Classic Workbench; Problems with aca1233 accelerator.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Why would I need to upgrade to 3.1?

Because it costs less than $20 and is as easy as popping in a couple chips. If there's even a chance that it could help with your issues, why not do it?

Not directed at you personally, but it drives me absolutely nuts how cheap many Amiga users are. Sure, there's software work-arounds like maprom-ing in a later version, but why in the world would you not want "the latest and greatest" Kickstart for your system? Unless you're building a purely retro, 1.3 machine or something, it just makes me facepalm so hard how many people fight tooth-and-nail to not do this simple upgrade.

Sorry, off-topic rant over! Good luck with your current issues, I'd do some searching on the forums for the proper config for your ACATune software. Config is different depending on the model of card you have and for optimal config of it. It should be the very first line in your startup-sequence and can actually make a pretty big difference if it's not configured correctly!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I'll check the forums about the aca card, sure. I would not have the expertise to install the 3.1 kickstarts myself. I gather it needs soldering or something. But I'm not against it at all.

If all else fails I may pay amigakit a visit as they have a customer counter I'm told. I have an old a500 in need of some loving too and Cardiff is not far away.

No soldering required, just pop in a couple chips.  You do need to make sure of the correct orientation and put them in the right sockets, of course.  I wish I was close enough to visit AmigaKit, post pics (if they let you) if you go.  Bet it'll be a fun trip, I'm jealous!  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I see. Yes it would cost as little to go by ferry as it would for postage and it would be a nice trip. My a500 will have to go there sooner or later.

Now I'm picturing you on a ferry with an A500 tucked underneath your arm.  It'll be an adventure, like the 1980's all over again!  I wonder if anyone will stop to ask you what it is you're carrying there?  Might even make some new friends!  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

whatever you do, DO NOT buy 3.1 roms

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Thanks, I will try this. Oddly what seems to be happening is, I activated the maprom feature and I get loads of other mem. But after resetting the amiga, ctrl, A+A, I lose the other mem. Is there a way to save the maprom command rather than having to activate this every time i boot up?

Well I will try your suggestion. Really, that's great. I guess some games require 3.1? Oh and should I enter the command in my acatune software. Its on a floppy. Or from a cli?

The ACATune command needs to be copied to your C: directory and run each time you turn on your machine as the first line in your startup-sequence in order to activate its functions. The suggestion from the other thread was like this:

C:ACATune -cache on -burst on -vbrmove -maprom * >ram:acaoutput.txt

If you don't know how to edit your startup sequence, easiest way is to just drop down to a command prompt and type:

ed s:Startup-Sequence

And type that exact sequence of commands at the very top. Be careful not to make any other changes if you are unfamiliar with editing your startup sequence. Then press the Esc key and X to exit the editor, saving changes. You should confirm that you have the same model of ACA card as mentioned in the other thread, since commands can be specific to different models of cards. http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACAtune

No games require 3.1 AFAIK, but if you're worried about compatibility with future software (i.e., running Workbench 3.5 or 3.9, etc.)... just do it. I'm tired of trying to convince people why a simple less than $20 upgrade is worth it. That's like, less than a week's worth of coffee money. Geeze. :p

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

+1

Kickstart 3.1 offers only minor improvements. If you don't have any specific reason for getting the roms, then don't.

I feel like a drug pusher. "Upgrade to 3.1, you know you want to, you know it'll make you feel better", LOL. Jeeze, it's less than $20. I'll just put this here:

http://wiki.classicamiga.com/Kickstart_Roms_Explained#Why_upgrade_from_Kickstart_3.0_to_Kickstart_3.1.3F


All the 3.1 haters on here.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Might be a ClassicWB issue. As Paul1981 said, you've got some weird programs installed on there. May be a conflict. If you type 'version acatune' at a command prompt what does it say? Post your version number and maybe someone else can confirm if it's the latest?

