Amiga 2000 CPU/Chip upgrade questions...

[abbub]

Hey, guys...

I just pulled my Amiga 2000 (Rev. B Mobo) up from the basement to do a little retro gaming, and have some questions about some upgrades.

I'm mostly interested in playing the best games for the beast and having some retro fun, but I'm not sure what the best configuration should be.  I should note that I'm not trying to turn this into a modern computer, but I'm not looking down on upgrades that will make playing with it easier, but if I just wanted to play Amiga games on a modern system, I'd do it in WinUAE.  (What I mean is that I don't mind using the old keyboard, mouse, etc, but upgrades that make file transfers from the PC faster, for instance, are welcome...)  

I'll break down what I have and my questions to try and make it easier.

CPU/Chips:

Right now it's got a 2630 card with a 25 MHz 68030 and 4 MB of fast ram on it.  It's got a Kickstart 1.3 chip, a standard 512k Agnus, and a standard Denise.  (This is according to the SysInfo program I downloaded off of Aminet.)

I noticed that the 68000 has been removed.  Should that be there, or was it removed to accommodate the 2630?  (The odds are I removed it, but I really don't remember the hows & whys.)  Do you think I'll need to track down a 68000 for it?

I was thinking I'd just get a 2.x and a 3.x kickstart for it, just to have.  I understand that the kickstart will impact whether some older games will work or not.  Should I try to find/make a rom switcher?  What about the other chips?  Should I upgrade them?

Any other things I should be thinking about?!

Thanks in advance for your help!

[alexh]

The best upgrades (in order) would be:

A2630 ROMS v7.0 (You will need at least v6.6 to use Kickstart ROM above 1.3)
Kickstart v3.1 40.63 chip
Workbench v3.11 disks (if you cannot make your own)
Buddha Autobooting IDE interface
IDE to CF adapter
CF card
USB2.0 High Speed CF card reader
IDE Hard drive
WHDload registration
MegaChip 2Mbyte CHIP RAM upgrade
Super Denise chip
Scandoubler or PicassoIV Graphics Card

Forget a kickstart switcher, once you have a hard drive (CF card) and WHDload you'll never use anything other than KS3.1

The CF card back panel adapter will plug into your buddha IDE controller and you'll be able to quickly remove the card, transfer to the PC, copy files across in WinUAE at 20Mbyte/sec and put it back.

If you also fit an internal IDE hard drive, you'll be able to format your CF card in FAT format and transfer files in Windows instead of WinUAE!

[doctorq]

@alexh

Funny that you recommend the Buddha zorro card, when you have stated in another thread that it was crap.

I'd skip 3,4,5 and 7 and get a A2091, Oktagon 2008 or GVP HC8+ SCSI controller, and a SCSI CD drive (internal or external).

[abbub]

Hey, thanks, Alex.

I've actually ordered a Neobitz Component/Svideo/Composite module from Jeff Kurtz, and I'm going to pick up the RGB off of the motherboard and make a bracket for the component video outputs and run a 19" LCD as my display.  Right now I'm running mono composite out into a 1702.  It sucks.

Regarding the A2630, is there a way to see which version of the roms I'm running now.  I had read about that and looked at the chips themselves, but they didn't seem to have any version information on them.  Once I discover that I have the wrong version of the ROMs (>grin<) what's the best way to go about upgrading them.

I've already got a IDE to CF adapter, so in that respect, I'm all set.  I ordered the 3.1 40.63 ROM last thursday, so I've got that covered, too.  I'll check out the Buddha IDE interface.  Any chance of finding one of those used?  (I'm in a compact and not supposed to buy anything new this year!  The neobitz was already 'bending' the rules a bit!)

[abbub]

doctorq, thanks for your suggestions.

I already have a Plextor SCSI CD Drive (actually I have a reader and a writer available), and the 5 1/4 slot is sitting bare, so that's definitely doable.  What's the max drive size I'm looking at with a 2091, and does it support all of the various versions of Workbench without issues?

[alexh]

doctorq wrote:
@alexh

Funny that you recommend the Buddha zorro card, when you have stated in another thread that it was crap.

It is. And for an Amiga with an IDE interface like an A4000 or A1200 it is a serious No, No!

But he asked for a cheap, fast, way of transferring data to and from his Amiga and PC. I cannot see a SCSI card offering him that without burning CD's and DVD's.

The A2000 is the only Amiga where the Buddha IDE controller actually makes sense.

