Advice on best A1200 accelerator

[nicholas]

Have sourced a ACA030@25 64mb fast ram for £85 off amibay, what do you guys think?

Buy it before it vanishes!

[desiv]

that one is OK if you are absolutely sure you don't want to do anything that needs a MMU or FPU.

That was one of my concerns when I got mine.
I wasn't absolutely sure, but I pulled the trigger anyway...
Hasn't bothered me so far..

There are some things that use an FPU.  Ray Tracing programs and there's a version of iBrowse, etc...
But I haven't done any ray tracing, and the non-FPU iBrowse works OK for me.

As for the MMU, most of the uses are in the development area.
One use that I think would be nice, but I don't have is Mac emulation.
It's my understanding that ShapeShifter can have improved graphics speed with an MMU?  But the only Mac's I'm interested in are 9" b/w, so I'm OK with that too...

Now, I believe that you can replace the 030 in the ACAs with an MMU (non-EC) enabled comparable speed 030 and get an MMU.  I think Vesalia was even providing that as a service (selling them with the CPU swapped already) for a bit???  

But there is no FPU option...

All-in-all, I'm much happier with my ACA1230/28 without FPU and MMU than I was with my 1200z with FPU.  ;-)

I don't regret my purchase at all...

desiv

[Snoozy]

I thought I wud just say thanks 2 u all that hav helped me so far, I've been sort of taken off guard wit how friendly u hav all been. I let u know when I get the card

[smerf]

I had no issues with the metal shield touching, but yeah, trying to fit the card through the slot is basically impossible Take the girl apart and put in the card.

The ACA cards are a /really/ snug fit too. Once its in, its there to stay!

Hi,

This sounded kinky, but if I took the girl apart, it sure wouldn't be to put in a card, but for that matter why take her apart for that.

smerf

[bbond007]

Yeah. The the MMU does helps external video drivers for shapeshifter. Really makes quite a bit of difference, I don't think I have used it for much else. But yeah, shapeshifter is best B/W as far as speed. It just limps along on my 030-40mhz in 256 color mode even with the MuEVD driver.

The other advantage is that utils can remap the ROM to fast ram and write-protect it which speeds up your system. The ACA may have something similar though.

I doubt it would be worth it to upgrade the CPU to one with a MMU, however if you could upgrade to the 56mhz at the same time, that would be worth it You would gain the ability to decode MP3s in real time

As far as the FPU, I do know that not having one is MUCH better than having a defective FPU. I had a board with defective FPU and many things that you would not think even would use a FPU would try and access the FPU and GURU. Even Directory Opus Pulling the chip fixed that Eventually I sent that accel back for exchange. But it seems like a lot of programs will use the FPU if it is present.

That was one of my concerns when I got mine.
I wasn't absolutely sure, but I pulled the trigger anyway...
Hasn't bothered me so far..

There are some things that use an FPU.  Ray Tracing programs and there's a version of iBrowse, etc...
But I haven't done any ray tracing, and the non-FPU iBrowse works OK for me.

As for the MMU, most of the uses are in the development area.
One use that I think would be nice, but I don't have is Mac emulation.
It's my understanding that ShapeShifter can have improved graphics speed with an MMU?  But the only Mac's I'm interested in are 9" b/w, so I'm OK with that too...

Now, I believe that you can replace the 030 in the ACAs with an MMU (non-EC) enabled comparable speed 030 and get an MMU.  I think Vesalia was even providing that as a service (selling them with the CPU swapped already) for a bit???  

But there is no FPU option...

All-in-all, I'm much happier with my ACA1230/28 without FPU and MMU than I was with my 1200z with FPU.  ;-)

I don't regret my purchase at all...

desiv

[AndyLandy]

that one is OK if you are absolutely sure you don't want to do anything that needs a MMU or FPU.

To the first approximation, nothing needs an MMU or an FPU. Certainly if you're WHDload gaming, you don't need either.

If you're doing anything that's sufficiently hardcore to need an FPU, you probably don't want to be doing it on an '030 anyway.

[utri007]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it so that WHDLOad actually uses MMU quite lot? At least with very old games?

[bbond007]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it so that WHDLOad actually uses MMU quite lot? At least with very old games?

http://www.whdload.de/docs/en/mmu.html

[AndyLandy]

http://www.whdload.de/docs/en/mmu.html

My understanding is that WHDload can make use of an MMU, but it doesn't need it. Basically, if you can get a card with an MMU, great, if you can't, don't worry about it.

[SamuraiCrow]

The main reason you'd need an MMU is for running MuGuardianAngel to test new software you're writing or if you've got an '040+ with a DMA capable hard drive controller.  If you've got an '030 without MMU and you're just going to run games, you're fine.

[Snoozy]

Ok i've got an ACA1230 card and i've installed it but am facing problems. I have 3.0 kick rom (and i really can't face changing the roms over unless i have to)
 
The card is not recognised by the 1200, if i have it pushed flush into fitting i get a green screen :angry:  if i switch off and move backwards a touch (as recommended), wb loads but the card is not recognised. Installing the floppy ACAtune is not allowed by the computer as it says the card is not recognised!! so why are the manufacturers providing outdated software :angry:
 
I can't find the new software on the website...does any one have a link to it. Do i need to save to a usb flashcard and then load from flash to pcmcia ?? Do i need to install rom 3.1 as i understand ACA cards can use 3.1 rom without actually having to change the rom in the computer. And it seems 3.1 is much better to go with this card.
 
This is getting more complicated than i was expecting :confused:
 
Any help would be appreciated

[desiv]

ACAtune is not allowed by the computer as it says the card is not recognised!!

It depends on the problem.
Is the card really being seen by the OS?
I take it you have it jumpered for OS 3.0, so no extra RAM shows up....

Do you have a program like sysinfo so you can see if the CPU is showing up?

While you are booting the computer, hold down both mouse buttons at the same time to go into the pre-boot menu and look at the hardware card list.  Is it showing the card?

If it's just a problem if needing the new software, I'm sure someone in the UK can help you if you don't have another way of transferring it over.

Not sure if this is the latest release, but I hope so:
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=750493&postcount=2021

That is one thing that is driving me crazy.  I keep hearing them talk about a support page (either on Jens site or Amigakit) where you can easily find the latest version, but as far as I know when I last checked, you have to find it in the thread on EAB???:confused:

Hoping it's just the software for you...

desiv
p.s.

i really can't face changing the roms over unless i have to

That one of the great things about the ACA1230, you won't need to when you get it working.  You can softkick to 3.1.

[Snoozy]

Hi desiv,
 
no its not showing the card on boot sequence (checking under expansion card diagnostics)
 
I kept the jumper closed (or covered) as per the manufacturer recommendation for rom 3.0.
 
I am confounded why the computer won't recognise the card :confused:

[desiv]

no its not showing the card on boot sequence (checking under expansion card diagnostics)
 

Well, my bad on that one..
Just checked mine and it doesn't show in Expansion Card Diagnostics either..
I just assumed it would...

OK, how about opening up a shell and typing "cpu" and see what it says.

Mine says 68030 (and then some options)..

I am using a ClassicWB install, but I think the CPU command is part of the OS..

desiv

[Snoozy]

ok, it says........ 68020 Inst : Cache
 
Argh!!! :madashell:

[desiv]

ok, it says........ 68020 Inst : Cache
 

So, it's not the software..
It's not seeing your card...

I'd try removing it, cleaning the card edge on the A1200 motherboard (pencil eraser first and maybe some rubbing alcohol and q-tips..) and try it again..

Hopefully, it's just a bad connection..

desiv