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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: darkage on January 10, 2010, 07:23:38 AM
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Hi All,
I just pulled out my old USR Courier 56k v.everything X2 Modem! haha such a beast! claimed to be the worlds first software upgradable modem. I first had it @ 21k6 or 19k2 speed (I think) then upgraded it to 28k8 then 33k6 then 56k via software flashes.
Now just thinking back I remember on older pc's like my 386 and ami 500 that the serial ports couldnt handle above 28k8 I think. On the PC you had to have a 16550 UART serial port.
Does anyone know the max achievable baud rate with an analog modem on a A500 & A1200.
Just wanted to get better understanding of the technical issues that I had back then and if it really was possible B-)
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115200 when using RTG and 060.
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Hi All,
I just pulled out my old USR Courier 56k v.everything X2 Modem! haha such a beast! claimed to be the worlds first software upgradable modem. I first had it @ 21k6 or 19k2 speed (I think) then upgraded it to 28k8 then 33k6 then 56k via software flashes.
Now just thinking back I remember on older pc's like my 386 and ami 500 that the serial ports couldnt handle above 28k8 I think. On the PC you had to have a 16550 UART serial port.
Does anyone know the max achievable baud rate with an analog modem on a A500 & A1200.
Just wanted to get better understanding of the technical issues that I had back then and if it really was possible B-)
Well, on a stock A500, you were limited by the CPU, and the serial.device (Driver), if you used the Commodore supplied Device, then you could not go over 19200 (From memory) without getting errors. But then you had replacement drivers that gave more speed for the basic CPU. (Like Baudbandit.device). I personally had A500 to A500 at 56k, but I am pretty sure there were devices that ran at 115k on a stock A500.
I used to run 115k Baud rate's to a 56k Device on a stock A500. (Helped with the little bit of Data Compression the modems used).
Now on a A1200, you have more CPU grunt, so less chances for Buffer Under/Overrun.
But these days, SERIAL is obsolete given Firewire/USB1/USB2.
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But these days, SERIAL is obsolete given Firewire/USB1/USB2.
Serial is as obsolete as my C64, C128, SX64, A1200, A2000, A3000, Mac IIci, Power Mac G3, Archimedes 310, Sun Ultra 2 and some other oldies I have.
Just because it's obsolete, doesn't mean it's not usefull anymore. Hell, we're at Amiga.org here, which is devoted to fully obsolete computers. :-)
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Well, on a stock A500, you were limited by the CPU, and the serial.device (Driver), if you used the Commodore supplied Device, then you could not go over 19200 (From memory) without getting errors. But then you had replacement drivers that gave more speed for the basic CPU. (Like Baudbandit.device). I personally had A500 to A500 at 56k, but I am pretty sure there were devices that ran at 115k on a stock A500.
Whao so it was all dependant on CPU power. Back then I kept on relating it to UART FIFO.
haha I remember Baudbandit.device and tried it, but hmm kept on getting drop outs. Come to think of it yes my Ami was unstable above 19k2. Hey coime to think of it what happened to my old Dick Smith Spirit 2 modem, that was a bucket of poo hence the reason I spent $600 AUD on the utlimate USR at the time.
Im happy to know my AMI can achieve high baud rates, just needs a accelerator card :P have to try it one day if Im lucky enough to come across a cheapo one.
Serial is as obsolete as my C64, C128, SX64, A1200, A2000, A3000, Mac IIci, Power Mac G3, Archimedes 310, Sun Ultra 2 and some other oldies I have.
Just because it's obsolete, doesn't mean it's not usefull anymore. Hell, we're at Amiga.org here, which is devoted to fully obsolete computers. :-)
Amen! Im still learning things from my Ami but more for hardware design prespective.
haha I got a SGI O2 and SUN LX (Lunchbox) just coz I could and they were cheap back when ppl started to give them up. back in the day I looked up to SGI/SUN machines as if they were the holy grail. I probably thought that way since I was learning *nix in general back then.
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It's been ages since I've used a serial modem! But I remember I had to use a different serial.device to get higher speeds. I believe this was on the old A500, but may have carried over to the A1200 too.
Obviously the names of the newer files were NOT "serial.device" - but I can't remember what they were.
Edit: 8n1.lha is one of the files, and New8n1.lha Hope this helps...
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or try this if you are very good with a soldering iron ( experts only )
link http://www.telit.com/ look for module for your country.
***ALL MODIFICATION AT YOUR OWN RISK***
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Another problem the A500 had was Workbench colors. If you cranked up Workbench colors above 4 color (to 8 or 16 color), the serial port died.
