Amount of MorphOS copies sold

[amigadave]

The only thing that is going to significantly increase the sales (or use) of MorphOS2.x, AmigaOS4.x, or AROS, is the availability of quality software that everyone wants to run on those OSes.  If we can't get more developers and good software to run, all of these systems are just a curiosity to most other people and aren't much more than that even to hard core Amiga users that want to move on to something more advanced, but still Amiga related.

I know that there is already some good software for all of the above OSes, but we need so much more and better software to be considered by most computer users.

[amigadave]

That was my only gripe about the board.  I can understand the lack of CPU power because it was a low-end board based on what was available on the market at the time and meant to be cheap to encourage sales.  However, the surface mounted memory with no expansion option was a real design blunder.

I think that at the end of the day it was a board designed for simple automated business use (cash registers, monitoring devices, etc) and not really for a home user running applications on a modern OS.

I got into a big argument with one of Genesi's employees while trying to find the answers of why the memory on the Efika could not be added to (as there are solder pads on the bottom of the board just for that purpose).  It took almost a week of heated forum postings back and forth to come up with the correct answer (in fact it took a phone call from Bill Buck directly to me at my home to get a straight answer), and the answer was that the firmware of the Efika would have to be modified to have any added RAM recognized and Genesi would not do it without being paid.  Nor would they produce any new Efika boards with more RAM installed at the factory unless at least 300 boards were ordered and the price of these 300 upgraded Efika boards would naturally be higher due to the increased amount of RAM installed and the work required to re-write the firmware to recognize the added RAM.  The correct RAM that could work with the Efika was said to be difficult to find, which I find to be an odd statement, but suppose it could be true.  The Efika board was designed to be able to accept up to 512mb of RAM (in theory), but I don't know if any samples of the board were ever produced with that amount of RAM.

It would be great (although it would be against the terms of use, or what ever the legal term is for the rules that the board was sold with, to alter the firmware, or reverse engineer it) if some person or group would figure out how to alter the Efika's firmware to recognize 128mb, or 256mb of added RAM and find the correct RAM chips to solder to the provided solder pads on the bottom of the board, but it probably will never happen.

The CPU is not too slow for running MorphOS2.x, it is the limit of only 128mb RAM and the slow USB1.1 that are the worst features of the board.  The IDE controller is also not the greatest either, but for many uses the Efika running MorphOS2.x is fine, for a low end system.  It is comparable to other MorphOS2.x systems, like the difference between an stock A500 and a souped up A4000 w/68060 & 128mb RAM.

[amigadave]

Very interesting, id like to point out though people posting in forums and people having registered a copy does not necessarily go hand in hand of course, id expect the number not the be dividable at all, you cant assume that every morphos user will have a morphzone account any more then every windows user having a hotmail account. The fact is this reflects the number of registered users posting and registered and bothering to post so on morphzone. Meaning you could easily probably double the number. However as some point out there are probably way more 68k users out there then ppc, simply given availability. It would be interesting to know the number of downloads for the ISO, and total active regardless of A(ISH)OSy

Actually Mike, the number of licenses is known because each email sent to confirm the purchase of the MorphOS2.x license has a number in it that identifies how many licenses have been sold, so it has nothing to do with the number of registered users that also post on MorphZone.org.  There could be a few that have registered that are not members of MorphZone.org that have a higher number on their license confirmation email, but then as soon as another member of MorphZone.org registers another license, we all would know the new higher number in the email that indicates the total number of purchased licenses.

I hope that makes sense, it is easier to understand than it is to explain in words.

[amigadave]

Wow, that IS interesting. That was a pretty straight forward answer (typical of Bill Buck contrary to what many have said about him).

So there might be answer to the problem, if someone can make sense of the firmware.

The hardware doesn't intimidate me. Can anyone let me know what chips the Efika uses. Can I assume the pads on the bottom of the board are the same as the pads the existing memory is soldered to? Are there any gates, buffers, resistors, capacitors or other components that need to be added along with the memory.
I look into the hardware, then all we need is someone who can enable the extra memory via the firmware.

I assume the board will still work OK (as a 128MB board) with the extra memory installed so maybe we ought to explore this.

I appreciated the phone conversation with Bill Buck, no matter what  other people have had problems with him in the past, he was very straight forward  and open with me on the phone.  I am sure he, like almost all other  businessmen, has his dark side, or sometimes does things that others do  not like, but I have no bad history with him or Genesi, so did not  prejudge him in any way.

Somone has already tried to add RAM just be finding matching RAM chips and soldering them to the bottom solder pads.  It didn't work and he ended up removing them.  I would have to re-read his posts to see if it still ran, but only recognized the original 128mb of RAM when he had the additional 128mb soldered to the board.

I am still very interested in having someone solve this problem and figure out how to add at least an additional 128mb of RAM to the Efika, but after the long argument with the Genisi employee who did his best to tell me it was impossible and after getting the straight answer from Bill Buck via phone call, I had given up on this ever happening.  The hard part will be altering the firmware without running into any legal problems.  I have no doubt that finding RAM chips that will work could be done and I also have no doubt that someone could figure out how to re-flash the firmware to recognize additional RAM.  Altering the firmware is prohibited by Genesi, so that is the sticky part.

Since used PPC Mac hardware is so cheap to obtain and the few new Efika boards that are still available are still selling for $99, or more depending on which supplier you can find them from, and the fact that even the slowest supported G4 PowerMac is much faster and has less problems with USB and IDE than the Efika, it does not make much sense for anyone to work on this project.  Since the Efika was my first experience with MorphOS and I already have a license for it, I would love to have the chance to upgrade my own Efika to 256mb, or 512mb of RAM, as I love the small form factor and the extreme low power consumption, but even though I would be willing to pay someone a reasonable amount for a solution to adding RAM to my Efika, there is not much money to be made for anyone who figures out how to solve this problem.  It would be a project just to do for the challenge of doing it, instead of a way to make extra money.  If it can be done and the right RAM chips can be found, I imagine that the solution would also allow people with soldering skills to remove their existing 128mb of RAM and replace it with 256mb on top of the board in it's place and another 256mb on the bottom for a total of 512mb, as altering the firmware to recognize 512mb would be no different than altering it to recognize any other amount of RAM.

So, if anyone wants to take on this project and is not afraid of being sued by Genesi for altering their firmware for the Efika board, please contact me when you have finished and figured it out.  I will be the first one in line to get my Efika board upgraded, as long as it doesn't cost me a fortune to do it.

Edit:  Here is link to a video about Genesi and firmware for their products, including the 5200b Efika board.  I don't know if it has any useful information.  http://www.genesi-usa.com/demo/firmware

[amigadave]

@amigadave
 
What software are you running that requires more than 128MB?

As I wrote earlier, the Efika with only 128mb RAM runs most MorphOS2.x software pretty well.  There are a few games that require more RAM than the Efika has left after booting, which can be about 80mb to 90mb depending on what you have loading when you boot up, plus when browsing the Internet using any browser, you can run low on RAM if you have too many tabbed pages at the same time.

The most common complaint that people have about the Efika is the lack of more RAM, when in actual use the slow USB1.1 and limited IDE interface/connector that won't allow the use of a cable or two devices, is the two problems that limit the Efika's use the most.

[amigadave]

This is TakeMeHomeGrandma's way of promoting MorphOS to gain more users and make friends.

Is it any wonder why there aren't more MorphOS users after 10+ years of developing it, even when it was free for the first several years?

Of course it is not just the MorphOS users who are responsible for all the fighting, as it has been going on for many years and has roots at every level, from the very top people at Hyperion against the top people on the MorphOS side, all the way down to users who maybe haven't even been using either one for very long.

The fighting has been going on for so long, it is habit or tradition by now.  I am not even sure it can be stopped, though some have tried.

I am too tired of it all to even try to stop it any more, so have at it and enjoy yourselves.

