AmigaOS 4.1 Classic Available To Buy

[Nearly-Right]

Benchmark screenshot

So, what hardware have you got in your Amiga with the Blizzard card?
Is it a tower system or just the PPC card and BVision tucked inside the A1200 case?
Who did the overclocking, and would it be easy enough for most owners to do?

Were there any problems you encountered installing Classic OS4.1 on your system?

Otherwise, most impressive!

[HammerD]

Nearly-Right, it was reported by Harald the new Elbox beta drivers are working in his setup.  He said some colour problems on the Radeon (he didn't specify), but this may mean now that you can use all the Elbox drivers, including the RTL8139 and SB128.  Of course they will be 68K drivers and not PPC native, but they may work.

This is what he said on http://www.a1k.org:  (translated)

Sun Hi together,

I have the BETA drivers from here Elbox installed and followed the installation instructions exactly.

Radeon card works now!

Who needs the driver and the guide, which can feel free to contact me!I am sending this to then!As I said this is still BETA!

We have to test it.There are still some false color in messages but we'll get it yet!

Greeting

Harald

The link to the thread is here:

http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread.php?p=437289#post437289

[dangermouse]

Still got a little problem with Poseidon if anyone has any advice.

Dump file is again attached and happens when 4.1 boots. USB mouse however still works happily in the background. The only reason I'm posting is because the crash appears to be preventing me from getting into Trident...I get an error message stating 'Could not create custom classes'

Any help appreciated as, other than this, I'm really excited about the new OS. Bought a compatible network card from AmigaKit (thanks!) and she's browsing the web, running CygnusEd 5 and playing Wipeout 2097 in all it's glory

Thanks in advance

[Nearly-Right]

Nearly-Right, it was reported by Harald the new Elbox beta drivers are working in his setup.  He said some colour problems on the Radeon (he didn't specify), but this may mean now that you can use all the Elbox drivers, including the RTL8139 and SB128.  Of course they will be 68K drivers and not PPC native, but they may work.

I got a PM from Harald, with more detail.

I am also awaiting a reply from him, as I asked him a lot more questions, as he has an A1200 with a Mediator, though not the same model as me (mine's a TX, his is an LX) so hopefully I would learn about levels of compatibility with the hardware he's running under Classic OS4.1 than from anywhere else I have found, so far.

He also let me know that the SOLO soundcard he has, showed up as recognised under the hardware running under Classic OS4.1, BUT he didn't get any sound via AHI out of it, so that is not so good.

I am still waiting for someone, anyone, saying they have a SOLO-1 soundcard with the ESS1938S in an A1200 running through AHI under Classic OS4.1, which I have not seen written anywhere confirming it's compatability with Classic OS4.1, especially in an A1200. I believe anyone running such a soundcard has it running in an A4000, and that may only be the ESS1969 chipset anyway, but I'd really like someone to speak up and confirm they have such a soundcard working in an A1200 with a Mediator.

I have NOT bought Classic OS4.1 as yet, as I am still not convinced it is a mature enough OS for any serious use, especially for an A1200.

What's more I got a reply from AmigaKit stating that there will be NO DISCOUNT or UPGRADE from Classic OS4.0 to Classic OS4.1, so for me to consider buying Classic OS4.1 the PCI card compatability has got to be improved dramatically with more PCI cards supported, before I commit to spending the best part of £100 on it.

Hans-Jorg Frieden stated on the Hyperion pages that there is less compatability available as the A1200 does not have a jumper to affect, simple waitstates, which are available on the A4000, which allows greater compatability with Classic OS4.1, that's if I understood his comments correctly.

So, I do not think the playing field is very even for the A1200 compared to the A4000, as most developers seem to be using that for betatesting Classic OS4.1, due to its greater compatability, and it seems much less time has been, or is being, spent on getting the A1200 version of Classic OS4.1 to the same level of compatability IMHO.

Hans-Jorg Frieden (HJF) also said that the PCI library of Elbox's is also asking for a board failure due to the fact that Classic OS4.1 has it's own software/driver method to control the PCI Mediator I/O and that using a 68k version as well as the OS4.1 device will no doubt cause some problems that will either cause early failure of the PCI board or eventual failure of the board, again if I understood his comments correctly.

HJF also said that the Elbox PCI library method was not supported. He has said this before, and basically the PCI library from Elbox would not work with Classic OS4.1, so I'd be interested to know if it does allow the DMA soundcards, and NICs, etc. to actually work under Classic OS4.1.

However, I'm not buying Classic OS4.1 to be the guinea pig to try it out, but I'd be interested to hear from someone who has the OS and has tried it with the DMA cards that are not supported under Classic OS4.1 but are under OS3.9, such as the RTL8139 NIC, and Soundblaster 128 PCI cards, and for that matter any of the cards supported by Elbox, including the Spider USB card.

However, Elbox have not stated the facts for their PCI library update as of yet, but I'd be interested to hear their take on it, so come on Elbox, let's hear your side of the PCI library's development.

I should also add that the  -  New AmigaOS 4.1 Classic Users  -  thread has only 4 pages of comments, wheras this thread has 12 pages already.

Frankly, it does not seem to say a lot for the take-up/purchase of Classic OS4.1, and AmigaKit have not got back to me on the number of people who have bought Classic OS4.1, which I asked them about a few days ago, which is disappointing in many ways.

[dangermouse]

Maybe some people posting in here are classic 4.1 users..I know I am running it on a 4000

In reply to one of your comments my RTL8139 NIC does not work as it does in 3.9 so I bought a few of the 8029s from AmigaKit and the Internet Wizard had me on the network in just a few seconds. I do have a SB Pro but, due to lack of space in my 4000D, I don't have the room in her to install it.

Only issue I've seen with 4.1 is the error message I'm still seeing noted a couple of posts before this.

Other than that in an A4000 w/233MHz CSPPC and 128MB I am very happy with the OS. Appears to be miles ahead of 4.0 (I installed that once and took it off) - 4.1 is a keeper so far and is very usable. My hardware 'just worked' out the box and I was running a 1920x1080 desktop on a 32" LCD via DVI straight off the bat. Only installation problem I had was taken care of by HammerD and was basically me installing a Subway driver by accident during the Poseidon install for the Deneb.

Overall, I'm very happy with it. Personally, I wasn't expecting a discounted upgrade from 4.0 as the Amiga commercial software development landscape in my opinion is very different than that of the PC world. This stuff is sold in comparatively minuscule quantities and the developers that write this need supporting. I look at the cost as part upgrade cost and part the cost of making this sort of development still viable which I'm quite happy in paying.

[fitzsteve]

@Nearly-Right

The cards you mention (realtek 8139 and SB128) are not supported although there is a hack to make the Soundblaster work as a passthrough card.

I have OS4.1 Classic running on my A1200 which has Mediator 1200sx (6 slot)

Its working with my Blizzy PPC + 256mb Ram (Upgraded by Stachu to 330mhz)

I have used it with Radeon 9250 (128mb) and it works great with the 3D Hardware effects

I tested 2 Redeon 9200 256mb and they didn't work though.

I have a Realtek 8029 PCI NIC and I go online without any issues, I also have a SB128 but I didn't try the hack yet.

I tested 2x supported SATA PCI cards and had issues with both, drives are seen and I can partition them but when I save changes the system locks up.  I'm going to raise this on the support forums and see if we can get that looked at.

Overall the OS is very responsive and runs well on my A1200 but the issue is the apps/games written for it run slow, Mame, GLQuake, PRDoom all run slow as they are coded for 800mhz Sam's etc...

I think with some apps coded to work with the slower Classic machines it could be a really great OS.

Steve.

[Nearly-Right]

Overall, I'm very happy with it. Personally, I wasn't expecting a discounted upgrade from 4.0 as the Amiga commercial software development landscape in my opinion is very different than that of the PC world. This stuff is sold in comparatively minuscule quantities and the developers that write this need supporting. I look at the cost as part upgrade cost and part the cost of making this sort of development still viable which I'm quite happy in paying.

I understand your perspective, and I generally agree with the principle of supporting the people who have bothered to upgrade Classic OS4.x to something that actually works as Classic OS4.0 was supposed to, BUT, so far the OS has not imbued me with confidence to buy it. I wouldn't mind paying the £100 if the support for PCI cards was more comprehensive, and actually worked.

