Possible to use fastmem instead of chip?

[dougal]

I was wondering if i can make use of my fastmem to speed up os3.1.

For example if i open my games partition chipmem decreases to about 1.3mb just because i opened a drive showing all my games.

Is there a way to deligate this to fastmem instead?

Will it (if possible) speed up things ?

I only have 16mb fastmem. Is that enough?

Would shoving kickstart to fastmem instead of rom speed things up? and can it be done with my Apollo 1240?

Sorry for all the questions. LOL

[tone007]

Look up FBlit, it does that sort of thing.

[fishy_fiz]

Ftext is also worth using. Similar to FBlit, but for text rather than graphics. Additionally if using OS3.9 (possibly 3.5 as well, although Im not sure) prefs/workbench also has an option for using fastram for images.

Not only will you save valuable chipram with all the above, but you'll get a nice little speed-up.

[Thorham]

Fblit: http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/fblit
Ftext: http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/FText

Fblit will replace OS blitter routines with CPU routines (faster with accelerators such as Apollo 1240) and Ftext will use Fblit to render text faster (good for editing and text viewing). The most useful part is that things such as Workbench icons can now be stored in fastmem, and this can save a lot of chipmem.

Just two things:

1) When using NewIcons, make sure to turn it's RTG option ON.  Normally this won't work unless you have a graphics card, but with Fblit it does, and icons will be stored in fastmem.
2) With Fblit active, it's possible that changing the Workbench screen mode will result in a garbled display. This is the case for me, and while generally not an issue, be sure to keep it in mind.

[Karlos]

I only have 16mb fastmem. Is that enough?

Would shoving kickstart to fastmem instead of rom speed things up? and can it be done with my Apollo 1240?

Yes, if it isn't already. I had a very early model Apollo 1240 and found that various things were in Chip RAM that should be remapped, such as the VBR, exec base and a few kickstart libraries. Remapping those (and the kickstart) made a conspicuous increase in speed, well worth spending a MB or so of my 16MB (as it was then).

Later, I added FBlit, FText and newicons to the mix and again, noticed the improvement.

Chip RAM should ideally just be for stuff the custom chips are going to use; bitmaps, sprites and maybe some sounds (if not using AHI). Stuff the CPU needs to use, code or data, is going to slow down if it's there.

[dougal]

I downloaded FBLIT but i dont really understand all those options.

As for the Ftext, will download it later and check it out.

Can anyone guide me on how to use it (even basic guide and ill figure it out) ?

Also id like to know what software to use to remap the kickstart to fastmem.

Cheers and thanks for all your replies

[Karlos]

Also id like to know what software to use to remap the kickstart to fastmem.

http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/RemAPollo

[dougal]

http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/RemAPollo

Perfect!!!  I'll download that right away!

[Thorham]

I downloaded FBLIT but i dont really understand all those options.

Should work fine with the default options.