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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: guest7146 on January 08, 2014, 09:57:27 PM
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This evening I received my ACA500 from AmigaKit. I did have an evening's hard work planned but that went straight out of the window once I realised there were Amiga goodies waiting for me!
Initially, before receipt of the ACA500, I thought it was a shame that the card wasn't designed to fit inside the machine. However, having fitted the card onto the side of the A500 I've changed my mind; it's actually quite nice having the card ports available for playing around with. The clock port is exposed which is very convenient for me - the card is a hardware hacker's dream in that respect. The card isn't cumbersome either - it sits very snug on the side port and it doesn't look out of place.
The fact that the card has Compact Flash ports is a real God send. No more booting up from floppies - I've got Workbench 3.1 installed on it. Fantastic!
The manual states that you can add Individual Computers A1200 accelerator cards onto it, which is interesting. It also says that cards from other manufacturers may also work. Perhaps I can try my Blizzard card on there this weekend and see what happens.
I guess my A500 3.1 ROMs are redundant now. I wonder if the 3.1 ROMs will work in my CDTV...
BJH.
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I Totally agree, the ACA500 is a godsend for the A500 :)
I wrote a review for my Blog here:
http://www.fitzstevesamigaworld.co.uk/?p=119
Your Blizzard might well work with it, mine (1230mkiv) doesn't sadly but many others have success with theirs, even 1240's and 1260's! It seems to depend on the A500. (1240/1260 need a special firmware on the ACA500 & 060 needs a hacked 060 library)
Which Blizzard do you have?
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BPPC modified for 400mhz + Bvision + A500 = PURE AWESOME (hehe...be a bit like putting nitro and a blower on a model-T; fun to do but WHYYYYYYY :D )
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If I didn't already have an A1200 FrankenMiggy, I would surly snag one of these bad boys just for the fun factor! Sounds awesome. Have fun and keep us up to date with any additional devices you hang off the ACA500! :laugh1:
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Okay, somebody needs to try it with a Bvision. :D
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I know it has both 3.1 and 1.3 roms but does it boots 1.3 WB from cf?
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BPPC modified for 400mhz + Bvision + A500 = PURE AWESOME (hehe...be a bit like putting nitro and a blower on a model-T; fun to do but WHYYYYYYY :D )
400Mhz Blizzard is almost here.
390Mhz is up and running thanks to a all new copper shims for CPU and chipset. Currently all work has moved to focus on AGP speed for Bvision.
AGP speed is now more important than CPU speed as 366Mhz+ Cyberstorm users have found out. No matter how fast the CPU went they still had slow graphics performance at high resolution due-to limited bus speed.
AGP speed has moved to top of the list and has the highest priority for the year 2014 for modification.
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Okay, somebody needs to try it with a Bvision. :D
BPPC has been tried AFAIK, does not work.
I know it has both 3.1 and 1.3 roms but does it boots 1.3 WB from cf?
Yep, IDE device is in the ACA500 firmware so you're good to go even WB1.3 in KS1.3
Oh and it also supports larger than 4gb CF's if a file system like PFS3/SFS is used :)
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FYI.
The left CF connector (Aux) accept CF cards formatted PC or AMIGA.
The right CF connector (Boot) accept CF cards formatted AMIGA only.
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FYI.
The left CF connector (Aux) accept CF cards formatted PC or AMIGA.
The right CF connector (Boot) accept CF cards formatted AMIGA only.
Indeed and you can also boot from the AUX CF from a FAT32 CF card which is pretty cool!
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I Totally agree, the ACA500 is a godsend for the A500 :)
I wrote a review for my Blog here:
http://www.fitzstevesamigaworld.co.uk/?p=119
Your Blizzard might well work with it, mine (1230mkiv) doesn't sadly but many others have success with theirs, even 1240's and 1260's! It seems to depend on the A500. (1240/1260 need a special firmware on the ACA500 & 060 needs a hacked 060 library)
Which Blizzard do you have?
That's a good review - very comprehensive. I'll keep an eye on your blog for the future :)
I have a Blizzard '030 card. I'll try it this weekend and let you know if it works or not!
Even if it does work it'll be going back into my A1200 but I want to try it on the A500 out of interest.
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Thanks Fitzsteve!
Well I bought a compatible CF 4GB and runs 3.1 perfect.
With SFS I get a ramlib gury :-(
Question: If I buy a 3.1 rom chip will it work so I can gain more free ram from maprom? (It uses 3.1 softkick as I saw)
Thanks again.