I am waiting for more PCI hardware support, as the comparatively few PCI cards supported don't make it worth transferring from OS3.9, where I can use all my cards compared to OS4.1 where I can use 2 - GFX & LAN - which in my opinion is very poor support for £100 of Classic Amiga OS.

[Nearly-Right]

The cards you mention (realtek 8139 and SB128) are not supported although there is a hack to make the Soundblaster work as a passthrough card.

I am aware of that, but it's not real support for a PCI soundcard is it, unless you are the first user with a SOLO-1 soundcard that has actually got it working in an A1200, so have you?

If so, which ESS chipset is on your SOLO-1 soundcard?

I have OS4.1 Classic running on my A1200 which has Mediator 1200sx (6 slot)

OK, so that's similar to my hardware, but mine's a TX - which accepts all the Radeon supported cards, as far as I am aware that is.

Its working with my Blizzy PPC + 256mb Ram (Upgraded by Stachu to 330mhz)

How much did that cost to get it upgraded to that speed?

I have used it with Radeon 9250 (128mb) and it works great with the 3D Hardware effects

I tested 2 Redeon 9200 256mb and they didn't work though.

Ah, but do the Radeon 9200 cards with 256MB work in the SX under OS3.9?

I have a Realtek 8029 PCI NIC and I go online without any issues, I also have a SB128 but I didn't try the hack yet.

OK, so the 8029 NIC works OK, that's good news, but just out of interest, which A1200 motherboard are you using, and do you have the CC-Reset adapter fitted?

I tested 2x supported SATA PCI cards and had issues with both, drives are seen and I can partition them but when I save changes the system locks up.  I'm going to raise this on the support forums and see if we can get that looked at.

So the SATA cards don't work properly as yet, well not in the A1200s it seems.

Which chipsets are on the SATA cards?

I haven't heard anything about the SATA cards in the A4000 PPC systems, but maybe someone can add that on after this comment, if they have one, and can say which chipset they are using.

Overall the OS is very responsive and runs well on my A1200 but the issue is the apps/games written for it run slow, Mame, GLQuake, PRDoom all run slow as they are coded for 800mhz Sam's etc...

Have you tried any 68k applications using Classic OS4.1?

I think with some apps coded to work with the slower Classic machines it could be a really great OS.

I'm hoping that too, but I'm hanging on for more software and hardware compatability before I commit fully to buying Classic OS4.1, as I'm not prepared to get 'stung' twice

[Nearly-Right]

Even now, over a month after release, Classic OS4.1 having been released about the 17th May 2011, as far as I am aware, and since then, I haven't seen any Classic OS4.1 user say that their A1200 is working with a SOLO-1 soundcard, or SATA card, and some people are still having problems with Radeon cards even though they work under OS3.9 in their Mediator setups.

So far Classic OS4.1 does not seem to be doing much better than Classic OS4.0, unless someone can prove differently. I'd really be interested for someone else to be able to wave the flag of success, but I haven't really seen anything obviously better, as there is very little additional hardware that's supposed to be compatable, but that hardware, in any case, doesn't seem to work in a usable way.

I think some A4000 users are having better times, but the humble A1200 user is not getting much compatability with their PPC hardware. Anyone know differently?

I'd like to know how many people have actually bought Classic OS4.1?

It doesn't seem to be many, as I think a lot were put off by the pitiful Classic OS4.0 release, as I was.

I have not bought Classic OS4.1, as I'm still not convinced Classic OS4.1 is a genuinely useable OS on an A1200 with a Mediator.

There is definitely better hardware information than was ever released about Classic OS4.0, and there has been a lot more help from some of the Betatesters, such as Darren Eveland, but even then, the hardware information is flawed as some of the hardware supposed to be supported just isn't working reliably with Classic OS4.1.

I've been waiting for a few days for someone to come back with a response to my last post to say that the supported hardware for Classic OS4.1 is working in their A1200, but that has not materialised, so I am really beginning to wonder if this release is, in reality any better than Classic OS4.0?

[Nearly-Right]

This lack of further updated information from any Amiga users buying/installing Classic OS4.1 is extremely disheartening.

I'm not buying it as I bought Classic OS4.0, and regretted it, due to the many hardware OS driver support problems, and that's the only time that has happened with any Amiga OS I have paid for.

In fact, it only seems to re-inforce my worst suspicions that Classic OS4.1 is best avoided until there is sufficient headway made for reliability and hardware support that actually works for all the Classic hardware, and more specifically when it relates to the supported PCI hardware, that disappointingly still does not seem to work for all Mediator boards.

[fitzsteve]

Hi!

Sorry I missed your reply, I don't visit these forums too often.

I am aware of that, but it's not real support for a PCI soundcard is it, unless you are the first user with a SOLO-1 soundcard that has actually got it working in an A1200, so have you?

If so, which ESS chipset is on your SOLO-1 soundcard?

The card I bought was a Terratec 128i with ESS Solo-1 Chipset but it never arrived and I had to get a refund via PayPal so yet to test a supported Soundcard with OS4.1 Classic

OK, so that's similar to my hardware, but mine's a TX - which accepts all the Radeon supported cards, as far as I am aware that is.

I bought another Mediator, an LT4 and it has the same issues as my SX, I'm going to report them via the official OS4.1 support Forums.

How much did that cost to get it upgraded to that speed?

I bought the Blizzy already upgraded for £600

Ah, but do the Radeon 9200 cards with 256MB work in the SX under OS3.9?

Nope, although detected by PCI Info they cause a crash if you try to open a screen.  I don't think these cards I bought were supported versions.

I also tested the radeon 9200 256mb in my friends TX and it didn't work.

OK, so the 8029 NIC works OK, that's good news, but just out of interest, which A1200 motherboard are you using, and do you have the CC-Reset adapter fitted?

I have a FastATA so it has its own reset header.  My Motherboard is 1D4

So the SATA cards don't work properly as yet, well not in the A1200s it seems.

At least not for me

Which chipsets are on the SATA cards?

sii3512 2 port and sii3114 4 Port

I haven't heard anything about the SATA cards in the A4000 PPC systems, but maybe someone can add that on after this comment, if they have one, and can say which chipset they are using.

Darren Everland is using a 3512 SATA card in his A4000 and he says Carl Moppett has it working in an A1200, hopefully I can get some help via the official support forum

Have you tried any 68k applications using Classic OS4.1?

No

[Nearly-Right]

Hi!

Sorry I missed your reply, I don't visit these forums too often.

No problem, appreciate you taking the time to update your progress, or lack of it with regard to Classic OS4.1

The card I bought was a Terratec 128i with ESS Solo-1 Chipset but it never arrived and I had to get a refund via PayPal so yet to test a supported Soundcard with OS4.1 Classic

Darren offered me the opportunity of a SOLO soundcard as he says a dealer near to his place has a few in stock, but I'm not sure of the exact chipset, as the chipset on the SOLO soundcards I have are ESS1938S, not the ESS1969 which the betatesters seem to have been using, and the ESS1969 chipset seem to be like hensteeth to acquire. If you're still after a SOLO soundcard, then you might ask Darren if he can get you one from his local computer hardware shop.

I cannot think of any dealer with these old soundcards for sale. I've spotted the occasional one on ebay, but the supply of SOLO - Terratec 128i soundcards that Vesalia were selling a good while ago, seems to have dried up.

I bought another Mediator, an LT4 and it has the same issues as my SX, I'm going to report them via the official OS4.1 support Forums.

So, that's the problem regarding the Radeon cards is it?

I bought the Blizzy already upgraded for £600

Do you know what components have been modified to the Blizzard?

Nope, although detected by PCI Info they cause a crash if you try to open a screen.  I don't think these cards I bought were supported versions.

I also tested the radeon 9200 256mb in my friends TX and it didn't work.

That's not good compatability of hardware on Elbox's part, selling such cards that won't even work under OS3.9. if I understand you correctly

I have a FastATA so it has its own reset header.  My Motherboard is 1D4

OK, so you've the built-in CC-reset, like I have with my Fast-ATA. The 1D4 A1200 motherboard has the reputation of having the most problems with timing if I'm not mistaken, but I suppose you know that already, and maybe you've had that fixed already?

At least not for me

Not good news. I just hope you can get Carl Moppett to give you some clue as to how to get it working in an A1200.

