KickStart ROMs

[jiffydos]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone knows the difference between the KickStart 3.1 ROMs for the A3000 and A2000 from the A4000.  Are they physically different?

I am trying to upgrade my A4000 that I just got, but I would rather just take them out of my A3000 (if possible) and just retire the A3000 back to it's 2.04 roms.

Thanks!

[jiffydos]

OH!

P.S.

I don't have a ROM tower... just the standard 2 ROMs.

[leofoe]

They are physically the same but defenitely not the same ROM's! So you can't swap them.

[Piru]

The KickStart 3.1 ROMs for the A3000 and A2000 from the A4000. Are they physically different?

Yes.

[jiffydos]

OK...

Now I seem to have conflicting answers here...

One of you says that they are only physically different, but have the same data...  And another says they are physically the same, but different data... LOL

I am actually a bit confused as to why the A2000/500s have 1 and the 3000/4000s have 2.  Is one for the onboard HD controller and one for the System?

If so, do they each have the same ROM image and only use the portion that they need?

I'm just wondering if I can make an image of my A3000s 3.1 roms and just do a software re-kick with that rom on my 4000.

[Piru]

I am actually a bit confused as to why the A2000/500s have 1 and the 3000/4000s have 2. Is one for the onboard HD controller and one for the System?

No. Both have the same data (or can have, they usually are a bit different, A3000 has SCSI drivers, A1200/A600 ones have IDE and PCMCIA drivers, A4000 ones have IDE drivers, A4000T ones have IDE and SCSI drivers etc).

If so, do they each have the same ROM image and only use the portion that they need?

A500/A600/A2000/CDTV use 16-bit access, while A1200/CD³²/A3000/A4000 use 32-bit. For the 32-bit ones the ROM is split to two portions so the access can be overlaid for better performance.

CDTV and CD³² actually were a bit special, they both had more ROM than other systems. For example CD³² had 512KB (the normal ROM) and 512KB (CD drive drivers, and other built-in driver software).

[leofoe]

You can swap the A500 and the A2000 ROM's, but not the A3000 and A4000 ROM's. The A3000 has a SCSI-controller; the A4000 hasn't. That's why they are not the same.

[jiffydos]

Cool...

So... the difference is that they are physically a different size?  But, the data on each is the same...

So ROM 1 for the A3000 is the same as ROM 1 for the A4000, just different pinouts, etc?

Same for ROM2?

[Piru]

Even if you could physically connect them (I am not saying you can, you most definitely can't swap A2000<->A3000/A4000 at least), the system would lack drivers for some crucial components.

KS 1.x is 256KB
KS 2.x/3.x is 512KB, except that CD³² has another 512KB ROM.

[TjLaZer]

No all the Kickstart chips are physically the same size (40 pin DIP), but technically the capacity of the chips are different as in the A500/600/2000 are 27C400 (512kb) and the others are 27C200 (256k) as they are in pairs to provide the 512kb ROM.  But the actualy ROM code is different between these: A500/600/2000, A3000/3000T, A4000, A4000T, and CDTV or CD32.  You cannot install a A3000 ROM in a A4000 and expect it to work.  Hope that helps!

[KThunder]

if it did work for hardware init and startup you would have only ecs level capability and no ide since the 3000 roms dont know about aga and 4000 ide setup.
the software comtained in the rom is written for the 3000 only put it in anouther machine and it would probably run but it wouldnt find the hardware it thinks should be there.
what might happen is it wouldnt find what it needs so it would stop and give an error like a chipset error maybe red screen if i remember correctly

[alexh]

There are two different sets A3000 KS3.1 ROMs.

One is physically and electrically the same as the A4000/A1200 ROM but contains different data.

The other is physically the same but electrically different and also contains different data.

You need the right one for your A3000 motherboard.

[whiteb]

A500/A600/A2000/CDTV use 16-bit access, while A1200/CD³²/A3000/A4000 use 32-bit. For the 32-bit ones the ROM is split to two portions so the access can be overlaid for better performance.

Or you shadow the rom into Fastram for even BETTER performance (MMU needed)

[jiffydos]

Thanks for all the info guys...  I'm off to softhut to buy a set of roms.