Jeff on February 14, 2010, 09:37:12 PM
Yes it is, search for the Amix Wiki (http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php) all the information you need to install it is there, or at least used to be.  I created my tapes from there
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Pentad on February 14, 2010, 09:57:45 PM
Wouldn't it be cool of WinUAE supported AMIX?
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Jeff on February 14, 2010, 10:08:08 PM
Doubtful, but has anyone actually tried?
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: sim085 on February 14, 2010, 10:09:06 PM
Quote from: Jeff;543195
Yes it is, search for the Amix Wiki (http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php) all the information you need to install it is there, or at least used to be.  I created my tapes from there

Just a quick look to that site and I see that they use tapes to install it! Did AMIX also come on floppy disks?

EDIT: Ok, found another method how to install :)
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Jeff on February 14, 2010, 10:12:41 PM
There is also a patch to install from HD if I remember correctly. Since I already had a working drive and blank tapes I just went that way instead.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Matt_H on February 14, 2010, 10:20:35 PM
The so-called HD Hack method has the unfortunate side effect of breaking the package management system, which means the patch disk to bring Amix up to its final version won't work.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: salax54 on March 25, 2010, 07:09:57 AM
Perhaps Failure can give us a few hints here :-)
Using the "hack" method might not bring us to the latest version, but i suppose it would still be an operational environment, right?
I have a few worries for my setup though.. First off is the fact that i have the 2090A card, with an additional boot module card. Will that do instead of the A2091?
Then there's an issue with the graphics. I have a Domino 32 video card, which in the wiki is stated working with drivers from Gateway cd's. Now that is a part i might get confused with.. Suppose i manage to complete the installation, and leave the driver part for later, will that do? Would i have to have the Domino plugged from the beginning? Meaning, will the system still be able to utilize the card's VGA output at all without drivers, or should i start with the rgb default output of the Amiga and work the driver installation afterwards?
Another thought is, what if someone has a successful installation already, can they create a disk image of some form that would be copied (raw) and upped so others can take it and dump it to an empty disk? That would also help people trying to run AMIX under UAE.
 
EDIT: By the way, i have borrowed an A2091 from a friend, just in case things don't go too well. If the installation works out using the A2091, would i still be able to swap it later on with the A2090, or will it affect the OS?
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: AndyLandy on March 25, 2010, 10:43:22 AM
Quote from: sim085;543185
Wow, I never thought there was a UNIX implementation for the Amiga!! Is this still available for purchase or download?

It was vogue to have your own UNIX build around about that time. C= had Amix, Apple released A/UX and even Microsoft dabbled with UNIX (albeit a few years earlier) with a product called Xenix.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: scuzzb494 on March 25, 2010, 01:10:54 PM
Hi

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_1006/car_20Oct06_161.jpg

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_1006/car_20Oct06_162.jpg

PS: Sorry.. Still looking for a tape drive for my 3000UX

scuzz
commodore-amiga-retro.com
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: hardlink on March 25, 2010, 03:33:15 PM
Quote from: sim085;543185
Wow, I never thought there was a UNIX implementation for the Amiga!! Is this still available for purchase or download?



Sure!

Just contact:

Commodore Diskette Replacement
C2655
1200 Wilson Drive
West Chester, PA 19380
(215) 431-9100

Ask for Mehdi Ali.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Dandy on March 25, 2010, 04:11:13 PM
Quote from: TCMSLP;542696


oops since found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_Unix which answers some of my questions :)



Hmmmmm - when I sarted my CAD systems analyst training back in 1989 we used Sun workstations at school.

Initially we had SUN workstations with 68020 cpu at 28 mHz and 4 mB RAM.

In early 1992 the school upgraded to RISC powered Sun Stations.

In so far I object to Wikipedia:
"Commodore-Amiga, Inc., in 1990, did a full port of AT&T Unix System V Release 4 for the Amiga computer family (in addition to the proprietary AmigaOS shipping with these systems by default), informally known as Amix.
...
Sun, HP, and IBM had similarly priced systems. The A3000UX's 68030 was noticeably underpowered compared to most of its RISC-based competitors."

I would rather think that a 68030 cpu is superior to a 68020 cpu, that was "state of the art" for SUN workstations in the late 80s.

I remember this because I asked our tutor when the Amiga3000UX was released, if I could - in theory - run the CAD soft we used at school on it.
Title: Re: Who used AMIX?
Post by: Failure on April 02, 2010, 01:00:38 AM
Quote from: salax54;549599
Perhaps Failure can give us a few hints here :-)
Using the "hack" method might not bring us to the latest version, but i suppose it would still be an operational environment, right?


Yeah, it works, but you can't patch.  For as long as AMIX is likely to hold your interest, you're unlikely to run into any major bugs :-)  If you want to try to fix the package management, I had some thoughts on that here (http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php?page=Fixing+HD+Hack).

Quote from: salax54;549599
First off is the fact that i have the 2090A card, with an additional boot module card. Will that do instead of the A2091?


Should work just fine, check here for a complete-ish list (http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php?page=Hardware).

Quote from: salax54;549599
I have a Domino 32 video card, which in the wiki is stated working with drivers from Gateway cd's. Now that is a part i might get confused with.. Suppose i manage to complete the installation, and leave the driver part for later, will that do?


There's an excellent writeup of Picasso II installation (http://amigaunix.com/tiki-index.php?page=X11PicassoII) that should be very similar, if not identical, to the installation for your Domino card.  There's no opportunity to add support for any card during the install except for the A2410, so no worries about that.