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Can't wait for the ACA1000!
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Can't wait for the ACA1000!
I dont see wht this wouldnt work on the A1000 now. It would just install upside down and back words. I had A500 hard drives/ram boards on my A1000 back in the day.
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Thanks Fitzsteve!
Well I bought a compatible CF 4GB and runs 3.1 perfect.
With SFS I get a ramlib gury :-(
Question: If I buy a 3.1 rom chip will it work so I can gain more free ram from maprom? (It uses 3.1 softkick as I saw)
Thanks again.
I'm pretty sure SFS requires a 68020, hence the guru. :)
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it does work on the a1000. turn it around (back in front), but NOT upside down.
110% awesome!
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I'm pretty sure SFS requires a 68020, hence the guru. :)
LOL, thanks.
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it does work on the a1000. turn it around (back in front), but NOT upside down.
110% awesome!
Are you sure it works on A1k? Because according to Vesalia it doesn't work even on A500 Rev3 machine, so I suspect A1000 has even lower chances in compatibility department here. I own A1000 myself, so I'm curious. But if Jens is planning A1000 version, why bother if ACA500 will do?
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Are you sure it works on A1k? Because according to Vesalia it doesn't work even on A500 Rev3 machine, so I suspect A1000 has even lower chances in compatibility department here. I own A1000 myself, so I'm curious. But if Jens is planning A1000 version, why bother if ACA500 will do?
Apparently, it doesn't work with Rev5 mobos either....... :angry:
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it works on one of my two a1000s. the one it doesnt work on is very picky about side cars to begin with... i suspect the "slow speed pals" are the culprit and not any specific revision.
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can't wait for the aca1000!
+ 1 !
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Well, I plugged my A600 3.1 rom to my A500+ and set maprom off.
Now I have 1.7Mb free fast and 2MB chip in expense of speed (not too much)
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Does anyone tried 4GB flash with 1.3?
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Apparently, it doesn't work with Rev5 mobos either....... :angry:
Really? Has this been confirmed? Is it a chip revision issue or something else?
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I was curious on the CF storage. Is more than 4GB overkill for most of what can be done with an A500? At least for the boot drive. Also, what about the transfer speed? I know that fitzsteve tested Transcend 133x. I saw an 8GB 500x card that was affordable but will I see any benefit of the 500x speed with the ACA500?
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I've been running the ACA500 on my Phoenix equipped A1000 for some time now w/ nary a hiccup! Scratch that… was pretty much plug and play. You know… remember that phrase? It's what we used to expect and get from our Amiga's back in the 80's.
Absolutely love this board. Haven't tried it with any CF cards larger than 4GB, but then again, wouldn't want to. While the 14mhz 68k speedup is nice, still is slow when it comes to digesting large directories or partitions.
For the ultimate in true hardware compatibility, I've got my (original Aussie made) Phoenix equipped with Kickstart 1.2 and let the ACA500 handle 1.3 and 3.1 when needed. Currently running 3.1 ClassicWB style (full install) and again, nary a hiccup or bug.
Only thing I would maybe like to add to enhance the ACA500, is more memory. Oh and a 28mhz 68k option would be nice - ala the Supra Turbo.
Really though, the ACA500 is truly a work of art. Cheers Jens!
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I agree. I have the ACA500 plus 020 accelerator and I love them! The way it integrates itself with the hardware and OS is exactly what the Amiga is all about.
My A500 has new life it probably never would have gotten otherwise.
@jdryyz: There is no point bothering with more than 4GB for 1.3. Even then, partitions should be kept below 2GB and perhaps lower (anyone know max partition size for 1.3???). Regardless, 4GB is ample. I created a 200MB partition to boot and run WB1.3 on my boot flash. Also, the ACA500 can read a FAT95 formatted flash drive in the other slot too making for easy transfer.
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Apparently, it doesn't work with Rev5 mobos either....... :angry:
If it doesnt work on rev5 motherboards A LOT of North American users will be screwed. A high % of A500 mbs ive seen are rev 5 in usa.
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If it doesnt work on rev5 motherboards A LOT of North American users will be screwed. A high % of A500 mbs ive seen are rev 5 in usa.
My collection agrees with this, I have half a dozen Rev5 machines in various states, and a single Rev6 (also a Rev 4, that is a complete mess, broken sockets, and such.)
If someone has a link to more information about this incompatibility, I'd love to see it, as an ACA500 was on my wish list..
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I have it working on Rev 5 PAL so I can verify there is at least one circumstance where Rev 5 works.
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The ACA 500 is a very nice card, works great on my A500 1.3.
I have OS3.1 installed on the memory card and also booting with the 3.1 ROM.
But the ACA 500 does not work on my A500+ although I don't no the revision of this machine, that could be the problem.
Only ASMone does not like the extra Fastram of the ACA500 1.3 + ACA500.I need to start it twice. The first time ASMone gives a guru, the second time it is ok.
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I do recall limitations with partitioning under WB 1.3 (although not precisely). The last time I had OS 1.3 installed on a hard drive, the size of the drive was 20MB (wow). I know I can do better than that today. I will create a modest partition for the WB 1.3, but I did want a second partition for storage/programs. In addition, I would like to create partitions for WB 2.x and possibly 3.x (if I ever expand the processor even more). Will it be no trouble to divide up a 4GB CF in this manner? The second CF slot will contain another 4GB card devoted to transferring data, of course. :)
@jdryyz: There is no point bothering with more than 4GB for 1.3. Even then, partitions should be kept below 2GB and perhaps lower (anyone know max partition size for 1.3???). Regardless, 4GB is ample. I created a 200MB partition to boot and run WB1.3 on my boot flash. Also, the ACA500 can read a FAT95 formatted flash drive in the other slot too making for easy transfer.
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I ordered my ACA500 without first confirming what rev motherboard I have. Although, I am 99.9% certain it is a Rev 6 because way back in 1993 I performed the 1MB CHIP RAM hack and installed a PAL/NTSC toggle switch. I do not believe that would have been possible with an older board.
Doesn't the "A500+" description mean that it would be using the latest motherboard rev also? The "+" referred to the inclusion of the ECS chipset among other things, if I'm not mistaken.
The ACA 500 is a very nice card, works great on my A500 1.3.
I have OS3.1 installed on the memory card and also booting with the 3.1 ROM.
But the ACA 500 does not work on my A500+ although I don't no the revision of this machine, that could be the problem.
Only ASMone does not like the extra Fastram of the ACA500 1.3 + ACA500.I need to start it twice. The first time ASMone gives a guru, the second time it is ok.
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The "+" used a Rev. 8 or 8a motherboard, 2.04 ROM, Super Denise, 2MB Agnus, RTC, and a few other bits'n'bobs. Also some A500's sold as "regular" A500's actually included the "+" motherboard due to a shortage. Although some of these were then further modified before sale to include less chip ram, or 1.3 Kickstart, or god-knows what manner of other modifications. It's a cr@pshoot (cr@pshoot)! But I've heard a lot of compatibilitiy issues with Rev. 5 motherboards, too. Wasn't there a thread on that somewhere?
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Anyone here with a Rev 5 NTSC A500 got the ACA500 working? Apparently there is a problem and it does not work with these models. (The PAL Rev 5's work with it) Jens is looking into it.
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I have an NTSC Rev 5 and it does "not" work for me. I had to find a Rev 6A board. What happens is it just locks up, can't choose anything from the power-on menu when it first appears. It would be nice if Jens could figure out what is causing this, because in the US, most boards that I see readily available are Rev 5.
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I received my ACA500 today. I'm still waiting on the CF cards so I'm only testing it with floppies for now.
The good news-- it does work with my A500!
The bad news-- I didn't realize I would be losing my trapdoor's RTC. In all my research before purchasing, this point was either not discussed or not a big deal to those reviewing it. To be honest, I will probably be using the system mostly for WHDLoad and the need for accurate time won't matter much there, but I would like it for working in Workbench 3.x or above.
There is a blurb in the "short manual" regarding A1200 accelerators. It says "If the A1200 accelerator has a Realtime-clock, it will not be used by the A500. Instead, only the RTC that is located on the trapdoor memory expansion or the mainboard of an A500+ will be used."
I'm confused because my RTC *is* located in the trapdoor and yet it does not show up when I booted into WB 1.3. Or, is this trying to say I need an A500+ for this?
I was concerned about the available RAM as well under WB 1.3. I went through the various boot options but wasn't seeing all the RAM I was expecting. Unfortunately, I do not have a floppy with Nic Wilson's SysInfo handy. :D
My A500 has the 1MB CHIP hack (512k built-in plus the other 512k from the trapdoor expansion). I only saw a maximum of 2.4MB showing up on WB 1.3. I was under the impression I would see the ACA500's 2MB as FAST RAM and the built-in 1MB as CHIP. It has been a while since I used a real A500 so perhaps my expectations are fuzzy.
When I chose the Kickstart 3.1 boot option (WB 3.0 floppy), I see .9MB CHIP RAM and 1.4MB FAST. I do understand that part of my FAST RAM was gobbled-up for the KS ROM mapping in this scenario. Since my A500 has Kickstart 1.3 in ROM, shouldn't I be seeing all of the available memory under WB 1.3?
Cannot wait to get the CF cards. The short manual also recommends using KS and WB 3.1 for the highest compatibility with WHDLoad. Really? I still have some other, older WB 1.3 compatible software I wanted to try out in a real WB 1.3 environment. It was my intention to make the first partition for WB 1.3 and work with that initially. I figured WHDLoad was fully backwards compatible with WB 1.3 as well. That's okay. As long as I can make another partition for OS 3.x and WHDLoad, that will be fine.
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It gets more interesting.
I went into the Expert menu and pulled up the system information (see attachments).
When I first went in, the RTC info said "not detected".
You will also note is says 1536k FAST RAM on board the ACA500, not 2MB. Is that right if no ROM is mapped?
I decided I would trying cleaning the edge connector on the A500 since it was in storage for a long time. Something changed after this. Now, you will note it says "Oki" after RTC. Not sure what that is in reference to. The chip manufacturer? At any rate, WB 1.3 still does not see it.
In case you are wondering, I have a "Supra" 512k RAM expansion/real-time clock board installed as seen here:
http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/supraram500
(now having looked at the hi-res photo, I see that indeed "OKI" is in reference to a chip)
Hmmm....not sure what to make of this. I used some decent contact cleaner for the A500 expansion. Perhaps I can make another pass....or should I consider an incompatibility?
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What Amiga 500 board revision do you have? Mine sees the RTC in the trap door expansion. It also says "Oki" in the menu. Your ACA500 doesn't see the trapdoor RAM at all, maybe that is the issue. Mine shows 512 Kb in the menu for "Trapdoor slow ..." Do you have the trapdoor RAM switch turned off maybe? Most have a switch on them to turn off the trapdoor expansion. Regarding the RTC, your battery might be dead as well, they only last 3-5 years I believe, unless you have a battery that isn't soldered in and replaced it recently.
Update: Oh wait, you state you think it's Rev 6 above. I would pop the top and look myself, you only need to lift up the right lower corner of the RF shield to see after removing the keyboard.
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I decided it was time to open to case and confirm what rev motherboard I have and it *is* a rev 6a.
I then used the eraser method to thoroughly clean the contacts on the A500 edge connector. I then removed my Supra RAM expansion just to see if this would have an impact on the ACA500's FAST RAM. It did not change. I still only see 1.5MB. Clearly I must be overlooking something or the RAM on the unit is faulty. It is suspicious that it is missing .5. It almost seems like it is allocating 512k of FAST RAM to bring the total CHIP RAM to 1MB even though I already have the full 1MB of CHIP in place before the ACA500 was added. This theory falls apart though since I removed the Supra RAM and the total CHIP RAM went back to 512k.
The presence of the RTC is being reported inconsistently still. The first time I checked the configuration, it was not there. Then when I rebooted and checked again, it was there. Workbench still does not see it, however.
Anyone else using the ACA500 in combination with a Supra RAM (rev 2) expansion??
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Wait a minute...could the missing 512k of FAST RAM be due to having it RESERVED for the ROM mapping regardless of it being used or not?? I noticed I did not not lose an additional 512k when I booted into KS 3.1.
That is unfortunate, but understandable.
Maybe I will live with the loss for now. I may consider an A1200 accelerator in the future or may wait for the Apollo Phoenix board. :D
Now about the RTC not being found....hmmmm.
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You can turn that off I believe with a menu option. I believe it is set by default to "not" use your on-board Kickstart.
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Actually, that was one of the first things I checked. I do not recall what the default was but changing it did not help.
I see someone mentioned the same problem here:
http://www.amigaimpact.org/forums/topic/amiga-500-aca500-probleme-de-chip-ram/
I tried changing all of the settings I felt were relevant but I'm still not seeing the full 2MB FAST RAM.
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Yeah, it would be nice to know more about all these options. They are very vague to me.
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The "short manual" refers to the Individual Computers Wiki for more info on the Expert Menu options but that link (http://wiki.icomp.de/ACA500_first_steps) appears to be broken.
I looked at the main wiki for the ACA500 to see if it was showing up somewhere else and it isn't.
:(
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Yeah, I checked that earlier as well.
What is strange is mine says "MapRom off". But yet it still says copying rom to ram when I boot to WB 1.3
I'm confused as well about these settings. I really haven't paid that close attention to mine. My main purpose for getting one was just to transfer ADFs to floppy. Works good for that ;)
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That is weird. Question for you is, do you see all 2MB of your FAST RAM with MapROM off? Do you have KS 1.3 in ROM on your machine?
Yeah, I checked that earlier as well.
What is strange is mine says "MapRom off". But yet it still says copying rom to ram when I boot to WB 1.3
I'm confused as well about these settings. I really haven't paid that close attention to mine. My main purpose for getting one was just to transfer ADFs to floppy. Works good for that ;)
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That is weird. Question for you is, do you see all 2MB of your FAST RAM with MapROM off? Do you have KS 1.3 in ROM on your machine?
I have a real 1.3 Kickstart installed. I'm still missing 512k.
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So it is happening to you too?!?
That's actually good news. Maybe it is just a matter of finding the right configuration settings. So you also have the latest firmware (0.99)?
I have a real 1.3 Kickstart installed. I'm still missing 512k.
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So it is happening to you too?!?
That's actually good news. Maybe it is just a matter of finding the right configuration settings. So you also have the latest firmware (0.99)?
Right v.99. I was just thinking my missing 512k was due to Kickstart being copied to ram, which it probably is. When I use my Amiga Analyzer disk I can see the 512k expansion ram separately from the ram provided by the ACA500.
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I'm out of ideas. Hopefully, some of these early adopters can chime in and assist.
The behavior of copying the ROM to RAM despite what the "MapROM" is set to may be due to what boot option you select. I know with one of the choices (F2 or F5) I saw "ROM to ROM" or something briefly display.
Right v.99. I was just thinking my missing 512k was due to Kickstart being copied to ram, which it probably is. When I use my Amiga Analyzer disk I can see the 512k expansion ram separately from the ram provided by the ACA500.
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Well, I played around with the settings and changed my profile #1. Here is what I selected:
Add other on-board RAM On
1M Chip RAM expansion On
Now I see this:
1528k Fast Memory
511k ACA500 Fast Memory
1029k Chip Memory
I believe this accounts for what I have installed in mine, 512k + 512k trap door and the 2 M in the ACA500.
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I'm still rather new to the Amiga, so all this Chip RAM/Fast RAM stuff is still confusing to me.
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This ACA500 sounds very flexible.
I wonder if it can be used with other Franken-Amiga expansions like
a Slingshot Pro:
http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/product.aspx?id=1395
which enables a zorro II slot, on the side expansion slot, with a side expansion slot pass-through
This would allow a zorro II card in addition to the ACA 500, "in theory"
or
the 86pin Adapter
http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/product.aspx?id=709
This is an 86-pin side expansion slot doubler.
In theory one could use the ACA500 with a side slot SCSI controller "like the GVP HD8+"
or an A570
My guess is the slingshot might work, but my guess is that the ACA500 and something like an A570 would interfere on the 86 pin bus.
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And when you say you "see", you mean a system analyzer program sees it? You have me at an advantage right now since I do not yet my have my CF card(s). I'm working from floppies and not a lot have labels, so I do not have access to tools beyond Workbench.
Not sure what it means when you report 1528k FAST RAM and then an additional 511k from the ACA500. Shouldn't it ALL come from the ACA500?
This could be what that french post was all about. In order to use WHDLoad optimally, they say 2MB FAST will have to seen as one whole block. And configuring the FAST RAM as one whole block may be the key to the problem. It is not clear how to do this. I did what was suggested and I still only see a maximum of 1.5MB FAST RAM.
I was reading a lot on the English Amiga Board where Jens is active and at least two other users brought this up starting with post #273:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=71495&page=14
I already have the setting "keep current" for the ROM option. Didn't work.
Jens also mentioned not enabling any feature that will force a ROM mapping. Everytime I check a setting that would do this, I find that it is already turned off. What I really need to see is a snapshot of someone's expert menu and system information screen with 2MB visible so that I can compare.
Well, I played around with the settings and changed my profile #1. Here is what I selected:
Add other on-board RAM On
1M Chip RAM expansion On
Now I see this:
1528k Fast Memory
511k ACA500 Fast Memory
1029k Chip Memory
I believe this accounts for what I have installed in mine, 512k + 512k trap door and the 2 M in the ACA500.
