PCMCIA RAM cards.. Where to find?

[Roondar]

I recently bought an A600 (complete with an unexpected 1MB card) of Ebay. I'm really happy with it, it complements my other Amiga's nicely.

Plus, it's just about the first Amiga I can keep on my desk and still have room for another keyboard :-P

Anyway,

I'm looking for a 2 or 4 MB PCMCIA Ram Card.
That, or another reliable way to get some fastram on the A600.

I don't care for faster processors and I would prefer it to be switchable (on/off).

Can any of you point me to some options?

[Matt_H]

These things are still not easy to find and are still very expensive given their age and relatively limited capabilities compared to modern RAM. I recommend going straight for the 4MB card for the best value for money.

There's a guy on ebay who's been selling them recently; I bought one from him just last month. Do a search for 'pcmcia sram'.

[Roondar]

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

[Brian]

I'd sugest an Apollo620 or 630. You'll get a bit more speed, real 32bit FastRAM standard simms can be used (PCMCIA RAM = 16bit), you keep the PCMCIA port free for a netcard.

Though the cards are few and often quite expencive so... the more powerfull, expandable (and to some extent cheaper) A1200 might be an option if your desk support it. :-)

[Roondar]

Actually, I allready own a towered A1200, I got this one because of the size :-D

Just so you know, the intended use is old apps/wb 2.1 and old games. If I could fit my A500, I'd probably use that instead!

I got it hooked up to some composite monitor, which will be replaced with a scart/RGB TV one day.

Later, I'll add a 'small' 260Mb 2.5 inch HDD and install stuff on it. Hence the need for some Fastram, because a lot of HDD installers seem to need Fastram!

However, to support my old-older-oldest games it must remain as compatible as possible, hence the need for on/off ram/accelerator.

I dislike using TUDE and stuff to switch off the extra memory as is and my A1200's track record on really old games isn't that good :lol:

So, if a 620/630 can be turned off in software/without opening the case, it can be an option. Otherwise I'll just have to do without!

[Matt_H]

I think the Apollo 630 has a jumper on it to wire in a disable switch, but there isn't one by default. Don't know about the 620, but I'd assume not.

I went the PCMCIA RAM route because as expensive as it is, it's still far cheaper and easier to find than an actual A600 accelerator. Safer, too, since there's no risk of the accelerator jumping off the inverted 68000 socket.

Matt_H wrote:
I went the PCMCIA RAM route because as expensive as it is, it's still far cheaper and easier to find than an actual A600 accelerator. Safer, too, since there's no risk of the accelerator jumping off the inverted 68000 socket.

That's correct, but I have my accelerator card glued on
the 68000-socket with super-glue. And I installed a
cooler-fan on top of the 68030-CPU, because of the heat.
I also installed another cooler-fan to blow the hot air out of the case.
The whole A600 system works great!
  :-)

[Brian]

On the Apollo620 there's a jumper for 68000 or 68020 and for Expansion RAM on/off... I think they could be whired up to a switch and safely switched when the power is OFF.

But if you're running out of memory on the A600 (yah like that is hard to do) first get yourself an extra 1MB Chipmem card and stick in the slot underneath the computer.

I had an A600/2MB Chip/40MB HD for a long time and installing games on it wasn't a problem. Now I have an A600/2MB CHIP/1GB HD/KickSwitch and I have an Apollo620 card that I'm trying to get to work with it.

About cards jumping of the CPU it's quite easily fixed with glue. :-D

Hoi Jeroen,

Ik heb even wat rondgekeken op internet
en ik vond een site waar ze PCMCIA-SRam
kaartjes verkopen: www.vikant.com

Groeten,
K-disK  :-D

[Matt_H]

Yeah, I'm aware of the glue solution, but I'm not sure I'd want my accelerator permanently affixed to the A600. Like the guys at amiga600.de, if I ever get my hands on one of those clockport adaptors for the A600, I wouldn't want to risk shattering the motherboard, accelerator, or both, trying to remove the accelerator to get access to Gayle.

Are there any sort of semi-permanent glues out there that would provide a strong but breakable bond?

Yes, just use a cheap low-quality super-glue.
I once removed my accelerator-card from the
MoBo, to put it on another revision MoBo with
no damage at all! I just used a little force
to remove the card. No problem!
(Be aware that you don't put to much glue on it,
 just enough to keep the thing in place.)
:-)

[Matt_H]

I'll keep that in mind if I ever find an accelerator. Thanks!

[Brian]

Perhaps a Gluegun is the option.. at least that's what I've intended to use. It'll keep stuff in place quite nicely but if it's too hot it'll start to lose it's gripp some.

Result being that if you want it off you can heat it up and less force is neede to remove it, drawback is that you need to let a hot machine cool off for a few minutes so the glue stiffens before you can "toss it around freely" (less movement than traveling in a backpack won't be a problem though, the glue is still sticky enough to keep stuff in place when when it's soft).

[Roondar]

Dankuwel voor de link,

Ik zal rondkijken :-)

[Roondar]

Whoa, thanks for all the tips guys!

Anyway,

I've pretty much decided to go for the PCMCIA option, because I am definitely not going to fiddle around with *glue* on my 'priceless Amiga'  :-D

The 620/630 seem nice, but I don't really need that kind of power, just a small ammount of Fastram to play some of the more 'demanding' games/apps better.

And as an added bonus, I could also just install my favorite one or two on one of those cards permanently!

Or until the batteries die...  :lol: