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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 02:47:03 PM

Title: Simmfonie/Amifast/X-Calibur or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 02:47:03 PM
Hi All,

I am new to this forum.  I have joined because I am need of your help.

I need to find a simmfonie card or some other device that will allow up to upgrade my A3000D.  Spending nearly $250 to put in 16MB of zips is simply not an option.  However, installing 2 of the 72pin 8MB simms I already have sounds a lot better.  :)

Can anyone help me locate one of these?

I am also looking at Amifast.  I wish I could find either of them!

Dave Cunningham
Lowell, MA
USA
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: alexh on August 04, 2005, 03:06:09 PM
I take it that they dont sell them any more?

http://www.katodev.de/english/simmfonie.html
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: adolescent on August 04, 2005, 03:09:04 PM
YGPM.
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 03:20:53 PM
What does YPGM mean?

Dave
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: x56h34 on August 04, 2005, 03:31:54 PM
Quote

jiffydos wrote:
What does YPGM mean?

Dave


I'm not sure if my powers of perception are as good as they used to be, but it should mean something like "Would you pay $300USD for my CSMKII accelerator?". :-)
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 03:40:32 PM

Heh... yeah, I figured out what it meant when I saw I had a private message.


I won't be spending that much on an 060 board any time soon.  I am waiting for elbox's coldfire busboard for my A1200.  :)  That is gonna be sweet, if it is ever released.

Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: x56h34 on August 04, 2005, 03:50:32 PM
@jiffydos:

I think that if you would like to add more ram to A3000 you are likely to spend a lot of money anyway. Accelerator may be the best option as far as features go.

- 16MB of ZIP ram...expensive.
- Simmfonie adapter...rare and expensive (usually it goes from $100 to $150USD on eBay).
- Accelerator card...probably the best option as far as what you get for your spent cash goes.
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 03:59:57 PM
Yeah, but don't 060s and PPCs run too hot for a Desktop model?

I also don't need more than my a3640.  The stock 030 was really enough, but I got the 3640 for only $50 at a flea market.

Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: alexh on August 04, 2005, 04:01:48 PM
The cheapest option is to find a place breaking parts with ZIP RAM. I was able to get 16Mbyte for my (now sold) A3k for under £10
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: Effy on August 04, 2005, 05:00:07 PM
Won't it be better to get a Cyberstorm 040 ??? They are not that expensive and you can mount also 128 Mb !! It only needs an extra cooler in your case ...
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 04, 2005, 06:24:39 PM
I thought what you had was an 060???
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: adolescent on August 04, 2005, 06:30:38 PM
Quote

I'm not sure if my powers of perception are as good as they used to be, but it should mean something like "Would you pay $300USD for my CSMKII accelerator?". :-)


Close, it was an offer for my AmiFast w/16M.  

BTW, the Cyberstorm worked perfecly with the AmiFast in my old A3000.  Looking at the SIMMFonie I don't think it would work with any accellerator.
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: x56h34 on August 04, 2005, 06:33:32 PM
@adolescent:

How much for the AmiFast? :-) Send me a PM.
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: Effy on August 04, 2005, 06:47:00 PM
Anybody got a X-Calibur for Jiffydos ??? He has got an A3640 ..
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: dnelsonfl on August 04, 2005, 09:09:59 PM
I spent about $100 on a used Fastlane for the 64MB RAM it would hold. 30pin SIMMs, yes, but they're not that expensive. I bought a lot of 'em for about $5 and fully populated it to 64MB. 'Course the SCSI part of it may never work right on the A3000, but the memory works fine.

-David
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 05, 2005, 01:10:51 PM
Ooo  X-Calibur...  I just looked it up.  I had never even heard of it.  That now looks like the best thing for me.  Now, I just gotta find one.  LOL

Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: MuLTiViEW on August 06, 2005, 08:55:42 AM
Quote
I spent about $100 on a used Fastlane for the 64MB RAM it would hold. 30pin SIMMs, yes, but they're not that expensive. I bought a lot of 'em for about $5 and fully populated it to 64MB. 'Course the SCSI part of it may never work right on the A3000, but the memory works fine


 Try 256 MB of 32 mb 30-pin simms ;)

 Also, you may need either and/or the following to get the SCSI-II controller to work on a 3000.

 New SCSI chip?  New boot roms on Fastlane board. (and possibly in conjunction with)  New Buster Chip Revision 11.

 Rev 9 simply will not work at all with the Fastlane from everything I've read.
 
 Not sure,  I think the DMAC may have a problem with it? Unsure or maybe that's only the 3640 card.  (DMAC is really the A3000's native scsi controller)

 You ever want to "lose" that Fastlane,  let me know ;)

 
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 08, 2005, 02:08:35 PM
I have a buddha flash IDE, so I really am not worried about the scsi working.  It's all about ram at this point.  The x-calibur is definetly the best option.  But, I definetly cannot find that.  

I've decided that simmfonie and amifast just don't supply enough ram.  I really need more than 16.  So, I am now back to looking for a ZIII board like dkb3128 or proram.

Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: dnelsonfl on August 08, 2005, 07:28:30 PM
@Multiview,

The Fastlane only supports 64MB. Whenever they pop up for sale, the seller always mentions that 256MB option. In reality very few (if any?) of those add-on options were made. It's easy to check if you've got a lucky one: stick a few 1MB SIMMs on it. If it recognizes them, sorry, it's not the 256MB flavor.

The RAM works great on the A3000, which is why I mentioned it. Forget the SCSI. A lucky few have gotten it to work fine, but that's not the norm. Buster-11 is preferred, and nothing came up about the DMAC and Ramsey having to be upgraded. That's probably for the A3640 and a whole 'nother story in and of itself. :)

While on the subject of ram expansion for the 3000, were there any other ZIII ram expansions made besides the DKB 3128?

-David
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 09, 2005, 04:28:12 PM
There was only one other ZIII ram expansion that I know of.  It was called the "pro-ram".
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: PaSha on August 09, 2005, 08:27:52 PM
Quote

jiffydos wrote:
There was only one other ZIII ram expansion that I know of.  It was called the "pro-ram".

Don't forget the BigRAM Z3 http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=975  :-D

Anyways, read about the ProRAM 3000 here http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=1058

And, last but not least, from hard/hack on aminet:
ftp://de.aminet.net/pub/aminet/hard/hack/PS2_adapter.lha
how to make a SIMM-ZIP adapter yourself.

Enjoy.

-Paul
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: jiffydos on August 10, 2005, 12:58:13 PM
Things that were never released (BigRam) don't really help me much.  LOL  :)
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast/X-Calibur or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: only4thefi on June 26, 2006, 06:17:29 PM
AmiFast went out of production in 1998 due to lack of sales. If the levels of 1997 had continued I could have made money on the project and contiued development of something new. As it was I barely broke even. Keep an eye on E-Bay. Someone may dump a working board sometime...
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast/X-Calibur or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: Argus on June 26, 2006, 06:47:17 PM
I have a Fastlane with my A3000, 64MB variety.  I forget the rev.# of the Fastlane, but the scsi wouldn't work at all with Rev.7 Buster.  I had an extra Rev.9 from an A4000 upgrade and plugged that it, attached my SCSI-2 system drive and it worked fine.  I think the Fastlane instructions even say there is a workaround so it will work with a Rev.9 Buster, though there may be trouble if there's more than one ZIII card in the machine.  I'm planning on trying it with a GVP Spectrum ZIII card.

I wonder how tough it would be to etch your own Amifast-like board?
Title: Re: Simmfonie/Amifast/X-Calibur or other A3000 RAM device
Post by: Orjan on June 26, 2006, 09:01:08 PM

I bought a "simmfonie" adapter directly from Kato about two years ago.. It was chep, dont remember exactly now, but somewhere around 15-20€ including shipping..