Amount of MorphOS copies sold

[Iggy]

Yes, disappointing.

I doubt the numbers will increase, more likely that they will decrease over time.

Disappointing indeed.

As its been increasing over time I expect it to continue.
Once Powerbook support is introduced, Amiga users looking for a laptop will have that option.
With that and possible Apple G5 support I can only see the user base increasing.

[Iggy]

Licenses yes, new users no.

I am a relatively new user, having only adopted MOS once Powermac support was introduced. I have several contacts that would like to use MorphOS to develop software under that I am working with to set up hardware. None of these people are former MorphOS licensees.

Simply stated, there are more MorphOS users than there are OS4 users or AROS users. And you yourself know why, its a better product.

However, I too believe there are more 68K users than stated, and there are a lot more former 68K Amiga users, so the potential base to grow from is there (as long as we don't have to count on Franko).

Why so negative Nicholas? I know you've used MorphOS and have stated you'd prefer it over AOS4.
Can't you tell by that graph that the rate of license purchases is up?
Just from that you can infer that there are new users as a stagnant user base would result in a relatively flat graph.

[Iggy]

Well, it's like this I guess; when you expect the worst you can never be disappointed.

I don't know, with the political system working the way it has in the US for the last several years, I expect the worst and then our politicians surprise me and figure out a way to exceed my worst expectations. So I'm perpetually disappointed.

But over the last year, the developments in MorphOS have been a pleasant surprise. I only hope the developers can introduce all that they've hinted at.

[Iggy]

*Real Users*, or collectors/enthusiasts/nostalgics/etc that do have the stuff, but spends all of their time talking about it on Amiga.org? :p

MorphOS is usable for "real". It even has a web browser that beats the current Internet Explorer in some areas (like CSS3)!

Yes, in that regard you've got a point. I miss Flash support under OWB, but its a pretty good browser. And MorphOS is modern enough to provide the functionality I need for everyday use.
I hope AOS4 has a similar level of utility (I wouldn't know personally).
AROS certainly has a lot of programs available, so one day it may be mature enough to interest me.

And I suppose you could try to use a legacy Amiga as your primary system, especially if you were into pain.
But I suspect most 68K owners are as you stated either collectors, retro hobbyists, or just nostalgic for the "old days".

[Iggy]

Or you could say that more people will by an OS if they can actually have some hardware to run it on.  

Ha! That's hitting the nail on its head. before Mac support, you had a choice between the Pegasos and the Efika (the later underpowered and with limited memory, the former out of production for the last five years).
And Macs are cheap or free so its easy to try the Os and then buy it if you like it (a pretty good marketing method).

[Iggy]

Yep, I have an Efika and the reason I haven't purchased a copy of MorphOS is because it is too underpowered to use it properly.  Shame really because it is such a tiny board.

I do not understand why Genesi didn't give that board more memory or make the memory upgradable.

[Iggy]

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.

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 this 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.

[Iggy]

OK smerf

>So the number of Morphos users doubled, it went from 2 to 4.  Just honky doory.

No actually the number of registered users is over 1100, with probably several times that number of unregistered users.

>If someone can tell me, will morphos run on an Amiga 1200 with a ppc card. Maybe I will go to the site and do some reading who knows you might get another double if I buy into morphos.

Simple, with a PPC card and RTG graphics, yes. And the 1.X version for legacy Amigas is free.

>If it uses a MAC I don't want it in my house, or on my bench.

I use a Mac to run MorphOS (and I revile Apple too), but it also runs on Genesi's Pegasos and Efika motherboards.

[Iggy]

If nobody gives you an answer in 3 weeks then PM me and I'll check my board.  I'm on a business trip at the moment so I don't have access to it and if I called my wife to look for me then I wouldn't trust her answer.

I can understand that. I can just picture trying to get my wife to identify and read the proper numbers off a board's memory myself and in my mind it comes off looking like a modernized episode of I love Lucy.

If no one PMs me, I'll get back to you. This interests me. I find it difficult to believe the memory would be hard to source.

[Iggy]

I had a quick look online, here's the motherboard and you can see the two surface mounted RAM chips between the CPU and the IDE connector (The Samsun chips - looks like K44511638C-UCB3, but I wouldn't bet on it):
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/directron/efikaabove.jpg

Here's the reverse side with the pads for 2 additional chips:
http://www.ppcnux.de/public/efika/efika_bottom.jpg

Great shots. Saved them to a folder. May have an answer before you're home. Thanks.

[Iggy]

The real trick will be figuring out how to alter the firmware.
I wouldn't be particularly worried about patching the firmware.
While some may view this as questionable, as far as I understand it, its completely legal.
Think about it David, when you install a Sonnet upgrade processor card in a Mac you patch the firmware. You know how proprietary Apple can be, but their fine with this. Even modding PS3 or XBOX360 isn't illegal. You can be banned from online services, but you can not be arrested for it.
We don't have to distribute a modified firmware.
We only have to patch it.
This should not involve any legal issues.

[Iggy]

downloads of the alpha release of TimberWolf show over 3x that amount & that doesn't include 4.0 users

Yeah, well I tried to get that to run under MorphOS.
So not all downloads were even AOS users.

[Iggy]

huh:confused:..well ok then minus 1 to whatever the figure is now...as for MOS users going to OS4depot.net to get programs well now that's a story for another thread:lol:

Actually, there are a fair number of AOS4 packages that can be run under MorphOS with a wrapper called OS4Emu. Of course I wasn't really expecting this one to work, but its always fun experimenting.

[Iggy]

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

What David mentioned about limiting the number of tabs you can have open would drive me up the wall. I currently have about 35 opened.

[Iggy]

actually that's pretty cool cause I didn't know MOS has an OS4 emulator & heck experimenting is like 85% of the fun I have with my miggies both my classics & NG:)

Its not a full emulator, just a wrapper. Ambient has to be able to handle to Workbench calls or it won't work.

But, yeah, experimenting and figuring out how to make something work is at least half the fun.