It is a shame though, as it only hurts both sides (OS4.x & MorphOS) from gaining more users, as many original Amiga users, either current or former users, get so turned off by all this nonsense that they avoid even looking at either choice.

That is what disappoints me, is the loss of potential users and developers that could join one or both of the PPC Next Generation systems.

[amigadave]

@AmigaDave

I don't remember if I told this here or at mz.org before but I repeat myself: why would any sane person give a flying f about some individuals loud opinions? I would sort of understand if some people avoid certain operating system due to incidences like for example the Bill Buck-show many years back, but not when it's just a normal user shouting out loud.

This ain't North Korea, one can actually utilise their brain.

As you can see from some of the responses in this very thread and I can tell you about others that I have corresponded with personally, all the fighting does affect some potential MorphOS and OS4 users and developers.  They might otherwise be interested in using one or both of the NG PPC Amiga inspired platforms, but due to the climate found in most Amiga forum sites, they have backed off and gone back to what ever they were doing before their interest in the Amiga brought them back to see what is going on today.  TakeMeHomeGrandma is not the only person responsible for this environment, but he is a regular participant that stirs things up again and again, and again.  It is not just one person, but it is a vocal minority of users on both sides that make the most noise and cause 95% of the trouble, as I believe that most MorphOS and OS4 users are tired of the fighting just as much as I am, and wish it would stop.

@TakeMeHomeGrandma,

I know that the sales of MorphOS registrations continue as existing users buy different hardware to run MorphOS on, or some new users show up.  What I am trying to get you to understand, is that your behavior and that of others that also promote more fighting between MorphOS and OS4 users, is turning off some potential new MorphOS users from trying it out, or registering an existing demo version.  You, and people like you, are having a negative effect on MorphOS registrations (verified fact) and I would like you to stop this self defeating behavior.

[amigadave]

Boot time for a warm re-start is actually about 30 seconds.

Good point though.

One MorphOS statistic that can't be known. How many people don't mind rebooting for 4 seconds every 30 minutes, thus don't register.

I don't know why your MorphOS computer takes about 30 seconds to warm boot Iggy, as all of mine only take about 5 to 7 seconds from the time I click on the continue arrow from the boot option screen.  If you don't have a dual boot setup, then maybe it takes your system that long to look through all of the available boot devices and this is causing your boot time to extend longer.  I don't currently have any MorphOS only systems setup, so I can't check to see how long a warm reset takes on such a system, but there are probably ways to shorten your warm reset and cold boot times through options in the Open Firmware, if you could turn off certain boot devices, so O.F. does not look for them during the boot process.

OK, what started, and ended, as a 5 page thread *a year ago*, has now grown to 17 pages, that's 11 pages containing nothing but upset emotions against the probability of MorphOS having more users than OS4.

First I don't see how you get 11 pages when you subtract the 5 page thread from the current 17 pages you mentioned above, but maybe your perception of the world also includes your own version of mathematics.  I would say that the additional pages of outrage and upset users are a direct result of your intentional "stirring of the flame war pot", which you often feel the need to do.  It is not what you point out with your facts or your conclusions, based on your facts, it is the way you present them and the malicious intent behind your actions that cause the reactions of other users, and I am sure that you are quite pleased that you were successful in creating such a large reaction.

I think it is a sign of your own mental condition and state of mind.  It appears to be compulsive behavior that you can no longer control, and if I did not assume that you are an adult, I would think that it is just immature behavior, but I don't think that is the case in this instance.

You guys are doing a pretty good job reminding  me why I don't want to waste the money and time on a "next gen"  system.

My interest in MorphOS is inversely proportional to the number of takemehomegrandma posts about MorphOS.

Hi Smerf,
Oh, BTW, while I am a MorphOS user, even I am getting tired of takemehomegrandma's posts.

As you can see from the above three posts (and many others in this thread), TakeMeHomeGrandma's approach to trying to make any point, about any topic is quickly losing credibility with many members here.  But that won't stop him from continuing his compulsive behavior.  Unless perhaps he finds some professional help, or "Gets a Life".