SupraDrive 500XP slow?

[k4lmp]

SysInfo shows right at 2 megabytes per second on my A500+ with a GVP A500+8.  How much fast ram do you have.  I have 2 of the A500+8 controllers, one of which hass 4 meg, and one which has 8 meg.  The one with 8 meg shows about 2 megabytes per second, the one with 4 meg shows about half that on the transfer speed.  I used a couple of drive speed tests that were recommended on another thread somewhere, and got the same results.  I am using SysInfo 4, and I don't know if it is any better than the old SysInfo or not, but at least on mine, it was pretty much the same as the other drive tests.  I may have just got lucky or something

[k4lmp]

Mine is a standard, unaccelerated A500+.  I do have the 68010 processor in mine, but that really doesn't make any difference.  Try boosting your fast ram.  If that doesn't work, it is still better to have more fast ram. Like I said, I only got about 1 megabyte/sec on my spare A500+8, which has only 4 mb of fast ram.  I get 2 megabytes/second from the one with 8mb of fast ram. I don't know if that the extra fast ram is the reason, for sure, though. Are there any chips in the Supra, that might have a later version.  I know the A2091 has problems without the 6.6 roms, and it is even better to have the 7.0 roms.  Also, there is a later version of the controller chip that helps out.  I'm not sure about the Supra, as I don't have one.  Good luck with it.  I'm sure someone on here will have an idea of what to try.  Lots of knowledge on here.

[k4lmp]

No, I've never really looked at that.  What do you use for the CPU meter, TinyMeter?  I can look if you want, just let me know what you use.  Also, the A500+8 that I use is a GVP, so I'm not sure what the differences are in the different brands..

[k4lmp]

I will run that software and check cpu usage.  Will probably be tomorrow evening, but I will let you know.

I had originally posted that I had never had any issues with GVP compatibilty, but I actually remembered, I have.  On my 030 combo card, there is an issue with using Zorro ram expansions while using the built in SCSI controller on the combo card.  If I use an external ram card, I get gurus sometimes.  But I have 13 mb on the combo so it really isn't an issue.

I also bought a HC+8 on ebay one time, cheap, that the seller said was bad, so I took a chance that it was just a bad autoboot or something, but I lost, the card itself was bad.

I have a SupraRAM card, and from the ones I've had, it is my favorite RAM expansion.  But, I do like the GVP cards.  I've never had any experience with the Supra SCSI cards.  I will run the CPU test, and get back with you.

[k4lmp]

OK, so I ran the test on my A500+.  Here are the results:

read speed:  2.178 MegaBytes/Sec.
Busy/Idle Percentage:  70%

I tried with several combinations of settings, and using 16K netted a little slower read speed of around 1.5 MegaBytes/Sec. and Busy/Idle % of 58%.  But the 128K and 512K were both the 2.178 MegaBytes/Sec. and Busy/Idle % of 70%.

I hope this helps you out.  It looks like SysInfo 4 was pretty close, as it showed just shy of 2.1 MegaBytes/Sec. on the read speed.

One more thing, I am not sure what file system you are using.  I am using PFS3.  I think FFS or SFS might be a little slower, but someone else on here can answer that question for sure.

Good luck, and if I can help anymore, let me know.

[k4lmp]

It works great for me.  I don't do a lot of gaming, though, but have played some games using it.  I liked it so much I bought 4 more of them.  I am in the process of building cables for my Apple II collection to use them with the GBS.  I've got one cable made, and the Apples look fine as well.  There is a little artifact around the mouse when moved, but barely noticeable.  Like I said, I'm not a big gamer, so not much experience with them playing games.  I have an Indy ECS in my A2000HD.  

On the SCSI thing, yeah, it does really well.  By the way, it isn't an A590, it is one of  these http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?product=Impact+A500+HD8%2B+Series+II&company=gvp

Like I said before, I have 2 of these, and one only has 4mb of ram, and I only get around 1 MegaByte/Sec. on it.  I'm not sure if it is the extra fast ram that makes the difference or not.  I also have 1.5 mb of chip ram, as this is a 500+, and uses the trapdoor as chip memory.

[k4lmp]

what file system are you using?  Is it FFS, SFS, or PFS?

[k4lmp]

One thing you might try, is to use PFS.  I don't know if that will up the speed or not, but it is what I use.  I used SFS before that.