I have a Sil3114 SATA card, just in case I buy Classic OS4.1, but it's looking more, and more likely that I won't, at least not for the moment, as the hardware situation hasn't been sorted out as yet. That is very important to me, and I'm not spending £100 to get frustrated with all the incompatabilities, lockups, etc., like I did with Classic OS4.0. I'll just wait, and see if it gets sorted out. I just feel sorry for people like you who've stumped up the cash, and are just getting bogged down with problems, which the OS should never have been released with. If it had been properly bug, and hardware tested I suppose it wouldn't have these problems, but I don't feel enough trouble has been taken to ensure what hardware was supposed to be supported, actually had been tested in as various a set of machines as possible to ensure really good compatability, but your troubles are bearing that scenario out, as I suspected, but I did actually hope I'd be proven wrong.

sii3512 2 port and sii3114 4 Port

OK, as I mentioned I have the Sil3114, so I'll wait to see how you get on with that hardware to get it working under Classic OS4.1.

Darren Everland is using a 3512 SATA card in his A4000 and he says Carl Moppett has it working in an A1200, hopefully I can get some help via the official support forum

I've got to say, I would like to know who has tested which hardware, and in particular the SOLO and SATA cards, and with which chipsets, and in which machines, to find out which betatesters can offer further advice on a specific hardware setup to find someone with as similar a machine as mine, and I'm sure you'd feel the same too.

No

I'm surprised you've not tried any other 68k software, or have you not had the Classic OS4.1 system running very much/stably/at all as yet?

[mechy]

Still got a little problem with Poseidon if anyone has any advice.

Dump file is again attached and happens when 4.1 boots. USB mouse however still works happily in the background. The only reason I'm posting is because the crash appears to be preventing me from getting into Trident...I get an error message stating 'Could not create custom classes'

Any help appreciated as, other than this, I'm really excited about the new OS. Bought a compatible network card from AmigaKit (thanks!) and she's browsing the web, running CygnusEd 5 and playing Wipeout 2097 in all it's glory

Thanks in advance

Theres some faq's that you should read if you havent, one is the FAQ here:
http://forum.hyperion-entertainment.biz/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=92

and this is a big help. has some deneb info : http://www.hd-zone.com/amigaos-4-1-classic/

I was having some deneb problems myself that turned out to be the jumpers on the medaitor were causing it. be sure they are set as to the first faq recommends.look for the optomizations for poseidon on the second link i gave above.

also do you have the latest poseidon 4.4 and is the bootloader in the deneb updated?

Mech

[Framiga]

This lack of further updated information from any Amiga users buying/installing Classic OS4.1 is extremely disheartening.

I'm not buying it as I bought Classic OS4.0, and regretted it, due to the many hardware OS driver support problems, and that's the only time that has happened with any Amiga OS I have paid for.

In fact, it only seems to re-inforce my worst suspicions that Classic OS4.1 is best avoided until there is sufficient headway made for reliability and hardware support that actually works for all the Classic hardware, and more specifically when it relates to the supported PCI hardware, that disappointingly still does not seem to work for all Mediator boards.

i can't even imagine what you do when you need a new car or a new flat! i wouldn't be your dealer :-/

[Nearly-Right]

i can't even imagine what you do when you need a new car or a new flat! i wouldn't be your dealer :-/

Well I'm not in the market for a new car or a new flat, just a Classic Amiga OS4.1 that's supposed to just do 'what it says on the tin'.

But by all the reports I've seen about Classic OS4.1 buying an equivalent new car would be be like accepting as OK a new car with a missing windscreen.

If you can't see the flaws in the OS then I feel sorry for you.

[mechy]

I have got the sata raid card working under os4.1 on the A4000 mediator with no trouble so far.
its a silicon image sil3114 chip (actual # is sil3114ctu) and i got it off ebay for $17usd here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290574197080&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

i am using it with a sata to cf adapter and 4 gig transcend 133x card so far for testing. so far so good, card went in and was recognized right off and showed up in hd.From initial quick and dirty tests,seems this thing uses alot of cpu time copying to/from its drive but this might be my imagination. seems the system gets sluggish- it could be i havent configged something right. It is NOT bootable supposedly but i wonder if there was a way to get the pci lib and drivers into the deneb flash it might be?


the sapphire radeon 9250 128MB i use was also new from ebay for about $22..and supports 5v and 3.3v with no mods.

i have a ess solo sound card coming from ebay,its a 1938 chipset if i recall,i will report on it as soon as it arrives.


mech