[alexh]

abbub wrote:
Any chance of finding one of those used?

It is so cheap that you wont save a lot going second hand

[alexh]

abbub wrote:
What's the max drive size I'm looking at with a 2091

It depends on the version of ROM on the card. Get one with a v7 and you can use upto 128Gig (You will of course need a filesystem such as SFS or late versions of 3.9 FFS). If you can get one with a WD33C93-08 SCSI chip that is better too. If you decide to get one, make sure you dont get an A2090 by mistake as these do not autoboot.

does it support all of the various versions of Workbench without issues?

You won't care. You'll only be using v3+

[abbub]

alexh wrote:
It is so cheap that you wont save a lot going second hand

Yeah, I know it seems strange, but my girlfriend and I are in a 'no new purchases' compact, which means that food, socks, and undies are the only 'brand new' things we can buy in 2008.  (Well, there are some other exceptions, but that's the gist of it...)  I'd rather buy a used SCSI setup than a brand new IDE setup.  Money's not my primary concern.

[alexh]

Eh? Sounds like girl logic there. What does it matter if it is $40 second hand or $40 new? $40 is $40!

[abbub]

alexh wrote:
Eh? Sounds like you are a bit {bleep} tied :-)

Actually, it was my idea.  Second, it's about saving money, putting a stop to rampant consumerism, and being environmentally friendly.  The difference is the 2091 has already been built, and using it keeps it out of the landfill.  The new units are built according to demand.  If I don't buy one, there's one less person demanding that new resources be spent on a new unit.

It's a bit political/environmental, and I don't expect (or really care) if anyone else  understands or agrees, but the point remains that I'm looking for used kit, not new kit.

[alexh]

I understand the ethos behind what you are trying to do even if I do not understand your the way you are going about it. (Side effect of being a former student of environmental science)

What about all the extra electricity you are going to use now you've resurrected your Amiga? ;-)

What about the carbon cost of shipping the second hand SCSI card to you?

Have you thought about that guy who was bidding for that second hand SCSI card you bought? Because you bid, he missed out and decides to ditch his Amiga in the trash (thereby poluting the landfill with heavy metals and other toxins) and buy a brand new $5k 1K Watt PC? On the way to Best Buy to collect it he passes a car dealership and decides to buy a Hummer.

OMG what have you done!?!

Enough ragging. Good luck in your efforts, both Amiga and environmental.

[abbub]

What about all the extra electricity you are going to use now you've resurrected your Amiga? ;-)

The idea is to reduce, not eliminate.  I turn my PCs off when not in use.

What about the carbon cost of shipping the second hand SCSI card to you?

Does the new card somehow get shipped here for free, with no carbon cost?  

Have you thought about that guy who was bidding for that second hand SCSI card you bought?

Admittedly, I'm running on the assumption that, at this point, there's probably more Amiga hardware than demand for Amiga hardware.

Okay, enough of a thread derail.  lol.

[r0jaws]

Admittedly, I'm running on the assumption that, at this point, there's probably more Amiga hardware than demand for Amiga hardware.

 :lol:

[Argus]

alexh wrote:

The CF card back panel adapter will plug into your buddha IDE controller and you'll be able to quickly remove the card, transfer to the PC, copy files across in WinUAE at 20Mbyte/sec and put it back.

Er, don't want to rain on the parade, but remember that compact flash ide adapter is NOT hot-swappable.  I think a better solution would be as doctorq suggested get a scsi adapter (e.g. an A2091) and use either a cdrom or a cheap as chips zip 100mb scsi drive on the Amiga and an ide or parallel one on the pc to do the file transfer.  

I personally just burn all amiga files to a CDR disk, plop them in the scsi cdrom (which fits nicely in the 5.25" A2000 drive bay) and away I go.  If I really want to transfer something from the A2000 to the PC, I use a zip disk in PC FAT16 format (but that's a pretty rare occurrence.  I have a scsi zip 100MB drive in the second 3.5" drive slot next to the floppy.  All in all it's a nice self-contained system with plenty of interconnectivity with PC formats.

If you absolutely must have the Buddha controller, Amigakit sells the Buddha Flash Phoenix Edition (w/ clockport) brand new.  The nice thing about it is not the IDE stuff but the clockport, which allows later addition of a Subway USB controller.  But that's kind of an expensive way to transfer files back and forth between the PC and Amiga.  You can probably get a scsi Zorro II controller, scsi cdrom and scsi zip drive cheaper than just buying the Buddha controller alone.