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Right, what I mean by "see" is that I'm using the Amiga Analyzer disk and listing the memory configuration. What I typed was straight from the output of the Analyzer screen.
When I boot to WB 1.3 it shows 2.9+ M at the top of the screen.
I believe that my configuration choices have made my 512k trap door expansion look as if it was chip memory. I found a simliar post about it on the website:
"this maps a Rev. 6 (and up) A500's 512K expansion to chipmem, instantly upgrading it to 1MB chipmem!"
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2.9MB? Then that would appear to be working for you. I am only getting 2.4MB total under WB 1.3. This is a WB 1.3.3 boot floppy, mind you. Not running anything on top of that to eat up FAST RAM.
Do you actually see something greater than 1536k FAST RAM in your ACA500 system information screen?
Right, what I mean by "see" is that I'm using the Amiga Analyzer disk and listing the memory configuration. What I typed was straight from the output of the Analyzer screen.
When I boot to WB 1.3 it shows 2.9+ M at the top of the screen.
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That is the ideal way to go. Since I have already performed the 1MB CHIP RAM hack to my A500, this setting does not apply to me. ACA500 correctly identifies my system as having 1MB CHIP RAM. The "1MB CHIP RAM configuration" setting reads "unavailable" presumably because I already have it. :)
In my case, I do not believe this has anything to do with my missing 512k FAST RAM, though.
I believe that my configuration choices have made my 512k trap door expansion look as if it was chip memory. I found a simliar post about it on the website:
"this maps a Rev. 6 (and up) A500's 512K expansion to chipmem, instantly upgrading it to 1MB chipmem!"
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2.9MB? Then that would appear to be working for you. I am only getting 2.4MB total under WB 1.3. This is a WB 1.3.3 boot floppy, mind you. Not running anything on top of that to eat up FAST RAM.
Do you actually see something greater than 1536k FAST RAM in your ACA500 system information screen?
No, in my "System Information" screen it shows:
Chip RAM: 512k
Trap door slow: 512k
ACA500 on-board Fast RAM: 1536k
1M Chip RAM expansion option available
I made the changes and saved them as profile #1.
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It is still strange that system info reports 1536k RAM, but if your total memory available under WB1.3 is 2.9MB, then you obviously have 2MB FAST being recognized where it counts.
Another thing you can do is open a Shell in WB 1.3, enter "cd c" then type "avail". That will show us how the ram is configured from the Workbench point of view.
No, in my "System Information" screen it shows:
Chip RAM: 512k
Trap door slow: 512k
ACA500 on-board Fast RAM: 1536k
1M Chip RAM expansion option available
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It is still strange that system info reports 1536k RAM, but if your total memory available under WB1.3 is 2.9MB, then you obviously have 2MB FAST being recognized where it counts.
Another thing you can do is open a Shell in WB 1.3, enter "cd c" then type "avail". That will show us how the ram is configured from the Workbench point of view.
Type Available Maximum Largest
chip 955384 1047520 955288
fast 1960256 2089208 1526792
total 2915640 3136728 1526792 I'm running WB 1.3.3 as well. I thought I understood how this thing worked until I started looking more into it after you posted your issue.
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Yeah, your system is seeing the entire 2MB FAST RAM just fine. In this case, I would just ignore what your system configuration is reporting.
Attached is what my "avail" command shows me.
By the way, I've tried both Kickstart 1.3 options from the boot menu. What option did you pick?
Type Available Maximum Largest
chip 955384 1047520 955288
fast 1960256 2089208 1526792
total 2915640 3136728 1526792 I'm running WB 1.3.3 as well. I thought I understood how this thing worked until I started looking more into it after you posted your issue.
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Yeah, your system is seeing the entire 2MB FAST RAM just fine. In this case, I would just ignore what your system configuration is reporting.
Attached is what my "avail" command shows me.
By the way, I've tried both Kickstart 1.3 options from the boot menu. What option did you pick?
Before I started changing things here, I used the menu option for either 1.3 or 3.1. But now I saved my changes as profile #1 and I use that selection now to boot into my WB 1.3
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The basic difference between my system and yours is you are letting the ACA500 configure your trapdoor RAM as CHIP RAM for you.
I'm almost tempted to undo my 1MB CHIP RAM hack, but since I cannot say how long I would be using the ACA500, that may not be a wise decision.
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You could open a ticket on icomp.de and see if they could provide a reason/fix. I didn't know you could do that until recently on a mailing list for Turbo Chameleon 64.
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Thanks for the tip. I thought I read that I should go through the retailer first. I have posted over on EAB. I will see if any help comes from it.