I would download the latest version to a CD from your PC and read it back on the Amiga that way (obviously this will require a CD drive on your Amiga). You don't happen to have any PC's sitting around with a floppy drive still, anymore, do you?

There's various methods of transferring files via serial and parallel links, of varying levels of difficulty to setup/configure.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Just copy it from the command line. I.e.:

copy source_file_location to SYS:C

Command would probably look something like:

copy df0:c/acatune to SYS:C

Or where ever the acatune command is stored on the floppy disk. And then you'll be able to run it in your Startup-Sequence, like we've been telling you to do.

It's unfortunate that ACA isn't autoconfig memory. Only thing I get out of those SysInfo screenshots is that (as you can see) it's loading all of those libraries into "SLOW RAM" (i.e., wasting your chip memory) rather than into the faster memory on the ACA at power-on. Nothing you can really do about this, just it sucks. By comparison here is a screenshot of mine, showing everything loaded into 32-bit fast memory, as it should be.

Paul - you're the expert on these ACA cards. Anything he can do about this? For better performance?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

If I understand your quote from the manual correctly, if he had Kickstart 3.1 it would autoconfig all of the memory automatically?

I bet you dollars to donuts he moved the acatune command off the floppy disk, and either into ram: or onto the hard drive, rather than copying it. Let's hope it's on the hard drive and he can correctly locate it and copy it into C:. If it somehow got moved into ram:, well it's gone-city and he's stuck until he either gets another floppy disk, or figures a way to transfer files from PC to Amiga.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Do you boot off of more than one partition?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

BTW... what's your name?

He throws me every time with that icon for David Pleasance.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I think the extra mem is going to disappear upon a hard reboot (i.e., you completely turn the power off). Does it survive a soft reboot (i.e., once you execute the acatune software, does the memory stay active if you press Ctrl+A+A? Or do you need to execute acatune every time?). Paul would be the one who would know about this. My understanding stops beyond that it needs to be executed first in the startup-sequence with the proper options, and I'm still concerned that some of your ClassicWB stuff may be interfering with it (as Paul pointed out).  Have you copied it to the C: directory of your boot partition yet?

Boy do I miss the days of Commodore skullduggery! Now all we have is community backbiting and in-fighting. Was a lot more fun when we were unified against a common enemy. Kind of like the cold war, LOL.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

How do I copy it to the "C" directory of my boot partition? The aca tune readme says to do this but it does not say how. The other mem disappears after a hard and a soft reset.

You need to get the acatune command into your SYS:C directory.  If you had a directory utility like DirOpus or DirWork it would be easy.  ClassicWB probably comes with something similar, but I'm unfamiliar with it.  Barring that, just copy it via the shell (see post #39 in this thread).
 
 At a command line type:
 
 copy df0:where_ever_the_file_is_saved_now to SYS:C
 
 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Gaah, you're killing me now, man. You just need to copy the file from where ever it is on the floppy disk, into the C directory on your hard drive. Have you never used DOS before?

Like if the file is in the directory "Tools", you'd type:

copy df0:tools/acatune to SYS:C

Or if the file is in a directory called "Utilities", you'd type:

copy df0:utilities/acatune to SYS:C

Or if the file is on a floppy disk in an external drive, you'd replace df0: with df1: or df2: or whatever your floppy disk is. Are you familiar with commands like CD, Dir, List, etc.? You're making me feel like an old fogey now, for using dos commands, haha.

I don't know where the file is on the floppy disk, but it's there somewhere, probably in some subdirectory. You need to get it from there, into the C directory on your boot partition so you can add it to your Startup-Sequence.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

You need to get a book, man.  
 
 Put the disk in the floppy drive.  I assume you only have one drive, so that's df0:
 
 Open a Shell window (usually in Workbench:System, in your case it would probably be in WB:System, since your Workbench partition is named weirdly).
 
 Type:
 
 cd df0:
 
 then type:
 
 list
 
 We need to find where on the disk the command is located.  Respond back with a screenshot of the directory listing of df0: