Ditch OS3.9?

[neofree]

Hello,

I have an Amiga 1200 with a 40mhz 030 CPU, 8 meg Fast RAM, running OS3.9.  The catch is I don't have Kickstart 3.1 ROM's, instead I am using SKick to load KS3.1 into RAM.  I don't mind this, but when I boot up I only have 1.1 megs of Chip RAM left.  It seems rather slow to boot up and a little slow after it's running.  I tried booting OS3.0 on a floppy, and it ran much faster.

My question is, is the 1.1 meg of Chip mem the problem?  I know it sounds bad, but if I get real Kickstarts, will it really make a huge difference?  

Also, does anyone know how to get SKick to load into Fast Memory?  It has the flag, but says the memory is not available when I try it.  I have a GVP A1230 II Turbo+ board.

Also, does anyone know if I can make Genesis work in USA?  It dials and connects and then gives error about unable to connect via PAP.  Well, my ISP doesnt use PAP.  Infact, here in the USA, I've never seen an ISP that uses it, and I've used many ISP's.  I don't think it is a custom here in USA.

With the slowness, and the Genesis problem, I am thinking of just going back to WB3.1.  Unless I really would benefit by purchasing Kickstart 3.1 ROM's.  Which I can't get right away, as $40 USD is too much for me now.  I know most of you would say just get them because you're supposed to have them... But if I'm not going to see a drastic speed increase, I may just ditch OS3.9.

Comments?

Neofree

[neofree]

Yeah but $40 USD? Geez. This is just a retrohobby for me.  Do you know how I can load Kickstart into Fast memory?

Neofree

[neofree]

Well, I think I'm just gonna try and get KS into Fast mem.. If that doesnt work, just ditch OS3.9...

I've come to the conclusion that fast mem is not available when booting with no Startup-Sequence.  If I try to run other programs that require it, it also says that it has not enough fast memory.  This is why SKick is not finding Fast memory to boot KS3.1 into.

So the question is, How do I turn on Fast memory before I run SKick?

Neofree

[neofree]

I am running 640x200 at 256 colors.  But I dont think chip or fast mem is being eatin up by anything because I put SKick as the *first* think in Startup-Sequence.  I think the problem is that my fast memory is not working until something else turns it on, someone suggested I may need to run SetPatch first.  Haven't tried it yet so am not sure yet.

Neofree

[neofree]

No I don't think SetPatch is going to work. I was reading about what it is, and it says it needs V40 ROM to execute and will load Amiga ROM Update.  So 3.1 ROM needs to be loaded already.

So I still need a way to activate Fast Memory before running SKick....

Neofree

[neofree]

I looked and looked.. but found no settings to disable PAP...  Earthlink may use PAP, but I've never tried it.  Most ISP's in the US dont use it.  I will probably just use Miami.  It works fine.

Neofree

[neofree]

blobrana: dont get your last post.. oh well.. i agree os3.1 is faster, but i wanna try and get ks3.1 into fast ram..


Does anyone out there know how to get my fast memory turned on when booting without Startup-Sequence?

Neofree

[neofree]

I own everything except KS3.1 ROM chips.  I have KS3.1 from AmigaForever CD.

That aside, I would like to have fastmem when booting without startup-sequence for other reasons.  I've tried to run games that require 8 meg of FAST that wont work this way because it thinks i have no fast mem at all.

Again, my only problem now is No FastMem when booting without Startup-Sequence...

Neofree

[neofree]

Yes, SKick will use Fastmemory.. if the fast memory is available.  but my fastmem is not available until I boot into WB.  I dont understand why and SKick is not the only reason I want to know how to fix this.

Neofree

[neofree]

BlitzKick?  I can't find anything by that name on Aminet.

I do know of BlizKick, but it requires a Blizzard accellerator...

I think I will just try moving the SKick line down further in Startup-Sequence and see if that works.

Neofree

[neofree]

Isn't fblit for speeding up graphics?  Not that it wouldn't help, but I'm trying to get Kickstart into fastram...?

[neofree]

Well it seems things are a little different then I originally thought...

Last night I booted with no Startup-Sequence and typed Avail and it actually reported my 8 megs of Fast Memory.

What is strange is that whenever I run SKick with the "Fast" parameter (to use only fast mem), it says it is unable to find a location to relocate the rom into.  Also, if I run the demo "Relic", it also fails saying I do not have enough Fast Memory.

Well, I boot to a WB3.0 floppy, and try to run SKick from Shell, it says the same exact thing, but when I run Relic, it boots up and works fine.

I tried moving my SKick line down to right before IPrefs as someone suggested, and this had no effect.

I may have to use FBlit to make my system run better, assuming that it is able to find my fast memory.

Any ideas?  Has anyone been able to use Fast Mem with SKick?

Thanks,

Neofree

[neofree]

Ah ha! So this is the magic I am mising.  Any clue where to find better ones?

Neofree

[neofree]

Well, I decided to Ditch OS3.9...

I put OS3.1 back on and MAN IS IT FASTER!  Since all  I really use my computer for is games, and as a backup to get on the internet, everything is going great.  Spent about 2 hours reloading it last night...  Got ton of games, IBrowse 2.3, Miami, AmIRC, Jabberwocky and a couple other things installed with no problems.  It's running really fast and does everything I need it to.

I will just get real KS3.1 ROMs.  But since I don't have any money, I will have to trade for them.  (I put a ad in the classifieds here.)  

Thanks,

Neofree