You could open a ticket on icomp.de and see if they could provide a reason/fix. I didn't know you could do that until recently on a mailing list for Turbo Chameleon 64.
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Yeah, I think they want you to hit up your re-seller first of course.
I guess one benefit of posting on that other board (EAB) is that Jens actually posts there ;)
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Very true.
Yeah, I think they want you to hit up your re-seller first of course.
I guess one benefit of posting on that other board (EAB) is that Jens actually posts there ;)
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And we have learned now that "add other on-board RAM" is the 512k that is reserved for MapROM. If you have MapROM off, it doesn't give you this extra RAM without also turning on "Add other on-board RAM". So in essence, there is 2 M available, however, only 1.5 is available by default without changing other settings too.
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Yes. I am seeing the connection with these settings and the behavior I am seeing matches it. My problem is pointing in the direction of corrupt flash memory. We'll see if it can be corrected once I get my CF cards installed.
And we have learned now that "add other on-board RAM" is the 512k that is reserved for MapROM. If you have MapROM off, it doesn't give you this extra RAM without also turning on "Add other on-board RAM". So in essence, there is 2 M available, however, only 1.5 is available by default without changing other settings too.
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I should have paid more attention to what you said here. After configuring the appropriate expert menu settings, saving and then hitting "boot", I see all of my RAM!
I also boot into profile #1 from the main menu and get the same results. Any other option referring to KS 1.3 on the main menu will make me lose the additional 512k and this is why I kept going nowhere. I never used the profile boot method. The "complete configuration using KS 1.3" appears to add IDE support (which I know sucks up another 300k) but the other menu option referring to "kickstart 1.3 and FAST RAM" does not behave as one would expect.
Before I started changing things here, I used the menu option for either 1.3 or 3.1. But now I saved my changes as profile #1 and I use that selection now to boot into my WB 1.3
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I wish there was a way to not map 512k for ROMs and just use the onboard ROM allowing the use of the 2MB RAM. I think it's silly to have developed it this way. 2MB ram but not able to ever use 2MB, only 1.5MB! Why didn't he add 1MB for the MapROMs or something so we can have the full 2MB?
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I should have paid more attention to what you said here. After configuring the appropriate expert menu settings, saving and then hitting "boot", I see all of my RAM!
I also boot into profile #1 from the main menu and get the same results. Any other option referring to KS 1.3 on the main menu will make me lose the additional 512k and this is why I kept going nowhere. I never used the profile boot method. The "complete configuration using KS 1.3" appears to add IDE support (which I know sucks up another 300k) but the other menu option referring to "kickstart 1.3 and FAST RAM" does not behave as one would expect.
Oh awesome, so you are good now? I was doing something similar, until reading your post. That made me question what I was doing and looked into it further.
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I wish there was a way to not map 512k for ROMs and just use the onboard ROM allowing the use of the 2MB RAM. I think it's silly to have developed it this way. 2MB ram but not able to ever use 2MB, only 1.5MB! Why didn't he add 1MB for the MapROMs or something so we can have the full 2MB?
Well, you "can" use all the RAM if you have a real 1.3 or 3.1 ROM in your Amiga. Unless I'm not understanding your question properly. I only boot into 3.1 if I'm writing an ADF to a floppy, otherwise, I use 1.3 which is what I have installed on my PCB. I'll admit, I'm a new Amiga user, so I'm still learning.
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Yes, I appear to be good now. I never thought to try other boot options because the main menu options at the top were more obvious.
Oh awesome, so you are good now? I was doing something similar, until reading your post. That made me question what I was doing and looked into it further.
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Yes, I appear to be good now. I never thought to try other boot options because the main menu options at the top were more obvious.
That's great! I don't think the operation of this device is all that intuitive.
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I've been running the ACA500 on my Phoenix equipped A1000 for some time now w/ nary a hiccup!
I finally found time to go through a pile of Amigas I have collected over the last several years to try to find/build one I can dabble on. Depressingly I found almost all of them to be dead, even ones that worked a few years ago on initial inspection (probably from leaky caps). I was hoping to build a super A4000 with a Picasso IV and lots of other goodies pulled from a dead A3000T, but no go. So back all this goes in storage until I can find the time to learn cap replacement.
The one Amiga I have left that does work is an A1000 with a 1080 in beautiful shape. These seem quite hardy for their age! I played with it a bit and realized there isn't a heck of a lot I can do with 512k and old boxes of rotting floppies.
So I got to looking around how I might make it more useful and came across this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbeRvkjs1og
That really got me drooling, had no idea all these expansions were this useful at the time they came out.
Now I'm reading that Individual doesn't want you to use the ACA500 on your A1000, and that there is an ACA2000 planned and then an ACA1000 coming after that. It has been some time now since the ACA500 has come out and I didn't find anything about the ACA2000 even progressing. Does anyone know if these are still coming?
Failing that, with this much time passed have people figured out what possible compatibility issues are with the ACA500 on an A1000? I'd be fine with the ACA500 on my A1000 if I knew it would work.
I'd also want an ACA accelerator to plug on it. Unfortunately it looks like the faster versions are all sold out, curious if any other 030 or better ones are coming in the future again.
I'm guessing there aren't any 100% solid answers here, but consider this an expression of interest to buy all this for my A1000. I've always loved the idea of upgrading the original Amiga to be a top end Amiga with some modern amenities.
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Someone else in this thread said the ACA500 worked in one of their A1000's, so may as well try it on yours to see. I have yet to try it on my other regular A1000 myself, but I suspect the reason why Jens warns against using it with A1000's is because someone might accidentally install it wrong and blow it up.
Re: further expanding the ACA500 with another card, I see the 020 and 030 boards are a bit smaller than the older A1200 accelerators that would take up the entire room in the trapdoor. Used on an A1000, might be enough clearance to not interfere with the joystick port. :)
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So back all this goes in storage until I can find the time to learn cap replacement.
I'm a big fan of the "do it yourself" approach, but on the off chance you weren't aware, there's a number of good (and reasonably well-priced) folks that will do it for you, right? :)
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@ Bif
thanks for posting the video! looks great but unfortunately the dude didn't run any programs/games on it:(
I was waiting for the ACA 1000 as Jens said it would kick (pun intended) the chip ram up to 2mb so I'm assuming the ACA500 doesn't add any additional chip ram to the A1000??
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Someone else in this thread said the ACA500 worked in one of their A1000's, so may as well try it on yours to see. I have yet to try it on my other regular A1000 myself, but I suspect the reason why Jens warns against using it with A1000's is because someone might accidentally install it wrong and blow it up.
Yeah I've seen reports if it working on some A1000's and not some others, which is what worries me. I was hoping there might be more info on what rev A1000/etc. they might work with or not by now.
I would be fairly bummed to get one and not have it work. I don't have or want an A500 (again) to plug it into. On the other hand I was looking at them again on Amigakit and they aren't terribly expensive so might be worth a roll of the dice. I went to go check total cost and saw they are also out of stock though, ugh - I thought I had noticed it in stock a few days ago, guess I read it wrong. So it's all moot for now anyway until I hear of new stock coming in.
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I'm a big fan of the "do it yourself" approach, but on the off chance you weren't aware, there's a number of good (and reasonably well-priced) folks that will do it for you, right? :)
All sorts of reasons I'd like to do it myself. Between my 5 Amiga's and their add-ons and monitors and power supplies, an expanding collection of pinball machines where some have circuit boards from the 70s, and vintage guitar/bass amps and other gear there is long list of stuff that is going to need cap replacement and other electronic servicing around here. It's a skill I want to learn and it may help out with other future possible electronic things I wish to tinker with as well. Plus, I just really don't trust other people to get the job done right even if I think I should. I have had too many bad experiences with that for home repairs done poorly - I pretty much do anything I can myself.
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@ Bif
thanks for posting the video! looks great but unfortunately the dude didn't run any programs/games on it:(
I was waiting for the ACA 1000 as Jens said it would kick (pun intended) the chip ram up to 2mb so I'm assuming the ACA500 doesn't add any additional chip ram to the A1000??
Yeah that's a good point about running other things, I'd think getting into WB means it should be fairly stable though.
And yeah, I don't think the ACA500 adds any chip ram for an A1000, but I think I was prepared to live with 512k (though I've not really played with Amiga's since the 90s so I am not aware of how crippling that may or may not be). If I knew the ACA1000 was actually coming out I'd of course wait for that though.
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So I got to looking around how I might make it more useful and came across this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbeRvkjs1og
That really got me drooling, had no idea all these expansions were this useful at the time they came out.
OK, talking to myself like a weirdo now, sorry. Just thought it was interesting to come across a listing for the computer in the video I linked for sale now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261999407953?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true
Almost tempted but I suspect it will end up pretty expensive in the end (especially with CDN $ and shipping) for the extra stuff that I don't really need.