Question about flashing Kickstart ROMs

[dangermouse]

Hi

I've always just bought them from people but figured it's about time I did it myself as, judging from the number of people who do it, it can't be that hard. I do have a Software, not Hardware, Engineering background so maybe I'm wrong.

So...I just want to know how it's done, what kit is needed and where to buy said kit?

Also, how are various chips replaced? Is it a case of you have to buy the chip preprogrammed or do you buy a 'blank' and program it yourself? I'm thinking the chips affected by the typical A4000 battery damage area etc.

My apologies if my questions are a bit noobish but I've often wondered how it all works and figured this forum is as good a place as any to find out

[amigadave]

Hi

I've always just bought them from people but figured it's about time I did it myself as, judging from the number of people who do it, it can't be that hard. I do have a Software, not Hardware, Engineering background so maybe I'm wrong.

So...I just want to know how it's done, what kit is needed and where to buy said kit?

Also, how are various chips replaced? Is it a case of you have to buy the chip preprogrammed or do you buy a 'blank' and program it yourself? I'm thinking the chips affected by the typical A4000 battery damage area etc.

My apologies if my questions are a bit noobish but I've often wondered how it all works and figured this forum is as good a place as any to find out

This is probably a case of the blind trying to lead the blind, but exactly what is it that you are trying to do?

Flashing Kickstart ROM's can have several meanings and if English is not your native tongue, it can probably have a few more as well.

One meaning could be to flash a blank EPROM with a Kickstart file to create your own Kickstart ROM chip, or two ROM chips if you are doing it for an A1200, A3000, CD32, or A4000 which use two ROM chips, instead of the one found in the A1000, A500, CDTV, and A600.

Another meaning could be to "Re-Map" the contents of your installed ROM chip(s) to RAM to boost the speed of your Amiga's operation by allowing the Kickstart file contents to be read from Fast RAM instead of the slower read from the Kickstart ROM chip(s).  This is not really considered "Flashing", but like I said, if English is not your native language, maybe the "Re-Mapping" of the Kickstart to Fast RAM could be misunderstood as a kind of Flashing of the Kickstart file.

Lastly, another meaning could be to flash, or re-map a different Kickstart file to Fast RAM for use in place of the Kickstart file contained within the Kickstart ROM chip(s) installed within the Amiga computer, as was commonly done by many Amiga users when the 3.1 Kickstart file was finally released, as many A1200 and A4000 owners had the inferior 3.0 Kickstart ROM chips installed in their Amigas when they bought them and wanted the improvements and bug fixes that the 3.1 Kickstart provided.

So, again, what is it that you are asking about so we all can help you with the correct answer?

Edit:  After reading your question again, I think the first case that I noted above is what you are asking about.  I think you cannot do the EPROM burning without an special piece of "Kit" as they would call it in the UK.  The EPROM burners can be made from parts I think, or you can purchase one, but unless you are going to be burning EPROM's for many Amigas, I think it would be more practical to just have someone else burn the custom Kickstart ROM's for you.  There are also legal issues to think of regarding the copyrighted Kickstart files, but not too many people honor those copyrights anymore these days, stating the age and irrelevance of the Amiga and it's Kickstart ROM's as justification for it being okay to copy them and not worry about the copyright issue.

[tone007]

Sounds like he wants to burn (write, blow, whatever the term is) EPROMs.

I've often had the feeling I should get the equipment and do my own as well, but I always end up just grabbing a set of ROMs off of eBay when I need them.

Bit of a learning curve, and finding the right hardware and chips just doesn't seem like fun to me, as I don't think I'd use it enough to make it worthwhile.

[Damion]

In addition to a few threads on the subject here, there's also a good one over at the EAB.

I bought a working Willem and 16-bit adapter from KEE Electronics. Whatever you do, _do not_ purchase the adapter from Sivava. Their programmer works fine, but the adapter caused me unending headache until I finally discovered it was defective.

IMHO, the best reason to do this is so you can modify the ROM contents. The BB2 upgrades, these patches (second one down), exec441 and various BlizKick patches (from the most excellent Piru) are some of the usual upgrades.

This makes the most sense on accelerators without maprom space. (Of course, it's handy to have for burning unmodified ROMs, too.) Otherwise BlizKick and RemApollo work well, if you have supported hardware. Personally, I like to burn a ROM regardless to avoid a reboot.

[countzero]

as, judging from the number of people who do it, it can't be that hard. I do have a Software, not Hardware, Engineering background so maybe I'm wrong.

you don't need to have any background to burn your own roms. just follow the threads, and do as other people do. even X could do it.  (insert your fave dumb media star here) :afro:

Also, how are various chips replaced? Is it a case of you have to buy the chip preprogrammed or do you buy a 'blank' and program it yourself? I'm thinking the chips affected by the typical A4000 battery damage area etc.

it depends what chips you're talking about. some chips are not programmed, they perform a default logic function, you can replace them with just any standard chip (of same kind of course). some are programmed (like PALs or GALs), you'll need to find the programming file and program them yourself. This will be much more difficult (read - impossible) as you'll never find the programming file. And getting hold of a GAL programmer is more difficult than a EPROM burner.

yet some chips are made specially for the Amiga, aka the custom chips. You can't replace them with any standard part, you'll have to find the exact same chip produced for amigas (most often salvaged from other dead amigas).

[dangermouse]

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough but yes I meant 'create' my own Kickstart ROMs from blanks. I know hardware engineers at a place I used to work referred to it as burning the ROM; I use the term 'flashing' but obviously that causes confusion.

Thanks for the replies anyway so far guys...time to go read that EAB thread