Which SCSI to use on A2000 ?

[dougal]

I have a GVP HC+8 Series II SCSI which i use in my A2000 for both SCSI and for the RAM expansion.

Today my GVP 040 Combo arrived. This too has a SCSI controller.

Should i remain using the HC+8 or is there more advantage using the one on the Combo cpu card ?

[orcish75]

Hi Dougal,

I have a very similar setup to yours, except I have an '030 GVP accelerator. If you want to use 68000 mode then you'll have to use the SCSI on the GVP HC+8 as you can't use the memory or the SCSI controller on the '040 board in 68000 mode.

If you're never going to use the 68000 mode then remove the HC+8 card and use the SCSI on the '040 card, it is a lot faster than using the HC+8 card as it DMA's directly into 32-bit RAM.

If you do want to use the 68000 mode, then you'll have to set the RAM on your '040 card to high, outside of the Zorro II space otherwise you'll get a conflict. It took me while to get my setup running nicely in this configuration so let me know if you do want to do this and I'll give you some tips.

Cheers

[dougal]

Hi orcish, Thanks for the tip.

I don't think I will need 68000 mode but I want to keep the HC+8 card in the Amiga, not necessarily because of the scsi but because of the ram.

Seeing that the GVP ram is so expensive my 040 combo has 16mb fully populated, so the extra 6mb from the HC+8 (can't use its 8mb because of the picasso ii 2mb) is nice boost.

[dougal]

I think there is a conflict with the HC+8 as the Amiga crashes as soon as it gets to desktop.

I removed the HC+8 and its working fine

[orcish75]

Definitely sounds like a memory conflict. I'm not sure which jumper on the '040 board sets the memory to extended (outside the zorro II space) on my '030 GVP board I think it was jumper 12. I'll check when I get home tonight and let you know.

I have been checking the net for any info but haven't come across anything yet. This site has some jumper settings for the '040 card but not all unfortunately. http://www.l8r.net/install/technical.shtml

Cheers

[gertsy]

I have a GVP HC+8 Series II SCSI which i use in my A2000 for both SCSI and for the RAM expansion.

Today my GVP 040 Combo arrived. This too has a SCSI controller.

Should i remain using the HC+8 or is there more advantage using the one on the Combo cpu card ?

SCSI controllers are the same I think. I remember reading somewhere that the hc8 card is actually faster than the combos. I think a Buddha is faster still.

[dougal]

Sysinfo says that the 16 MB RAM is 32 Bit ..... Does that mean that it is not using Zorro II address space ?

I ask because I thought it would have been 24 bit had it been using Zorro address space.

[orcish75]

Yup, the 16MB on the '040 card will always be 32-bit, but the 32-bit RAM can also reside in the 8MB Zorro II space. The jumper setting on the '040 card will move the 16MB 32-bit ram above the Zorro II space so that it doesn't conflict with the ram on the HC+8 card. The RAM on the HC+8 can only ever reside in the Zorro II space.

Did you get a manual with your '040 card? If so, it should have the jumper setting to move the 32-bit RAM to be extended RAM (above the Zorro II space)

Cheers

[dougal]

The Picasso II uses 2MB of Zorro II space and has no conflicts with the 040

[orcish75]

Hmm, OK, then perhaps the '040 only has 4MB ram in the Zorro II space and the rest as extended. Set the jumpers on your HC+8 to 2MB RAM and let's see if the A2000 boots properly.

Cheers

[Britelite]

Seeing that the GVP ram is so expensive my 040 combo has 16mb fully populated, so the extra 6mb from the HC+8 (can't use its 8mb because of the picasso ii 2mb) is nice boost.

Actually, it won't give any boost at all, it may actually slow things down. Memory-access to the RAM on the HC+8 will be way slower than to the RAM on the 040-board, so programs will actually run slower if they get loaded to, or use data on, that 6MB area.

[Zac67]

The HC+8 crashing may be due to a non-compatible ('040) boot ROM... Version?

Z2 RAM will be very slow for the 040 but it's used last, priority-wise (just before chipmem).