Shame that low end Amiga like A500 don't have a cost effective ethernet solution like the Commodore 64/128 do.
http://www.jbrain.net/products/64NIC%252b.html
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With some terminal programs you can use Amiga serial port directly and get better performance out of it. I used JRComm regularly at 56kbps on my A500 and I think I even used 115kbps but it slowed down pretty much everything.
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With some terminal programs you can use Amiga serial port directly and get better performance out of it. I used JRComm regularly at 56kbps on my A500 and I think I even used 115kbps but it slowed down pretty much everything.
I used JRCom as well but still had issues. hmm probably wasnt a good idea to use a telephone extension cord at the time perhaps as well :)
JRCom was pretty cool term proggy, but I ended up using the PC 386 then 486 at the time due to it actually having a hard drive and I could tag files.
Then I would use a null modem to x/fer from pc to ami. (: haha when I got a 2nd floppy drive for my Ami it was like a different world. I could finally decompress DMS archieves :)
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IIRC you can use PC2Amiga at 115200 on a vanilla A500 with no problems.
Also, New8n1.device was a favourite of mine.
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I was just cleaning up some really old equipment at my Mom's house last night and ran across my old Courier modem as well. I remember paying big bucks for that sucker because of its upgradeable firmware (DSP?). Before that I was using an HST which was only good to connect to other HSTs. Such a shame that I will most likely end up tossing this in the bin.
Back in the day I used the HST a PC to download DMS files and then I had the null model cable connected to the Amiga. There was a special utility that ran on the PC and Amiga which allowed for max transfers between the two machines. All I remember was that the Amiga side would blank the screen during the transfers and the DMS file would magically appear in RAM: - From there I would expand the DMS to a disk. I remember it working very well and was much faster than using sneaker-net.
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Ahh - the bliss of analogue modems... My last - and only one - was a 14.4 ELSA one (changed to ISDN after that).
+++
ath
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I got good performance out of my stock A500 with BaudBandit.device using JRComm and Termit TCP. I later used new8n1.device with my '030 powered A500 with even better results. I was fully capable of using a USR Sportster 56k with Miami.
I have to also mention that I also used the GuruROM in my A500+HD which seemed to help during downloads. I took the GuruROM along to my A530.
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/me mumbles something about the differences between baud and bps and walks off.
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/me mumbles something about the differences between baud and bps and walks off.
Since this is more about the data rate on the serial interface we should be on the safe side here. ;)
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hi gee l feel like rocket scientist hehe yeah right
well least l finally feel like know one thing indeed from memory 19200 on standred 500
38400 on my stock 1200 other wise you get errors on dl . that was standred serial port
l added port jnr plus then went to 56400 l think as its buffred serial port then
when added a o40 was good also baudbandit device is way better in and use term serail program l also used baudbandit.device (its on aminet) on my bbs (cnet 4) the standred
serial.device isint very good
does anyone remember the ata comaands l forgoten the one to resset modem to factory defualts l using a supra express 56 external modem for dial up internet at moment and pausing oh dont get confussed with baudrate is measure speed between modem and your pc or amiga . when ruuning with either surfsquirrel or port jnr plus had it on 115.00 port speed with the 040 PPC card you can type in at comand in term to change what it reports usually my 56 k modem conect no higer than 52 or 51 k connect speed other day was only 48.k it is old know ;-) with my isp.
l think one advanage the old modems have is alot usb and newer modems dont have data pump hardware that means dl better
indeed l turned the supra down to 38400 as it was pausing on web pages anyhigher on my sister in laws pc this just gives less to do the speed is really conection speed
to your isp or bbs .
hope this helps
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Still using analog modems here... I think the fastest I could use on my 500/'030 was 57,600, for my 1200T / '060 , I use 115,200 , no problems.
Oh, actung_bab: I believe the command to reset the modem to defaults is
AT&F0 , or maybe AT&F1 (sets first or second factory default profile, respectively)
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thanks buddy l used to know them so well yes does ring a bell thanks
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Also from memory AT&V to view the factory default string profiles :)
Remember tweaking the string profiles so much to decrease number of drops out etc. Always hunting for that perfect string.
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Also from memory AT&V to view the factory default string profiles :)
Remember tweaking the string profiles so much to decrease number of drops out etc. Always hunting for that perfect string.
'that perfect string' .. Good name for a band, or a movie methinks .... :lol: Yeah, I had a lot of disconnects / errors with my 500/'030 and Cardinal 33.6 modem. One of the BBS's I called regularly had a plan for a very simple modem line noise filter, I built one, and was great until all the BBS's disappeared.... thankfully, shortly after I got my killer A1200T setup, USR Sportster 56K, and Telnet (Oh, yeah!)